Clinton Anderson Presents: You Don't Know Jack

I think the point that I got to when I figured out that I needed help was when everybody told me to get rid of him. Keep going. Just keep following him. Just go with him. I didn't think these problems could be fixed in one day for sure, much less even one hour. That's it. That's it. Hang on to the rope. You're right. Grab it. When Jack started following Pat around the round pen, I was shocked. I think coming here and working with Clinton helped us just as much as it helped Jack. Excellent. See, now you're a horse trainer, Pat. You understand? Now you're training the horse. I'm Clinton Anderson and I have a method for training horses. Getting horses to behave is simple. It's training people that's the real trick. Join me as I tackle some of the most challenging situations with problem horses and with problem owners. Jack needed Clinton's assistance because we are not very experienced horse people and I believe that we weren't doing things correctly to benefit Jack. G'day, mate. How are you? What's your name? I'm Katie. Katie. Good to meet you. What's your name? Pat. Pat. Good to have you guys here. Now where are you guys from? Conroe, Texas. Conroe, Texas. Now is this the troublesome horse you've been telling me all about? Yes, it's him. This is the one that's hard to catch and all the problems in the emails? Yes. Okay. Well, listen, I'm glad you came here to the Down Under Horsemanship Ranch. We currently have a 10-day horsemanship clinic going on and eventually I'd love you to bring your horse back to that because over 10 days we can really get in depth in the method. But for right now, mate, we're going to head to the round pen, we'll get into your problem some areas and I'll get you on the right track. Come with me, mate. Few things are as beautiful as a horse running in the pasture. Nostrils flaring, sun glistening off muscled shoulders. We first noticed the problem probably two days after we brought him home. Every little thing scared him. It took me probably a year for him to let me come up to him and to start to trust me. Unfortunately for Katie Deegan, few things are as frustrating as a nervous, spooky horse. Nostrils flaring, eyes darting, head pulling back. He wants to jerk and move and go and Katie doesn't feel comfortable with that. I didn't feel comfortable either. It wasn't enjoyable to ride him because you had to stay on him the whole time. When we brought him home, we would try to tie him and he would pull back and break lead ropes, halters. He's very quick and nervous, head's high, you can just feel the nerves and it makes me nervous and we're just like a big time bomb waiting to happen. Warned several times to get rid of Jack, Katie continues to see the horse that Jack can be. I see mutual love. I think Jack loves her as much as she loves him and he wants to do well but he just doesn't know how to deal with the fear of things. I would like for Clinton to help me with Jack's fear and trust issues and also help me become a more confident leader. I think there's a good possibility this horse could be perfect for Katie if we could deal with his fear issues. She loves this horse to death. I believe that Jack and I could have a great relationship. I mean we already do compared to three years ago when he wouldn't trust anybody but I just think that I need the tools to be able to work with him better and become more confident. Okay, what are the problems with this particular horse mate? Why did you bring her here for us to work with? I have trouble worming him. I have trouble blanketing him. I'm the only one that could halter him. Nobody else can come in and catch him but me. I do have problems when I ride him. He's very spooky. If you were to stick your hand out, he spooks. So, worming him, riding him, blanketing him, you have trouble with that too then? Yes. But you think your husband has more trouble with him than what you do? Yes. What are his biggest issues that seem to give you the biggest amount of trouble? Well, he can't catch him. Okay. Where do you try to catch him? In the pasture. Right. If he walks up to Jack and tries to put the halter on, Jack will back up and just beeline it around the pasture. We'll take the halter off and let's see what he does here now. Get your hand up beside his head. Keep going. Just keep following him. Just go with him. Don't try to stop him. Let the rope slide through your hand a little bit. Katie and a horse weren't really a good match from the beginning. She was green, this was her first horse, and that horse was very green as well. So, green and green is a recipe for disaster. Now, I'm not saying she has to get rid of the horse. In fact, if she follows our method, I think she can have great results with the horse, but she's got to change the way she interacts with that particular horse. I think the horse really wants to be a good horse, but he's never going to get to be that good horse and that potential brought out in him unless she changes the way she interacts with him. Okay, mate. Just go ahead and just try to catch him however you normally would try to catch him. You know, the first thing I noticed about how Pat would approach the horse is he would walk straight up to it, and he would get right in front of the horse's nose with his chest. And then when he'd go to put the halter on, he'd try to shove the halter up to the horse's nose. And by doing that, that just makes the horse feel very defensive and claustrophobic, so immediately the horse is going to turn and run away from him. You're trying to shove the nose piece up his nose. It'd be like me saying, hey, would you like some pizza? And I'd do that to you. Does that make sense? Even if you're starving, you're not going to want the pizza because of the way that I approached you with the pizza. But if you just got your hand here and just scratched him on the withers just a little bit, just say, hey, what's going on? Just something kind of nice for him, you know? And then what I'd do is I'd get the crown piece of your halter and put that around his neck. Now, at least now you've got a bit of a hold of him, haven't you? Let's just say he went to leave. I can pull him back towards me. And from here, what I'm going to do is scoop his nose like that, OK? When I got him to approach the horse a lot more calmer and relaxed and passive, get up by his shoulder, scratch him on the withers, scratch him on the neck, put his arm over it, and then scoop the horse's nose, just the whole horse's demeanor immediately settled down. Adjust it. Now go around the loop and tie it off. Now, how much smoother do you think that was? It was awesome. That's quite a bit smoother, wasn't it? It is. Now, I'm not saying our problems are fixed just by doing that, but that'll help a lot of it straight off the bat is that you and him are approaching each other. Look at him there, licking his lips. You're kind of speaking his language a little bit more now. Does that make sense to you? Yes. What I was telling Pat to do was go about it in a very casual way. It wasn't being sneaky, and it wasn't going straight up to him. It was just casually, hey, how are you doing today? What's going on? Let's just say he was loose in a pasture. Even when you walk up to him, don't just walk straight up to him with the halter like this. Hey, see what I'm doing? My chest is facing him. I'm dominant. I'm aggressive. Look where his head went. Then again, I don't want to do this either. I don't want to sneak up to him with the halter behind the back either like this. Why don't maybe approach him like this? Maybe look for your keys on the ground. Act like you lost your keys and just zigzag back in front of him like this and just casually go back and forth. I'm still getting up to him, but I'm not going directly at him, am I? No. Then when I come up to him, I might let him smell my hand. When he smells me, walk away. Show him that I'm not a threat to him. Does that make sense? Then over time, as he gets used to you more, then you'll be able to walk straight up to him and rub him without him overreacting. I think what's really important about Clinton's mythology is you've got to go step by step. Use his steps. Don't forget any steps in between is really important. Be persistent and don't give up on it. I didn't think these problems could be fixed in one day for sure, much less even one hour. It's amazing the transformation in just my interaction and my knowing how to communicate with Jack, the difference it did make. Check out our latest catalog from Down Under Horsemanship. It's filled with beautiful imagery and in-depth information on all the products used in this show. Visit our website or call this number and we'll send it to your door free of charge. Now, I want you to start spanking the ground with rhythm in a big circular motion beside his hind leg there. And he'll probably run away from you. Spank a little faster. Rotate at the shoulder. Let your whole arm go around. That's it. Excellent. Spank a little faster now. Faster. Keep going. You're doing good. Keep going. Shorten up your lead rope. Get your hand up beside his head. Keep spanking the ground. Get your hand up beside his head. Keep going. Just keep following him. Just go with him. Don't try to stop him. Let the rope slide through your hand a little bit. When he pulled back, I just let him continue pulling back. And that's not the right way to do it. I just need to be persistent, stick with him until he calms down and relaxes. And just basically submits to what we're wanting to do. Let your arm come behind you. Yeah. Really let that stick. That's it. Big windmill. Excellent. Look at that doping thing just standing there. When I went out and desensitized him, I could definitely tell a difference in him. He was calm. His head was down. Like Pat says, his head is always high and alert. His head was down. He was relaxed. And I was just amazed at when we were slapping the rope on the ground that he just stood there and didn't move and just didn't have a care in the world. Did you think you would ever be able to do this to him and him stand still? Not a chance. Not a chance? Well, now he is. He's not frightened of you anymore. He's laughing at you. You're the least scariest person he's ever met. That's good. I want him to laugh at you and say, you're not scary. I think after the first 20 minutes of interacting with Jack and working with Clinton, that the bond started to come together. And once that started to come together, he relaxed. I think I relaxed more. And it just started working for us. And the more we progressed with it and used Clinton's methods, the more he calmed down and the more he started working with me on it. And eventually it was like we were old buds and it was no big deal. We've been doing this for years. Go ahead and drop the stick on the ground. Take the holster off and walk away from him. See what he does. All right, buddy. Let's try to look at you. You notice a difference in his eyes? What is his eye look like? Yeah, he looks relaxed. Relaxed. Yeah. Rub him on his face. Take the holster off him. Good boy. There you go. There was a bonding when Jack and I started working together. He relaxed. His head was down. He's hardly ever had his head down when I was around him. If I'd approached him before, his head would go way up. His ears would come forward. His nostrils would flare up and back up. Now we had him follow me around the pen. It was amazing. When Jack started following Pat around the round pen, I was shocked. I never thought that I would see the day that that would happen. Walk back to the center. Now walk to your right. Walk a circle around that way. That's it. Okay, rub him. Now go ahead and put your holster on. Show me how you're going to put that holster on every day. Okay. Drop your lead rope on the ground. Get the crown piece around his neck. Get around the side of him. Remember, put your hand on his withers. Scratch his withers first. Now put your hand over his neck and grab it. Now pull his head a little bit towards you. Get it up behind his ears. There. That's it. Now scoop his nose. Adjust it. Excellent. Can you see now where the catching and the other things you mentioned, they're not really a problem. Once we get his respect, they're problems to you, but they're not really problems to him. Once you communicate with him, they won't be. We'll give him a little break, and then we'll bring the blanket out and work with that. Step up your horsemanship with the Clinton Anderson Method. Now available in a complete set. Fundamentals starts you on your journey to ultimate control. As you learn to communicate with your horse, earn his trust and respect, and gain control of his body. Intermediate opens the door to ultimate performance. As you build on your knowledge to create a safe, willing, and supple partner, you control with a feather-light touch. And now, all new, Advanced delivers ultimate inspiration to fine-tune your application of the method and reach the highest level of horsemanship. Clinton Anderson offers you the ultimate collection of his wildly popular training method kits at a packaged price. Okay, Pat. Now we've got the blanket out, okay? I want you to walk up to him, slide the lead rope through your hand, and just let him smell the blanket. So pull the lead rope through your hand as you go up, okay? And just put the blanket out and let him smell it. Just hold it up and let him smell it. Follow him. If he backs up, follow him. Don't pull on him. Now retreat and take the blanket away behind you. Now put it up in front of you again. Come, walk up there. Walk up there. Put it up in front of him. You're sneaking around him again, Pat. Does that make sense? Now put the blanket behind you. Now put it up in front of you again. Just like that. Now follow him. Follow him. Wait. Now take it behind you. Now put it up in front of you again. You see what I'm saying? Don't sneak around him. You've already gone into protective mode, Pat. Can you feel that? Okay, yeah, I do. Okay. Now go ahead and rub it on his shoulder there. Walk around the side of him. Rub him on the shoulder with it. Rub, rub, rub. Follow him. Walk with him. Walk with him, Pat. Walk with him. Walk with him, Pat. Go with him. Go with him, Pat. Walk faster. Go with him. Don't worry about me. Keep going. Just walk with him, Pat. Faster, Pat. Get in there beside him. Get in there beside his shoulder. Run if you have to, Pat. That's it. Run, mate. Run. Get in there. You're doing good. Rub him on the neck with it. Keep going. That's it. Hang on to the rope. You're right. Grab it. Okay, just start moving the blanket up and down like that, Pat. Just kind of move it up and down in the air like that. Like it was the lead rope. Yeah. Just keep going. Keep going. Keep moving it. It's amazing. When a prey animal starts to act like a prey animal, we want to start acting like a predator and pull and make them stand there. And that just makes the situation worse, okay? Our job is to teach our horses not to act like a prey animal, and our other job is to also go ahead and not act like a predator ourselves. You're doing good. Get your hand up beside his eye. You're doing good. That's it. Keep going. Just don't touch him with it. Keep moving it just like that. Now, he finally stood still. What are we waiting for now, Pat? Relax. He hasn't shown us a sign yet, has he? No, sir. Keep going. Keep moving your arm. Just keep moving your arm. So, if he doesn't show us a sign, we're going to wait for, what, 15 seconds? Right. Now, put the blanket, just drop it on the ground, and rub him with your right hand on his withers. Rub him on your right hand on his withers. There. Good job, Pat. Now, pick up the blanket and do it again. Be confident. Come on. Lift that thing up in the air. There you go. Follow him. See how he moved and you didn't move? Pat said he was unsafe. My instructor was like, Katie, you're a beginner. You don't need this horse. But there was something about that horse that I felt was good, and he just needed the help and guidance that Clinton gave us today. I think they came into this thinking that their horse had problems. Sure, he had problems, but they were caused by their inability to communicate with him. So the good news is they're willing, they want to change, and they've got the right method to follow. All they've got to do is go home and do it now. Follow him, Pat. As soon as he moves, start moving with him. You're like two seconds too late all the time. He moves and you're like three seconds later. Okay? Now, drop it and rub it. Rub, rub, rub, rub, rub, rub. Fast. Rub, rub, rub, rub. That's it. Katie, you owe me for this. Righty-o. Now, I think your barn boy's going to quit on you. Yeah, thanks. Excellent. Look at him calm. Look how calm he is now. Excellent. Now, pull it off and do it again. Three years ago when we got Jack, he was very spooky. We couldn't get around him. And I think from not having the knowledge that we've learned here today that we just didn't know what to do to help him. At the beginning of the year, I became concerned about Katie and somebody else getting hurt with Jack because he was unpredictable, he got scared of things too easily, and we discussed possibly getting rid of Jack. I think at the point that I figured out that was the horse that I knew Jack could be is when Pat was throwing the blanket over him and he wasn't even moving, and just the fact that Pat didn't give up on him. The process we've gone through here, what I've learned, I think what Katie's learned, will help us to work with Jack and continue our bonding process. Okay, guys, I hope I've helped you with your horse. Yes. Okay. It's wonderful. Hope. You know, there's a lot of hope for this horse. He's a great horse. But you guys are going to learn how to communicate with him. Get the Fundamentals Kit, study it, watch it, learn it, walk with him every day for two weeks, and he'll be a completely changed horse. Thank you very much, mate, for coming to the ranch. Thank you. You did a great job, Pat. Thank you. Very good. Well, listen, mate, I hope you've enjoyed the show for this week. Again, it's just another example. If you follow the method, go and walk with your horse, you'll get extraordinary results by following the Down Under Horsemanship Method. See you next week, mate. If you'd like more information, mate, on any of the products you've seen on today's show, click on our website at DownUnderHorsemanship.com and we'll send you a free catalog, mate.