Although I feel through my experience that all horses should have exposure to “The Basics”, I feel just as strongly that each horse must be handled based on their individual characters.

No steps of basic ground work and ground manners should be skipped for a thorough training regimen, however you will come across horses who will either catch on extremely quickly and others who will need more time for each stage of training.

I feel it is of the utmost importance that a trainer can recognize these differences in character and adjust themselves to accommodate each individual horse’s training accordingly. This theory does not apply only to the physical attributes and capabilities but his or her character as well.

As we all know our horses display all sorts of behaviors to each other as well as to us that are quite specific. Some are bold and challenging, others fearful , timid, and flighty and yet others who seem not to bother much with any of their surroundings and go about their business regardless of what is asked of them. Sort of predisposed or preoccupied.

So therefore it is to our benefit that we as humans can adjust and recognize what needs these horses have in order to accomplish the goals set for each one.

While in Germany the one common denominator that was very apparent with all the different trainers I had the good fortune to study under, was that in all stages of their training was that the foundation, the building blocks, were not compromised ever. For youngsters, time was spent to develop their physical strength to the utmost for that individual’s stage of development before moving on to anything else.

For horses in retraining or rehabilitation again strength and physical being was at the top of the list.  For senior horses, extra time for their physical well being in that warm up and stretching time before and after a session was a must. I could appreciate the positive effects this had on all the horses that I had the opportunity to work with it was clearly evident that they were happy, healthy, willing animals. At times though it did seem a bit to strategic to me, too text book.

The other side of my experience comes from a long history of equestrian arts and exhibition as my great, great grandfather was a world renowned horse trainer as well as his son after him, then my mother thereafter. This school of horsemanship was more geared toward communication my family was well known for intricate and complicated Liberty work and specialty exhibition training. The horse’s individual characteristics were held in high regard. They were watched intensively at play with each other to be able to use their own specific attributes. Training was done to enhance what they naturally enjoyed doing. An example would be, the young stallions would be playing and my grand father would watch to see which of them were on their hind legs in play more than others, which ones were well balanced? When he saw that he would then later in training (after the basics Of Course) use those horses for the airs above the ground and hind leg walk or pirouettes on the hind legs.

With that, I have developed a combination of classical training and natural communication according to each horse’s individuality. Regardless of the chosen discipline i.e., Dressage, Liberty, Western . . . .  I have found that this marriage of concepts works extremely well.

Beyond that I am an advocate of allowing horses to be horses to have time to play, graze, run, and roll, it keeps them happy and more willing to work when asked. As well as human contact trainer/owner not only during work or training but to bond with them and be a part of their world in a positive and loving manner.