Training Horses and Making Cookies; How Are They the Same and Different?

Guys may not get this since most have never made cookies, but women who have made cookies will get it.  So, my Buddy’s wife makes some great chocolate chip cookies.  Any time we have dinner she whips up a batch and cooks them up for desert.  I have watched her make these cookies many times.  So I asked her what is her secret for making such good cookies.  Her answer was surprisingly simple.  “The directions are on the back of the bag of the chocolate chips”.  The answer was so simple, I felt like a dummy for asking.  So, I say to myself, I am not an idiot, if the directions are on the bag and I have watched her do this many times, I can go get my own bag of chips and make my own cookies.

So off I go, I get my chocolate chips, flour, oil, nuts and sugar.  I can’t wait to eat some of those good cookies.  I read the measurements for the ingredients on the back of my bag, put them all in a bowl, stir them up, bake and they come out like crap.  I was confused and frustrated.  I put all the right ingredients in the right measurements and my cookies turned out like runny play doe and did not taste much better.  Now I bet right now every one who has never made cookies are thinking, wonder what went wrong and I bet every person that makes cookies knows exactly what went wrong.  Hands on experience make the difference!

Well being a guy, I called the expert (my trainer) cookie maker, explain that my cookies turned out like cow patties and asked what the hell happen?  She asked a simple question, did you follow the directions?  I said yes and told her I put in exactly what the bag said to put in, mixed it up and baked them.  She started laughing hysterically.  Remember, I am still lost and confused about what is so funny about me wasting all morning measuring and stirring and all I get is rotten runny cookie doe that taste horrible.  She stops laughing long enough to ask me if I added each ingredient in the right order the directions said.  I thought she was crazy.  I’m thinking what difference does it make what order the stuff got mixed, all the ingredients get mixed together anyway and then gets cooked, so why would it matter what order.  Well, much to my surprise (take note guys), it makes a big difference.  Not sure why, but it does, trust me.  Not only does it matter what order, there also some rule about mixing verses stirring that I am still confused about.  So to make a long story short, after several attempts and many dollars wasted, I now buy the pre-mixed cookie doe for my cookies.  I cheat.  I take the easy way instead of investing a lot of time and effort to do it myself.  This is what too many people do when it comes to their horse.

So how does this relate to horse training?  I admit I don’t know much about mixing cookie doe, but I do know horses.  What I experienced with cookie doe is what a lot of people experience with horses.  If training a horse is compared to making a good cookie, then if you watch someone else do something, and if you do it the same way (the way you think you saw it done), you should get the same results, right?  Wrong, just like I watch cookies being made and somehow missed a lot of little important steps and the results were not the same.  If you just watch somebody do something with a horse, or you read a book (directions), or you try and train the horse from scratch, your end product will not be what you expect and will be much different than an experienced horseman would get.  

With cookie doe, the ingredients are the same, the way you mix or stir is the same and the directions are pretty clear (if you read them carefully).  With horses not much of anything is the same.  The environment changes, the weather changes, the horse changes with experiences, fears, confidence and emotions.  You change with how you are feeling, your confidence, your experiences and your fear.  Yet so often I get questions from people wanting me to give them a fix to some horse issue that they see as a simple problem.  I hear it all the time, my horse is perfect, but it walks off when I mount.  Or my horse is great, except it bucks when I canter.  Or my horse does everything great, only it rears and kicks when I lounge it.  Horses are not cookies.  There is not a clear list of directions with easily measured steps and ingredients that always gets the same results.  With horses, if you take shortcuts, think you can do something since you saw someone else do it, or skip critical steps; you can end up with much worse results.  A mistake in cookie doe means you throw out the doe and start over.  A mistake with a horse can mean you are dead, seriously injured or hurt.  However, I see lots of people doing with horses exactly what I did with cookie doe.

When making cookies you don’t have to worry about the blender spooking or what kind of day the eggs are having.  With a horse the variables are endless such as fear, flight, reactions, environment, equipment, you being one-fifth the size of a horse, you trying to control a horse that is 30 or 40 times stronger than you, your training, your fear, your past experiences, the horse’s training, the wind, tractors, blowing plastic bags, cars, bikes, motorcycles, kids, other horses, all the volunteered advice you can take and many other things. 

With all this in mind, I see people everyday trying to control or train a horse without directions or knowledge of how bad things can turn out.   There are no clear definable and exact steps to training a horse.  No perfect ingredients to get the same results.  With horses a mistake can be extremely costly to you, others and the horse.  Experiences with horses can be talked about, they can be put in a book, they can be demonstrated by someone who knows, but experience cannot be taught and experience is the best teacher.  Too often people want to learn how to train a horse, fix a problem, become a trainer or know everything about a horse from watching, reading and trying.  It just does not work that way and the person and the horse ends up paying.

For those who have kids, can you imagine asking a kid trainer how to raise your child so it will turn out good? You can raise five children and they all will turn out different.  No one knows it all when it comes to raising kids and no one knows it all when it comes to training horses.  Acknowledging that a horse is a strong, reactionary, fear driven, survival motivated, prey animal that has emotions, incredible strength and power and that no two are the same, is the first step to having a better understanding of the horse.  With understanding comes confidence, power and the ability to recognize that you do not know it all and that a lot of horse training and handling depends on many factors not necessarily in your control.

Horse ownership is not a part-time gig.  It is a serious commitment that requires time, patience, understanding, experience, knowledge and passion.  Although horses love cookies, they are much different than cookies and require a lot more than simple directions and ingredients.

With that said, is there an easy fast way to learn about horses?  No, and many try and fail, many horses get hurt, many trainers make lots of money on videos, books, tricks, special ropes, special equipment and special games to play with your horse.  Can some of this help?  Yes.  Does having a good trainer train your horse make you better?  No.  It may make you think you are better, it may make your horse better, it may help you and your horse win a ribbon or money, but it will not make you a better horseman or horsewoman.

In my opinion two things make you successful and better with horses.  The first is understanding and knowledge of the horse.  The ability to “think like a horse”.  Without this you will continue to try and fix problems and never realize that each problem is nothing but a symptom of your lack of understanding of the horse.  The second thing is time.  Time will give you experience, time with horses will teach you to listen, observe and learn from the horse.  Time will teach you the language of the horse.  It will teach to trust and read the horse.  It will teach you to observe and notice the slightest change in the horse and yourself.  It will teach you that the horse is only a reflection of what you do and how you do it.  Only then will you see the horse as the amazing creature it is.

Therefore, it you are making cookies, follow the directions exactly.  It you are working with horses, realize there is no secret recipe, shortcuts or easy fast experiences.  Understanding and time will get you the best results and your horse will thank you for your efforts.  And in the end the more you know, will make you realize how much you don’t know and then you will realize the journey of horsemanship is never ending.

My web site, www.thinklikeahorse.org, has lots of information to help you understand a horse better.

Happy trails,

Rick