with Paul Belasik

There are a lot of popular myths which govern human interaction and the modern training of horses. One common one, for example, is that horses are prey animals, and as such they are commanded by a fearful psychology that fills them with anxieties which control their reactions to things. They are wary and prone to flight.

I remember once having a conversation with the late Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick, who was a world authority on wild horses and horse behavior. He told me a story of watching a wild horse stalk a fox for a couple of hours. The intent was obvious. With one of my own horses, a stallion, we had to be very careful that no dogs went into his paddock. Horses are complex animals. They can be aggressive. Their lives are not overly directed by fear of predators, by far the greatest amount of their thinking and energy is spent on finding food and drinkable water. They are motivated by a constant search for the best nutrients; not a constant flight from predation.

The fact is, horses have few predators. They are not fearful, nervous animals as a rule. To me, they are more like elephants than deer. For example, police horses can be trained to maintain focus amid incredible chaos. Few other animals would not fly, run or swim away in order to disengage.

Just as a child cannot learn when it undernourished and not cared for, neither can horses. But if the basic needs of food, water and companionship are met, horses can thrive. With domestication and good stable management, horses develop trust in humans. They will allow us near their babies, they will let us touch them in vulnerable places, they will submit to uncomfortable practices of foot care and eventually, probably most importantly – they will let us ride them.

With trust and only with trust will you be allowed to approach the biggest hurdle of all, communication. The dynamics of communication transform the relationship from a peaceful coexistence with another species, to a cooperation. Without trust, cooperation turns to coercion and force. Haute Ecole, high school riding, is one of the highest forms of intraspecies communication. It often gets underrated because it is not overly verbal. It is an extremely complex, tactile form of communication. It is all about actions. With pathways from the hands to the reins to the bit and back again, legs to the sides of the horse, above all the command center is the rider’s seat. The language of riding is using and listening to feelings. No words, however eloquent, can disguise your actions. People can be fooled, but horses cannot. They will know whether you are trying to conquer them or cultivate a partnership with them.

The rider gives up a safe connection to the earth and trusts an animal many times their size to not hurt them. The horse trusts the rider to fulfill its needs and not abuse their trust. We see in this cooperation a methodology take hold, one that tries to produce something beautiful, aesthetic. Once the body is fed and cared for, it can feed the soul. It all started with trust.

Part 2 – communication

This little series serves as an introduction to Paul Belasik’s latest creation – a poster charting the historical development of dressage…

Iif you would like to order the poster:
https://paulbelasik.com/index.php/product/the-classical-training-scale-and-history-poster/

Did you miss the first article in this series? https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2020/10/paul-belasik-charts-the-heritage-of-dressage/