The Method

      The Method is a natural horsemanship training program by Clinton Anderson. The Method is used by the Caisson Platoon of the US Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment to provide a systematic training program for their horses and handlers and ensures each horse is calm and quiet to perform their high calling; laying to rest our nation's fallen heroes. Now, the Method is being used at R4C Ranch to provide a system of training that ensures all our horses have a solid foundation of training and that our volunteers will be consistent in their expectations and handling of our horses.
      Now is a great time to come out and learn The Method
 as we refine our skills and fill the holes in our own training and the training of our horses. I am currently starting two horses from the beginning. Jazz Tangent, is a twenty year old American Paint mare who has been off work for three years due to a life-threatening injury. She is not too excited about going to back work. LadyBird is a three year old  Arabian filly. She was living in a pasture herd of about thirty mares when we picked her up, didn't know how to be tied, and came to us with an unknown training history. The two could not be more different in personality-- one hot, one cold, one spooky and one pretty lazy and disrespectful.

Jazz Tangent

      After two days of training using The Method, I have learned more about these two horses than I have the whole time I have handled them. Jazz and I have been riding partners for ten years. I thought she was a little cinchy and tried to blame that on bad handling before I bought her. I thought that when she was hard to handle undersaddle that I was doing something wrong. I have seen her perform exceptionally with confident riders and misbehave intensely with inexperienced riders. I learned on day one in the roundpen that she was lazy and disrespectful. She was unwilling to move up to a trot and when she finally did she would only trot a few steps and then quit. When I let her commit to the mistake, walk two steps, and then ask for the trot again she would initially refuse and then take a  few steps at the trot and quit. Eventually she got tired of me continually asking and kicked out at me. I kept her moving. Then she really kicked out, even twisted her hips and kicked toward me trying to intimidate me. Little did she know, I have learned a lot about horsemanship over the last three years. Our second session was much better, she only kicked out one time and I really got on her to move out. She maintained her gait at the trot for several circles before trying to quit by turning in to me (a better problem to have than kicking out). She did stop to try to grab a few hedge apples that were piled under the round pen rail but I moved her out and she complied with my request. We still have a ways to go but I am relieved with our progress.

Lady Bird

       LadyBird went nuts in the round pen her second session. The first session she had done wonderful, inside turns and even joined up and followed me around the pen. This time, however, she took off and raced around the perimeter of the roundpen before I'd even asked her to move out. She ran so fast and crazy I stepped out of the pen and just watched her in amazement. Maybe not the best training method but I wasn't thrilled with the whole idea of getting ran over by a freaked out horse. After she calmed down, I stepped into the pen and asked her to trot. I started asking for a lot a turns to slow her down. After the session I reviewed my progress with The Method sections on Common Handler/Horse mistakes and there we were. Learned how to step in front of the drive line, I like to call it a rock step to remember to take one step to the side and then one step back and then walk back into the gate to cut them off if they don't stop to turn. This was a common problem that Lady had, trying to run through me instead of turning in or out.
       Today when I went to get Lady she refused to come out of the pen. I was leading her out of the gate and she refused to follow me. She pulled back, head up so high she almost crashed into the lean to. Instead of playing tug of war with her I walked sideways and pulled her off balance. Remembering what Clinton had said, "The first one to move their feet loses," I knew I had to move her feet and not let her pull my feet toward her. When I pulled her off balance I made her take a few steps to the side, then I pulled her to the other side and made her take a few steps. Then I made her walk backwards as I walked intensely toward her. At this point, she decided to follow me out of the gate eager to work. We did a lot of desensitizing exercises and reviewed yielding the HQ and I introduced yielding the FQ. After our training session, when I took her back to her pen, we spent a lot of time going in and out of the gate. That was fun!!
       The difference between these two horses is amazing but the tools I am learning with The Method have given me the confidence to deal with their personalities and their daily mood swings. In the past I would have thought a horse that acts like Jazz did, kicking out at me is one that should never be trusted. Now I know that even after ten years, I have yet to earn her respect but now I have the tools to do just that. LadyBird is a young horse, with a lot of athletic potential and energy. When I first started working with her, Lady would practically jump onto me for security. Today we took the time to review my hula hoop space and I was amazed at how quick she caught on. She started respecting my personal space even when I didn't reinforce it.
        I am excited to have The Method as a tool to train up our horses and teach to our volunteers so they too can gain the confidence they need to work with and enjoy our horses in a safe, consistent, and systematic way. In the end, we will have respectful, safe horses who enjoy their time with us as much as we enjoy them.