In a lifetime of riding and training horses Darrell
Bereuter has
seen and tried every theory from old fashioned ‘bronc
busting’ to all the shiny new ‘natural’ methods, and he
can tell you for certain, they all, to a greater or
lesser degree, work. You can, if you want, brutalize a
horse into obedience, though why anyone would want to,
is beyond understanding, given what is now known about
training in kind, cooperative ways. It's all
mental, it's FundaMental!
Over time, Bereuter has learned to ‘engage’ a horse
mentally in the activity he's teaching; to participate
in a responsive, willing, almost ‘happy’, way. They work
hard, with Darrell repeating, rewarding, insisting if
necessary, until the horse’s movements becomes a
reflection of Darrell's thoughts, developing
communication that surpasses mere physical direction.
Ideally the horse will learn to think what Darrell is
thinking and respond to that mere suggestion. "A horse
will do what you TELL him", Darrell says. But for the
horses he trains, it can be so much more subtle than
that, an imperceptible shift in weight, a wave of a
finger, a settling back deep in the saddle, these tiny
cues can bend, turn, stop and back, a horse. The horses
appreciate the lack of physical bumping and pulling and
as a rider, you’ll appreciate the ease and sense of
genuine oneness with your horse that Darrell's training
delivers.
A young horse, with a mental ‘blank slate’,
incorporates these principles with ease, for he has no
backlog of ineffective training to discard and overcome,
so starting your colt with these techniques will prepare
him with a firm foundation for a lifetime of riding.
When a trainer takes command of the horse’s fundaMental
awareness, respects his capacity to learn, and guides
him with consistency, repetition and reward, the horse is able
to accept advanced training into whatever skills are
desired. Obviously the horse must be physically suited
to the task, and Bereuter is frank to tell his clients
if he thinks a particular horse is not a proper
candidate for their objective.
Older horses can be retrained, but they have habits,
cues, and training to ‘rewind’, so it’s a little more
difficult for them.
