Approach – Theories
Michael’s Philosophy is unique because of his 50/50 Theory
The best horsemanship is a 50/50 partnership and this is what we should strive for every second we are working around our horses. In a partnership each party does his or her bit for the benefit of the whole. You help each other out whenever necessary because you recognize the value of each other’s input.
In a genuine partnership, each party gives 100%, and there is no resentment or exploitation between the two players. It is a relationship founded on respect and responsibility and each party must work to make the adjustments necessary to keep the partnership in balance. As long as both parties are happy with the deal they get overall, the partnership will be productive and develop.
Horses have evolved to live in groups, and find it impossible to survive outside on their own. They are very sociable animals and put a large amount of emphasis on creating effective interactions with other members of their group and they know the position of others. Anything that upsets the balance is addressed instantly by all members.
The big advantage of this is that horses therefore understand the concept of co-operation perfectly before we even begin work with them. It isn’t something they need to learn from us, rather something we need to understand and learn for ourselves. We have to learn how to live and work with horses the way other horses would.
This 50/50 theory proposes that you work at such a level of communication that you never get into battles or confrontations with your horse.
It’s a working relationship where you both understand the importance of maintaining the 50/50 balance and therefore make, every second, the tiny adjustments necessary to maintain equilibrium and keep the partnership alive.
The 50/50 is the ideal situation but in reality it is very rarely realized between horse and human. This is because of the differences between us. However if we want to be true horsemen and women we should continue to strive for the ideal and get as close as possible to it. Imagine if the relationship was in balance all the time with both giving as much as they could. The partnership would be the best it could be.
The Middle Ground Theory
Michael firmly believes that there is not a bad horse born. There may be bad horses about but they certainly didn’t start like that. Some are easier to get on with than others but all have some softness in them that can be developed if we know how to do it. The ‘middle ground theory’ helps people understand how to work with horses a little better.
‘All horses have an area of tolerance in which you can work with certain amount of inconsistency without causing any problems to either of you. Provided you work within this area of tolerance (or middle ground), you can be too hard sometimes and the horse won’t resent you. On the other hand, you may be too soft on the horse, and he won’t exploit you. In other words, the relationship can go slightly out of balance without doing permanent damage.
However, if you work outside the limits of the middle ground, too hard or too easy, too fast or too slow, you will begin to damage the relationship. You will cause the horse to become less and less generous and the middle ground eventually becomes a fine line as you eroded the horse’s tolerance, and at this point he is usually considered to be a problem horse. It can look like there isn’t a single bit of softness left in him.’
Michael has not met a horse that he could not help by widening the fine line to give the owner or rider room to work in again. He can achieve this with most horses on a home visit. Although, more extreme or established ridden issues, may need to come to stay with Michael for consolidated training.
