Wednesday Mini Mag

Training Kids and Horses By Erin Glassman

The past 18 years have been quite an adventure. I started with brushing up on riding skills with lessons (I wanted to have a better knowledge base on riding than just my previous experience of hopping on family and friends’ horses before I owned one) to co- owning a small breeding operation and training business and having an accumulation of competitive miles on the trail into the 4-digit range. One thing I learned early on with my horseback riding was that communication is key--learning to “speak” to these thousand-plus pound animals in a way that they could understand through pressure and release was a primary importance, followed closely by the consistency necessary to make sure what I was “saying” to them was clear. I also learned early on that every time we get on a horse, we are training them for something.

Partway through the journey the kids showed up. These little adorable beasties that melt your heart, steal your attention, and vie for your mind every waking hour they are around you were somewhat of a mystery to me. I knew horses far better (and even like the smell of the horses better sometimes!) than I knew kids--sure I’d babysat and been around them, but having your own is a whole new can of worms. Not a lot of time passed before I found some similarities in horses and kids. With both you’re hoping to establish a good working relationship and respectful interaction so that your horses and your kids are pleasant to be around at home and away. While there are some days that round penning the kids sounds like a fantastic idea in more ways than one, I haven’t been able to consistently apply that training device. The principles of consistency, patience and learning how to communicate however, have applied nearly on a daily basis. Like horses, kids need to know their boundaries. For horses this applies a lot when I’m establishing some space for safety and respect. While I often am unable to enforce space for safety and respect with the kids, limiting their screen time and teaching them