THE TRUTH ABOUT JOIN UP!!!!! I got a question asked about join up and do I do much of it . Join up is a term coined by a Horseman called Monty Roberts , his claim is that when a horses tries to enter a herd of horses they chase him away and then after some time the horse lowers its head becomes submissive and another horse will turn at a certain angle letting the horse know that it can come and join them. Now where it gets really interesting is that he claims humans can do it and he conducts demonstrations of this join up technique in front of crowds. I dont believe what he thinks is happening in the round pen is what is actually happening in the wild , it would be fine if you were a horse but your not you are a human . When a horse chases another horse away from the herd it is being chased away from safety and wants to get back to the safety of the herd , when Monty chases the horse away it is running away and isnt trying to get back to the human it just cant leave because it is trapped in the round pen. What monty does and shows is simply pressure and release and isnt even close to what is happening in nature. I will explain what I think happens in the round pen during this so called join up. We begin by chasing or sending the horse around the round yard and he begins to try and escape us but soon realizes his attempts are useless , so he then has to look for another solution , he simply cannot run forever his lungs are beginning to burn so he is then forced to look for another solution which maybe to change direction and turn away from you, but geuss what ? Your still there so he has to try another solution which maybe lowering his head or making an inside turn at which point Monty turns his body away from the horse and uses passive body language and stops chasing the horse to reward the horse for giving him what he wants . The horse may still not want to be there but it is the best solution he can find. So basically he learns that he either runs and keeps running or stops and faces the human and learns that being with the human is where the comfort and reward is . It is a false forced join up and a method I would use on a horse that has never been caught or is hard to catch. Real join up happens through leadership when the horse sees you as a good leader and feels safe and protected when they are with you and that happens when you can communicate clearly with a horse . You can make a horse follow you in the roundyard but will they follow in the field when the walls are taken down . It really is important that you understand what is happening in the round yard, you dont want to be an answer to a cue you have given your horse , you want your horse to want to be with you because he feels safe and finds comfort in your leadership. I round pen my horses after the lead line work if I can catch him , if I cant I round pen him and teach him to be caught which is what Monty is doing , he is just teaching the horse to be caught. I like to start with the lead line if I can because I can quickly show the horse I can move his quarters and I am the leader and I can teach the inside turn alot easier by helping him find the answer with the help of the lead , rather then through trial and error free lunging in the round pen. When I travel to alot of places people dont have round pens anyway. Remember your horse will join up with you because of your communication skills. Horses are born followers and love a good leader. Best wishes Mat The Horses View Horsemanship 0401394479
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 03:43:16 +0000
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