What Your Horse Wants You to Know

Gincy Self Bucklin's Book is Essential for Horse Owners

Dec 7, 2008

This book answers a myriad of questions about horse problems, giving helpful suggestions on what to do to correct the problem and, even more importantly, what not to do.

What Your Horse Wants You to Know (Howell Book House, 2003) is a well-written, clever, extremely helpful book that will answer many questions that horse owners may have regarding troublesome horse behavior.

Horse Training Techniques

There is little doubt that the author, Gincy Self Bucklin, knows her horses and their problems, which are, in reality, sometimes owner-generated problems. She’s knowledgeable in many training techniques and recommends solid, responsible horse handling techniques. In the introductory section, Bucklin recommends ten rules that are essential for horse and owner to build a good relationship. She then gives an overview of several different approaches to training, including Clicker Training, Parelli Natural Horse-Man-Ship, Round Pen Training and Tteam (Tellington-Jones Equine Awareness Method).

Next Bucklin covers a myriad of common horse problems, ranging from bathing issues to tying issues. For each of the over seventy-five issues that Bucklin addresses, she provides four sections on the question.

Understanding Horse Behavior Problems

Bucklin starts with a short scenario describing how and when the problem arose. The scenario includes the horse owner, the horse’s behavior and what the circumstances were leading up to the problem.

"What Your Horse Wants You to Know" is the title of the second section of each scenario which briefly describes what is going on with the horse. For example, in the section on "Bathing: Afraid of the Hose," Bucklin describes the horse’s resistant, fearful behavior when the owner is attempting to hose it down after a particularly hot, sweaty workout.

Next, Bucklin offers several explanations for why the horse is behaving the way it is. In the case of Bathing and Fear of Hoses, the horse’s behavior is saying, “That’s weird, and cold and scary” (37).

Solving Horse Behavior Problems

The third section of each problem is entitled “What To Do About It.” Here Bucklin shines as she offers several ways to manage the problem. Many times the answers to these problems seem like they would be self-evident, yet horse owners know that, in the thick of battle or confrontation, the easy answer often is elusive.

In the case of Bathing, Bucklin first suggests introducing the horse to the hose when the water is off. She spends some time offering methods for doing this. After this step, she suggests using warm water first; finally, she helps the reader get the water on the horse.

"What Not To Do About It " is a crucial part of each problem-scenario, and Bucklin not only offers sage advice here, but often gives sound reasoning for this advice.

Building a Relationship with the Horse

Interspersed throughout the book are short sections entitled “Talking Horses.” These contain interesting personal anecdotes, stories and theories relating to horses.

Like Mark Rashid in Horses Never Lie, Bucklin does not advocate the “alpha” position for the owner. Instead it is easy to see that the author does not endorse inflicting pain on a horse to get the desired behavior. The focus of the book is on fully understanding the horse's point of view and then building a strong relationship with the animal.

This is a particularly helpful book for beginners and for those who are baffled by their horse’s seeming eccentric behavior and fears. Bucklin’s ideas and advice are clear, kind and effective.

The copyright of the article What Your Horse Wants You to Know in Horse Training is owned by R.L. Coffield. Permission to republish What Your Horse Wants You to Know in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Jun 7, 2009 12:54 PM

Guest :

This is a book I want to read. Horsemen of my acquaintance are fond of saying, "There are no bad horses, only bad owners." Some of them don't seem to give more than lip service to the concept, but it is very true. If this book offers better methods of training than the old fashioned ways that involved cruel contraptions such as a "running w," I applaud the author. Trouble is, those who need it most will dismiss it and probably never learn from it. Learning from the horse himself is the first step in any good training program. The wisest thing any new horseman can do is spend long hours watching the individual behavior patterns of horses, and learn to talk to them. They may not be acquainted with much English, but they are fluent in body language and tone of voice communication.