Wild horses live in herds. They are integrated in working social structures. Horses do not know man's choice of good and evil. They don't attack. They escape danger in rapid forward movement. Wild horses view man as their natural enemy. The horse in man's tent is of another nature. It trusts the human, enjoys his company and submits to his will.
The passage from wild to domesticated is marked by a touch of the skin. When and once the rider manages to touch the wild horse with his hand, it gives. It recognizes human/equine kinship and opens up to him. The same is true for a foal in the stable. Unless after birth it is manipulated before rising from the ground, resistances are to overcome. Again, bearing the human touch breaks the ice.
The differences in the horse's dual nature are indeed stunning. The wild horse will not be touched by a man, even with a ten yard pole. Once it has recognized him as kin and trusted leader, it freely follows him into a trailer, goes onto an elevator or mounts an airplane. It gladly trades the dangers of the wild for the safety of assured leadership and confined spaces. The horse, wild or domesticated, however, can and will not function without a leader. Yet another aspect rules equitation.
Key to quality ground work is understanding that the horse in its natural habitat knows no body contact.
Walk immediately. Human development in close contact.
Use lead rope only after join up. Don't attach before. Reactiveness and speed. 20th century: ju,ping and racing
D.l.G. terre a terre and piaffe obvious base for all else. Today afraid of this sort of rapid movement.
Practical: never pull on the horse in walking, lunging, work-in-hand, flexions. Teaching is in the release. Learns fast,
wants to please, be with the rider.
Two forms of minimal body contact: crawling the fur and touching with the whip. Learn when and where to touch. Sound
queues safest.
Base of authority: territory dominance. Language of the herd: Six Keys.
Full contact of saddle and girth, the rider's upright seat. Partial contact of the forward seat.
Its in matching energy lines that the horse finds its master.
