From The Horse Gazette
"Darin Camp… Not Your One Stop, Horse-Must-Fit-A-Mold Type Of Trainer”
Darin Camp is a good communicator, and a good "dancer." To watch him work a horse while simultaneously explaining out loud what he is doing is the mark of somebody who can think fast on his feet--all the while the horse is moving and he is either moving with the horse or directing traffic. If one were to have an aerial camera watching him from above, one would see him constantly move, pause, court, entice, invite, push away, suggest, re-do and speak "horse" to the animal in a way that the horse understands. A quick study, he susses out what the horse's personality is like within minutes of meeting it and customizes the work sessions. He is not a "one stop, horse-must-fit-in-a-mold" type of a trainer.
Like all good teachers, he is generous with sharing his knowledge and experience.
He continually questions anyone within earshot while simultaneously communicating with the horse, in a fast moving way that is in tune with the horse's timing, as if he is connected with the animal's brain.
"See, he's still testing" Darin noticed, pointing at one candidate's switching tail. "Now watch the ears. The ears are too forward. He's going to try to change direction on his own." (Sure enough the horse did just that.)
He did not feel the need to keep the animal at a gallop; rather, Darin made more use of frequent transitions whether in gait or direction. He used a softly coiled lariat in one hand to offer the push to the hind end by simply raising and lowering that arm. One talisman he looks for is what the horse's inside ear is doing. Is the horse turning his head and neck outward and in essence ignoring him as the horse makes its way round the pen? Or is the horse offering him "an ask?" An ask is the horse indicating to Darin he is considering tuning in albeit briefly to the human. If Darin sees the inkling of an ask, he steps back, away from the horse to drop off the pressure. If necessary, he might even turn his back on the horse and wrap his arms around his own trunk thereby making him as innocuous as a tree. And if he really wants to signal to the horse that he is taking off pressure, Darin might resort to dropping momentarily to one knee in the middle of the round pen, making him even less threatening to the horse. All these are ways to reward the horse for starting the process of "the ask" that eventually can lead up to the horse hooking up with him, etc. Many of us are familiar with round pen reasoning sessions. They are a good introductory way for an owner to present concepts to his horse (boundaries, directional control, herd hierarchy) in a relatively safe environment. The scariest thing the horse might see is Darin softly waving his hat or lariat. He even does an extremely subtle movement with his fingers that looks like a finger drizzle to encourage the horse to look at him (it worked). Darin works at reading the horse's body language. A horses lip licking, chewing, sighing, dropping of the head and neck while the animal trots around, even if only by a couple of inches, are all actions worthy of reward. It means the horse is relaxing and not on high alert.
"You want a broke, yet responsive horse," Darin explained. "One with their full herd instinct intact. Working with the horse’s natural behavior allows us to develop a partnership based on leadership and trust, and to help them learn to respond vs. react to a situation or stimuli. For example, if a horse is scared, instinct says react and run away from the scary object (anything that moves unexpectedly or makes a noise). If we can help them learn to respond and think through the situation, they become safer and more confident partners. The confidence allows them to get over scary object and come back to you. The quicker the animal comes back to you, the better." And by "comes back to you," Darin means mentally and physically.
"They don't learn from the application of pressure but rather from the properly timed release of the pressure" he said.
It is not the end-all, be-all if a horse fails to "hook up" with him. He keeps in mind the animal's history. One apt student he had in the round pen was a young retired racehorse. "Racehorses are bred to be pushy and that behavior is encouraged and tolerated," he noted. "What works for one horse likely will not work for another. The racehorse and the Mustang will respond to pressure in dramatically different ways"
"Approach from the shoulder area, scratch him on the side up near his withers like another horse would. Rub him. Then walk away," he said. That made the horse feel comfortable.
"It is when the horse does not accept the human as their leader that they get confused, pushy. You need to establish the leader/follower relationship first and it will make all other training components easier--such as trailer loading," he mentioned.
"Darin Camp… Not Your One Stop, Horse-Must-Fit-A-Mold Type Of Trainer”
Darin Camp is a good communicator, and a good "dancer." To watch him work a horse while simultaneously explaining out loud what he is doing is the mark of somebody who can think fast on his feet--all the while the horse is moving and he is either moving with the horse or directing traffic. If one were to have an aerial camera watching him from above, one would see him constantly move, pause, court, entice, invite, push away, suggest, re-do and speak "horse" to the animal in a way that the horse understands. A quick study, he susses out what the horse's personality is like within minutes of meeting it and customizes the work sessions. He is not a "one stop, horse-must-fit-in-a-mold" type of a trainer.
Like all good teachers, he is generous with sharing his knowledge and experience.
He continually questions anyone within earshot while simultaneously communicating with the horse, in a fast moving way that is in tune with the horse's timing, as if he is connected with the animal's brain.
"See, he's still testing" Darin noticed, pointing at one candidate's switching tail. "Now watch the ears. The ears are too forward. He's going to try to change direction on his own." (Sure enough the horse did just that.)
He did not feel the need to keep the animal at a gallop; rather, Darin made more use of frequent transitions whether in gait or direction. He used a softly coiled lariat in one hand to offer the push to the hind end by simply raising and lowering that arm. One talisman he looks for is what the horse's inside ear is doing. Is the horse turning his head and neck outward and in essence ignoring him as the horse makes its way round the pen? Or is the horse offering him "an ask?" An ask is the horse indicating to Darin he is considering tuning in albeit briefly to the human. If Darin sees the inkling of an ask, he steps back, away from the horse to drop off the pressure. If necessary, he might even turn his back on the horse and wrap his arms around his own trunk thereby making him as innocuous as a tree. And if he really wants to signal to the horse that he is taking off pressure, Darin might resort to dropping momentarily to one knee in the middle of the round pen, making him even less threatening to the horse. All these are ways to reward the horse for starting the process of "the ask" that eventually can lead up to the horse hooking up with him, etc. Many of us are familiar with round pen reasoning sessions. They are a good introductory way for an owner to present concepts to his horse (boundaries, directional control, herd hierarchy) in a relatively safe environment. The scariest thing the horse might see is Darin softly waving his hat or lariat. He even does an extremely subtle movement with his fingers that looks like a finger drizzle to encourage the horse to look at him (it worked). Darin works at reading the horse's body language. A horses lip licking, chewing, sighing, dropping of the head and neck while the animal trots around, even if only by a couple of inches, are all actions worthy of reward. It means the horse is relaxing and not on high alert.
"You want a broke, yet responsive horse," Darin explained. "One with their full herd instinct intact. Working with the horse’s natural behavior allows us to develop a partnership based on leadership and trust, and to help them learn to respond vs. react to a situation or stimuli. For example, if a horse is scared, instinct says react and run away from the scary object (anything that moves unexpectedly or makes a noise). If we can help them learn to respond and think through the situation, they become safer and more confident partners. The confidence allows them to get over scary object and come back to you. The quicker the animal comes back to you, the better." And by "comes back to you," Darin means mentally and physically.
"They don't learn from the application of pressure but rather from the properly timed release of the pressure" he said.
It is not the end-all, be-all if a horse fails to "hook up" with him. He keeps in mind the animal's history. One apt student he had in the round pen was a young retired racehorse. "Racehorses are bred to be pushy and that behavior is encouraged and tolerated," he noted. "What works for one horse likely will not work for another. The racehorse and the Mustang will respond to pressure in dramatically different ways"
"Approach from the shoulder area, scratch him on the side up near his withers like another horse would. Rub him. Then walk away," he said. That made the horse feel comfortable.
"It is when the horse does not accept the human as their leader that they get confused, pushy. You need to establish the leader/follower relationship first and it will make all other training components easier--such as trailer loading," he mentioned.