Does my horse love me?

[@beckyphipps1822]

I love horses

[@jennyaustinsequineservices280]

This had to be said! Great information

[@CazedarnesEquestrian]

Glad you liked it!

[@MrHorsepro]

Here is the simple technique for LEADING a horse onto a trailer/float, with no gimmicks, no pain, no treats or feed, no sticks, whips, flags, butt ropes, and no you do not need a special halter for this exercise. And you need no other person involved, except to possibly close the trailer/float door for you. There are a couple of particularly important cues that horses learn early in their ground training. And those are; if I turn to face you that means STOP, and if I put my hands on you that means STAND STILL. So, when you want the horse to walk WITH you into a stall or into a trailer/float, NEVER give them either of those cues. Also, I have never met a horse that speaks or understands any human language or verbal mutterings of any kind. The only language any horse understands is tension/release. But the leader should NEVER GIVE the release. The horse MUST move forward to get the release, thus giving it to themselves. Here is how it should be done. Snap a simple lead rope with a bull snap on the end into the bottom ring of the halter. Then standing to the horse's left side facing in the direction you want to go, grasp the rope firmly in your right hand leaving enough slack so that the horse can move their head freely. (NEVER lead a horse with your arm extended, that makes your arm a spring that cannot allow tension release quickly enough for the horse to understand it) Put the hand with the rope in it on your chest firmly and let the rope to the horse's head trail over your bent arm at the elbow while holding the tail end of the rope in your left hand. Now move slightly forward enough to take up all the slack in the rope and apply a very slight tension on the rope then, standstill, (become a post) and allow the horse to move toward you to get the release from the tension. This first movement need only be a stretching of the neck or of the nose just so they recognize that forward movement toward tension gets them release. When they do this, simply repeat the process, and keep repeating it until it becomes second nature to both you and the horse. Vocalizations from you are unnecessary at that point unless it makes you feel better, the horse could not care less what you have to say if anything at all. Once you have established this tension release procedure with the horse. And you remain consistent in practicing it. You could lead that horse into a burning building if you so desired. Then trailer/float loading becomes a non-issue. In my entire career, this method has never failed me with literally over a thousand horses, young old excited and abused. This is the most foundational thing you need to teach your horse, every other activity the two of you will do from then on is built on this foundation. Incidentally, this is not MY technique. I did not invent it; it was taught to me by a horse master over 50 years ago and his only charge to me for sharing this knowledge was; Once mastered, I must also share it with those that are willing to dismiss all the gimmicks, and approach it with a clear mind, and learn it for the benefit of the horse. Which is precisely what I am doing.

[@CazedarnesEquestrian]

Thank you for sharing this information

[@MrHorsepro]

Anthropomorphizing human traits onto horses assumes that they are capable of emotional, cognitive reactions to societal judgment, which they are not. Nature provided them with no such capacity since it would have no positive effect on their survival either physically or as a species. They are prey animals pure and simple, and the fact that they are non-aggressive by nature only serves to allow us to domesticate them to our purposes such as entertainment and assistance with heavy labor. To try to apply human emotional traits to these animals do both them and us a terrible injustice and makes fully understanding them more difficult. They are a simple, nonaggressive animal by nature and their only reaction to human contact is reactionary and nothing more. Please do not complicate this relationship by imposing attributes on them that they are not capable of.

[@CazedarnesEquestrian]

Of course it does - this is actually what I say in the video.

[@MrHorsepro]

@@CazedarnesEquestrian My reply was in support of your position, not intended to be critical or offensive in any way. After 45+ years as a professional horseman, now retired for over 20 years. I have found that this subject, and teaching people how to lead a horse correctly are the two most basic but often misundestood things that can be done with a horse. Both, have been the focus of my teaching most of my career. I have always said that loading a horse onto a trailer/float is never an issue if one knows how to lead the horse correctly first. Because if they will let you lead them into a stall, they will let you load them onto a trailer/float. I have proven it perhaps over a thousand times in virtually every situation one can imagine. With no aids of any kind and no treats, flags, whips, additional ropes, special halters, or anything other than a simple cotton rope in the bottom ring of the halter. And absolutely no pain involved. If you are interested in this simple technique, I will gladly post a detailed description of it for you and your viewers. Be safe and well.

[@CazedarnesEquestrian]

@@MrHorsepro agree with you !! Some of the simplest things can cause the biggest issues with a horse when you don't look at it through their eyes! Happy for you to share any info you feel is useful :) My aim is to provide more factual information about horses so that people can make better decisions for them :)

[@MrHorsepro]

@@CazedarnesEquestrian Thank you, I will post the detailed description of the technique shortly.