"God Only Made One Species Capable Of Vindictiveness, and It Is Not The Horse"

Notice how fast the snow melted?

Colleen and I and our two youngest sons had a most interesting experience today. Most of you have probably read, seen or heard of The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan. Well, today we met with his equivalent in terms of someone who works with horses. The man in the photo with Colleen is Tom Mowery. He has not seen Cesar's show, but he teaches many of the same concepts, and has a wonderful sense of humor. Of course, we believe both Tom and Cesar teach concepts that are very important to parents to learn, too!

What are the concepts? Number one is leadership. Horses (and dogs, and kids) need us to lead! Tom says, I am offering the horse a great deal. The deal is: food, shelter, protection from predators, a chance to relax and have all his needs met. Herd animals want to know who is in charge. That is where we come in. We are his leader! I am not going to make him take the deal. If he chooses not to take it, there will be consequence. When he looks down that rope, he needs to be looking at the most important person in his world. Just as the horse must respect you, likewise, you have to have respect for the horse, whom you are entrusting with your safety (or your child's safety).

What happened before what is going to happen, happens, and that is more important to the horse than what happens! Translation: there needs to be a history of consequences. If the horse chooses to be rude, the leader must be sure to be equally rude and give the horse something to remember the choice he made. There has to be a pattern that the horse understands.

Make his hind legs move. That is where he is most powerful. You want him to give up his power to you. Fluxation is getting the horse to bend at the pole (top of the neck). Eventually the horse will bow down low enough so that kids can put on the bridal!

Humans are predators, horses are prey. They need to be convinced that they can trust us to lead them in a way that is in their best interest. Tom was very nurturing, often rubbing our horse and patting him. However, there was never any doubt that Tom was the leader. Within just a few minutes he had that young horse being totally obedient. Can you see in the picture how the horse is relaxed, but alertly waiting for his next instruction from his leader? The title of this post is just one of many unique pithy quotes Mr. Mowery shared with us.