I am often asked why I do something a certain way in my training. Most teachers have at least some students who probe a little below the surface. But a question I am rarely asked is, "Why don’t you do it a different way?". I think understanding why not to do something is equally important as understanding why to do something, but people seem to forget to ask that question.
I was very lucky to have known Walt and Amos for many years. In the early part, most of what they did was different from what I had largely seen before. I looked at them as oddities. I was extremely curious about their way around horses, but I knew they were weird and considered them nothing more than interesting. I certainly didn’t want to be like them or do things like them. I wanted to ride, train, handle, and treat horses in the same way as everybody else. So my curiosity about Walt and Amos was expressed by questions. I was always asking them why. Why did they mouth a horse without a bit? Why did they use a breast collar on their saddle? Why did they use their outside leg the way they did? Why did they do so much groundwork? Why did they teach their horses tricks?
The longer I knew the old twin brothers, Walt and Amos, the more respect I developed for their minds. That may seem strange considering they never attended high school and were never seen with their nose in a book. But what became obvious to me and everybody else who took the time to talk to them about horse stuff is that they were never stumped for a reason as to why they did things the way they did and why they didn't do it the way other people did.
Bit by bit I began to see the logic and the results behind why the old men rode, trained, and handled horses in the way that they did. Some of these things became incorporated into my approach to the horses. I wasn’t always aware of it, but I later realized that changes were taking place in the way I thought about things. It wasn’t so much that I just started to take on board the ideas of Walt and Amos, but that I started to question why I did stuff the way I did. Were there good reasons for it and if not what was a better approach? I began to question myself. It was hard at first because change is always difficult. But as I learned to question my own ideas I also started to question the things others said and did. Even Walt and Amos! One of the more interesting aspects of my new enquiring approach to horses was that my questions sometimes changed from “Why do you do it this way”, to “Why don’t you do it this way?” Walt and Amos made a point of letting me know about this change in my thinking. I would ask “Why don’t you rug your horses", "Why don’t you use the outside rein in a turn", "Why don’t you use a martingale", "Why don’t you use leg in a rein back, etc?”
The funny thing is that today I see parallels between my experience with Walt and Amos and the response I get from some horse folk.
People who know nothing about me often dismiss me as having some odd practices around horses. Recently, somebody was talking about me and said that they didn’t understand why anyone would use a flag – it just seemed a stupid thing to do and didn’t make sense. But they never asked me about the flag and why I use it. In their understanding and in the world of what they do with a horse the flag had no place – they didn’t use one, their friends did not use one and their teachers did not use one – so what was the point?
The second group of people are those who make up new clinic goers. They like what I do and the results that I get with a horse, but they don’t quite get it – yet they want to understand. From these people, I get the “Why do you…” type of questions.
The last group of people are those who have been around me for a long time and have a good understanding of why I do the things that I do. But they are still grappling with why others don’t have the same ideas. These people ask the “why don’t I ….” type of questions.
To be able to answer the questions of all these people I try very hard to make sure that I have a good reason and understanding of everything that I do. At a recent clinic, somebody mentioned that they had never been to any trainer who had thought so much about everything they do. I was very pleased with this compliment because it is important that I understand and can justify the approach I take in my work. I never want to just accept the word or teaching of somebody else. I may try things that seemed like a good idea, but then either dismiss them or incorporate them, or modify them depending on the responses of the horses.
It’s hard to think for ourselves when we are unsure – especially when everyone around us is telling us what to do even if they don’t necessarily understand why. But I see so many poor practices with horses that are done just because the person accepted the word of their instructor or a clinician or a friend or read it in a book. Question everything. Ask why you do the things you do. Make sure you have a good understanding and even more important make sure the horse is better for it. Then when you are comfortable with the answers you can start to ask why don’t you do it the way other people do it.
