Jason McInnes - Performance Training and Horsemanship

An unstarted horse is like a blank canvas waiting to be transformed into something more. The human's quest is for a better relationship and clearer communication between themselves and their horse in a kind and natural way. Like any creative endeavour, the process is accumulatively progressive; it involves a clear vision, patience, self-discipline and an ability to work thru any number of unforeseen obstacles with an open mind.

This is my philosophy with horse education and I believe that horses and people are never too old to learn new ways or change old habits.

"I'm not right or wrong; I just have a unique set of training values."

There are many ways to educate a horse, it's choosing one that works for the horse and yields the rider with the results they have in mind.

Working with horses is like building houses, they are only as strong mentally, emotionally and physically as the first foundations that were layed and built upon.

Fortunately, horses are forgiving creatures, but occassionaly the communication between people and horses breaks down, that's where I can help build bridges of communication between you and your horse.

If you have a young horse, you will want to be sure it has the right foundation education developed from the beginning.

My philosophy is to work with the horse making the right choice their idea. A horse always "speaks" the truth. Fortunately, I have dedicated my life, learning to understand their needs so that you and your horse have the ability to enjoy the true potential of each other.

Horsemanship and what it means to me

Horsemanship was born out of a desire to help humans to communicate with horses. There's no science degree attached to the skills needed to become good with horses and I would also say it's not even a discipline. Today's horsemanship is about re-interpreting knowledge that's been around for centuries and adapting it to modern day circumstances and eventually using it at your chosen discipline.

"You create your own universe as you go along." W. Churchhill

Being able to interpret horses actions and reactions enables us to understand how the horse behaves. It's essential to bear in mind that everything a horse does is dictated by its nature. It is untrue and unfair to say that a horse acts against its rider, its simply acting according to its nature when it has not understood what is being asked from its human. The horse has evolved over millions of years simply through the ability to defend itself against yesterday year predators like the lion and tiger. Today's predator the human, is trying to develop a partnership which isn't a natural one to the horse, and therefore the communication between horse and human needs to be presented in a way in which the horse understands, and it makes sense to them. Once this understanding has been developed (set of guiding principals), anything can be achieved with the horse.

My training philosophy

There are as many opinions about horse training as there are horse trainers. Any body and every body who comes in contact with a horse is a horse trainer, whether you think you are or not. The reason for this is we are influencing horses every minute of every day that we are around them. This comes in the form of our body language and physical contact. Believe it or not, all training methods work! The catch is - on some horses.

The good news is, contrary to common belief, there are some methods that will work on ALL horses. Fortunately, horses and humans are never too old to learn new ways or change bad habits. My concern isn't about what the horse has done before or what possible negative experiences the horse may have had in the past. The horse's past is helpful in developing a lesson plan but from the day we meet, I deal with today only. We can't change the fact that someone has mistreated the horse or that someone has trained it badly, so it's pointless spending time dwelling on it. The problem is NOW. Sometimes we get so caught up in the cause of the problem that we lose focus on what we can do to change the horse for the better, TODAY.

"Keep a molehill, a molehill. This too shall pass, look for a solution."

The horse is a very adaptable animal, more so than a human, and quite capable of changing its behavioral patterns once given the opportunity to make it own decisions. Horses by nature will always look for the easy way out of an uncomfortable situation. So buy releasing the pressure when the horse offers the desired response, & allowing the horse to relax and think about what has just taken place, this is how we are able to educate and establish desirable behavioral patters with the horse.

The great trainers from all disciplines believe that no horse is either vicious or beyond being educated. Educating horses is a cumulative journey, each step will build on the information presented in previous lessons. I believe patience, knowledge and forgiveness are the only traights we need to educate a horse. Patience that our horses give us in all the mistakes we make and most of the time we don't even know we are making one. Normally, when we run out of Knowledge we generally run out of patience, and Forgiveness in the horse is the very quality that allows us to ride them, change their past, or even shape a bright future.

Horsemanship to me is about keeping an open mind to the information presented, the situations we're placed in, the teaching styles available and the different types of horses I come across every day. I would like to acknowledge the great horseman and horsewomen who have influenced me over the years from all around the world.

Remember: "I know no more than you do about horses and horse training, I just know different things." J. Lyons

Jason McInnes - Performance Training and Horsemanship

- www.jasonmcinnes.com.au











































Ponies for Sale: www.girl.com.au/ponies-for-sale.htm