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This is an article that everyone should read. It's something that I say with a LOT less eloquence when people start throwing big rubber balls at their horses. "Bomb-proof" ain't everything.

Any opinions?

http://horsesenseandcents.com/blog/1094/do-we-really-want-to-try-to-train-horses-to-be-unflappable/

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Jackie, I do not think you or the author of that piece are as alone as you think.  Ronnie has been saying for years, pretty much the same exact thing.  I've heard him reference  individuals who claim horses can become "hard mouthed".  He maintains there is no such thing.  It's how PEOPLE think.  What happens is, the horse just stops paying attention.  This is only one example among many.  Many human beings have become so desensitized to social atrocities that they are no longer moved to action.  I believe that is one reason our country has become so complacent...or "hard-headed"...desensitization.  Ronnie cautions people all the time about trying to work a formula based on a clinician and what he does.  Many times I've heard Ronnie say, "I listen to what a client tells me, but I get the truth from the horse".  Each horse is as individual as each human.  What works with one does not necessarily work for another.  As Ronnie says, each client and horse comes with their own set of baggage...and he has the job of sorting the laundry to figure out what belongs to the horse and what belongs to the client before any real progression toward successful training can commence.  There's much truth in that article.  Thank you for posting!

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Jackie, thanks for a very good article.  It goes to the heart of what I've been trying to teach horses and riders for years.  It's virtually impossible to desentize a horse to every situation that you may come across. You can however teach him how to deal with fear and that is " no matter if the world is falling apart, don't move your feet until I ask".

Desensitizing is not TRAINING, it is an attempt to condition.  I just got a mule in for training that was desensitzed to the point that he takes one look at a human and tries to figure out what are you going to scare me with next and his response is. "see ya later".

I've always said that horses that are spooks, will teach riders to be spooks and riders that are spooks will teach horses to be spooks.  The funny thing is nobody ever gets disappointed, they always find the spook. Now I'm pretty certain all the grizzly bears in Fl. are long gone and if we do happen up on an alligator or rattlesnake, "I'm sitting way up here and I bet I can out run either one of them, even on a 3 legged horse.

What we should be teaching these horses is to trust enough to turn loose to us and let us handle it.  Kinda like your relationship with the good Lord. All of that is done thru training. I try to teach my horses to stay between the bridle reins and between my legs, anything else that is going on out there is none of his business.  Kinda like training your boyfriend or husband when you take him to the mall. "Don't be looking at those young girls in those short short dresses.

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Bev and Ronnie,

Ya know I've ridden for years, and when I was working in my former profession, I rode a LOT of dinks. I'm not going to say there aren't rogues out there, but for the most part, I could take something that no one else could get along with and make a pretty decent horse out of it with a few wet saddle blankets and a "go to work" attitude.

I knew this old hand that used to say,  "Ya gotta ride with expectation. If you expect that horse to do well, he'll do as well as he can. If you expect him to be a dink, you'll turn the best horse into a dink". He's right! I don't need a horse that can get hit on the head repeatedly with something and not move. I need a horse that can move when he needs to, with control and confidence. I want a partner on that ride, not a slave.

Ronnie, quit looking at those girls in short dresses. . . . . . Most of them are ugly from the neck up and their mother dresses them funny.