Two as One Horsemanship

Instructional Videos – A Survivor’s Guide

By Bob Jeffreys & Suzanne Sheppard

Most people who love horses want to learn as much as they can about riding or training. One way to go about gaining this knowledge is by watching video tapes offered by famous trainers, clinicians or riding instructors. There are certainly many worthwhile productions on the market and it is not our intention to downplay the information contained therein. Our purpose in writing this particular article is simply to clarify and emphasize that the performers in the video are professionals. They tend to make things look easy because they are very good at what they do. When we try to duplicate their actions we might find things are often much more difficult than they first appear and could even dangerous!

Horses, on average, weigh about one thousand pounds, are ten times stronger and move at least ten time more quickly that we do. Our failure to remember these facts when working with these magnificent animals could result in severe injury or even worse. We need to be careful when entering a round pen with an “unbroke” horse, when trying to load one into a trailer or when attempting to teach any other lesson that might be dangerous. If you are an experienced horse-person you can often see the extremely subtle changes in the performer’s attitude, body position, or their recognition of and reaction to a horse’s intention before the action itself even occurs. For example, a trainer senses that a horse is about to bite or charge and will discourage that negative thought before it becomes an action.

You may also be able to see the difference between what is being “said” versus what is being “done”. If so, you can benefit greatly from the information presented. Even if you don’t agree completely, you may wish to adapt a portion of it to your own particular style of training.

However, if you’re just beginning to train or attempting to do something unfamiliar, then you’re more than likely to miss some of these nuances. That little tidbit you miss might get you into a world of trouble. Most videotapes are presented as finished products which have been edited to eliminate some boring footage or perhaps a mishap that might have occurred along the way. You may be shown one horse at the beginning, a different horse in the middle and yet another horse at the end of the tape. This should be a tip off that you won’t be able to complete the training of your own horse in the 45 – 90 minute time frame allotted in the video. If what you’re trying to do deals with something relatively simple and safe, by all means, try it. When attempting more dangerous lessons, you’d be well advised to watch the video and then seek professional advice to help “fill in the blanks” for you.

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Instructional Videos – A Survivor’s Guide