The Espejo Project

The Idea

Three years ago, while admiring an exciting new stud colt foaled on our ranch, I began to form the idea of creating a high school level dressage horse using the teaching methods of some wise old cowboys. Could it be done? To start with, it was clear that Espejo De Aztlan (Prospecktor x Evora Cita) possessed the best traits from all of his grandparents in structure, mentality, and movement, making him an ideal candidate for dressage.
One of these cowboys was Ray Hunt, and my first meeting with him changed everything. The way he interacted with horses was close to my childhood dreams of riding and being with horses. Between those dreams and my introduction to Ray came a period of classical training in dressage and jumping, dabbling in reining and the show world. I learned a great deal through everything that I tried, and found that every discipline took a different approach. But with Ray it wasn’t a discipline, it was a dance, setting up the interaction to be something the horse desired, making it the horse’s idea. I wanted that sort of relationship as much as I had ever wanted a horse as a child. I had worked with Olympic-level riders, but had never seen anyone get more from a horse than Ray could, while appearing that he was doing nothing. When Ray rode, it was truly the horse’s idea and the horse enjoyed it as much as Ray did.
Ray and Tom Dorrance have been mostly associated with western riding, working cow horse, and ranch work. It is a shame, because their work with horses is the best foundation that any horse can get, regardless of the ultimate job. As Espejo came of age to be ridden, I decided to record the process, to document and preserve my work. I had gleaned much from my mentors, and recording this journey could benefit others. This is the Espejo Project, a video journal of the journey with a three-year-old colt from starting under saddle to the high school level. We will both learn along the way — and share the experience with others.

The Horse

My experience as a professional rider and teacher with hundreds — if not thousands — of horses of many breeds, has helped me to identify traits that are essential to the ideal high-level riding horse. Most important is the “essence” of the horse. Extreme equine performers are very exacting, putting all of themselves into everything they do. They require handlers who do the same. For knowledgeable handlers who understand how to work with the nature of these horses, they are actually easy and quick learners. They love to please and show off — especially stallions.

Structurally, a horse should have the natural ability to do the required job. It should have a powerful motor, the rear end, comprising at least one-third of its overall torso length. Depth through the torso indicates that the horse has the powerful abdominal muscles necessary for dorsiflexion, or self-carriage. A laid-back shoulder and a long neck also aid in dorsiflexion. An uphill build, withers higher than the croup when the horse is standing square, aid in the horse’s ability to work off its hindquarters. Correct legs, with ample bone, doesn’t hurt.
However, some horses, even with the blessing of great structure, still can’t generate that spine-tingling trot. They move with heads up and backs hollow — or even with arched necks, but still with a tendency to hollow the back (ventriflexion). Our foundation stallion, Arsenal (*Arpan x Navitra), aka Gunner, was selected for his correctness, overall balance, and as a good representative of his pedigree — meaning he should breed true. We were thrilled with his additional gifts: his temperament, a super strong desire to please, and his extraordinary self-carriage. He naturally carries himself in the ideal frame for a high level riding horse and is prepotent in this trait. This natural athleticism is a trait not always present in well-conformed horses. It is a ball to ride a horse that has such an easy time with his job. Gunner is the grandsire of Espejo through Prospecktor, who is out of *Provodka. She is of the Amurath Sahib sire line, which is known for being consistent progenitors of horses with powerful bodies.
Espejo’s dam, Evora Cita, is out of the *Menes daughter *Vienna MBF. She is also of the Amurath Sahib sire line, but one of her great strengths is her tail female line to Ptashka, a producer of many outstanding horses at Tersk. Evora’s sire, *Emanor, brought in lots more trot, and the lovely swan neck and feminine head of his dam Emanacja. Evora’s 2011 colt by *Gazal Al Shaqab is another that shows huge potential.
In short, Espejo is a fine representative of the millennia-long goal of Arabian breeding to produce the ideal riding horse. Their physical attributes, which balance power with quickness and maneuverability and a strong desire to please, were recognized centuries ago and were coveted. When worked in a relational way they are a joy and inspiration.

The Methods

Having grown up in a family of scientists, I recognized that Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance were experimentalists who applied a form of the scientific method in their “play” with horses. There were no rules, the guides were the horses themselves. Their approach was based on the premise that horses want to get along within their group, which could include humans if we could be non-predatory and understand the horses’ perspective. It was hard, but exciting and fun work. There were none of the troubling areas where horses were being forced, either through intimidation or devices. This approach avoided their natural self-preservation reaction, which creates the dangerous and scary behavior that we humans don’t like. When it felt good to the rider, it felt just as good to the horse.
One of the lessons from Ray and Tom is that there are very few absolutes in working well with horses. You have to adjust to fit the situation and you always work from where the horse is at, in that moment. The work is all “prepare to position.” How does the horse set himself up to do the desired maneuver? When the horse is 100 percent prepared, it has already happened. So it isn’t the rider making that flying lead change happen, it is the rider setting up the dance steps that allow the horse to recognize that a flying lead change is being suggested.
Tom always said that he wished he could take the word “resistant” out of the human’s vocabulary. When the horse feels heavy to us it is either because our timing is bad, we did not understand the prepare to position, or we did not have our horse’s respect. Frequently it is all of the above. Because Ray and Tom understood the physics of a horse’s movements, they could guide the horse to the right answer by effectively disengaging power, without inducing intimidation. They could set it up for the horse to yield mentally and physically without the heaviness that is viewed as resistance.
Ultimately, what I learned from Ray and Tom was the most complete base from which to start a horse for any style of riding. My crossover between dressage and reining has allowed me to glean the interesting and unique aspects from those disciplines as well, incorporating everything into a whole. I believe that good riding is good riding — the saddle and discipline should be quite irrelevant as long as they fit the horse.

Paying it Forward

At this point, my training and teaching methods incorporate over 40 years of bits and pieces from many different horses, mentors, disciplines, and self-taught experiences. It is becoming more important to have the freedom to experiment, teach and preserve my experiences. When I began to work with Espejo, it occurred to me that the project could also be a way to pass this information on to others. And to teach a new generation, while exposing devotees of other riding disciplines to my approach with horses and handlers. The goal is to help both human and horse. It has always been important to me to do right by the horse. Horses must be among the most generous animals. They have given everything to their human partners, including their lives. For me it is time to give something back, realizing that the work will continue after I’m gone. If we can give horses what they need, we get what we need in spades.
In a step toward this objective, a committed group of individuals, attracted to my methods, has collaborated with me to establish in the last year the International Center for Natural Horsemanship (ICNH) — we have very big plans. ICNH is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to expand on the work of master horsemen like Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance by working within the horse’s nature to develop high-level horsemanship skills; and to promote those skills and horses brought up under those methods to a broader audience.

What Happens Next

The Espejo Project will record my partnership with Espejo as we learn to dialogue with each other in our travels from kindergarten to high school. The creation of this video blog that will follow the progress of a horse’s education is unique. The blog will consist of short videos of my work with Espejo posted periodically throughout the process. The postings will include written and verbal descriptions of what is happening in the video. Videos of work with foals and other young horses will be added as a retrospective to fill in what has basically occurred with Espejo before the blog began.
The Espejo Project is first, but only one aspect of what will be occurring within ICNH. There will also be programs, institutes, conferences, presentations, and the like. Each resource is designed to help address the specific needs of clients who are interested in moving to a higher level of horsemanship and learning. The idea is for others to participate in the process and see what their horses have to teach. We are also exploring the idea that these teaching methods with horses could be illustrative models effective for human education. Finally, as in many fields where publications are the building blocks, this work is also being documented in articles, videos, and possibly books. Everyone is invited to join in the adventure (http://icnh.info/).

Read the complete article in the June 2011 issue of Arabian Horse World.

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