10 minute read
Glenn Stewart Close Up
By Glenn Stewart
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This is a question I was asked to write about. Here are some thoughts I had around that topic...
Hard to trailer load. Won’t slow down. Can’t get him to go. Won’t stand to be mounted. Won’t stand to be saddled. Can’t take him away from the other horses. Can’t ride with other horses. Spooks at things. Jigs on the trail. Bad with his feet. Hard to catch. Pulls back. Bucks when I try to canter. Doesn’t lead very well. Kicks at other horses. Horse doesn’t mind stepping on the owner or running into them. Doesn’t like water. Can’t ride him through mud. Runs up all the hills. Pins his ears at feeding time. Only spooky inside arenas, only spooky outside. Bangs his head in the trailer. Tosses his head. Hard to bridle. Hard to needle. Hard to worm. Can’t get a right lead. Can’t get a left lead. Jumps too high. Won’t jump. Aggressive to other horses. Can’t get him to quit bucking. He’s got a hard mouth. T he list goes on and you’re welcome to add any that you can think of. These are just a few that crop up regularly; I’m not sure which is the most common. I think I was meant to pick an issue and give an answer. A person might take a more lateral approach and talk about something that could benefit all these areas of issue.
The list above of can’t, won’t, doesn’t, hard to, is very common with the horse owning public but does not have to be.
I could pick one but thought it more effective to talk about something deeper than what is on the surface; and that is: being open to learning. I have found that the more I learn, the more I see the value in being open to learn and the more I actually learn to learn. I wish I would have been blessed to be the perfect student. When a person starts a young horse, if they know what to look for, they can witness the horse slowly learning to learn. The horse learns from the herd but is not used to learning from humans.
I thought I was open to learning, because my first clinic for 2 days cost $300 and I organized it for 3 months prior. My next clinic cost me $15,000 for a 3-month course and that was 25 years ago. A lot of money today; and quite a bit more back then. That sounds like someone that surely must be open to learning. Looking back, there were many things that I did or didn’t do that really affected the pace at which I learnt. At times pride and ego got in my way, at other times my ability to be able to really stay focused on what I should be doing slowed things down. I didn’t know that watching and then doing was only one of the ways to learn; it was just the way I preferred to do it.
Over time it was shown to me that reading and writing about the things I was learning were very valuable. I refer to things now that I wrote down 10 years ago. I just wanted to do it, not read or write about it. I barely wanted to talk about it, let’s just get on with it. That whole ‘charge straight ahead’ thinking gets in the way of good horsemanship. Reading, writing and watching DVDs alone is also very ineffective for good horsemanship. There is no substitute for experience, but back it up with the reading, writing and watching. Some people have a much more open to learning attitude and they are always the ones that go the furthest the fastest with their horses regardless of their physical abilities. After 25 years of teaching horsemanship clinics it has been proven to me over and over. That is not to say do whatever a person tells you because there will be lots of information that you might want to stay away from. If the person
giving the advice has any of the earlier mentioned problems with their horse and doesn’t know how to fix them or says that it can’t be fixed or the horse likes acting that way, a fella might want to look for a different source for advice.
There are two places to get information and learn about horses. One is from a person that knows, the other is the
horse. The horse is harder to learn from, because he can’t speak any language, English or otherwise. They will tell you in their own way if they like or understand and also if they don’t. That is where the big list of issues above comes from. These are all ways the horse is saying he doesn’t understand, doesn’t like a person’s approach, the feel or timing; or has not been prepared for the thing you are expecting him to do.
The horse would like us to get the knowledge we need so that we can understand what it is he needs from us. It is good to understand horses well enough to get the real “why” behind all these behaviours, then get out there and get some dirt under our fingernails. Spend time with the horses, and set real goals to go after. We can watch all the DVDs and read all the articles but then it’s time to get out there. Practice the techniques that have been shown, and start to develop the feel and timing that can always be improved and really make things much easier for horses to understand. When I say being “open to learning,” it means considering what you have been shown, even if it is the opposite of what you thought or what you’ve always been told. Pride and ego, or fear, will really get in the way of learning. If it is fear, knowledge is exactly what will help. It will give you what you need to develop the skills to stay safe. With a proper set of goals to work towards and good information you can get on a track that will develop your horsemanship skills and knowledge; which will in turn help you get rid of the fears, and leave pride and ego on the shelf while with horses. A good set of goals means not putting the cart ahead of the horse. For example: personally, I would not
compete if my horse had any of the list of issues at the top of
this article. I know that any of those issues will negatively affect any competition I was entered in. I also know I would be lacking a good deal of knowledge if I had any of those problems and didn’t know how to fix them. Therefore, my goal would be to learn more.
If a person felt the urge to argue with the last statement, it might be pride or ego getting in the way of learning. I was once told I needed to get to a much higher stage of horsemanship before I started young horses. I thought “I’ve been starting young horses for years, why should I stop now?” I didn’t even know what I didn’t know. I now see why I was told to wait, stay focused and improve my horsemanship skills. It was a real challenge to put my ego on the shelf and stay focused long enough to get to where I could appreciate being told to learn more. I’m a big believer in working Continued on page 18
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Continued from page 17 on myself and the horse problems will be few. The more skill and knowledge I can give myself the fewer of these problems arise, and what I learn is mine to keep forever; with all horses. Being open to learning will give a person the knowledge and understanding, so they will know the why and have the feel and timing to change any behavioural troubles they may run into.
How I help my clients with this is to give them tasks to do with their horses. Very simple tasks at first and then more challenging as the human and horse are ready. The tasks are designed to develop feel, timing and let them experience the affect they can have on their horse, good or bad, depending on the approach. Giving them exercises that help the horses and humans learn to learn. Show them that consistency and rhythm are very important to getting the results they would like. I have my clients set goals for themselves and their horses so they can get real results and be moving forward rather than being stagnant or worse, going in reverse with their relationship with their horse.
I believe people get into horses because they love the thrill and connection that is possible. I also believe the connection and thrill of a good partnership with your horse is much deeper than most realize but is absolutely worth the effort. One might want to challenge themselves to do more learning this year than last. It would be a New Year’s resolution that both horse and human could really benefit from.
Learn the art of learning. What we want might not be what we need - what we need, likely, will give us what we want. ....Glenn
Glenn Stewart has a complete horsemanship program and offers year round educational opportunities at his facility near Fort St. John BC. He is available to travel for clinics, demonstrations, events and corporate leadership. He also offers on-line learning and has a complete Horsemanship DVD Educational Series on his stages program, a great way to learn his horsemanship program from home. For more information on Glenn and The Horse Ranch visit www.thehorseranch. com.
(See his listing in our Business Services section under TRAINERS)
IN MEMORIAM
Ruth Adrienne Flack passed away at home in Pritchard BC on March 4, 2021 at the age of 84. Ruth was predeceased by her parents William and Mabel Orr, sisters Helen Gardiner of Manitoba, Joyce Hewitt of Alberta and brother Wayne of Manitoba.
Ruth grew up on the family farm with her four sisters and two brothers. Ruth moved to BC in 1957 and worked as a telephone operator in Chilliwack BC for many years, but her love of horses and farming was always strong. Ruth and Cary were married on July 7, 1972 and a few years later bought a farm in Aldergrove BC where they raised beautiful Arabian horses and purebred Hereford cattle.
The awards and trophies they won for both the horses and cattle would fill a small room. It was in Aldergrove that Ruth started to study about kelp and how this natural product could benefit crops, animals and humans. Flack’s Bakerview Kelp Products turned into a thriving business where both Ruth and Cary poured their heart and souls into it. If you wanted to see the sparkle in her blue eyes you only had to mention her animals or business.
Ruth, we will all miss you so very much but we know you are watching, saying “get on with your lives.” Ruth is mourned by her husband, Cary, sisters Edith McKay of Alberta, Doreen Hayward of Manitoba, and brother William (Bill) and wife Carol of Agassiz. BC. Ruth has numerous nieces, nephews and many good friends. Her husband Cary and family will always be grateful to George Coey and the home aid ladies that worked so hard to make Ruth’s life as comfortable as possible in her last days.
RUTH ADRIENNE FLACK
Ultra-Kelp Announcement
Our Kelp Queen has moved up! As of May 1, 2021 Brigitte MacKenzie is the new owner of Ultra-Kelp. Brigitte and Ruth Flack had known each other since October 1987 where they met at a dog show! They had been working together since that day in 1987 at tradeshows together, through retail, and Ultra-Kelp sponsored Brigitte's Barrel Futurity horses. Brigitte is an equestrian that chose to feed Ultra-Kelp to all of her horses since 1987. The business mentorship and friendship continued to grow over the years and it is with great respect Brigitte has chosen to continue to advocate Ruth's life passion of good health with Kelp!
