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The article below is written by Carolyn Resnick, author of a new method of working with horses, which she called Seven Waterhole Rituals. Carolyn shares with us the knowledge that she gained from her parents; they taught her to bond with animals, which now she teaches to us and many people around the world. Visit her blog: www.carolynresnickblog.com

My family instilled in me that dogs learn fast, horses can too, and most animals seem to learn faster than humans. It was this idea that caused me when I was a child to understand that I needed to develop my ability to learn from the horse so I could be on par with them.

Both sides of my family were horse lovers. The big joke in my family is that they were bound and determined to raise me to have an interest in horses; as if they could have stopped me. It is hard to say if my parents’ intentions were to support my interest or that they purposely shaped me to love them as I do today. My mother was a wonderful dog trainer; her greatest dog was a dog-named Ibliese, a miniature French poodle with a nickname Chicken Harry because he liked chicken.

Chicken Harry could do all of the tricks the dogs in the Lassie movies could do, as well as being able to give direction to a stranger in a car without my mother being in the car, if Chicken Harry had been there before. He could dive down in water over 10 feet to retrieve anything. If my mother asked him to wait by himself, he would wait for any length of time and never move. He was an intact male and would breed a female only if he had my mothers OK. Everything my mother taught Chicken Harry was formed from the friendship he felt for her. My mother, when asking her dog to perform, spoke in a soft loving voice, and would only have to speak to him once and her dog would spring into action.

My Dad was gifted with horses and was very careful to keep me safe around them. His guidance led me to the connection I share with horses today. He shared stories in what to do and what not to do. I remember my dad telling me a story in how he did something unthinkable when he was a child that got him in a lot of trouble. He said he was being lazy and a smart aleck at the time and he tied the horses to his back suspenders, thinking he wouldn’t have to pay attention to his job while leading the horses in from the field that night, and the horses took off on the way back to the barn. That stupidly almost cost him his life. You can imagine that I heard that story a lot from my family, wanting me to be careful and to think before I tried doing anything innovative with a horse, especially if it had to do with ropes and tack. My Dad always preferred I work with our horses with out ropes and any form of tack because of his experience as a child. I communicated with my horses mostly at liberty and rode bare back in the beginning. Not using tack to train a horse developed my skills in the communication and training of horses for competition as a junior rider. The horses I competed on were horses that I trained myself.

Because my family gave me freedom and cultivated my innovative nature, I began communicating with horses like my mother did with her dogs. I saw that my mother did not base her dog training on rules, orders, and signals but more on the relationship, she shared with them. I followed her example by training horses from the companionship I shared with them like she did with her dogs.
My life as a show horse trainer was quite enjoyable and spiritually fulfilling for the horses and me. Because of the deep relationship I had formed with them, they were my best friends. To create a winning performance in a horse it took building a deep bond before training which then developed a winning performance from the relationship and working bond we had built together.

My method of training is a communication system at liberty that I call the Seven Waterhole Rituals bonding with horses. I developed this method from the years of learning herd behavior and how to use daily bonding rituals natural to all horses that live in a wild herd. I discovered how to develop a horse’s interest in following my lead from the behavior of horses around water sources in nature, hence the name Waterhole Rituals. The method develops a connection and deep bond with horses through interacting with a horse using the horse’s daily bonding rituals I discovered in nature. In using the method, it takes some time getting to know a horse in the beginning but cuts down on years of training a horse for any purpose under saddle or on the ground. In a few months time you can develop a working bond with your horse, like the one my mother shared with her dogs.

My Method has three main purposes. One is for self-realization and spiritual evolution though learning how to communicate with horses. The second purpose is to bring horses and humans together in their performance under saddle through a connection built on friendship and respect. The third purpose is to shape a horse’s character to fit in harmony with humans. Horses are prey animals and need better coping skills as well as needing to experience social interaction for their well-being and growth patterns. My book “Naked Liberty” is a guide for people to have a better understanding of herd behavior and how the pecking order of horses needs to be addressed to not destroy the well being of a horse; and how to communicate with horses. The horse’s world is a give and take world. Lead horses must be non-dominate in their behavior with a measure of prudence or they will lose the herd. The methods I develop teach a person how to lead a horse by allowing the horse to choose their leadership. From the practice of the Waterhole Rituals, one learns when to allow a horse to shape your leadership and when to not give in. The method shows how to win a horse’s respect, how to keep a horse interested in learning and performing, and how to grow and create a perfect connection with him on a daily basis.

The communication I use is body language: talking, sounds of tonality, bonding rituals, telepathic messages and leading a horse at the moment the horse is willing to follow and leaving him alone when he does not want to. The tack used for my program is a light reed that cannot hurt the horse and I use a large area so the horse can escape the humans’ influences if he chooses. This is very valuable because it points out to people when their leadership is not appropriate or ineffective. I believe it is important to stop training when the horse says “no.” With my method horses have no fault insurance.

The neat thing about horses is they are companionship animals and they will return more willing if they have not been forced. If the horse is not willing at any point, we change the subject and work on something he would enjoy doing. Little by little, the horse will do what he had refused to do earlier. My courses are on personal, spiritual growth through teaching leadership a horse is drawn to. You learn how to shape the character of the horse to bond and fit in harmony with you in the same way he bonds with other horses. It is a two-way street, you learn how to shape your leadership, to be inviting rather than dominant and persistent and the horse learns respect and to enjoy following your lead.

To learn more about Carolyn, her lifelong relationship with the horses and her quest to find the ideal communication method between man and horse, visit her site www.carolynresnickblog.com and read her book Naked Liberty published in English and German (Tochter Der Mustangs – Daughter of the Mustangs).