Читать книгу Finding the Missed Path. The Art of Restarting Horses онлайн

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I have recounted this story to a number of people over the years with varied reactions. The most common one is disbelief that something as simple as an introduction between us, the way we had set it up, would have such a profound impact on a horse as troubled as this one was. I understand why some folks might feel that way. After all, seldom are we taught to look for simple solutions when working with troubled horses. Rather, we are often taught that the bigger the problems, the more we have to do.

But the truth is that quite often when a horse is really troubled it’s because there’s already been too much done to him, or he has already been under too much pressure. As I said, like water boiling in a pot, turning the heat up does nothing to cool the water inside. Sometimes, the solution is simply to find a way to get the heat turned down. It’s finding that starting point that allows the horse to tell us what he really needs, instead of what we think he needs.

When I was young, I worked for an old horseman who made a living buying and selling horses. There didn’t seem to be many criteria for the horses he would buy other than they needed to be cheap. Size, color, breed, temperament, and even unwanted or potentially dangerous behavior all took a back seat to the price he would ultimately have to pay for an animal. After all, the less he had to pay up front, the more room there would be eventually for profit when he resold him. And sell the horse he would, but only after months and sometimes years of diligent and consistent work and handling.