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Dear
Riding Readers:
This
e-mail below did not come to me a question, but after seeing how
strongly it is worded, I felt the need to answer this issue. And
indeed, there may be many of you that would like clarification of my
position on stud chains.
“I
see that you want to get people killed. The only time I have had to
use a stud chain is on my horse when I take him to a show. Being a
stallion until the age of three he wanted to mate the mares in heat.
Even though he had been gelded, he still had the instinct. Instinct
can’t be trained, sorry. You don’t see ten Lipizzaner stallions
performing under the big top with mares in heat. If I had not chosen
to use a stud chain at one show of 200 horses, he would have broken
away and perhaps killed someone or himself. You really need to be
more elaborate on proper use of a stud chain. Draft horses require
this safety step as well. No man’s weight can equal that of a HORSE.
It’s like holding back a CAR. No man made devices. Should even be
used incorrectly. I could ride my horse without a saddle or bridle
in his own pasture, but out on the street NO WAY. Stud chains were
designed for safety not a way of life. They should only be used when
safety is required, hence a horse show. Thanks to your message, if
people really heard you, we would see more people DEAD due to
ignorance about stud chains.”
My
initial response to this is what I always say, “Equipment doesn’t
train the horse, you do.” And with that in mind, there were three
points that came out in the e-mail:
1)
Improper use of
equipment can be dangerous
2)
Instinct can’t be
untrained
3)
People need to be
shown how to use equipment properly
I
have found that if you use a stud chain properly, you end up
discovering that you don’t really need it. So why not train the
horse without using it in the first place? Every gender and breed
of horse is stronger than us! Whether a draft mare, thoroughbred
stallion, weanling or pony; if not properly trained, any horse can
become out of control and extremely dangerous.
Properly trained however, any horse can be light, responsive and
have good manners in all situations – including a stallion in
proximity to a mare in heat. Simply put, the training needs to be
established well enough to override their natural responses. YES –
this is possible and good trainers accomplish this all the time.
Instinct in a stallion is to breed and fight other horses, along
with that incredible natural instinct to flee. If you can train a
horse not to bolt, which is to not do what their strongest
survival instinct tells them to do, there is no reason you can’t you
train a stallion to resist the urge to breed. All horses, stallions
included, need good ground manners regardless of their instincts.
The key is to make the cue more compelling than their instinct.
Even
if their natural response comes up, the cue has become a
conditioned response. Horses, stallions included, are brought
to me for training and stud chains are used to get them here, in
that case, they have value, the horse is out of control and
dangerous. They are never used again and the horse is trained to
respond to a light touch. I am not opposed to stud chains to get
control to be able to teach the horse; the problem is that most
people don’t use them in that way!
You
can compare the stud chain to what I call the bigger bit syndrome.
They both use pain to control a horse instead of training the horse
to respond to a cue through rewarding it via release of pressure.
Eventually a very severe bit will not stop a horse as they learn to
ignore the pain. It is only a quick fix, with limited effectiveness
as the horse becomes more and more resistant to it. A stud chain is
much the same, eventually instinct will override the pain and then
where do you go? Train the mind and the whole horse, and you don’t
need a pain-inflicting device to have light responsive partner that
is a pleasure to be with. I call that training the horse inside and
out. You might get control with a device in the beginning but you do
not get their respect. Another aspect of using a stud chain is that
when the horse learns to ignore the stud chain (becomes resistant to
pressure) it is not possible to teach them to give to pressure in a
halter. You get the lightness, control and softness that we all want
in a horse in a horse by changing it’s natural response of being
resistant to pressure, to giving to pressure.
I
have a client that brought me an out of control, biting stallion
several years ago, he was the worst that I have had to deal with.
She now prides herself in the fact that all of her stallions are
now shown and handled, and used for breeding, in regular or rope
halters.
Which
brings me back to my original statement, equipment does not train
the horse, you train the horse. Some horses are more difficult
that others but if we are going to own and use horses they are worth
the effort to train them properly for a better quality of life for
both you and your horse. So with all due respect to the author of
the e-mail above, I will say again, there are no magic gadgets
and I believe every horse can and should be trained to never have to
use a stud chain. |
