Do these sound familiar?
- Searching for something to bring you and your horse closer together?
- Been told your horse is ‘un-trainable’?
- Should be ‘sold or even put down‘?
- You feel something is ‘missing’ in your relationship with your horse?
- Frustrated by seemingly unsolvable ‘problems’ with your horse?
- You feel a sense of ‘wrongness‘ using current training methods?
- Would like your horse to run to you, instead of away from you?
- Is the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of your horse important to you?
- You love your horse and want to understand how that love can be returned?
The Friendship Training program
Is more than just a process to help your horse heal emotionally, (and equally important, win their heart). It is more than a way of life that continually strives to give them the best life possible. It is more than an opportunity to share the deepest rapport and intimacy a horse and a human can possibly share together. It is an incomparable episode in your own Book of Life that will leave you humbled, and at times, filled with a sense of deep appreciation, awe, and fulfillment.
Unlike conventional types of ‘training’ that prioritize the ‘Alpha/leader’ concept, Friendship Training is based on the equine Peer Attachment/Pair Bond relationship. As such, this alternative paradigm shift does not use whips, ropes, sticks, gadgets or any type of restriction.
To give those horse owners this incomparable opportunity who otherwise might not be able to afford the entire program in a single payment, the Friendship Training program is now offered in individual, sequential chapters.
In a Nutshell…
- It has been irrefutably proven that positive reinforcement is far superior to punishment in altering behavior and results in a lasting behavioral modification. Punishment changes behavior only temporarily and presents many detrimental side effects.
- The Peer Attachment (horse buddies) equine relationship represents an intimate, positive relationship that is easily observed in almost any herd of horses. Horses and their humans in Australia, the US, Italy, England, Portugal and Scotland share this same intimate relationship with Friendship Training.
- Physiological responses to stress, (stress hormones) inhibit Memory, Concentration and Learning. (Our FT horses learn easily and quickly because we use a positive, stress-free learning/teaching environment.) We do not use any type of restriction, whips, lariats, round pens, cordeos, picaderos, clickers, sticks or other ‘gadgets’.
- We take a holistic approach including, (but not limited to) nutrition, hoof care and social environment. We want our horse to be as content and stress free as possible.
- We feel that there is no such thing as a ‘bad horse’.Every horse in the world was born a perfect horse. The ‘Suddenly Temperamental or Bucking’ article explains some of the reasons why they may not always act the way you expect them to act.
The Principles of Friendship Training…
- I will make my horse feel that they are the most loved, special horse in the world
- I will give my horse every opportunity to live a stress-free, pain-free, joyful life. This encompasses a wide range of subjects that affect our horse’s emotional and physical well-being. Bitless, hoof care, social environment, nutrition and physical conditioning are basic considerations.
- The relationship I share with my horse and their well-being, will take precedence over all else, regardless of where we are, or what we are doing. For what we share is priceless.
In all of our Friendship Training exercises, three guidelines are strictly adhered to:
- Freedom of Choice (We ask, instead of ordering.)
- Freedom of Movement (No restriction of any kind is used for teaching/training.)
- Freedom of Expression (The horse is always encouraged to express their feelings as long as it does not in any way injure their human teacher.)