I have a hard time believing that The Chronicle would publish an article about a “Traveling Horse Witch”. Not with that title anyway.
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I tried to search Balance Through Movement Method as well but couldn’t find anything.
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And that right there tells you it is not really about the horses… it is all about her. Heck, even Pat Parelli constantly credited the Dorrance brothers for everything… 
and if your ego is bigger than his, you have a problem.
Childish “mean girl” nonsense. The same sort of thing SW from Dressage Hub has done…
Was that Dragon horse of hers that she misdiagnosed and fussed about a stallion? If so, he his behavior sounds exactly like what a stallion here went through. Some boys just cannot handle those hormones and the anxiety and self-made need for constant vigilance. The stallion here was helped with some ulcer meds and “brain surgery” and has been a happy, healthy and athletic horse ever since…
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I don’t disagree that the inventor of a training method should probably be the best at it 
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Right, but they drag down those they’ve taught to teach their method by spouting off about it. In saying that sort of thing she is saying that even though she teaches other people to use her method, they will never be as good as her because she has some sort of magic. If she has some sort of magic, that cannot be properly and fully taught to her disciples, then she doesn’t have much of a training method, more of a fan club for gathering cash from her woowoo super power.
Great teachers don’t disparage their students even by accident.
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I came across this in something at work and for some reason it reminded me of this thread and the JLC thread:
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I despise this sort of thing with a red hot and fiery passion.
I’ve rehabbed horses before. I’ve turned upside-down “terrifying” bolting horses into solid citizens that could clock around a hunter course nicely.
And I’m going to say something very controversial, but almost all the horses that I’ve rehabbed had a TRAINING issue and NOT a pain issue. And most DEFINITELY not a “standing in a weird way” issue.
I know, I know, pitchforks out since I’m clearly going against the woo that has permeated the equine industry for the last 40 years. Probably the last 2000, but since I only remember 40 years of it I really can’t speak to much more.
I have never been able to get over the fact that some of the best performing horses I’d ever seen had serious physical issues which were only found when we were looking for something else, and some of the problem horses people had would be vetted out the wazoo and they were grasping at straws to figure out what was “wrong” that made the horse unrideable. From animal communicators to holistic practitioners to woo training methods. How can it be that one horse in “pain” as verified by the vet is happily clocking around on a loose rein then performing at a high level, and another horse being asked to do something as simple as walk around the arena with NOTHING found, is completely incapable of doing so?
How can a horse that goes around completely incorrectly be a solid kid’s horse, and a horse who physically looks great can be an emotional wreck if it’s posture that dictates whether the horse is rideable or not?
I had someone say to me not that long ago that their horse was “emotional in their shoulders” as a reason that it was running over people. No, the horse had no ground manners and though she used her shoulders to run you over, it had nothing to do with the actual shoulders other than keeping them in her own dang space thank you very much.
There ARE behavioral issues that can result from pain. Absolutely. I’m not saying it never happens. It does, and it’s always worth checking out when you have one doing something weird. And correct posture will help keep a horse sounder longer, absolutely! I’ve never known one to have their correct posture fix their mental issues, but fixing their mental issues DOES result in better posture.
This woo woo BS makes me nutty. Did I mention that?
As for reducing the effect of the brachiosaurus (and yes, I spelled it that way on purpose), I find that reschooling their contact with the bit works tremendously well - the stabilization of Litttauer is the first step I use with any young or reschool prospect. Making sure they can move freely forward in a relaxed frame on a loose rein, taking the rein forward and down…well, that solves the neck issue pretty quickly. And I’ve reschooled a few saddlebreds who are encouraged to keep that muscle high and tight through bad saddleseat training. They too can have a more normal neck without the woo.
I am definitely suspicious of trainers that proclaim that every other trainer is wrong. Especially when you’re talking about going against the grain of a huge body of knowledge in horsemanship that we’ve put together over the last thousands of years that we’ve been riding and working with these beasts.
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Oh yes, the lack of training issue.
I get to ride lesson horses, elderly (20s to late 20s usually). I have MS and problems so my riding teacher does not put me on “dangerous” horses.
The main problem I have found in all these horses is a lack of basic training. I call it the ABCs and these horses had never had the ABCs clearly explained to them in their life, including horses that showed. These horses usually have almost NO IDEA of what contact it (when I explain it to them they tend to like it) and I often get the feeling that the horse is guessing what an aid means, an aid that should have been explained to them sometimes 20 years earlier.
I cannot do much in the saddle but I CAN explain the simple ABCs in a way that the horses quickly understand. Sometimes I get a “comment” of “Oh, so that is what this aid means” and the horses are educated in that aid.
I ride Forward Seat ala Littauer, and I ride all these horse Forward Seat and train them by Littauer’s methods. I end up improving lesson horses in their 20s enough so that other people can enjoy riding them instead of ending up in a constant battle just because the horse had never had anyone take the time to clearly explain something to them.
As far as pain goes, the worst problem I’ve run into (after arthritic joints) is that most of these horses have a tight place in their backs right behind the cantle of the saddle. BOT and Fenwick Western saddle pads and BOT exercise sheets help this pain and good old Forward Seat training helps get the proper muscles strong enough so that quite a few of these horses start enjoy being ridden, at least when I am in the saddle (in spite of my lack of balance, horrible coordination, and weakness.)
I really get my kicks from horses who started off not understanding contact at all quickly relaxing and willingly reaching out for contact, keeping contact without me having to “drive them into the bridle”, and basically becoming MUCH safer horses to ride. These horses often had a problem of running away, moving inverted, and becoming a bit hysterical when the demands got too much for them.
Littauer for the win as far as putting good basic training on a horse.
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I think it depends. I think so much can be caused by so many things. That’s why I dislike blanket statements or frames of mind.
Sometimes it’s bad training. Sometimes it’s pain. Sometimes it’s just bad breeding.
I always find it funny when someone claims to use dressage fundamentals but also claims to not be a Dressage trainer. I’ve seen it in real life. They know dressage sells. Dressage sells for multiple reasons. It’s been around a long time, many pursuing dressage seem to be a little more attentive to their horses bodies than other disciplines and overall it’s well respected. Sometimes this is done with respect but lately I’ve been seeing this, “I’m teaching Dressage fundamentals but I’m better than a Dressage trainer because Dressage is actually abusive and harmful!”
There’s been a few local trainers like that. They will tell you they know all about dressage and can teach you all the movements but also they are different and not abusive like those dressage trainers that compete!! And I’m not necessarily talking about people that claim to be classical dressage trainers. It’s a marketing tool in my opinion. There’s one Western trainer around here that markets himself as such. He can teach you how to do a half pass but he’s much better than I need dressage trainer. He knows the truth!! Never mind that a his horses go around with their backs dropped and have no clue about proper contact. Totally uneducated in it but has the buzzwords down. Celeste had a post that actually did have some good information in it, if you could get through the buzzwords, emotional wording and condescending talk. She said at one point that she’s not picking on dressage but that she holds it to a higher standard. That’s weird to me. If this is truly a horse welfare issue then why isn’t everybody held to the same standard?
I had to laugh about your “emotional in the shoulders” comment. Not every single thing is this emotional journey with horses. I agree!
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I don’t think it was never explained to them, I just think they have so many people asking them things in so many different ways nothing means anything any more, and they are just selecting whatever course of action they feel furthers self preservation.
I have an ex lesson horse and he has been a challenge to put a correct contact on because he has every defense mechanism on the planet (and I can’t say I blame him).
100% agree that it’s usually a training issue before it is a pain issue though. I didn’t do 50,000 diagnostics before I told him the leg will be staying on and he may as well make his peace with it. I figure his vet rides in and audits all of the clinics so if she isn’t noticing an issue we’re good to put the leg on, and leave it there.
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It is sort of odd. I ride elderly horses, usually lesson horses, and on two of them when I applied a rather “advanced” aid I got immediate, unquestioning obedience. One of them, an OTTB mare in her 20s, even had a dressage rider who found her stiff and resistant. Months later he told the mare’s owner that she had suddenly become a mare he could work with, soft, supple, compliant and quite pleasant to ride. Forward Seat riding for the win again! (Yes, I am prejudiced about this. I don’t ride dressage horses but I put the proper elementary training on them.)
The other, a British Riding Pony, got pissed off at me when I changed the rein aids for the halt. I got the impression that he was so proud of himself for finally understanding his original trainer about yielding at the poll in response to lightly fixed hands. Immediate response, quite proper, would have gotten good marks at a show, but he did not give my the quality of halt than I wanted. After a few grumbles about having to learn something different he became quite responsive for my hand aids.
Every other horse I broke to saddle myself, got green broke, or are elderly lesson horses who teach a lot of up-down classes, then jumping classes under 2’ whose main riders a beginning girls and older women who want to ride. All these horses I have to explain myself from the utter beginning.
Every other horse I have to train to the aid. Usually they get it rather soon and the rest of the process is getting the necessary muscles stronger and fitter. You see many of them never got proper physical conditioning either and no horse can give a proper response if the right muscle is not strong enough.
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I have to laugh too, only because I had (RIP) a mare whom I described as having “an emotional shoulder”. It was her right shoulder, and when you took control over it (bent left, left shoulder-fore to any degree) she flipped out. Could not handle it at all.
I can only describe it as it was the only control mechanism she had, to run out through her right shoulder. You took that away from her, and a frightened herd animal came out. Caprioled to get away from the bend, everything. It took years but with training… she came through (or went through!) with flying colours.
Then went lame.
Her daughter is the same, only more determined and less frightened. No left bend mon amie, I fight you for it.
Both mares have (had) a right front hoof that turns inward. The daughter has a sensitive left rib.
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I can totally see that! Especially with mares. Some can be so sensitive which is both the wonderful part about them and the challenging one at times!
Interesting about the hooves in both mares. Genetics are strong!
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I love your post.
What’s really interesting is she inherited nothing else in her build from her mum, she’s a clone of her father. Except that hoof.
Mum had tight, small clubby hooves. Daughter has big round pie plates. Weird hey!
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I’ve been seeing one of her posts shared around a good bit claiming that “horses have more mirror neurons than most any other creature” and that is what “enables them to read human emotion.”
The post is generally about how sensitive horses are to human emotions, both positive and negative, which any decent horseman can tell you is true.
But the mirror neuron stuff is something that’s at best controversial in humans and nonhuman primates, and there’s certainly not been evidence to backup the claim that horses’ sensitivity to human emotions is due to mirror neurons. Here’s a little except from an actual neuroscientist rather than a horse witch:
https://horsehead.info/mirror-neurons/
As someone with a good bit of science background, it annoys me when people use pseudoscience to explain phenomena that aren’t well understood, and act as though it’s proven fact. Especially when they’re using it to try to boost their credibility with the lay public. And it happens SO much in the horse world.
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Anyone in her group should be aware that if you question her in any way (for instance, asking her to verify her credentials), you’re at risk for being kicked out of the group and will have no recourse to recover your $150. Even if you’re not questioning her in the group, but on another unrelated FB page where she is espousing her philosophy. I hope the images attach correctly, if not I’ll try from a PC later.
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Interesting. I have heard that from a number of people.
Again I find it to be a bummer as I do think it sounds like the course and the method has value. But the personalities involved are deterrent for me at this time. And the marketing. I think it all seems like it takes away from the method.
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Well and the two posts that bracketed mine were quite illuminating… Unfortunately it appears the Celeste camp is closely monitoring this thread.
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Can you PM me, I missed the posts as they are deleted.
But yes I know on Facebook there’s a lot of warriors. Lol
