HORSE PARENTSIf you have been 'convinced' that your son or daughter MUST have a horse, well welcome to the Horse Parents Help page. IHI would like to congratulate you on entering the wonderful world of the horse. There is no other creature in the world that can compare to a horse. Your new found friend will provide both exhilarating days and excruciating days. The horse has over the centuries evolved into the most beautiful moving, free running, awe inspiring reflection of 'nature in its finest form', to a point where we believe it is the one animal that has served man's quest of discovery, conquering, working, transporting, carrying far more than any other creature on the earth. Paradoxically, the horse and man should never be friends by nature. Man is the "ultimate" predator, if he can't tame something he will kill it. Horse is a true example of the "ultimate" prey animal, skeptical, cowardly, claustrophobic, panicky and fast fleeing, evolving to the point where their legs can carry them at great speed for extremely long distances. Everything a human wants to do with or to a horse is (by nature) is exactly the opposite of what a horse would want for himself.
So what is the answer? Well, nature also provided us with the KEY to horses by allowing horses to become 'desensitised' to frightening stimulus. With the right amount of 'scary' stimulus applied and in the right timeframe, the horse can learn to handle almost anything. Nature also provided as part of the horse a very natural place for the human to sit - just think about how many other animals have a ready made 'seat area' for us to use, in addition try and think of any other animal that looks so good with a human on there back?? All of that said, many well meaning friends, equestrian places and neighbours have "helped" new Horse Parents get started with their horses in the past and in so doing have exacerbated a number of Myths, here are 4 that really stand out:
IHI believe all these myths are totally against all the principles of good Horsemanship. The horse doesn't need a boss he needs a leader. We won't have you starting in the saddle, we will help you gain the horse's trust and then become the horse's leader on the ground first, after all this is where most of your time as a parent will be spent with your child's horse, right? We will then happily show you how to, not just saddle up and get on, as this is where many accidents happen, because the horse is NOT prepared for the saddle and rider. Then we will present to you a polite and extremely safe way of asking your horse to go and slow. We will also show you the most effective riding dynamics which help the rider help the horse. At IHI we would love to help you have many more Exhilarating days, rather than excruciating ones. The way we can best do that is help you:-
IHI has pleasure in conducting a special 4 day course (or 1 day over 4 weekends) which provides the ‘NEW’ horse parent with all the safety and basic skills they need to allow them to enjoy their new horse and help their child during the often harrowing first weeks and months of ownership. There are no pre-requisites for this course, and though it is optimal if you have a horse, IHI can provide you with a loan horse for the course. For general details of a similar course go to Weekend Intensive Courses If you would like to attend a Horse Parents Course check for the next scheduled course or Book Now |