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Blake even created a dictionary to help us humans understand what
horse is trying to communicate to us. It's fascinating.
One part in Blake's book talks about ESP with his horses. Blake contends he can get his horses moving, stopping, and turning with just his thoughts. He doesn't claim to do this with any horse, only particular ones. Especially if they are Thoroughbreds.
When I read Blake's take on ESP thing I tended to discount it. Then again, I have had ESP experience with my Paint horse. She and I are particularly close and there is a connection between her and I that transcends words. I don't claim to steer her left and right or stop her with my thoughts but there have been times where she's done something I wanted her do and I swear I didn't say or do a thing. Gives me chills when I think about it.
Anyway, Blake's book is fascinating reading. I'd suggest anyone read it who is into horses. One part that really grabbed my heart strings was when his horse ran to greet him after not seeing him for months. That story, to me, is ultimate in having a horse as a friend.
So far, it still isn't clear who we should listen to. Should we follow Hempfling's horse training methods? Should we follow Blake's? Who should we listen to?
My suggestion is learn all you can from everyone you can. Use what works for you. Be careful to make judgments about a horse trainer's methods before understanding "why" he does what he does.
For instance, I am a big fan of Jesse Beery who was a famous horse trainer from 1800's. His methods are so easy and straight forward you'd think they're too easy.
Beery pushes control and obedience and uses techniques to nurture it - some people don't agree with his methods. My response to that is "learn all you can...use what you want".
But for my money, Beery's methods are unbeatable. They are easy to do. They train a horse so well that safety is biggest benefit - for what good is it to have and ride a horse if you get seriously hurt?
You can learn more about Beery by listening in on Andy Curry's free teleseminars. To find out when next one is, go to this web address:
http://www.horsetrainingandtips.com/teleseminar_signup.htm
How does one get a horse so safe with Beery's methods? Simple. Beery shows how to get control and obedience from your horse. Without control and obedience, you won't have a horse you can trust. If you can't trust your horse, your horse will know it. You then put yourself in danger and risk getting hurt - even to point of ending up crippled.
But with Beery's methods, you practically eliminate all risks. You transform your horse into a tractable, manageable, valuable horse that's envy of anyone who rides him. Not only that, Beery shows how to eliminate numerous bad habits.
His methods are straight forward, easy to do, and best of all...they are NOT abstract. You won't be saying to yourself, "I don't get it."
In fact, Beery's methods are so well thought out, tested, and proven that you can train a horse to "Whoa" under any condition, and under any excitement.
What's so special about that? "Whoa" is most important command a horse must know. Especially, if you are a horse owner aged 30 to 60 because we tend to "hurt" and "break" a lot easier and faster than when we were younger.
If you can't control your horse to stop while fence posts are whizzing past you when you're riding a out of control horse, you risk severe injury, danger, and perhaps...death. Having a horse that will stop under any condition despite any excitement is, in my book, training that everyone's horse should have - period!
