Neil Davies
THE HORSE’S LAMENT By Neil Davies He puts a dreadful halter on, it’s made from rope and knots And when he jerks and jerks my head, it really hurts me lots He flaps a stupid flag each day, I don’t know what to do And though I try to please him, he hits me … Read more
The biggest problem to overcome in horse training is human behaviour. Humans come up with all sorts of theories and methods, then try to make every horse fit their set lessons. Many people cling to traditional theories and set methods, no matter how their horses react. Instead of trying to make horses adapt to … Read more
One of my grandfather’s favourite sayings was ‘Work beats the best of them, man or beast’. He firmly believed that if you were having trouble with a horse or a man, the best thing to do was to work them to the point of exhaustion. When I was a kid, Billy Wilkie was another old … Read more
When a horse is frightened, his first means of defence is to run away. When a frightened horse is cornered and can’t escape, he’ll instinctively defend himself by kicking, striking, biting or bucking. These aren’t signs of aggression, they’re simply signs that a horse is frightened and can see no other way out of the … Read more
People often say “but my horse doesn’t like having his head rubbed”. I know this is true in many cases. No horse likes having his head rubbed when he’s first handled. Every horse will be worried when your hand first comes near his head and ears. If a horse doesn’t like having his head rubbed, … Read more
I grew up on a dairy farm in the 1960’s. We milked about 100 cows which was quite a big herd in those days. When I was eleven years old, one of my jobs after school was to feed the calves. There were about 20 calves fed by hand from the time they were a … Read more
We’re often told that horses are mimics and will copy whatever their ‘leader’ does. I’ve seen trainers run along in a trotting motion when they want a horse to trot alongside them. Even better, when they want the horse to canter, I’ve seen trainers skip along pretending to canter, thinking that the horse will copy … Read more
My wife Christine has been a music teacher ever since she left school. She’s taught hundreds of people to play piano, keyboard, piano accordion and organ. I’d never had much interest in learning a musical instrument until a couple of years ago when Chris arrived home with a $25 tremolo harmonica. I picked it up … Read more
When I handle their horses, people often say ‘It’s ok for you, you have a special gift.’ This isn’t true. I wasn’t born with any gift for handling horses. I know what I know from a lifetime of riding and handling thousands of different horses. Every horse taught me something and a lot of owners … Read more
Horse training isn’t complicated. Your horse concentrates on three simple things, every time you ride or handle him. When you concentrate on the same three things, you’re thinking on the same level as your horse. Understanding this is the key to horse training. Every movement you teach every horse comes back to these three things. … Read more
