Whitney told Drummond that it is worthwhile to spend time teaching the young spirited mule to cooperate now, rather then having to deal with her antics for the next 26 years or so of her life. I learned about five things to practice with Cinder and my horses, said Drummond, adding that he was so impressed by Whitney, he intends to visit his ranch and take one of his intense training clinics. C is for cue, letting the horse know something is wanted. P is for pressure. In order to get a response from the horse, a little pressure may be necessary.
R is for response, from both horse and human.
Once the horse has learned to respond, the handler needs to ease the pressure so that the horse knows he did the right thing. In one of his clinics, Whitney mentioned the movie, The Horse Whisperer, stating that horses don t have problems, humans do. But things should not be made too difficult. Whitney said that since horses respond in the same manner, whether the person is riding them or on the ground, the ground work is an important part of the process in getting the horse to cooperate. Katrina Britner-Osborne, a former equine science student at Pierce, attended the clinic to keep abreast with her skills.