Training tip-C Continued

C Continued

Consistency

I will never forget the day that my trainer told me I needed to be consistent with my draft's training. Things weren't going that well and I was not thrilled with him to say the least. My efforts to reinforce what my trainer taught him were almost non existent.

She looked at me and said, "Loretta, you need to be consistent with him. This is a horse that will always need this type of work, it's just who he is. He needs to know what to expect from you, where you are in his herd. And he needs consistency in your training. Start at the same easy place for him each time. Always end on a good note. If he learns something new really quickly, just end there sometimes. He needs you to approach him the same way, feed him the same way." You get the picture.

I freaked out. Why you ask? That's not such a big deal you say. Well, to me, it was. I was not being consistent with much of anything in my life, never mind my horse. About two weeks later the same trainer says to me, "Loretta, how do you disciplin your kids?" I was confused. How could that have anything to do with my horse???? She asked again. I replied with a rather meek, "Well, I usually send them to the stairs or to their room if they've done something bad." Ok, I'm thinking. Where is she going with this? I was astonished when she replied, "I'm going to guess that you are not very consistent with their disciplin(when needed)." If I was confused before, this put me over the top! It was true. I am a wimpy mom. I am the fun one, the one that teaches them to smell the manure-ah-roses, the one that laughs with them when an adult should not be laughing. But discipline, NOT my strong point AT ALL-ever.

So it hit me. I had heard of people with horses that had life lessons to teach them. Some even say that the horse you need comes into your life for that very reason. I never really thought it could happen. There I was, face to face with my huge draft horse, and I'm thinking, is this for real? You are trying to teach me stuff that doesn't just apply to you-to us?

More on this later......

Loretta
20/20 Horsemanship