1/2/98
FOUNDATIONAL TRAINING
(c) 1998 Gwenyth Browning Jones Santagate All Rights Reserved.

It amazes me sometimes how simple things can be in life yet how difficult people can make things seem.Take, for instance, building a tree house. You start with a sturdy, tall tree with lots of heavy, strong branches. Building a small house in that tree shouldn't take but some good, weather- proof wood, galvanized nails and perhaps some clear, thick glass for the windows. But, not everyone can build a tree house; particularly one which can stand up to the most horrendous of storms. The tree house needs plans ... foundational plans. So, off to the drawing board we go. The finished design is finalized then we embark upon making the step-by-step plans to get to the finalized tree house. Once all this is down on paper, we gather up the supplies needed. Oops, forgot to get galvanized nails. Well, that's OK, we'll use regular nails. Oh, and we didn't want to spend the extra time to smooth away the knobby knot which is right where a support goes. We'll just put the board on top of the knot. Hmmmmm ... the nails don't go into that knot so easily. Well, we can change the direction the nail is going to avoid that knot. OK, now the walls didn't go up quite as squared as we had planned. Nuts, the windows don't fit properly. Well, let's shave down a small area here, and there ... oh, there's a bit of a gap. Well, let's fill it in so the water doesn't get into the house. And so on and so forth.

Eureka! It's finished. There's a brief rain shower coming in tonight, but what the heck ... the tree house is finished, it has windows, it ought to be dry, right? Yikes! It's pouring! Drats, the rain's coming in. Guess we didn't patch that spot very well. Oh no, the wind is starting to pick up. We're swaying a bit here ... hmmmm, seems that area where the knot is under the beam is a little bit rocky. Will have to shore that up tomorrow. I think I'll go in the house now. I'll spend the night out here another time after I've fixed these problems. ...

Well, guess what. The problems didn't get fixed the next day, or the next and you know what happened? There was a huge blow out of a storm ... the tree house fell apart. Now, how can we start all over again? Godfry ... it's gonna take more time to fix it up than it did to build it from scratch. Oh, forget it. Let's find a new tree and begin all over again.

Now you're thinking what in the heck does all this have to do with starting horses out? Well, it's simple! Ya gotta have a STRONG FOUNDATION in order to have your final plans work! Whatever discipline you are riding from Dressage to Western pleasure to Saddleseat, the foundational training has to be secure. Skipping a point here and there because you've got to get that colt to the halter class next weekend may temporarily patch the gap, but later on down the line when you are working on more advanced exercises, that gap is going to show up. It's going to be more than the little space as it began. It's going to possibly cause the whole foundation to crumble. That's the point where the horse becomes dangerous and quite possibly shipped off to the meat market. Do you think I am exaggerating? When was the last time you took a look at the auction? When was the last time you took a trip to the slaughter house? You'll find not only sick, weakened, malnourished horses there. You'll also find very healthy, strong horses who have fallen apart. They've lost their foundation and have become "unmanageable". This is NOT the horses fault. This is the fault of man who has decided to take the quick fix.

There is so much literature out there which lists all sorts of "fixes". How many GOOD books are there which tell about training the horse from the foundation up? How many of you are willing to take the time it takes to work, step-by-step with a horse to build the foundation? Remember, each horse is unique and individual. Some horses will catch on a whole lot faster than others. Some horses will take 2 hours to learn something new; others will take 2 days; some even longer.

When a person buys a horse, that person takes on a responsibility of another life. The horse depends upon man, when in captivity, to supply it's life support: Proper nutrition, proper vet care, proper dentistry, safe and healthy environment, social support, psychological support, and the proper training so the horse can be safe and sane in a captive situation.

There is some very basic training that is necessary in order to have a safe, sound, healthy horse. We will cover these exercises in the pages which will follow. For now, until the pages are published, please take the time to think about what you would like from your horse. Take just one area, think hard about it, write it down then underneath break it up into steps. As many steps as you can. Horses learn and live from second to second. They need to have the steps broken down second by second. When you've got your list, look at it again. Look at the steps again and start breaking those steps down even further. Then being with step #1. Go on to step #1a ONLY when step #1 is accomplished and firm. Then go on to the next step and the next step until you can honestly say within your own heart that you've reached your goal.... without missing a step.

This not only is necessary for foundation training but also for riding disciplines. What may seem logical and natural for us is not logical and natural for a horse. Horses live with a different agenda. Try to see things from the horse's perspective, second by second. If you miss a few seconds, back up and secure them. Don't allow your horse to be like the tree house which falls apart in the wind and rain. Someone may someday find him standing on the auction block waiting for someone *more experienced* to help him out. Or, he may not make it past the auction ...