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Book Reviews, Horse Care and Management, Horses in Transition, Personal Stories, Training Tips and Techniques

What does it mean to be a “Compassionate Equestrian”?

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When I founded Cold Moon Farm LLC in 2015, I created the following Mission Statement:

                “Cold Moon Farm is a working horse farm dedicated to promoting the principles of sustainable living, conservation, and the highest standards of compassionate horsemanship.”

For me, compassionate horsemanship lives at the intersection of the following beliefs: the importance of using evidence-based and humane handling, care, and training techniques, whether mounted or unmounted; respecting the horse as an autonomous, sentient being who chooses to comply with human requests but is never obligated to do so; and a strong commitment to doing our best to ensure that every interaction with our horses is positive, respectful, and fair. In addition, compassionate horsemanship includes understanding how the physical and emotional well-being of the people in a horse’s orbit impacts the animal’s care and well-being.

At the time, I had never heard anyone else cite compassionate horsemanship as the bedrock foundation to their practice. What I didn’t know back then was that Allen M. Schoen, DVM, and Susan Gordon had just co-authored a book called The Compassionate Equestrian: 25 Principles to Live by When Caring for and Working With Horsehttps://www.horseandriderbooks.com/store/the-compassionate-equestrian.htmls, published by my friends at Trafalgar Square. In fact, this book wouldn’t cross my path until 2022, and when it finally did, I was pretty floored by the synergy between these authors’ ideas and my own.

As the title implies, The Compassionate Equestrian defines 25 principles underscoring how the act of compassion must affect every action or choice we make around horses and toward each other. Schoen and Gordon discuss ideas ranging from the highly specific (a good rider is a physically fit rider, and a fit rider knows how to slowly condition their horse for peak performance) to the highly esoteric (integrating concepts from Schoen’s Transpecies Field Theory and elements of quantum physics and neurobiology). They discuss individual accountability, and then ask how the collective face of the equine industry might change if everyone involved put compassion forward as our most important and essential concept.

In this blog, I hope to offer just a taste of where my own beliefs and those of the authors intersected. For organizational purposes, I have grouped them into “individual” actions and “collective” actions, but this is pretty simplistic. In reality, even just one individual choosing to begin her journey as a compassionate equestrian will positively impact the collective equestrian community, because she will send ripples of compassion through her every interaction.

After you have reviewed some of these ideas, I am interested to know whether you can recognize an area in which you might shift your thinking, behavior or inner beliefs to embrace “compassion” as the first and most essential quality. How could such a shift make a positive impact on your life? On equestrians in general? Or even on the world at large?


“Be the change you wish to see in the world” (attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, 1913)
Image in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Compassionate Equestrianism—Individual Actions

Ultimately, it is at the personal level where compassionate equestrianism resides. After all, despite our best efforts, we cannot control the behavior or actions of others; in fact, it is hard enough at times to navigate our own way in the world.

                Education The compassionate equestrian is on a personal quest to always know better, and to always do better—not because it will earn her better ribbons, or because her barn mates will look up to her more, but because it is the right thing to do for our horses. She understands that the horse’s welfare is of the highest importance at all times, and therefore asks questions when she does not understand, calls it a day when something doesn’t seem quite right, and constantly assesses whether what she is asking of the horse is reasonable and fair. Horses do express their physical or emotional discomfort, but often in ways that are not clear to humans. The compassionate equestrian seeks to become educated enough that she notices her horse’s sometimes subtle signals of distress. When something is off, the compassionate equestrian promptly secures the assistance of qualified, trained professionals to address the issue. In any situation, she decides for herself if what she is asking of her horse is truly in his best interest.

Anna and I attend a clinic in 2019.

                Being Present When we interact with a horse, we expect him to pay attention to us—so it is only fair that we do the same in return. To borrow a concept from my years of yoga practice, the troubles, worries and stresses of our “real lives” will all be waiting for us when we leave the barn. If we do not release them before entering the stable, those distractions will not only impact how we communicate with our horses, they color the interactions we have with everyone in our orbit. They shape our behavior and our responses to challenge. When we arrive at the barn, we need to take time to pause—for however long is necessary—to center our hearts and minds. The compassionate equestrian enters the barn community with the intention of having an open heart and tolerance for those around her.

                Controlling our Ego One concept I especially loved from The Compassionate Equestrian (and I will paraphrase here) is that there are two beings living inside each of us—our ego, and our “inner wise-guide”. All of our actions and choices will be driven by one being or the other. Ideally, we learn to follow the energy of our “wise-guide” more than our ego. When we ask our horse to do something for us, we need to know that what we are asking is within his skill set, his fitness level, and is in his best interest. If we are asking for something outside of those parameters, it is likely to satisfy our ego—and this is not the action of a compassionate equestrian. There will be times we make mistakes when it comes to our horses; after all, we are only human. When we follow our egos instead of our wise-guide, causing stress or pain to our horse, or to others around us—we forgive ourselves, and actively work to change as we move forward. Just as it takes a body’s systems years to adapt to the physical demands of increasing levels of performance, it will take time to train our mind to prioritize the wisdom of our wise-guide over the ego’s desire for quick results, rewards, and recognition.

Horses do not act from ego. They do not care what they do or do not achieve, but they do care that they feel safe, which includes having the company of other horses (Lee and Anna at a benefit ride in 2020).

Only when we are able to let go of our own ego can we fully embrace the practice of compassion. For most of us, it will take concerted attention to notice where our motivation is coming from, and to shift away from the demands of our greedy ego. In fact, Gordon writes, “Decreasing the destructive impact of egoic tendencies in a very ego-based business will be one of the biggest challenges to unifying a global community of horse people” (pg. 368).

Compassionate Equestrianism—Collective Actions

Practicing compassion is both a habit and a skill; just like other habits or skills, we get better at it the more we do it. It is most difficult to practice compassion when circumstances are challenging, so it is important to cultivate compassion during routine occurrences every day, until it becomes a comfortable and familiar way of navigating the world.  

What would this look like in practice? For starters, we can celebrate everyone’s victories, whether or not they seem significant to us. Smile and say to them, with genuine positive energy, “I am happy for you.” Do the best you can, to the best of your ability, in every action you undertake. If someone offers unsolicited feedback, assume their good intent.

For professional equestrians especially, the horse industry can test a commitment to compassion. When clients are making demands, or bills are coming due, or a top horse has had to be sold, the unrelenting pressures can make even the kindest human turn hard. These challenges can lead to burnout and unhealthy coping mechanisms, or even cause equestrians to question why they got involved in the industry in the first place.

And so, I will argue here that it is perhaps toward these most stressed, challenged or embittered equestrians that individuals must attempt to direct the greatest amount of compassionate energy. For our own protection, being compassionate doesn’t mean that we must keep ourselves or our horses within their orbit. But we can still project toward them, in Schoen’s words, “loving-kindness” and the sentiment, “I wish you well.”

Additionally, we must remember that no one is at their best, all of the time. When an equestrian is scared, or angry, she will behave in a self-protective way toward her horse and others around her.  When she is naïve, inexperienced, or uneducated (as we all are at some point in our equestrian journey), there is an overload of information available at her fingertips, and she may not know whose wisdom to turn to. We all must hold the belief that the majority of equestrians want what’s best for their horse. As professionals, it is our duty to present them with the most current, evidence-based information, and help them to determine the best path forward, for them. Further, we have a duty to work to prevent harm, when it is within our power to do so—essentially an equestrian version of the Hippocratic Oath.  To quote directly from The Compassionate Equestrian, we ask, “What is the most compassionate way to meet the needs of the horse and the capabilities of the rider?”

We must learn to share in the joyful moments of being around our horses, and to celebrate every victory, no matter how seemingly insignificant.

Finally, as a compassionate equestrian community, we must commit to collectively caring for all equines, at all stages of their lives. This would look like an industry committed to ensuring there is a home for every animal it produces; that every equine is provided with humane care and living conditions that allow them to thrive at all stages of life; that every equine, from an early age, is handled and trained so that a lifetime of safe interactions with humans are possible. When the quality of an animal’s life has declined to a point where they are always in pain, or are at risk of causing harm to themselves or others, or are otherwise not able to express the natural qualities inherent to being a horse, a compassionate equestrian community will ensure their humane transition. In a compassionate equestrian community, these actions are the expectation, not the experience only of those horses lucky enough to “fall into the right hands”. A compassionate equestrian community holds its own members accountable, whether they are a backyard hobbyist or top competitor.

With compassion at the core of all equestrian activities and pursuits, we can expect to evolve into a community that shows respect for its members, honors individual responsibility, and unifies the diverse interests of equestrians across disciplines, breeds, and skill levels.

Book Reviews, Training Tips and Techniques

Book Review: Ten Golden Rules of Horse Training

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Ten Golden Rules of Horse Training by Bruce Nock, Ph.D.

c 2004 Half Halt Press, Boonesboro, MD. 188 pages. (out of print)

ISBN 1-0939481-67-7

A few months ago, a dear friend winnowed her equestrian book collection and bequeathed to me a selection of books in need of new homes. Among them were several on the subject of horse training specifically; with an unstarted four-year-old and a lightly started six-year-old on my farm, I am currently interested in anything to do with ground work, foundational training and similar topics. With many to choose from, I simply started with the book on top of the pile: Ten Golden Rules of Horse Training by Bruce Nock.

Author Bruce Nock has experience training horses and also holds advanced degrees in psychobiology, a field in which scientists seek to explain the effect of certain biological processes on human and non-human animal behavior. At its core, Ten Golden Rules takes concepts you likely learned in Psych 101—ideas like classical conditioning, positive and negative reinforcement, stimulus and reward—and “translates” them into horse training concepts. While these ideas are common in nearly any book on the basic training of horses, Nock’s education and professional experience brings a new level of specificity and rationale to the conversation. For example, when he presents Golden Rule # 2 (Signals should stop as soon as the horse begins to make an acceptable response) he then goes on to explain not just how that looks in equestrian terms, but the science behind why that approach works best in shaping the horse’s behavior.

But Ten Golden Rules is not so densely technical that readers will feel as if they are reading a text book. In general, Nock focuses on the application of these concepts in real equestrian life and explains how their use will positively affect equine behavior and performance. He also emphasizes that his “golden rules” are applicable to all horses, of any experience, riding discipline or breed.

Spring Hollow Or Noir, here at three years old, learning to wear a saddle.

For me, some of the most interesting chapters dealt with using the “golden rules” to modify behavior in horses with established patterns of fear, anxiety or generalized mistrust. Using “golden rules” #9 and #10, trainers can help a horse to gain confidence around unfamiliar stimuli, both on the ground and under saddle. Nock also reaches into the classical horsemanship canon to identify traditional mounted exercises especially well suited to dissipate physical and mental tension in the horse.

Overall, Ten Golden Rules of Horse Training is an accessible book, written in a relatable style. In my opinion, the subject matter is important not just for trainers but for anyone who regularly interacts with an equine. After all, as Nock reminds us, “Each time you ask a horse to change something that he is doing, that is, ask for a transition, whether from the ground or saddle, you are training. There are no exceptions….Every time you ask a horse to do anything, he is learning one thing or another whether it is your intention or not” (Nock, 2004, pg. 15).

This book’s original publisher, Half Halt Press, is sadly no longer in business, but I believe copies still circulate on the used book market (I love www.alibris.com to find all manner of titles, usually fairly inexpensively). It is also available as an e-book through Nock’s website, http://liberatedhorsemanship.com/info/.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Wild Horse Country

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Wild Horse Country by David Phillips

c 2017 W.W. Norton & Company, New York. 316 pages.

ISBN 978-0-393-24713-8

The American mustang has always been an enigma. He has been seen as a scourge, a resource, an icon and a symbol. He is simultaneously revered and despised. And unlike some other legendary figures of the American West, the Mustang is still living on those wild, rugged lands that have made him a study and tough creature. In his book, Wild Horse Country: the History, Myth and Future of the Mustang, Pulitzer Prize winning writer David Phillips takes us on a journey to better understand how the complex history of the American Mustang continues to shape his present and future.

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The first time I saw American Mustangs was in the mid-2000’s, on a horse packing trip to the steep and rocky trails around Montgomery Pass, on the California/Nevada border. When I visited, the herd there was robust and numerous; they were arrayed across the rolling Adobe Valley Flats in family bands of two to five horses, but collectively there were well over one hundred. At the time, these mustangs were doing well, as evidenced by the numerous foals, and were valued by the local community as a source of tourism activity.  I have no idea how time has treated these animals, which live on a land with no margin for error. But as I departed the region, bound for Las Vegas and my flight home, I encountered a smaller, solitary band. They were clearly not doing as well and looked as worn and wind blown as the rocks that surrounded them. Mustangs can look very different depending on the time and space in which you view them—a concept that Phillips drives home in this book.

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Sorry about the poor quality of this 2012 photo taken with a camera not up to the task– these are the mustangs of the Adobe Valley Flats/Montgomery Pass.

Wild Horse Country takes the reader to Montgomery Pass and beyond, in Phillips’ search to understand what the American Mustang means to us today through an exploration of their history. He admits in the introduction that he is not a horse person, but is drawn to mustangs because he “loves the parts of the West that remain untamed” (Phillips, 2017, xxv). For Phillips, like many other Americans, mustangs are symbolic of the pioneer spirit that is synonymous with much of our frontier’s history. But he also connects the continued existence of Mustangs to a larger question: what does their legacy mean for the future of a land that is increasingly regulated and penned in?

Wild Horse Country is part history lesson, part first person narrative, and it is written to appeal to a broad audience. Phillips teaches readers about the horse’s first appearance in North America, as a tiny fox-sized creature called Hyracotherium and then its subsequent disappearance from the continent. He discovers how the horse helped change relations between Spanish explorers and our Native Americans, who took to training stolen animals with a grace and ease that made their partnership seem inevitable. Phillips looks at the mustang’s impact on art and culture, but also its effect on the lands and people of the West. He asks hard questions of the Bureau of Land Management, tasked with managing both mustangs and the land they exist upon. But he also interrogates those advocates working to preserve the mustang, and investigates the conflicts and overlaps between their agenda and those that might seem to be working in opposition.

HorseSign
This sign is not giving motorists a “heads up” about domestic livestock!

This book is simply a fascinating read—the pacing is perfect, and Phillips brings his considerable investigative and research skills to the table in assembling each of these chapters. He artfully brings you to the lands he calls “Wild Horse Country”: “It’s not the land the horses chose. It is just the land that was left to choose. Hardscrabble islands of desiccated emptiness that herds were pushed into. Put together the patchwork where wild horses are found in the West and you have an area the size of Alabama” (Phillips, 2017, p. xvii). He deftly untangles the web of connection among the horses, the people and the land. And by the end, he even proposes a solution that might help to keep all of the pieces in balance.

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Montgomery Pass area– Wild Horse Country

This is perhaps the most even handed take I have ever read on the conflicts over mustangs that continue even now. If you are finding yourself running out of reading material during this pandemic, do yourself a favor and access a copy of this book. You won’t be disappointed.

5/5

 

Book Reviews

Book Review: Know Better to do Better

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Know Better to do Better: Mistakes I Made with Horses by Denny Emerson

c 2018 Trafalgar Square Books: North Pomfret, VT. 212 pages.

ISBN 978-1-57076-895-8

For the nearly 83,000 followers of Denny Emerson’s Tamarack Hill Facebook page, the themes in Know Better to do Better will hopefully sound fairly familiar. Because after over sixty years of learning from horses, Emerson has developed a clear philosophy and system of training—and he will be the first to admit that in learning his craft, there were plenty of wrong turns and mistakes made along the way. This book is part autobiography, part advice column and part training manual, all within the frame of creating a written tool box for readers based upon Emerson’s own expansive career within the equine world.

KnowBetterDoBetter

What makes Emerson so eminently qualified to speak on this subject? Well, for starters he has ridden to the highest levels in both eventing and endurance, stood stallions, bred and foaled mares, and developed more horses and riders than he could possibly recall. He has served on governing boards of several national equestrian organizations, supported local and regional equestrian facilities and organizations, and stood as a staunch advocate of the Morgan horse. If the subject is horses, he has something to say about it—and there is a good chance that you should listen, because his perspective is informed by both experience and education.

Know Better to Do Better Book Trailer

In Know Better to do Better, Emerson covers themes pertinent to the horse and those pertinent to the rider. Better understanding of subjects such as horse selection, management, training approaches, rider fitness and focus and rider education will all influence the future success of a given partnership.

How many of us look back at a horse we once rode and think, gosh, if I only knew then what I know now? In this book, Emerson has done just that for about a dozen of the horses which have most influenced his development as a horseman. For an equestrian of his experience to still have the humility to acknowledge that “I could have done better” is a call to all of us to constantly question whether we are truly giving our horses the best possibility of success.

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Denny Emerson and High Brook Rockstar and Lee and I about to start the Hartland 15 Mile CDR in July of 2014.

In full disclosure, I had the opportunity to spend the summer of 2014 based at Tamarack Hill with two of my mares, and spent hours riding with Emerson in the Vermont “hills”. He is freely giving of his knowledge and experience and willing to share his perspective; he will dream bigger for you than you do for yourself. Now in his upper 70’s, he still puts in more tack time than most riders I know. If you have always wished to go for a ride with Emerson but it just hasn’t worked out…pick up this book instead. I promise it won’t disappoint.

5/5 stars

 

 

Book Reviews, Equestrian Sports Psychology

Book Review: Inside Your Ride: Mental Skills for Being Happy and Successful with your Horse

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Inside your Ride: Mental Skills for Being Happy and Successful with your Horse by Tonya Johnston

c 2012 Cruz Bay Publishing/Equine Network: Boulder, CO. 263 pages.

ISBN 9781929164615

If you have ever struggled with: nerves, worry, fear, anxiety (performance or generalized), coping with pressure, etc., and it has affected your riding in a negative way—I would stop reading now and go pick up a copy of Inside Your Ride: Mental Skills for Being Happy and Successful with Your Horse. Author Tonya Johnston is a specialist in equestrian sports psychology, and her insights have increasingly appeared in articles, blogs and podcasts, with good reason. Inside Your Ride is well organized, coherent and broken down in such a way that any equestrian needing to “up their mental game” should find some helpful guidelines.

InsideYourRide

The field of sports psychology has grown exponentially in the past ten to fifteen years, going from being almost like the secret weapon of the elite athlete to a tool that even casual riders can use to move past any number of mental/psychological impediments to their goals. Today, many sports psychologists focus on specific sports. This is to our benefit, I think, as we all know that horseback riding is a sport unlike any other, due to the fact that our powerful teammates can and often do have an agenda which is different from our own. Each author has their own tools, strategies and systems which help equestrians to move through their personal blocks, and I appreciate being able to read each professional’s take on the subject in books like this one. But to be effective, the content must be clear and structured in a way that you can work through it on your own—and Johnston has hit that mark in Inside Your Ride.

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It’s all about the view between these ears, after all. 

While this particular book does slant towards concerns common amongst riders that compete, I think there is plenty in here for any rider who has set more fundamental goals for themselves, goals as seemingly basic as getting more time in the saddle. In fact, the first chapter is dedicated to motivation, with Johnston acknowleding that people ride for many different reasons—and she helps the reader to identify for themselves what it is about riding that makes them choose to pursue the sport. From there, the book includes chapters on confidence (who doesn’t need more of that, right?), focus, energy, attitude, resilience and more. There is even a chapter on returning to the sport, whether it be after a fall, a significant break from riding, or a break from competing.

Johnston has included many personal anecdotes and fictionalized scenarios which help prevent the book from becoming too text-booky. Instead, it reads a little bit like the script to a TED talk—“here’s how I did it, and you can do it too!”.

She has also included quotes and feedback from top professionals, which I think is a good way of showing that even the best in the world have had their self-doubts and techniques like these have helped. The only downside to this—and this is going to sound trite but it is true—is that “celebrity status” in the horse industry can be fleeting, and if an author makes reference to too many former stars it can date the book.

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Bernie Traurig, coaching at a clinic in my area a few years back. With experience at the top levels of equestrian sport in three disciplines, he offered riders and auditors a wealth of knowledge.

Many of the individuals she quotes—Bernie Traurig, John French, Leslie Howard, for a few—are icons of the sport, but I know from personal experience as a teacher/educator that if I bring up these names, I am often met with blank stares from my students. Never mind those individuals whose time at the top was even more fleeting—the Olympic medalist who doesn’t have a string of horses and so faded back into the tapestry when their top horse retired, or the equitation champion whose transition to the adult divisions has not led to the same degree of success. On a weekly basis, I am left giving my students “Google homework” to look up someone who just a few years earlier would have been on the cover of every pre-eminent equestrian magazine.

AnnawithGregBEst
I was thrilled, almost ten years ago, to have the opportunity to clinic with my childhood idol, Greg Best. But many of my students don’t even know his name. Definite “Google homework”, in my book! And yes, I asked him to sign the poster I have of him and Gem Twist (he did).

So unfortunately, even for me, someone who recognized the names and respects their experience, some sections of this book felt dated, while others felt a little too “a la minute” in that the rider referenced sort of came and went so quickly that they don’t seem a relevant source. I am not sure that the 2019 equestrian is going to recognize that all of these sources have experience worth listening to. And I don’t think I needed them to make the book work.

But maybe none of this will bother you, and you will just take note that an “experienced horse person says that this technique works” and you will go try it for yourself. Which is the real point, I think.

I suspect that this is the sort of book you can read once, take away a few key concepts, then pick up again a year later and absorb a whole new insight. Mental preparation is sort of like developing riding skills—it takes practice and some commitment, and you get better at it with time. And I think our needs change over time, too—just read this forthright piece from Steffan Peters (and if you don’t know who he is…you have Google homework, too…).

4/5 stars

Book Reviews, Horse Care and Management

Book Review: The Five Horse Types in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine

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The Five Horse Types in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine by Dr. Ina Gösmeier

c 2014 (Appears to be self-published) 68 pages.

ISBN 978-3-00-0247569-6

One of the fundamental concepts in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is that all beings belong largely to one of the five basic elements—fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Knowing which of the elements most influence an individual can help TCM practitioners better determine the health challenges that individual is most likely to face, as well as how to best address them.

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Author Dr. med vet Ina Gösmeier is an accomplished German veterinarian and equestrian. Her vet practice is based on TCM, applied kinesiology and Chinese Herbology, and she has travelled with the German team to international championships, enhancing their performance using naturopathic methods. According to the bio in her book, she also teaches, writes and lectures extensively on the subject of holistic medicine in animals, particularly acupuncture and acupressure.

I am not prepared to give up Western medicine but I admit that TCM, with its whole body approach to healing, has a certain logic to it. Rather than just focusing on specific symptoms or disorders, TCM considers the overall balance of chi (sometimes spelled qi), which is an essential life force in the body. Acupuncture/acupressure, for example, seeks to rebalance the chi and restore its harmonious flow along the body’s meridians.

In this quick read book, Dr. Gösmeier explains that horses can be classified into one of five types—Gan/Liver, Shen/Kidney, Pi/Spleen, Xin/Heart, and Fei/Lung– and that identifying horse type can help vets practicing TCM to better predict the course and duration of a disease. Based on certain symptoms for each type, it is possible for a practitioner to identify when an animal is out of balance and in need of treatment. Sometimes these symptoms are behavioral, and have seemingly nothing to do with the source of the problem. Horses are classified by considering their mind/character, social behavior, rideability and physical characteristics.

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Image borrowed from The Naturally Healthy Horse; link provides a summary of the five horse types which is more clear than anything in this book.  But from the chart you can get a sense of how confusing it is even in English!

Each horse type has some positive and some negative characteristics. Some horses show traits of more than one type.

If you are intrigued by these concepts, and want to learn more—do not seek out this book. Originally written in German, it is possibly one of the poorest quality translations I have ever read. I am sure that trying to explain such unique and abstract concepts to any Westerner takes first, a fair degree of comprehension and understanding of the concepts to begin with, and second, requires the ability to break them down into smaller pieces. I would think that each word is carefully chosen, each phrase crafted to impart better clarity and meaning.

Quite simply, these concepts are lost in the translation. But it isn’t just the concepts—it is basic phrases and expressions too, things which someone who is bilingual enough to do a translation should be able to articulate more clearly. It is almost as though someone fed the document through Google Translate and hoped for the best.

I can only imagine that in the original German, this book would be much more enlightening!

1/5 stars

Book Reviews

Book Review: In the Middle are the Horsemen

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In the Middle are the Horsemen by Tik Maynard

c 2018 Trafalgar Square Books: North Pomfret, VT. 376 pages.

ISBN 978-1-57076-832-3

Most newly published authors do book tours—but for Tik Maynard, author of the 2018 memoir In the Middle are the Horsemen, it somehow seems appropriate that he has instead been doing clinic after clinic up here in New England, offering guidance not just on riding but also ground work exercises for horses of all ages. I’m not really sure how well known he was up here before giving a keynote speech at the Area I Annual Meeting in January, but after this year, you would be hard pressed to find a New England event rider who hasn’t at least heard this Florida based trainer’s name.

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Tik Maynard at the Area I Annual Meeting January 2018

Maynard’s approach to training is positive and pro-horse. It is fair and it is humane. And what he has been able to do so successfully is fuse the perspectives of trainers who are from the “classical school”, who are usually focused on producing animals for sport, with the viewpoints of trainers who are from the “natural horsemanship/cowboy school”, whose training objectives tend to be more utilitarian. This book chronicles Maynard’s journey to get to this place.

I first became exposed to some of Maynard’s ideas through an article he wrote for Practical Horseman, in which he detailed ground work exercises for event horses. I was struck then by both his thoughtfulness and introspection in the descriptions he gave of the work and rationale. I enjoyed the piece so much that I pulled it for future reference, something I would suggest doing if you come across his articles in the future.

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Izzy and I had the opportunity to work with Tik at a clinic at Fox Hill Equestrians in Barnstead, NH, in May 2018.

Normally I don’t expect that someone who is only in their mid-thirties has really lived enough life to warrant writing their memoir, but in this case, Maynard has done a great job of focusing his story on the years that followed a cross roads in life which most readers (and riders) can identify with—picking up the pieces when the direction you thought your life was going doesn’t pan out. Maynard chose to take advantage of this unsettling life phase to become a working student, and aimed for the top. It is through his three years of experience as an underling to some of the best equestrians in the world that we watch a young man turn into a truly independent, self-confident adult who believes in himself and his training philosophy.

This book is an easy and engaging read. Maynard writes in a clear prose and with the wisdom of being able to look back a decade later on his experiences, he is able to offer deeper insights into his motivations, his thought processes and the lessons that he took away from it all. As he moves from one apprenticeship to another throughout the story, the reader can almost feel the growing pains he experiences as he works to integrate new knowledge and understanding with preconceived ideas and beliefs.

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What is perhaps most impressive is that Maynard lets us see his journey in full resolution—unlike some memoirs which only focus on the positive highlights, In the Middle are the Horsemen travels through the potholes and valleys, the moments of darkness and self doubt, the times where choices made had unexpected, negative consequences. It is perhaps because of this honesty that the other elements of the story have greater resonance.

Overall, In the Middle are the Horsemen is a worthwhile read, enjoyable and insightful, funny and engaging. I suspect that there is something in here which most readers—both equestrians and non—will connect with. Perhaps it would make the perfect gift this holiday season?

5/5 stars

 

Book Reviews

Book Review:  Making it Happen: The Autobiography

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Making it Happen: The Autobiography by Carl Hester

c 2014 Orion Books: London, UK. 260 pages.

ISBN 978 1 409 14767 1

Autobiography, biography and memoir have almost always been “off” my reading list, but with an increased exposure recently to this nonfiction genre through my M.F.A. program, I have become more open minded. I picked up Making it Happen, the autobiography of Carl Hester, last fall after attending his NEDA Symposium.  The book is written in Hester’s voice–and the text has the unpolished quality of someone who does not write professionally—but on the back inside cover jacket it indicates the book was co-authored by equestrian journalist Bernadette Hewitt, whom Carl affectionately refers to throughout as “Bernie”. While it is no literary masterpiece, this book delivers on its promise to tell “the incredible story of one of the world’s greatest equestrians”.

If you are looking for insight into the training techniques, horse selection criteria or the horsemanship philosophy of Hester…well, this is not your book. But if you are a person who wants to believe that someone from modest beginnings can really make it to the top of a wealth infused sport like dressage—then read on.

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Ok, so my copy wasn’t “updated with a new postscript”…maybe this is the reference to the 2016 Games?

The opening chapter shows us Hester at the London Olympics, just moments before the British team clinches an historic gold medal on home turf.  From this career high, Hester then takes readers on the journey from his youth on the Channel Island of Sark, to boarding school and on through his rise up the ranks of equestrian sport– detailing his apprenticeships, hard horses, risky gambles and sometimes tumultuous professional relationships– to become the king of British Dressage. In 2016, Hester became a five-time Olympian with his appearance in Rio; he also is or has been the coach of all the riders on both the 2012 and 2016 squads, including two time gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin, riding Hester’s own Valegro. Perhaps the story of the 2016 Games might become an appendix if there is ever an update to the 2014 edition.

At times irreverent, only vaguely self-reflective and greatly entertaining, Hester is a lively story teller. There are many, many occasions in this book where he makes reference to someone by their first name only, and I was frequently left feeling as though I had skipped a chapter or missed a page somewhere. His prose is suggestive of the one way dialogue of someone who has drank too much coffee, when the listener can do little more than nod and murmur “oh dear” or “of course” at relevant moments. In reading the chapters, I was left feeling somewhat out of breath by the rapid fire pace of transmission—but yet still felt compelled to turn the pages. Hester takes you along for the ride.

I am not one to believe that someone is inherently interesting just because they are a celebrity, and perhaps that is partially why this particular written genre has never really appealed to me. But it can be heartening for those of us in the trenches, as it were, to remember and recognize that even the greatest of riders are people too, and that we all make mistakes. In Making It Happen, Hester owns the errors of his past and reveals his moments of hubris in equal balance to those occasions in which his good choices were deliberate or he was able to stand firm to his principles despite detractors. Perhaps one of the hardest parts of writing memoir or autobiography is to reveal the warts and dark moments; in his book, Hester does not shy from them. As a both a writer and a human, I appreciated that.

I would recommend Making it Happen to any equestrian, but I think it will be the dressage enthusiast who enjoys this story the most. When the world of “penguin suited fancy prancers” can start to feel a little too much—pick this book up. And recognize that even one of the best in the world is able to not take themselves too seriously.

4/5 stars

 

Book Reviews

Book Review: Training Horses the Ingrid Klimke Way

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Training Horses the Ingrid Klimke Way by Ingrid Klimke

c 2016 Trafalgar Square Publishing, North Pomfret, VT. 163 pages.

ISBN 978-1-57076-826-2

If you have read any of my previous reviews of Klimke’s work (including her updates and revisions to her father’s original texts), it is no secret that I am an uber fan-girl of Ms. Klimke and really idolize the focus, talent, compassion and effectiveness she brings to her horsemanship. The fact that she also is a mother and wife, writes books and articles and seems to sometimes to also take vacations only adds to her superwoman status.  So it is with the utmost respect and honor that I say that this particular book was not my favorite out of all of the Klimke collection.

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That is not to say that it is a bad book.  It just feels rather…unfocused. In less than two hundred pages, readers get an overview of her principles for training, a snap shot of each phase of work (broken down by warm up, each gait, cool down, cavalettis, etc.) and then offers a brief profile of each of her ten competition horses, revealing their specific training protocols based on their strengths, weaknesses and personalities. We also cover her mentors, support team, and preferred tack. It is a lot of content, and a broad range to cover, and I guess based on the title that is what the reader should be expecting.

The problem I had is that, after having read her other books, this one just seems to gloss over the most important concepts.  I guess it isn’t possible to take the deep dive into a particular facet of training that we do when the whole book is dedicated to that particular topic; in Cavaletti, for example, Klimke is able to break down the steps to introduce cavaletti to a horse, and then details the systematic increase in demands which one can place on the horse through the use of ever evolving cavaletti and gymnastic exercises.

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I was inspired to build these cavaletti and incorporate their use more into my horses’ training after reading Klimke’s update of her father’s book. I try to set up a new arrangement each Monday.

With all that being said—for someone who is looking for more of an overview to Klimke’s system, this book will certainly grant you that.  It is wonderfully illustrated—the woman seems incapable of taking a bad picture—and each photo shows a joyful horse, well presented. Klimke’s tone is one of modesty and humbleness; she is always a student of the horse. Klimke, who was awarded the title of Riding Master by the German Equestrian Federation in 2012, says that to do justice to this status, “I train further, question myself, consider the views of others, and remain open to all riding styles.  Anyone who cares to be a good rider must first of all work on herself: on her inner bearing, her general attitude toward horses, her physical readiness (of course), and on giving aids clearly and “with feel” for the horse” (Klimke, 2016, p xiii). In my opinion, this is an attitude which more American trainers would be wise to embrace.

As always, I still took away pearls from Klimke. For example, Klimke’s horses are all turned out every day, sometimes in groups—even her top mounts.  It is an important part of their program to maintain their mental and physical health. “To me, it seems obvious that performance horses should be kept in the way that is most appropriate to their species.  This means, they get to move freely every day, whether in a paddock or out at pasture. They need social contact or their herd, in order for them to feel safe and well….In my experience, horses that are turned out regularly rarely hurt themselves” (Klimke, 2016, p. 30-31).

Each chapter heading begins with a summary which is excellent in its brevity and clarity; it is like a little nugget which you could read before you ride just to keep your focus sharp, or pin to your computer to meditate on when taking a break from work.  For example, in her chapter on “The Warm-Up Phase”, Klimke writes, “Take enough time to warm up and come together with your partner. This goes for horses of any age and is important both physically and mentally” (Klimke, 2016, p.56).

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Mastering the perfect warm up is an ever evolving process.  Anna, in December of 2016.

One of the other aspects of this book with I appreciated was the credit which Klimke gives to her own mentors and coaches, all of whom she considers part of her team and a critical key to her success, as well as her grooms, stable managers and equine health support team. She expresses gratitude to and offers credit to her horses’ owners for remaining steadfast through the inevitable ups and downs of the training process, and also acknowledges the support of her family. No one can reach the kinds of lofty aspirations which Klimke does without such a network, and it was quite refreshing to get a glimpse into that world for this rider.

So if you are interested in sweeping overview of Klimke’s approach to developing her horses, this book would be a great place to start. I know that some sections of the book are already out of date (for example, in 2017, Klimke retired one of her rising stars, SAP Escada FRH,  due to injury; she describes Escada in the book as “absolutely the best horse I have had under saddle to date” (Klimke, 2016, p. 121)), but for most readers, these factors will do little to detract from the rest of the content.

4/5 stars

 

Book Reviews

Book Review:  Real Life Dressage: Training Advice from Novice to Grand Prix

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Real Life Dressage: Training Advice from Novice to Grand Prix by Carl Hester and Polly Ellison

c 2004 Kenilworth Press Ltd. Addington, Buckingham, U.K. 120 pages.

ISBN 1-872119-49-2

After attending the NEDA Fall Symposium with Carl Hester in October of 2017, I became more interested in understanding some of the philosophy behind his training methods.  I came across his book, Real Life Dressage: Training Advice from Novice to Grand Prix, and thought the concept looked interesting; Hester would discuss the process of his training through the lens of his own horses, starting with expectations of a four or five year old and progressing through Grand Prix.  Hester described each of the horses as not being perfect, since the perfect horse does not exist.  Instead, he detailed how he planned to work through their unique challenges.

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This concept related quite well to some of the ideas which Hester shared during the Symposium; to wit, to overcome a horse’s challenges one must use their strengths.  In the book’s introduction, Hester writes, “Difficult horses can become good horses….it is important not to give up until you are absolutely sure it’s not going to work.  If there is a glimmer of hope, it is worth persevering” (Hester, 2004, p. 9). All of the horses he highlights in the book, including his famous Escapado, his 2004 Olympic mount, are in training for the Grand Prix.

The most helpful chapter to me was number two: “Top Dressage Horses—Are They Born or Made?”, in which Hester details what he looks for in a young dressage horse.  In particular, he wants good gaits, with emphasis on the walk and canter, a good temperament, and rideability.  Many of Hester’s horses were purchased by him, either alone or in partnership, and developed through his program.  The man clearly has an eye for a horse, and he coaches that if one can find a quality horse young enough, a top flight horse might well be within the purchasing capacity of many riders.

Escapado at the 2004 Olympics

Throughout the book, I could clearly hear the repetition of themes which Hester is still preaching today. He discusses the importance of not drilling, especially on a youngster.  And that horses must be horses—they enjoy turn out and hacking and sometimes will spook, not to be naughty but because it is the prerogative of the species. One great quote was that overcoming this behavior is “…a matter of confidence, which is built up by repetition rather than reprimand” (Hester, 2004, p 43).

Since this book is nearly fifteen years old, it was interesting to Google the names of the horses which he describes and to learn the arc of their careers. Most were sold but had successful show careers through the FEI levels, some stood at stud, and some are now deceased. Reading a slightly older book like this feels like when you find a new TV series several years in; you can quickly scan ahead and find out what becomes of your favorite characters and decide whether you want to keep watching.

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Overall, this book is an easy read and I think if you take it for what it is—a quick snap shot into the training system of one trainer—then you will find it enjoyable and some comments perhaps useful.  If you are looking for something which is in depth, a robust analysis into a training system for “real life” horses—this book is not that. The horses Hester is working with are genetically blessed and the discussion of each is fairly basic.  The struggles they face surely mirror the same ones faced by riders on “normal” horses, but of course, the scale is tipped quite a bit in their favor.

3.5/5 Stars