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Frank Bell's Gentle Solution Revolution Natural horsemanship clinics, horse training techniques and unique horse training products using Horsewhisperer Frank Bell's acclaimed Gentle Solutions. Frank's Safe and Simple techniques for training horses can achieve instant results - even with problem horses! Making it Simple! Making It Safe! Get There Now! |  |
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In the early winter of 1995 Jerry Leiser called me about his horse Raphael. "He's kinda spooky", he understated. While I expected to find a horse on the spooky side, this four year old Paso Fino was off the charts. I met with Jerry and his wife Shelly several days later. Jerry explained Raphael's past. He'd been raised in a good home, but was just plain nervous. Jerry had sent him to what he understood as a good trainer for almost three months before reality had set in. The trainer had done nothing more than lunge the horse and informed Jerry that he would never be able to ride the horse. Being the persistent type that Jerry is, he would not accept quitting on his horse and set about finding another trainer. Thankfully for all parties, he found me. We are now great friends and he and Raphael have taken ribbons in stiff competition. Most importantly, Jerry has learned a new approach to working with horses and has shared his new found skills with other horse owners. Several of the things we developed to help Raphael are worth sharing mostly from the creative aspect of the process of desensitizing. Very early on while bonding with Raphael I recognized his overly sensitive back legs. Jerry had mentioned problems trimming the back feet and his farrier's deserved nervousness. While bonding at the front end and trying to find something pleasurable to the horse, the wind blew his tail into his back legs. Raphael's head went sky high and he lurched forward with terror in his eyes. Suddenly the severity of his problem became quite apparent. This was clearly not a two hour job. Plotting a Course Jerry, Shelly, and I had a somber discussion of what lay ahead. This was going to be a long process for all of us if Raphael was to become a safe riding horse, and there were no guarantees. I could put many hours into this horse and still have a dangerous animal. With Jerry in his sixties, I had my concerns for his safety. Plus there were financial concerns. This was going to take a long time, like a month minimum. But Jerry was undaunted. He seemed to trust that I could do the job and most importantly, he wanted to be part of the process and learn with Raphael. I committed to taking on this project for a variety of reasons. I relished at the challenge. If I could help Raphael with his nervousness, I would be light-years ahead in my ability to help all future nervous, skittish horses. This was also an opportunity to get to know someone new in this community who had a degree of stature and was well respected. It never hurts a horse trainer to have these people in our court. The project lasted about a month. Jerry was there every step of the way and as integral in helping his horse as I was. While we worked all the normal desensitizing procedures in my bag of tricks, Raphael required a degree of creativity far beyond my earlier challenges. One of these involved a typical horse blanket, which of course Raphael and never dealt with. While blanketing most horses is elementary, with the nervous types, it's a confidence building opportunity. The trick is not to ask too much too fast. By folding the blanket over itself until it is one long strip 8-10" wide, is the place to start. Gently easing it on the horses back while stroking the neck is usually enough reassurance for the horse to accept. Once confident, I'll drive the horse in circles as the blanket hangs down over his sides. We'll do some wind-downs with the horse's nose ultimately sniffing the blanket with his head around to the girth area. Patting the blanket or even gently slapping it with the lead can speed up the process until it is accepted by the horse. The next steps are simply unfolding the blanket one section at a time, driving the horse, and winding down to the safety zone for another inspection of this new phenomenon. Finally the blanket will be completely draped over the horse, but not attached. Plenty of gentle slapping of the blanket with the hand and lead prepare the horse for attaching the blanket fore to aft. Again driving the horse to get him used to the straps and the confinement is important to the confidence building process. This all took a good two hours with Raphael. Interestingly, he never exploded, but was much challenged the whole time. By the end of the session his head was down, and he was working his mouth in a manner of acceptance. I suggested to Jerry that Raphael wear the blanket indefinitely. I would come up with more for him to handle as his confidence blossomed. I also was adamant about keeping a close eye on Raphael and Jerry working with him. I didn't want it to fall apart because the blanket caught on something or became askew. With the blanket hanging down touching his back legs and the straps secured, he had come light-years in several hours. This process had to continue. Getting Creative With Raphael Monday, Raphael seemed like just an old blanket wearing horse living life, but I knew better. "Get me some baling twine Jerry", I instructed. I tied short pieces of twine onto the grommets at the rear of the blanket. The twine hung down almost to the ground. He jumped forward when he first felt it, again with terror in his eyes. Jerry and I smiled at each other in acknowledgement of this difficult case, namely Raphael. Again the driving in circles to the wind-down to the safety-zone sped up the mental process of acceptance. "Do you have some old socks in the house Jerry?" He looked at me curiously as he walked toward the house. "Trust me. This could help him and really speed up this whole thing." I assured. I filled the socks with a dirt gravel mix creating ballast in the knotted the socks. I then tied one to the twine on the left side leaving it to hang about three inches off the ground, and drove him off. It came as no surprise when he saw fire as the socks attacked his left leg. I kept a hand on his neck and spoke in a quiet manner and helped him through this trying moment, then tied the other to the right, which I knew would be even more difficult for him to accept. For this horse or any horse for that matter, dealing with this was a very big deal. To observe as his mind darted from one side to the other as the socks touched his legs was incredibly interesting for Jerry and me to watch. It took a while and lots of stroking, but he finally made it and let down and relaxed. Again, he lived with the blanket, the twine, and the socks for several days. When we finally removed that blanket, Raphael was a different horse. Several weeks later Jerry and I were working in his arena with Raphael on a Monday morning. Jerry mentioned he had helped Raphael through yet another difficult time. Standing in front of Raphael, Jerry had shaken the gate for about a half hour until Raphael finally settled down and accepted it. I knew right then that I had a quick reminder for Jerry. I took Raphael over to the gate and shook it violently. His head shot up and he pulled back. Then I placed my hand firmly on his neck and stroked as I shook the gate. He handled it with style and pride. The difference had been my reassuring hand on his neck, and it was a difference of black and white. The education of Raphael was also the education of Frank and Jerry. The three of us learned and performed as a team. Raphael told me what he needed. I put on my creative and sensitivity hats and helped Raphael where he needed it, then left Jerry with homework he did well. Everyone performed their jobs and a horse and rider emerged. The lessons learned in helping Raphael have been invaluable to me ever since. Now when Jerry calls me to share his weekend successes at shows with Raphael, I can only thank him for his confidence in me and his persistence in helping the horse many others would have so easily given up on. Thank you Jerry, Shelly, and especially Raphael. Your challenges have now helped thousands.
Frank Bell and his accredited instructors have been helping horses with their people problems for several decades. He writes interesting and educational stories about these horses and their challenges. He also helps people better understand how to communicate with these magnificent creatures by answering their vexing questions on his website. Frank has designed a logical set of exercises that immediately places both parties on higher ground . . . without the need for a round pen. Suddenly both parties are riding in confidence instead of fear. Frank Bell's 7-Step Safety System (7-SSS) has been featured in horse magazines and e-zines throughout the world including a three-part series in Western Horseman magazine. Frank's video " Discover the Horse You Never Knew" fully outlines " the system" and is available in the audio/video library that includes thirteen works.
Join Frank Bell's Gentle Solution Revolution and breakthrough your training barriers now!
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Copyright 2000-2005 by Dances With Horses, Inc., P.O. Box 819, Rexburg, ID 83440, Ph: (800) 871-7635, Fax: (208) 356-7817, E-Mail: frankbell@horsewhisperer.com |
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