Taking a Whole Horse View
by
Joe and Kim Andrews
You’ve heard it said, “To a hammer, every problem is a nail.” This speaks to the tendency of looking for answers to our problems within our area of expertise, or the area of expertise of our chosen consultant. How much more would our horses benefit if we didn’t limit ourselves to one area, but took a “whole horse” view?
What if we took this a step further into the arena of preventive care? What if we combined that with how we trained and rode our horses in a whole horse view approach. How would our horses benefit if we looked at the big picture, and everything we did worked together with their natural systems to help them become the best they could be? At Mountain Magic Ranch in Loveland Colorado, we take just such an approach.
Following Pete Ramey’s method of using the live sole as a baseline for where to trim, Joe’s hoof trimming simulates ideal wear. The horse’s internal hoof maintenance mechanism can then grow an ideal hoof. Many hoof pathologies can be remodeled with this process. When the horse’s hoof is corrected, not only his movement, but also his attitude improves.
Our training also works with the horse’s natural abilities. Instead of thinking in terms of a conditioned response cue system, our goal is to get the horse to actively seek out our intentions. By noticing the smallest change and rewarding the slightest try we teach the horse to follow our releases. Riding any movement then becomes a matter of having the horse in the right shape and balance, and releasing him into the movement. Getting the horse to do any particular gait is a matter of simply riding that gait, and the horse follows the rider’s rhythm, energy, and balance into the desired gait.
Understanding the tremendous effect riders have on their horse’s movement, we teach people to ride using the principles Sally Swift shares in her books Centered Riding, and Centered Riding 2: Further Exploration. Sally’s “four basics and grounding,” along with her mental images, put the rider in a correct balanced position without the motion inhibiting tension often associated with head up, shoulders back, chest out, heals down, instruction.
We tell people that our approach is not about the equipment, but we use the equipment we use because we have found it to be effective. A good example of this are the wool saddle pads Kim hand makes. She uses all natural colored Navaho Churro wool roving, and hooks it through a rug canvas. The resulting pad compresses easily, but not completely. Conforming to the horse’s back while allowing air flow. You can’t fix a saddle fit issue with a pad, but we have seen a number of horses relax and move more freely in this pad.
No matter what your chosen discipline or training style, your horse will have a better, longer, and healthier life if you have a whole horse view.
For more information, or to contact Joe and Kim Andrews, http://holistic-herd.com/mountain-magic-ranch/
