User:Jmcinnes

Jason McInnes - Performance Horse Trainer

There are as many opinions about horse training as there are horse trainers. Any body and every body who comes in contact with a horse is a horse trainer, whether you think you are or not. The reason for this is we are influencing horses every minute of every day that we are around them. This comes in the form of our body language and physical contact. Believe it or not, all training methods work! The catch is - on some horses.

The good news is, contrary to common belief, there are some methods that will work on ALL horses. Fortunately, horses and humans are never too old to learn new ways or change bad habits. My concern isn't about what the horse has done before or what possible negative experiences the horse may have had in the past. The horse's past is helpful in developing a lesson plan but from the day we meet, I deal with today only. We can't change the fact that someone has mistreated the horse or that someone has trained it badly, so it's pointless spending time dwelling on it. The problem is NOW. Sometimes we get so caught up in the cause of the problem that we lose focus on what we can do to change the horse for the better, TODAY.

The horse is a very adaptable animal, more so than a human, and quite capable of changing its behavioral patterns once given the opportunity to make its own decisions. Horses by nature will always look for the easy way out of an uncomfortable situation. So by releasing the pressure when the horse offers the desired response, & allowing the horse to relax and think about what has just taken place, this is how we are able to educate and establish desirable behavioral patters with the horse.

The great trainers from all disciplines believe that no horse is either vicious or beyond being educated. Educating horses is a cumulative journey, each step will build on the information presented in previous lessons. I believe patience, knowledge and forgiveness are the only traits we need to educate a horse. Patience that our horses give us in all the mistakes we make and most of the time we don't even know we are making one. Normally, when we run out of Knowledge we generally run out of patience, and forgiveness in the horse is the very quality that allows us to ride them, change their past, or even shape a bright future.

Horsemanship to me is about keeping an open mind to the information presented, the situations we're placed in, the teaching styles available and the different types of horses I come across every day. I would like to acknowledge the great horseman and horsewomen who have influenced me over the years from all around the world.