Building Your Dream Horse

Charles Wilhelm

Description

"True horsemanship training is about people first."
--Charles Wilhelm

Charles Wilhelm's Ultimate Foundation Training has transformed thousands of horses into more responsive, mannerly companions. In this book, Wilhelm trains you to use his tried and true principles in training your horse. Go inside the horse's mind to see how he thinks and learns, so you can communicate in a language your horse understands. Discover why and how foundation training works. Wilhelm's uniquely successful methods will help you build a relationship that's more rewarding for both you and your horse--one that lasts a lifetime.
* Discover why working with your horse should be fun--and why you should stop if it isn't
* Learn to identify your horse's emotional level and personality type
* Find out the ten secrets your horse wishes he could tell you
* Understand why consistency is essential in establishing desired behavior
* Communicate with your horse using the right combination of pressure and release, patience, persistence, and conscientious follow-through
* Recognize why it's never, ever the horse's fault
Foreword: An Extraordinary Man for Horses and People.

Preface: How Charles Wilhelm Became a Horseman.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction: Why Every Horse Lover Should Read This Book.

1. Understanding the Horse.

The Emotional, Mental, and Physical Aspects of the Horse.

The Emotional Aspect.

The Mental Aspect.

The Physical Aspect.

Horse Personalities.

Conditioned Response.

Ten Secrets Every Horse Wants His Owner to Know.

2. Understanding Foundation Training.

What Is Foundation Training?

Working with Pressure.

Incremental Training.

Setting and Raising Standards.

What Is Natural Horsemanship and How Does It Apply to Foundation Training?

What Is Ultimate Foundation Training?

No Magic Gadgets: The Role of Equipment in Horse Training.

3. Ultimate Foundation Training.

The Ultimate Foundation Exercise: The Go-Forward Cue.

The Round Pen.

Line Work.

Leading Manners and Respecting Space.

Emotional Control and Despooking.

Giving to the Bit.

Moving the Hips Over.

Stopping.

Shoulder Control.

Engagement.

Transitions.

Collection.

Training Babies.

Foundation Training and the Foal.

Training a Baby for Veterinary and Farrier Work.

Starting Older Horses.

4. It’s Never, Ever the Horse’s Fault.

Buying the Right Horse.

Mental Training for Horsemanship.

Common Problems and How to Solve Them with Ultimate Foundation Training.

Pullback Problem.

Spooking.

Bolting.

Rearing.

Bucking.

Trailer Loading.

Buddy Sour.

Barn Sour.

Cinchy.

Head Tossing and Pulling at the Bit.

No Control: Stud Chains and Bigger Bits.

If All Else Fails: Finding the Right Trainer.

Building Your Dream Horse.

Appendix: The Charles Wilhelm Training Facility.

Success through Knowledge.

Index.

Sujets

• Pets
• Horses

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 23 juillet 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470232620
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

BUILDING YOUR DREAM HORSE
BUILDING YOUR DREAM HORSE
Charles Wilhelm s Ultimate Foundation Training
CHARLES WILHELM WITH ALLISON W. HOUSTON
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. All rights reserved.
Howell Book House
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
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The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising here from. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Wilhelm, Charles, date.
Building your dream horse : Charles Wilhelm s Ultimate Foundation Training / Charles Wilhelm and Allison W. Houston.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-7645-7915-0 (paper: alk. paper)
1. Horses-Training. 2. Horsemanship. I. Houston, Allison W. II. Title.
SF287.W72 2005
636.1 0835-dc22
2004024049
Cover Design: Wendy Mount
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is dedicated first and foremost to my God, who makes everything possible. And then to the many other special people in my life who have made it possible for me to be living my dream of being a horseman. I wish I could name all of you who have made my life so rich and blessed.
To my family and staff, your commitment in helping to run this business is what makes it a success.
To my wife, Anne, whose unwavering support and love keep me going through every high and low-I love you very much, Honey-Bunny.
To my son and daughter-in-law, Jeff and Severine, who put in such long hours with the daily grind type of maintenance that keeps the ranch running-much love and appreciation to you both.
To Karen Werth, my operations manager, you are truly indispensable and I cannot begin to express my gratitude for all that you do and for your endless patience.
To Allison Houston, who has given a written voice to my life s work by co-authoring this book, thanks for being persistent, consistent, and knowledgeable in an area where I am not.
To John and Carleen Enyedy, who have provided ongoing spiritual support, something I need very much to keep everything in its proper perspective.
To the countless clients with whom I have worked over the years, your horses and your stories are what make every day such a complete joy and exciting challenge.
Contents
Foreword
An Extraordinary Man for Horses and People
Preface
How Charles Wilhelm Became a Horseman
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Why Every Horse Lover Should Read This Book
1
Understanding the Horse
The Emotional, Mental, and Physical Aspects of the Horse
The Emotional Aspect
The Mental Aspect
The Physical Aspect
Horse Personalities
Conditioned Response
Ten Secrets Every Horse Wants His Owner to Know
2
Understanding Foundation Training
What Is Foundation Training?
Working with Pressure
Incremental Training
Setting and Raising Standards
What Is Natural Horsemanship and How Does It Apply to Foundation Training?
What Is Ultimate Foundation Training?
No Magic Gadgets: The Role of Equipment in Horse Training
3
Ultimate Foundation Training
The Ultimate Foundation Exercise: The Go-Forward Cue
The Round Pen
Line Work
Leading Manners and Respecting Space
Emotional Control and Despooking
Giving to the Bit
Moving the Hips Over
Stopping
Shoulder Control
Engagement
Transitions
Collection
Training Babies
Foundation Training and the Foal
Training a Baby for Veterinary and Farrier Work
Starting Older Horses
4
It s Never, Ever the Horse s Fault
Buying the Right Horse
Mental Training for Horsemanship
Common Problems and How to Solve Them with Ultimate Foundation Training
Pullback Problem
Spooking
Bolting
Rearing
Bucking
Trailer Loading
Buddy Sour
Barn Sour
Cinchy
Head Tossing and Pulling at the Bit
No Control: Stud Chains and Bigger Bits
If All Else Fails: Finding the Right Trainer
Building Your Dream Horse
Appendix: The Charles Wilhelm Training Facility
Success through Knowledge
Index
Foreword
An Extraordinary Man for Horses and People
I met Charles Wilhelm pretty much the same way he meets most of his clients: a phone call, e-mail, or chance encounter at a horse exposition that starts out something along the lines of this conversation:
Help, Mr. Wilhelm! I don t know what to do. My horse ________. Into that blank, you can insert any of these all-too-familiar scenarios: bucks, rears, spooks, won t trailer load, is heavy on the bit, needs to be started under saddle, doesn t engage, is buddy sour, crow hops, won t collect, pulls back, refuses jumps, is cinchy, and so on. You could insert just about any issue into that sentence and chances are, someone has talked to Charles about how to fix it-and he has. A recent example was a call for help that came from a nice woman desperate for training assistance because her horse would allow her to mount only after he had been blindfolded. He was fine once she was in the saddle, but unless his eyes were completely covered, he would rear and kick when someone tried to climb onto his back. I m still wondering how she discovered that trick worked in the first place!
But these kinds of calls for help come to Charles all the time, because that is what he does and in some ways, what he is . He s a problem-solver. Charles is one of the few horsemen who specialize in reschooling horses with severe problem behaviors. And frankly, that typically means reschooling owners and handlers at the same time. He runs a full-time training operation in California s Bay Area and is often both the last resort and the first hope for discouraged horse owners.
In addition to working intensely with a variety of equestrian issues, his same methodology (collectively known as Ultimate Foundation Training) is also the base program for starting horses under saddle as well as achieving performance improvement for top competitive horses in many disciplines. Whatever the training goal may be, each and every horse goes through his Ultimate Foundation Training program.
My own Help, Mr. Wilhelm! call came about three years ago. Eighteen months earlier I had purchased a palomino gelding who was supposed to be perfect for beginners. You will hear a bit more about him later in this book, but the short story is that he had a truly violent bucking problem that three other trainers had not been able to resolve. The last trainer prior to Charles actually recommended that I euthanize him.
Through a fluke of Internet equestrian chat rooms (of all things), a virtual stranger passionately recommended that I talk to Charles Wilhelm before giving up entirely. Though I had not yet heard of Charles, I visited his Web site and decided to e-mail him. We eventually talked on the phone at length, and finally I decided to give it one last try by sending my horse to him for extended training.
In short, the experience was such an amazing success that not only have I sent three other horses (and a mule) to Charles for varying degrees of training, but I have also attended dozens of his clinics and have spent hundreds of hours at the ranch observing his work. I discovered that I didn t just find an exceptional horse trainer, I found an extraordinary people trainer . I was so impressed by the work he does with regular folk and their horses that we began talking about how he