Showing posts with label sam Harvey horse trainer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sam Harvey horse trainer. Show all posts

What to pay the equine professional: A horse trainer/riding instructor's worth

A topic in recent times is the "cost of equine related lessons"...

Becoming involved with horses is a physical, financial, time consuming, mental and emotional investment.

In terms of buying a horse, there is a common notion that because a person can pay the initial purchase price and maintenance fees, they now will have a rewarding experience.

But what about the investment in the rider's education? Though there may be an emotional connection with a horse, there is nothing natural about people understanding horses or how to communicate with them, never mind knowing how to ride them. This is a crucial part, a fundamental necessity, that is frequently overlooked in a partnership.

Below is my perspective from my personal experiences.

I feel that our society somehow doesn't see monetary value in someone's knowledge/experience/skill set, unless they have gone through the mainstream educational system- i.e. law school, medical school, etc. For those occupations, for a limited number of years of schooling, folks can charge anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars- AN HOUR. And no, their services are not typically only for one hour, but often many hours and on going consulting, surgeries and trials, etc. After which, whether you survive the surgery, win the trial, etc. you literally winding up "paying for it" for years or even a lifetime.

But when it comes to a pleasure sport/hobby/interest- because it is for fun- somehow there is less "value" in the instructor's knowledge. I'm sure there's always some crazy abnormal scenarios, but typically, your yoga instructor, martial arts instructor, dance teacher, tennis pro, golf teacher, etc is going to be charging less than several hundred dollars an hour. Even for those jobs or careers, there are often defined courses, educational programs, etc. to justify the cost of instruction.

And then you come to the Equine Industry. I might offend a few folks, but anyone who has real world experience recognizes that for all the University courses offered with equine focused degrees, they aren't worth anything when it comes to getting hired in the horse industry within the USA.

That means as an equine instructor/trainer, your value, your experience, your knowledge, skill set, has to be attained, achieved, continued, through creative, unique, self-driven yearning/desire/hunger for "finding" (literally) other equine professionals to teach you.

This often includes things like being a working student for years (think slave labor), or if you do find a paying job- very labor intensive jobs with very little direct instruction/pay, inconsistent schedules with no room for a social life/family/financial stability, and many other sacrifices all in the name of becoming a better horse person.

I recently had to write a bio on myself, and as I started listing my experiences from the last 25 years, ranging from riding under Grand Prix jumper and Dressage trainers, working under Olympic Gold Medalists while based in Europe, riding at race tracks, working on ranches starting colts, riding horses on sheep farms in South America, clinicing with some of the best horseman from around the world in a variety of disciplines, riding hundreds of horses I've that have been teachers in themselves, plus the thousands of hours I've spent honing my craft as an instructor, trainer, communicator, clinician, lecturer, and published contributor.

So, how do you put a "value" to that? What is my "worth?" In the USA, there is a huge discrepancy depending on location and services offered; I know I can charge double what I charge in remote Idaho if I head to CA or FL or MA.

Putting the value of the knowledge shared and taught aside for a moment, what about covering costs for the liability and property insurance for the facility, the maintenance and upkeep of the "gorgeous setting" folks enjoy their lessons in, or maintenance and care for the lesson horses? What about the hundreds of other tasks that require effort, intention, labor, money and energy that there is no direct "payment" for? What about the time-consuming correspondence via email and phone where folks take up your time, often not leading to future income. Web design/upkeep, blog posts, newsletters, accounting, office work, none of which you get paid for.

So the next time you find out how much a training session or lesson costs with a quality instructor, pause for a moment. Yes, you may be looking to do horses "just for fun." Please keep in mind the professional you are seeking to learn from has probably sacrificed and lived an unforgiving, unrelenting life full of financial stresses and physical labor, to acquire and hone their skills and abilities to share that with their students. It may be difficult for you to relate to, but perhaps think of it as learning opportunity in a condensed version, without all the personal sacrifice.

And by the way, sitting on 1,000 lbs of an emotional, prey animal, being "hopeful" that you will figure it out is not the safest choice. Learning can be a healthy, positive approach that stimulates growth, improvement and solidifies the equine partnership.

Even us professionals do not reach an "end point." Every horse, every student is an opportunity for us to improve what we offer the public.

Supporting vs Challenging the Horse

People often ask "what kind of horse training do you do?" I say I work with people and horses.

In the traditional world of horses, not categorizing yourself meant that you didn't really know a whole lot about anything. Nowadays I find it quite ironic how many students I have that come from "specialized" trainers but are having major issues on fundamental basics with their horses and the specialized trainers are unable to help them through the situations other than forcing the horses into submission through fearful and aggressive tactics.

On any given day I'm working with Colts, rehabilitating the older horse, refining the trained cutting or roping horse, mellowing the endurance horse, improving confidence in the ranch horse, slowing down the jumping horse who rushes at fences, improving the dressage horse's self carriage, and so much more.... And the thing that I keep repeating is, " At the core, all horses are all the same."

First we need to treat, interact, and have partnerships with these animals as Horses, then the specialized focused can come into play.

But there are so many people who are so fixated on accomplishing "stuff" that in the end, whether it's through ego, bragging rights, unintentionally overfaced with goals or otherwise, the human doesn't realize that they are setting up the horse to fail in what they ask of them because they don't have the fundamental Basics nor effective tools to communicate with the horse in order to support him through the scenarios they present.

Nine out of 10 new horses I meet have no concept or good feeling about pressure, whether it's physical or spatial, and are often defensive towards the human. People often want to rush through the motions constantly putting the horse in a position of having to tolerate very stressful scenarios and then afterwards act surprised when the horse no longer can handle it emotionally or physically.

My goal is to teach people how to communicate without relying on the instructor and learn to recognize the horses mental and physical resistance and influence a change in his thoughts and physical Behavior so that the ideal outcome is accomplished without a fight or a tantrum or an emotional meltdown from the horse.

But that takes time, that takes effort, that takes Clarity and intention from the human, and it takes an openness that you may not accomplish what you set out to accomplish in that particular day.

If we spent more time supporting our horses through their troubled moments rather than challenging them through them, in the long run we would accomplish so much more without the drama and stress for either horse or human.

Would you and horse benefit from an individualized Remote Coaching session with Sam?  Click HERE to find out more.

Not letting feeding time control our interactions

Many times humans and horses are stuck in patternized behavior. I find many people get stressed out at the thought of having to take their horse away from food due to fear of possibly resistant behavior. For me, anytime of the day irrelevant of food or anything else going on, I'd like to be able to call the horse over and have him show an interest and a curiosity. I want him to be mentally available, willing to leave whatever he is doing, in order to participate in what I'm offering.

The video of the three-year-old shows this example. I don't use treats or gimmicks or "drive" the horse into yielding and coming to me. It's all about having a conversation with his brain and emotions, and then getting the physically desired response.

The goal is not the physical movement of leaving his food, but rather the quality of the conversation. This horse has been with me for about a month now, and the video was the first time I called him off of his feed. To me it represents all of the other foundational work that makes a horse feel good about wanting to be with the human, even during feeding time.

Following this video clip, I then had him stand loose in the stall while I tacked him up, and then took him for a ride. Yes, even during dinner time.


The mirror... Thoughts on the reflections we might be seeing in our horses.


As the year is coming to an end, I find myself looking back towards my equine related experiences.  This year in particular I’ve enjoyed a balanced blend between new and past students, their horses and participating in their ongoing journey.  As I mentally started to review different teaching and training highlights, the most common theme throughout the year has been the “mirror” one.  I know have stated many times that often our horse is a mirror of ourselves, and we don’t always like what we see.

The statement above sounds a bit basic, and everybody says, “Yeah, yeah,” when they hear it, but rarely do folks put what I feel is the necessary effort in addressing “the mirror” by asking themselves, “Well, what is my horse “seeing” in what I’m offering him?” 

So rather than writing my typical “on going thoughts” on one topic, this time around I’m just going to offer basic thoughts I’ve had, things that have come up in lessons or clinics, or just overall assessments I’ve made in this past year all related to the “mirror” concept.  These are written in no particular order.

Each person will have a different interpretation of my thoughts written below, based on their own experiences, but I encourage you to perhaps explore some of them with a bit more energy rather than just accepting your initial reaction as you read them.  As with most things, the light bulb moments often happen days, weeks or months down the road.  Something you’ve heard many times, somehow suddenly makes sense, perhaps some of my thoughts can help you too!

Enjoy!

Your ride begins when you THINK about going for a ride and it does not end until you have turned your horse loose in his stall or paddock.  All the time in between you are communicating with him, whether or not you realize it.

Carrying anticipation from “what happened last time” prevents you from remaining mentally present while with your horse.

I ask my students to ride in “real time,” this means there is no pause button when things don’t go as expected with the horse.

A majority of riders do not maintain a “standard” in their life outside of horses, but when it comes to their horse, they are expecting/hoping for the best possible outcome in the worst possible scenarios.

Reactive riding versus proactive communication with the horse; always having to fix/correct after the unwanted behavior occurs rather than clearly telling the horse what the plan is ahead of time.

Fear.  Horses have it.  People have it.  The horse cannot rationalize his way through a fearful scenario without the help and active support of the human.  Most humans hope that by being “nice” and doing nothing, the horse will figure out how to get over his fear, and then the human will start interacting with him again once he is more reasonable.

90% mental, 10% physical.  There is a reason why a daunting, scary scenario presented often by the “child who doesn’t know better” turns out with horse and rider fine, unscathed and feeling confident, whereas the “experienced” rider often has premeditated everything that could possibly go wrong and ends up having a very dramatic experience with their horse in the same exact scenario.

The more people “know” the less they actually see what is happening with their horse.

A majority of pleasure riders initially get involved with horses thinking it will be their “outlet” and time to let down from the rest of their life (stress, drama, work, kids, etc.) Few realize how much the “modern day horse” often needs them to be at their BEST to help the horse feel better about life.

Working with horses requires a continual adaptability within us.  For humans, this is often a struggle because complacency, routines and patterns require both less mental presence and less physical effort.

More than half of the horse owners I encounter are not partnered with the correct horse, but continue to maintain a relationship with their horse based primarily on guilt and a sense of “I owe it to the horse.”  What few realize is how dangerous this sort of partnership can be.

People do not realize how “light switch” a horse’s emotions can be; even if a person is not getting the changes they want in their horse, it all can change for better or worse as fast as the flip of a light switch.

Rarely do people believe they can A.) Get a change in their horse, or B.) Realize how little physically effort and more clear communication it takes to get a big emotional, mental and physical change.

The “That’s good enough,” mentality that occurs when people try to be “nice” to their horse often leaves the horse in the gray area, with the horse lacking understanding, rather than when the person follows through until the horse really understands the emotional, mental and physical change that is being asked of him.

Most folks are hopeful.  “I hope he slows down.”  “I hope he doesn’t spook.”  “I hope we have a good ride today.”  “I hope he goes over that jump.”  You can decrease the “hopefulness” and increase both you and your horse’s confidence based on how you help prepare your horse for the upcoming scenario.

If you are carrying a “Let’s see what he does…” mentality, please stop and ask yourself would you challenge your horse to getting “it” right, rather than helping him be successful.

Often people have an initial specific interest in what “type” of riding they will do, rarely do they realize that if they are going to prioritize helping their horse, it will be the horse that is going to “direct” what their “interest” will be.

Just because you may not agree with your horse’s resistance, does not mean you cannot believe it. 

The moment of the dramatic behavior is often the symptom and not the issue.

Attempting to finally address and “fix things” at the peak of stress, worry or fear in your horse should not be the first time you start participating in the relationship.

You can be actively supportive without the partnership feeling like a dictatorship.

The more gear, equipment, and tack a person has to communicate with their horse, the less they actually convey.

Talk to the horse, rather than shout at him.

Making a decision to do something is better than doing nothing.

Breathing and smiling while working with the horse are two of the most undervalued behaviors a human can offer.  It affects the person mentally, physically and emotionally.  It affects the horse mentally, physically and emotionally.  Breathe, smile, breathe, smile.  Seriously. 

Often people are aware of their own behaviors/personality (amped up, high strung, talkative, introvert, etc.) but just accept that that is how they are, rather than attempting to learn how to be adaptable in the way in which they communicate with their horse.

Often when the horse needs us the most, we humans attempt to avoid the situation entirely.

There are only so many ways a horse can ask for help, and more often than not he is ignored, not addressed, or forced into scenarios where his behavior has to increase dramatically until the person can no longer ignore that the horse is having a problem.

Don’t leave your horse in the tantrum, don’t avoid the tantrum.  Embrace the tantrum, but help your horse get to a better spot on the other side. 

And the most major theme, for all riders, for all disciplines, for all experience levels, is:

Slow down.  Mentally, physically, emotionally.  Slow down.  What is the rush?  What MUST you accomplish? The slower you go the more time you have to influence what is about to happen, to help both you and your horse think through a scenario, to be present to feel what is happening, to be able to learn to have a real time, ongoing conversation with your horse rather than a shouting match.  You will accomplish so much more by slowing down and achieving quality, than rushing with brainlessness behaviors in you and your horse.

My hope would be that you take a while let this all sink in.  It is a lot.  Then come back and review it, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now…

Looking forward to more fun with the horses in the upcoming year!

Sam