| Feb. 26th, 2012 @ 01:01 pm No point |
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\I have been watching the Buck Brannaman movie the last couple of days with great fascination. I know almost nothing about horses, I find them big and intimidating. What is remarkable is how similar the training and knowledge appears to be with herding.
There are a couple of scenes from his clinics where I assume people just starting to work with their horses; the goal is make the horse move with you, to feel your presence. Almost exactly like when you first start your dog in the round pen, you go one way, the dog moves of you. The goal is to create a dog that moves freely, a dog that feels and thinks about space and movement.
“I am looking for the horse that knows how to follow and operate on feel. It is supposed to only take that much; everything you do with a horse is a dance.”
You can watch the trailer here, it has some beautiful examples of Buck on his horse and how responsive it is.
http://youtu.be/DCMm5uoZtXw
Dog training is the same thing, watch a good team and it is a dance. When you first start out it is about how you can get to that point without taking more then you have to away from the dog. How you can get the dog to dance with you without taking his dignity away and still have him respect you. I find that part to be very difficult, today I was not a very good trainer.
In another scene he is walking on a field, the horse following him around, adjusting to everything he does, just like the walkabouts you would do with your herding dog.
“It takes longer to become a good cowboy then it takes to become a surgeon”
"If you find the way to fit this thing right here, it will make you better. It will make you better in areas that you didn't think related to horses."
I am not even sure in what context this was said. But I think it sums up that undefinable part of herding that I like. The part that somehow fundamentally will change you as a person.
Not dancing, not respecting, still love our old foster dog Mille.
No point to this post, but watch the movie, it might make you into a better person. |
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jorbar's journal
I figured people who worked regularly with animals just knew that. guess not always the case. I suppose some people come by it naturally, no training required. Glad you were able to make this connection.
Rory gave me a great lesson today. We worked twice. First time she was pretty responsive although getting a bit pushier/wilder toward the end. When we came in for the second session, she was pushier from the get-go and trying harder to go in for a bite. Eventually I realized we were heading back to our adversarial Judi-n-goats vs. Rory position. Once I started telling her verbally when she was right, she began to slow down and start working with me instead of against me. For her, my verbal praise seems to release the pressure in a way my physical body doesn't seem to. I would guess it's due to my positioning relative to stock and dog that needs to change to give her the nonverbal release, but until I have that down solidly enough, I'll use the verbal, too. I'm a little surprised because I don't think I talk to her all that much during everyday life, but maybe I do more than I realize.
I Like Snausage (human grade) and L7
Of course I thought the Buck B documentary was great, I had popcorn during it and food is just a powerful motivator for me. As it is for dogs. This Pressure/Release ...Dance/NotDance thing is oversimplification of the most heinous kind. You could call everything in life pressure/release and you are COMPLETELY OVERLOOKING clicking and treating and a really good soundtrack. Two things that pull everything together. The rest is just hippie shit.
HUGS! (click)
Or....
A lot of dog trainers get stuck in their training and their methods. They do not realize how much poor training and ill timing they can have and still produce something half way decent. They often take a lot away from a dog and and can be pretty crude in their teaching methods. And dogs will seem take that kind of mishandling with out the same kind of fall out horses and parrots will. I could go on, but another time, over beers I'll tell you what I really think ;)
-Z