Just exactly how do you get 11-hundred pounds of hard muscle, stubborn intensity and self-determination to cooperate with your instructions? "If you are not operating by the rules the horse understands, it will hurt you...it's not a game," warns Paul Dufresne as he gets his beautiful dark Friesian stallion ready for the Friday evening demo that kicked off a weekend of some intense horse training at the Evergreen Acres Riding Centre. Dufresne, a well known name in the interior equestrian community, spent the weekend on Bowen helping local horse owners and their animals step out of their comfort zones and into the riding arena with hopes of improving their relationships and quality of life.
Christine Miller, owner of the riding centre and one of the founders of BIHORA, the Bowen Island Horse Owner and Rider Association, played host to Dufresne's riding clinic Training for Courage and says she has heard from a number of horse owners concerned with their animal's behaviour and the timing for the event could not be better. "We are so isolated here on the island that it is really difficult, when you are having problems with your horse, or sometimes you might not even realize what's happening with your horse while you have a dangerous situation on your hands," says Miller.
Those are exactly the kinds of challenges Dufresne believes his clinic can help address. "A lot of people really like horses," said the Pritchard based trainer, adding that, unfortunately, human nature often dictates that we dote on those we love. "And what these owners end up doing is spoiling the horses and then they get into the fireworks with the animal when they try to take the lead because the horse still thinks he's the boss," says Dufresne, adding that often behavioural problems with their horse lead owners to sell the animal or worse, destroy it. But that does not need to happen according to Dufresne who believes that training for the horse and for the owner can turn a would be bad situation around. Using a relatively uncommon method known as EndoTapping a neuromuscular stimulation technique which makes the training more palatable and relaxing for the horse the trainer shows the owners how to achieve progress with their animals. He cautions though, that it does take time; "if people can spend years spoiling their horse rotten they can spend the time to reverse what they have done." The quick fix, says Dufresne, does not work with horses adding that training the animals is usually the easy part it's training the people that is the biggest challenge; "I have a lot of people look at me and say 'this isn't about training horses is it? It's about figuring ourselves out, isn't it?' And I just nod and say yup, you got it now."
From spoiling their animals, lacking confidence, poor communication skills and neglecting to provide a sense of security, Dufresne subscribes to the belief that the owners are truly responsible for the animals' behaviour or misbehaviour. The good news is, that with some training, the damage is reversible. Dufresne views his clinic as a professional development course where the owners learn things about themselves that go beyond the stable doors. For an example, he says that if he were to tell people some of the things they don't like about themselves they might be offended but he adds "if their horses reflect that back to them many owners accept they might need work in certain areas and are willing to change it. A lot of people like their horses enough they'll make changes within themselves that other people can't get them to do. And that is a pretty cool thing I get to see because of this job."
Meanwhile Miller, impressed by Dufresne's technique and his results, is confident the event was a success for all who participated she managed without a problem to attract enough horse enthusiasts to fill all available spots in the clinic and hopes to bring more training to Bowen in the future.
