This material and its attendant photo illustrations are copyrighted © 2003 by R. J. Sagely. The reprinting or distribution of the whole or any part without express permission of the author is prohibited.
Sage Horsemanship Philosophy
"Helping horsepeople develop a better
horse sense."
My philosophy is pretty basic and rests on the following tenents. While they are few, the development of this philosophy is well over twenty years in the making for me and I consider it "A work in progress..." (Jump here for a little taste of what this can mean...). So for the short list...
1. There is no such thing as a problem horse, there is only a horse having trouble dealing with people.
2. There is no such thing as a problem person, there is only a person who can be more of a help to a horse.
3. Horses need to be horses and people need to be people and still each can learn to get along better in the "other" one's world.
4. People have the responsibility to allow, and enable, number three to happen.
5. There is no such thing as a "broke" (or choose whatever other word with suitable shortcomings that you would desire to use, like "trained'', "finished", "bomb-proof") horse. The horse is what he is and "stuff" happens with even the best of them.
6. There are no secrets to this and there is no magic to it (although there is an incredible amount of magic derived from it). Anyone, horse or human, "can" do this. All you got to do is believe in the horse.
Trust- Anyone can build trust with a horse... no secrets, no magic, no extraordinary skills needed. Horses are creatures of flight. They must be able to run from anything that they do not comprehend. If they cannot, many other strange and dangerous things can happen. They have done this for eons as a matter of survival. And run they will when they are scared or unsure. Unless they have a foundation of trust in another creature as either a leader and a better judge of what is a scary horse-eater or they are just comfortable in the presence of this other creature they will probably vacate the area or...
A human can be such a creature for the horse. It is a big undertaking and carries a great responsibility and demand for thoughtful awareness. The beautiful thing about it is that anyone who wants it has a really great prospect of being able to have it, to be such for the horse.
Honesty- Simply put, I believe we get what we give with a horse. I have heard many people say that a horse would cheat or "sell out". This carries many connotations, all of which I believe to be inappropriate to describing what the horse is actually doing when labeled so. A horse is honest, an excellent mirror of a human's ability to communicate with a horse, an exacting mirror of the human heart, soul, action and intent. Sometimes we see the results of our dishonesty (we sell out first, in my opinion) in the short run and sometimes not until the long run. We may not get this "cheat" back right away, but that is not the horse's agenda or even the horse's concern. If we cannot take the time it takes to get what we want in an honest manner, then we will get what we deserve from the relationship we build dishonestly.
We could easily say then that the horse is cheating but I say he is not. He is just giving us back what he got from us first. We build trust through honesty and the great thing about it is that a horse has some built in forgiveness for awhile as we stumble on our way toward being better. Honesty from us must be there as a starting point, even if our skills are a little lacking. Try to "cheat" a horse from the start and he will know you for what you are... and he will not trust you.
Heart- No one can prove this one with any kind of measurable accuracy or precision. No one else can show you what this one is really all about for you and your horse. You feel this one from a place of confidence and humility. You know it from a place inside you. You believe in the horse right from your heart. It comes to you by how you have lived, and continue to live, your life. But, if you will have trust and honesty then you will have this thing called heart, too. A great horseman said something to the effect that you never want to look a horse straight in the eye unless you are ready for him to see what is in your heart (Or something very much like that). I believe that. I believe that if you have it in your heart to be the kind of a horseperson your mare would want to take home to her foal, then it will come through with an honesty that will build the trust to create a relationship whose only bounds will be your imagination and the laws of gravity and motion.
*Disclaimer:
Horsemanship is an inherently dangerous practice and horses are inherently unpredictable animals. The person attempting to follow any suggestion from Bob Sagely or Sage Horsemanship is to do so at their own risk and assumes full responsibility for themselves, their horse and any others in the vicinity. There is no guarantee of success or safety for human or horse in utilizing any of the practices or strategies for horsemanship suggested or promoted on this site or by Bob Sagely or Sage Horsemanship directly.This material and its attendant photo illustrations are copyrighted © 2003 by R. J. Sagely. The reprinting or distribution of the whole or any part without express permission of the author is prohibited.
