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| G.A.Equine Center LLC / Training programs and rates / About Gordon Adair / Interview / Gordon's articles |
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GETTING A HOOF UP ON TRAINING
© by Gordon Adair During the years that I competed with horses in the show ring, to stay ahead of the other trainers, it was imperative to continually improve and develop new faster, easier, and gentler ways to train our horse companions. What I discovered was there was more avenues to explore than training techniques, not fighting your own "horse care system" is the first step to success. To many owners and trainers unknowingly create and then fight problems caused by themselves. Most trainers and owners spend their time training the affect of a problem and never find or eliminate the true cause. When only addressing the effects of a problem you will be training forever and never accomplish your goals. This is why it is important to find the true cause of the problems. One of the main culprit of behavior problems is hoof care. HOW THE BEST HOOF CAN HELP Quit simply a horse is more likely to challenge you when he is in discomfort. The hoof angles can affect and change the skeletal system from the ground up, causing discomfort in the shoulder, back, etc., altering the horse's movement and desire to move. To make training and working with horses easier it is important to make sure your horse is free of discomfort. When a horse is in discomfort from contracted and/or high heels and has excessive bar growth, every step will be painful. When all four feet hurt equally your horse may not show lameness but may exhibit resistance against working. This resistance against working is often labeled as a sign of a problem or sour horse. Can we blame a horse for not wanting to move when they have sore feet? You can incorporate a fun activity into your horse's workout by increasing the desire to work to overpower the discomfort. You can also increase your horse's training level so his desire to please you is greater than the discomfort. Neither of these solutions will solve the true problem of soreness; they only increase the horse's desire to tolerate the discomfort. The cause of the soreness must be eliminated! PUTTING THE HOOF TO THE TEST Being a trainer I have the opportunity to work with varying degrees of horse and owner problems. A common problem that horse owners have is; their horses do not listen to them and are reluctant to move forward. I decided to experiment with this training problem by using my findings on how to properly trim a horse. The horses in my study did not show lameness and were all ridden by the owners as well as myself. Each horse would perform requirements for me yet would resist to perform the same requirements properly for the owners. After I trimmed the horses, some horses had increased energy to the point they required several days of turnout to satisfy their playful needs. Once the owners returned to ride, their ability to control their horse improved dramatically without any additional training. A couple owners even thought I worked their horses earlier in the day to make them more responsive. None of the horses where worked prior to the owners riding them. The conclusion of the study was that training time for each horse actually decreased and they advanced in training more quickly with my trimming. Not only were the owners happier about their horses increased desire to obey them, they were also happy about not having to spend more money on training. By eliminating the horse's resistance to work, which was caused by undetected discomfort, each owner could take over the responsibility of their own horse's training. THE HOOF UP ON LAMINITIS AND NAVICULAR I was able to perfect my farrier skills by experimenting with so many different horses and problems. Being able to change or adjust a horse's trim when needed is a valuable tool when training horses. I learned what worked best because I rode my own products. During my studies on hoof care to improve training I discovered that the system I used was affective towards curing laminitis and navicular. Unfortunately, I was put to the test when a clients horse had an acute cause of laminitis. The mare laid on her side most of the day when I started, after applying my knowledge and skills she recovered and was ridden on the trails and jumping. There is a lot of established research on proper hoof care. It is up to you to study the information and determine what is best for your horse. Your horse will benefit from your time whether there is an evident lameness, affiliated body soreness, or no signs of a problem. Proper trimming knowledge and practice is vital to your horse's health. Eliminating the source of your horse's resistance will also avoid undue stress, injury, and soreness caused by addressing the problems generated from hoof discomfort. Also, there is nothing more satisfying than watching horses, who are free of discomfort, cantering around the pasture with renewed youth and vitality. RECOVERED HORSES Below are videos of horses who were diagnosis with laminitis yet, recovered with Gordon Adair trimming and managing their care.
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