"It's Never to Late"
Proverbs 15:4
A gentle tongue [with its healing power] is a tree of life, but willful contrariness in it breaks down the spirit.
How many time have you found yourself frustrated with your horse? I have and many times I have regretted getting frustrated and yelling at my horse. Yes, I to am human. Now it doesn’t happen very often, and when I feel myself getting frustrated I will take a break from training and cool off and re-think the step x step plan to help the horse understand what I want her to learn. Horses are not vindictive and only want to find the right answers, we must remember that and keep our frustrations out of training.
When dealing with a horse that has had there spirit broken down, it is even more important to have a gentle hand and gentle voice when working with them. Not to say that I won’t add pounds to the pressure I am using in training the horse, but I will always be aware of how very sensitive the broken and fearful horse can be and only use enough pressure to get the response that I want and then give the horse a release from the pressure to reward the horse.
Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the mind and healing to the body.
Willow is doing quite well. Janelle is learning the Ground Work Foundation and then continuing Willows training with the Ground Work program. Ground work establishes a trusting partnership between horse and human. It is one way to start getting the horse to use it’s mind to understand what we want and helps the horse learn to trust again. By moving the horses feet and then controlling the direction and speed, we are able to help the horse focus not on fear, but on the task at hand. This then gives the horse a clear direction and a clear correct answer which helps the horse see the reward and let go of her fear. It also demonstrates to the horse that we are her trusted leader and that we will be some one she can follow and depend on.
Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TscLONwx7vI&feature=youtu.be to watch video blog
We have great responsibility when working with our horses. They do not understand our fears and our anger. We must take them for the gentle spirits that they are and mold them into obedient and trusting partners without damaging their spirit. I see so many trainers that look at the horse as an object or a machine with one purpose and that is to obey and follow commands. There is no “relationship” and the horse becomes a blank slate of emotion that seems to have its spirit erased. This is not how God made horses and this is not how God made us. God made both humans and the horse to be a “herd/family” being that need each other to survive. Not only physically, but emotionally as well. God can use us to help heal the broken horse and He can use us to help heal the broken spirit of his children as well. We just have to be open to God’s forgiveness and be a vessel of His healing power to others.
Proverbs 17:22
A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
Sponsored by: Tucker Trail Saddles www.tuckersaddles.com
, she is determined to overcome her physical disabilities and compete in Cowboy Racing. Her horse Shilo was rescued by me twice, yes twice. Many years ago I found him, starving and unbroke. I adopted him myself, rehabilitated him and found him a new home. Unfortunately, he fell into bad hands after he left my home and had a rough life for several years before God sent him to me again, in need of rescuing. Patti, also needed a little rescuing herself and so the two of them healed each other. Two years later the two of them are inseparable and a beautiful example of how horses and humans can renew joy in their lives together. 
