A lot of talk has been going around on horse blogs in the past few days about Chris Irwin's response to the Parelli/Catwalk video. Most of the comments I've been reading are, "who is this guy?"
There are three experts/clinicians that I respect: Alexandra Kurland, Mark Rashid, and Chris Irwin. I first found Chris Irwin last summer before the quarters arrived. What I learned from him proved to be invaluable once I found out what I would be dealing with in them. Coriander was downright disdainful of humans and Gwen was completely wild, it took 10 minutes to halter her and she had developed a nasty habit of rearing when going in and out of her stall. Through Chris's videos on equine body language I learned how to call out Coriander on his rudeness and gain a little respect. When it came to Gwen's rearing issue, I used a dressage whip held over my head to show her I could rear higher and longer than she could, proving that I was worthy of her respect. It worked, she only reared 2 or 3 more times before she gave it up forever, all without any sort of physical altercation. Chris also points out that humans need to be aware of their core and its effect on horses, e.g. if you point your bellybutton straight at a horse's head they see that as being rude and confrontational. Again, I was able to use that information to get Gwen to relax when I was in the stall with her by never "attacking" her head with my core.This information is in his "Barn Manners" videos.
I was so impressed by his insights into riding that I bought his "Riding the Wave" video. One of the techniques he explains are how leg aids should be used in conjunction with the swing of the barrel to facilitate turns without knocking the horse off balance. I used this method for the first time during a lesson and my instructor remarked that the horse must have been feeling really good that day because she'd never seen his stride that big. That was proof enough to me that it worked. I've continued to use his riding techniques to train Coriander under saddle and I'm happy to report that they've worked very well with him. I could easily ride him without a bridle because he responds so well to the leg and seat aids and I attribute most of that to the advice I got from Chris Irwin.
If you want to see previews of Chris Irwin's videos here's a link. (Disclaimer: When watching these last summer the site gave my computer a virus. It was fixed pretty quickly by Malwarebytes, but I wanted to make you aware of it just in case.)
I've been using Alexandra Kurland's books on clicker - I'm new to it and I'm finding it helpful in lots of situations. I've been a student of Mark Rashid's for a number of years, and have ridden with him a number of times, including two week-longs in Colorado. In fact I'm off to a clinic in WI tomorrow to audit! Mark does a lot of the body awareness and timing of cues with the horse's body motion and footfalls. I don't know much about Chris Irwin - thanks for the introduction! When it comes down to it, I think all the really good horsemen and women have a lot in common - a thoughtful approach that takes into account the subtleties of working with each individual horse in a way that acknowledges and respects what the horse is feeling, with an objective of having the horse feel better inside about the work.
ReplyDeleteHi Kate, Alex's books are great- give the videos a try too. Sadly I have not seen Mark Rashid in person, he did a clinic a few hours away from me last weekend and I couldn't go :( I hope you are planning some posts from WI. I really enjoyed reading about his previous clinics.
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence is dead on, I can see why you have so much success with your horses.
Hi Shannon - I ordered Riding the Wave. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll be happy with that purchase Wolfie. I go back and watch that video about once a month to refresh my memory and catch something new.
ReplyDeleteI missed the Chris Irwin response where can I find it? I like those three trainers too!
ReplyDeleteIt appears that the video has now been made private. There's a link to it from camera-obscura's blog, http://camera-obscura-billie.blogspot.com/2010/07/chris-irwin-tosses-gauntlet.html.
ReplyDeleteHi, I just found your blog, looking for hooves information. I like Welz trimming system as well, I think there are very good posts on your blog, very informative. I put this comment on this article because I belive Chris Irwin is one of the best trainers, I've learned a lot from him, by watching his videos. I was a beginner with horses and he gave me a lot of confidence
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