CDJ withdrawn from paris

[LJF0664]

I don't think it's equine industry specific. There are similar plagues of subscription based online courses for all sorts of things these days.

Personally, I got roped in to the TRT thing when I first got Sadie and honestly, was panicking a bit. I didn't have access to my old instructor, the instructors I did have access to were not working the way I wanted to work. It wasn't very useful tbh but it did give me something to lean on a little bit while I got my footing and was a little half step towards something "different" that eventually lead to positive reinforcement stuff.

I have chatted about this kind of thing with my current instructor, and she made the valid point that Parelli has been around for many many years longer than internet based subscription services and is/was essentially the same thing. It just used to be books and DVDs instead of pre-recorded webinars.

Similar to you I subscribed to TRT because I got a youngster and was determined not to fall back on old habits. Its interesting, but I find its broken down into such small parts its difficult to follow! I have an instructor that helps me with groundwork (Turns out I overcompensate and am now too soft to avoid being too harsh ) and I think I'd changed my behaviours over the years way more than I gave myself credit for - being away from livery yards has definitely improved me for the better!

 

[silv]

All these 'online courses' honestly baffle me a bit - are people just cashing in on a generation of over-thinkers (from a positive place, as I believe people do care about their horses wellbeing physically and mentally more these days than perhaps more old-school attitudes), or have we ended up somehow with a pandemic of horse-owners who lack basic horsemanship? and why? Is it people "buying in" to horse ownership more these days rather than the way many of us grew up earning our crust and learning from much more experiences horsemen/women? is that driven by the rising cost of buying and keeping horses, meaning people aren't coming in 'from the ground up' anymore?

i don't overthink any interaction I have with my horses. If they are polite, I am neutral. If they are bolshy or over-step the mark then my body language and energy instinctively hardens. If they are worried, then my energy softens to reassure them. My horses get rewarded for anything I feel they have inconvenienced themselves to do for me, and in return they are more willing to try next time - why make life hard for yourself forcing a horse to do something when you can have an enthusiastic partner on-board? I have never raised my hand to them, but they understand a growl means get-back-in-line with no fear attached, just a quiet, mutual respect. Of course I do not consider myself the panacea of horse training, in fact the opposite, I feel like these are just basic behaviours all horse owners (should) have, without having to watch a 75-part paid YouTube course.

agree 100% with the over thinking.

I am horrified at people buying horses and they have actually no idea about what is normal horse behavior and think the horse is a problem, when they are in fact the problem due to their lack of knowledge. So sad for the horse.

 

[smolmaus]

agree 100% with the over thinking.

I am horrified at people buying horses and they have actually no idea about what is normal horse behavior and think the horse is a problem, when they are in fact the problem due to their lack of knowledge. So sad for the horse.

Aye but these people won't even look to an online course or anything else as they think they know it all already!!!

 

[reynold]

That's where it's such a shame now that so many riding schools that also had a livery section have gone for good. The riding schools I went to actively promoted clients taking the BHS Stage 1 and 2 training and exams (also income for the riding school as when it was too awful to ride in the winter they did stable management lessons). Clients like me then progressed to be horse owners at that yard along with the basic horse care knowledge provided by the stage 1 and 2 courses (even if the exams weren't taken).

It's also a shame that there is so much more focus on kids going straight to discipline specific memberships and avoiding the Pony Club and its own Test pathway.

Neither the BHS nor the Pony Club are perfect but they are certainly far better than the complete lack of knowledge of many horse owners these days. (Not saying there weren't ignorant owners in the past but back then there were still sufficient 'horsemen' still around to impart their knowledge - although not all of that was very horse kind!)

 

[Fransurrey]

I agree completely - every second of time you're with them you are training them whether it's conscious or not and they learn from every experience they have with us

I think it was Ben Hart that once said to me that every person that interacts with an animal is a trainer, whether they want to be or not. I completely agree with this statement. You don't even have to have something on the end of the rope to be training.

 

[splashgirl45]

That's where it's such a shame now that so many riding schools that also had a livery section have gone for good. The riding schools I went to actively promoted clients taking the BHS Stage 1 and 2 training and exams (also income for the riding school as when it was too awful to ride in the winter they did stable management lessons). Clients like me then progressed to be horse owners at that yard along with the basic horse care knowledge provided by the stage 1 and 2 courses (even if the exams weren't taken).

It's also a shame that there is so much more focus on kids going straight to discipline specific memberships and avoiding the Pony Club and its own Test pathway.

Neither the BHS nor the Pony Club are perfect but they are certainly far better than the complete lack of knowledge of many horse owners these days. (Not saying there weren't ignorant owners in the past but back then there were still sufficient 'horsemen' still around to impart their knowledge - although not all of that was very horse kind!)

That was similar to my upbringing, I started helping at the riding school after my ride at age 11. That wouldn’t be allowed now because of health and safety but it gave me a good foundation of basic horse handling and everything involved like mucking out etc . I helped there for 10 years having graduated to taking out rides myself and teaching people the basics so when I bought my own horse at 21 I knew quite a bit more than many new horse owners now although it was still a steep learning curve having my own horse to be responsible for and until I gave up at 72 I was still learning more … but people these days seem to think they know every thing

 

[Beausmate]

That was similar to my upbringing, I started helping at the riding school after my ride at age 11. That wouldn’t be allowed now because of health and safety but it gave me a good foundation of basic horse handling and everything involved like mucking out etc . I helped there for 10 years having graduated to taking out rides myself and teaching people the basics so when I bought my own horse at 21 I knew quite a bit more than many new horse owners now although it was still a steep learning curve having my own horse to be responsible for and until I gave up at 72 I was still learning more … but people these days seem to think they know every thing

And that is part of the problem. Kids learned so much from helping, not just about horse management either. It was especially helpful for those from poorer backgrounds, as there was no cost to the parents and maybe some pocket money or free lessons for the kids.

Where do they get their learning from now? Dubious sources on the internet. How do they work out what is worth is knowing and what they should avoid?

 

[splashgirl45]

I wasn’t from rich parents so had to work for a few years until I’d saved up enough to get my first horse so as though we weren’t poor there was no exotic holidays or new cars for our family, and once I had bought my first horse I was then poor until I gave up

 

[DressageCob]

My livery yard is also a riding school. We still have kiddy helpers, from age 12+. Some of them eventually get their own, most of them don't. I was such a helper from 12 to 21, on and off, until I bought my own at 21. I join group lessons when I want to, I have lessons on riding school horses when mine are out of action. It works really well. I don't think I'd cope at a "normal" livery yard.

 

[daffy44]

The world is changing, and I think its even more difficult now for children with non horsey parents to learn more about horsemanship. I would never be critical of anyone doing online courses to try and educate themselves, of course there are dreadful people doing online courses, as there are dreadful people teaching in real life too, and I appreciate its probably slower and more difficult to assess how good someone is online rather than in real life, but anyone trying to learn more should encouraged.

I teach plenty of people who are absolutely lovely, very kind and well meaning, but not all of them have enough knowledge to accompany their goodwill, and that can inadvertently cause problems. In my opinion one of the greatest things about horses is that we never stop learning, there is always room for everyone to understand and learn more, whatever your level of experience, so any attempt at that is a positive thing.

 

[sbloom]

When you see how few horses have good musculature/posture and so few riders have been taught true, correct equitation (good riders getting there more by luck it seems), finding online courses that do offer good, horse centred classical instruction, from behavioural stuff up to upper level ridden (was having a lovely long chat with a customer/friend yesterday about the incredibly amount and quality of content on the Ritter Dressage courses, for example) is invaluable. There are many geographical areas where there's no-one hands on I could recommend. And then very few trainers offer groundwork and, if they don't, will always be tempted recommend just riding through a problem as they'll lose income if not.

Some of this isn't the trainers' fault at all, they feel under pressure to show a change in the horse in one lesson, to follow what the rider wants to do, rather than the slow methodical work that is training a horse. We all feel that sort of pressure.

The internet has also massively enabled this attitude of "learning something new is easy", teenage influencers in their matchy matchy showing horrendous equitation is now what people want to follow...so again, teaching the correct way is hard, as it takes so much more time and commitment. The internet also offers community with many courses, the ability to see other peoples videos, to learn from each other and not just the instructor. On the Ritter course my friend has also been matched into a small "pod" of peeople, one of whom is within easy driving distance. Brilliant.