| Cullen Undergoes Natural Horsemanship |
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| I thought I would share Cullen's first experience with a lesson in Natural Horsemanship here. I had a lesson with Elke Meyer recently and thoroughly enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. This Natural Horsemanship instructor has stated that she is NOT 'Parelli' or 'Quantum Savvy' based, but has spent many years developing her own program for training horses, which works for her! It may not be for everyone, but that's fine! Elke started doing Parelli many years ago, |
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| then went to Ken Faulkner for a while, but quickly realised that she did not like the way they taught - it was very commercialised. Elke is committed to taking the time and developing individual programs for horses and what works for them. I am really looking forward to continuing to work with Elke and Cullen. |
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| The four things Cullen learned were: * Respect for boundaries * Yielding from implied and direct pressure * Watching body language for his cues * Humans are not predators He also learnt a lot about how to deal with his own emotions. Elke said Cullen is a lovely boy, and he just needs me to help him lose his 'anger and fear' and replace it with confidence and respect. The things I have learned were: * Always take notice of the physical signs Cullen is understanding what I am doing * Watch Cullen's body for cues * I deserve personal space and respect * If I say it I mean it * Do not tiptoe because I fuel his fear * Always work equally from both sides * Prepare myself prior to working with Cullen * Don't look at him - he doesn't change colour! * Let Cullen be confident * Hold, but NEVER pull - I will lose! While Elke said there are times for setting strong boundaries for horses (like when Cullen bites, paws the ground or blocks the person), she's committed to taking the time it takes and developing individual programs - NOT working to the owners expections and schedules! The other thing she mentioned is that being committed to NH should not mean you give up your dreams of a life in Dressage - you make it work for you - which is just great as I am going to go the 'Classical Dressage' method along with the NH with Cullen. While I have never used 'NH' in the past - it was an 'eye opening' lesson and I saw the benefits of it. Hopefully this will help Cullen and myself to work together as a united team in the future! The fact that I have seen the photos and videos of Cullen being handled while at his breeders, CM Sporthorses, and how relaxed he was during his time there, and that he coped fine with everything that Craig and Michelle were doing with him, makes me wonder what happened on his trip up to me. It was four days trip, he was handled by different people, put in different trucks, stables, yards, etc along the way which would have been fairly traumatic for a youngester in itself - and he went from being easy to catch and deal with when the drivers initially picked him up from CM Sporthorses to taking the last driver who picked him up and bought him to me on the final morning over an hour to catch him. A bit of a change! He was also terribly afraid of having his ears handled when he arrived here, whereas I know he was perfectly fine with having his ears played with at his breeders. Its just sad to think that he may possibly have been put through the wringer and given a bit of curry on his trip. Also I must admit that it's probably half my fault too because Elke says I may have been tip-toeing because I fuel his fear which probably make sense! I shall be looking forward to working with Cullen and am going to go the 'Classical Dressage' method with him when the time comes for him to do a 'starting' as mentioned above. I think it will be fair while yet though as he has a lot of growing to do before he is ready to be a riding horse. While he is growing, I am hoping to get him out to some shows in some 'In hand' classes which should be fun! * A letter from Elke Meyer, Natural Horsemanship* On Saturday the 19th January 2008 I had the pleasure of meeting Cullen (a 15 months old CB) and his human Michelle. Michelle had contacted me via a friend who is another CB owner to see if I could help Cullen with some fairly significient fear and respect issues. Cullen presented as a very cheeky, bright, energetic, nervous boy with zero respect for humans! Sadly, he also had a very real fear of them as well. Humans = danger! This in itself creates a potentially dangerous situation for obvious reasons. Cullen had clearly been exposed to some sort of trauma - this may have been real or imagined - either way, it is irrelevant - the problem now existed wherein his human had to almost love him from afar. Cullen had major issues with being handled! My history with horses began 35 years ago, and I have been riding, showing, training and teaching ever since. For the last 14 years I have been training and teaching NH - focusing predominantly on rehabilitating chronic abuse cases. I have run numerous free clinics to introduce people to the benefits of NH because I passionately believe it is a highly effective, gentle and spiritual way to connect with your horse and achieve extraordinary results. I am looking at doing a clinic called "Back to basics" soon. When I started working with Cullen he was very nervous, angry and confrontational. He had severe boundary restrictions and was keen to show me how he wanted to be trained; and where I should stand to do it! This is not uncommon in horses. We started with teaching Cullen how to lead with confidence and respect, which is surprisingly easy to teach, and yet I rarely see even top level show horses doing it. People become accustomed to micro-managing their horses and dragging them around by the lead - BIG MISTAKE!!! Where is the horse gong to jump if it gets a fright - ON YOU!! You need to allow your horse to be the wonderful independent and confident creature he should be. Cullen was uncomfortable with me getting in his space, even with a 12ft rope. He became so distressed that he challenged me fronton, and repeatedly bit himself out of anger and frustration. I started working with a carrot stick and string to extend my reach and make him feel more secure. Within a relatively short period of time, despite the severity of his previous reactions, his personal space decreased and he loved the cuddles. I was eventually able to throw ropes over him, even while leading him. This extended to throwing ropes around his legs and feet, and ended with him learning to yield to even slight pressure - without panicking - when I put pressure on the rope wrapped around his feet. He was very relaxed in the end which was a great result considering the farriers experience with him. Michelle was ever watchful and attentive and was able to grasp the concepts I was teaching Cullen. This is not always easy as NH often seems to go against everything we have ever been taught in the past. It is also the reason approximately 75% of NH students give up. It is not easy initally, but the results can be phenomental. I look forward to watching Michelle and Cullen's relationship grow into one of mutual trust, respect, confidence and love. |
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| Elke Meyer Natural Horsemanship Jimboomba, Qld |
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