After we moved to North Carolina I learned about the United States Equine Rescue League and their desire to improve the lives of starved and abused horses. At a USERL monthly meeting I listened as a story was told about trying to halter one of the horses in a field and spending hours as the horse ran away every time the volunteer got close.
While I didn’t have a life time of horse knowledge to share with the group it was apparent that my background in training could be put to use and help the volunteers learn to establish trust with horses that had no reason to trust.
My husband, Greg, and I were asked to put together a series of training classes as a pilot program for USERL. Below is an article about the class that was published in the USERL quarterly newspaper.
Special Needs Training by Will Walls
Horses: starved, sick, abused, abandoned, unwanted, unloved. We see them everyday.
Some are relieved, grateful to have survived. Some are scared, fearful of more abuse. Some are depressed, careful not to be hurt again. All have special needs.
As horse lovers providing foster care, we’ve come to learn that while proper nutrition and nurture are critical, they aren’t enough. We have to help these horses overcome their past so they will be safe to handle and can lead happy, healthy lives.
We have to find a way to train out their bad habits and train in the good manners they’ll need. Even more, these horses have to learn to trust people again so they’ll be safe to handle. Without that, they don’t stand a chance.
Recognizing the problem wasn’t enough. None of us had the skills needed. And then we met Meg Dye at a monthly meeting in the Sandhills.
Meg and her husband Greg recently moved to North Carolina to start a business training animal handlers at zoos and aquariums. As Meg described how she’d trained a zebra to come to the fence and stand quietly while the vet drew blood, the light came on. If she can do that, what can she do with one of our horses? If Greg can train a 3000 pound walrus to come out of the water and wait quietly for pre-natal examinations, what can he train a horse to do?
Quite a lot as it turns out.
Using the same techniques they use to train animal handlers, Meg and Greg are now teaching a group of volunteers the skills they need to work with Special Needs horses. The class work is rigorous, the required reading and field work is demanding.
The course consists of three segments: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. Students must complete each in turn before they can go on. Each segment contains three classroom sessions of three hours each. During the two weeks between classroom sessions, students work with their horses, applying the lessons learned in class. Meg provides feedback via the Internet so students are never “on their own.”
The entire course will require nine months to complete. Those students who successfully participate will have gained invaluable skills that will make a difference.
Real horses with special needs will be getting the training they need to be safe to handle. They’ll be more desirable to adopters and much more likely to find a safe, loving home for the rest of their lives.
