Your horse is no dog: Horsemanship taught

By MANDY SPIKES | Central Texas Edition

April 8, 2004 -- For the past years, Purina Mills has hosted various clinics geared toward helping horse owners learn ways to both care for their horse and ride them. On March 30 and April 1, these clinics were offered at McLennan Community College's Highland Ranch, located in Bosqueville.

Jody Cunningham, horseman, clinician, and Purina influential, recently presented information which was aimed at helping first-time horse owners around the Central Texas area.

"This program helps people with the reality of owning a horse. People dream about owning a horse," Cunningham explained. "This dream can turn into a nightmare when they don't know what to do. We lose about 60 percent of our first-time horse owners due to this problem."

The horse owners program teaches owners how to both care for the horse and the proper way to ride a horse. "We teach them from the bottom up, because learning this information the hard way can be hazardous to both the owner's health, as well as the horse's."

He stressed that throughout the program, safety is always an important issue. "We explain the safe way to care for a horse and the safe way to ride a horse. Otherwise, if you don't know what you are doing, you can get injured or killed."

The main goal is teach practical horsemanship for practical people. "Safety first is how we teach this program. We also teach it in a way that's logical, effective, and humane." Cunningham added that once these fundamental principals are learned, the owner is on their way to becoming a great horse owner.

The program is open to people 10 years or older. "I teach from 10 years and up, but that doesn't mean that a child who is younger shouldn't get on a horse. I don't think any child is too young to ride a horse."

The biggest mistake that Cunningham sees people make is treating their horse like they would a dog. "They are not the same type of creature. A horse is a prey-type animal while a dog is a predator-type. Since they are not the same type of creature, the same teaching methods will not work."

Once an owner learns the nature of a human-horse relationship, he feels that the owner will have a different outlook toward not only their horse, but the world as well. "Once you change your aspect from predator to prey, you will learn to see the world from your horse's perspective. Once you do that, you will understand what your horse is feeling."

Although Cunningham does not work for the Purina Mills company, he is very proud to be associated with them. "They are the oldest institution regarding a feed company. They have been around for over 100 years. They are also the only feed company with a research facility. They have extremely educated people working for them. In my opinion, there is not a better feed company in the world."

For more information on these programs, visit: www.horse.purinamills.com