What an absolutely beautiful horse. He must trust you with his whole heart because everything about his body language says that he could just come apart and could really hurt you. But he doesn't. Even though he is still very afraid he wants to do what you ask of him. He's so big and beautiful. Thank you for taking the time to restore his mind
0:56 This is exactly what being 'in charge' should be like. Being in charge doesn't mean that your horse fears you, it means that your horse respects you and knows that you are there to protect them.
How wonderful to watch a "master" at work. How calm and relaxed he is and positive praise always. This vlog is fantastic and I could watch this horse being taught be him all day. Thanks for sharing Yr gorgeous boy and hope he is doing better with u x
He talks to the horse which is excellent. What about taking a buddy for the horse with you? Did anyone notice the friendly reaction of the dunkey? This horse is intelligent and reacts from his head, losen up and just walk, walk, walk. His feet have to take over the controle again in my opinion.
Thanks, I was thinking the same thing. Especially when he had to go under that raised metal container, he came close to hitting his head on that thing. He took some dumb chances I think.
@@itsallgood4093 In my heart I agree with you, but have you ever had the misfortune to visit someone in a brain injury unit of a hospital? It changed my outlook on head safety.
@@eternallearner8185 Absolutely correct. Besides a horse lover and rider, I'm a health care worker (I scan cerebral arteries following injury, stroke, etc.) This man could have ended his life in a really sad way, or worse, become a stroked invalid. A spook, a side-step, a crushed skull---just that fast.
This video made me cry. What a stunning horse. Thank you for helping him. He did not deserve the previous treatment. I love that, even though he's unsure, he responds to you. Amazing work!
@@glennvannijevelt1133 Thank you 😅😅 I always wear my helmet when on horseback, nothing to do with my nationality 😆😆😆 And I thought what he did was extremely dangerous : a frightened horse, no helmet and on the road... All the components for a big accident...
I can't wait to see how far he's come when I finish this. There is no such thing as a bad horse when it's bcuz of Man's hand. It's up to a Man to right the horse. 🙏 that Dark has gotten there. Skilled rider✌ Stacie Texas, U.S.A.
I had a very nervous horse and was worse than this. What a terrifying experience when the head was thrown and the bridle came off. Time and patience and excellent trainer certainly makes it all possible . well done love your work.
Very dangerous. The horse was terrified the entire time. This could easily have ended badly for both horse and rider, no helmet and improper footwear. A helmet would not have saved him, though, if the horse panicked.
I don't think the horse was terrified the whole time, but he was very nervous a good part of the time. The rider is very skilled, and definitely upped the horse's confidence level, but I wonder about his judgment. Going thru that small space at 1:24 was probably unwise and raising the arm on that piece of heavy equipment and riding the horse under it was insane. The horse showed he was a bit light in front early in the video and if he had gone up under that boom, he could have killed himself. That just wasn't necessary. The horse had done plenty of hard (scary) work by that time and shouldn't have bee pushed that hard.
@@epona9166 It’s so interesting to me that people will watch a video and form opinions that differ from others. I agree with you that he should have had a helmet and proper footwear on. I also think that the horse would’ve benefited greatly by being longed beforehand (he stated that in the video) but I thought it was good of him to go through the narrow space and also go under the arm of the truck. I’m just curious if he had proper equipment on would you still think it bad he did those things? I’m just asking to have a discussion about it. I think when we usually see a horse that behaves like this, it’s usually not well trained. The fact that this horse competed and won prior to its injury tells me that it is probably exceptionally well broke, so if it was to spook and take off, Sebastian would be able to bring him back under control quickly. The horse gets his confidence from the rider, I think Sebastian looked at the “scariest” situations and committed to pushing Dark through them.. if he had ignored them and took the easy way out, that would’ve planted a seed of self doubt in his mind, which Dark would’ve picked up on and then he probably would’ve ended up spooking.
This is also helpful to someone with a horse that might not necessarily be scared but also over-excited. Maintaining contact, as soft hands on the reigns show in this video, is not holding on for dearest life, or having the horse letting you hold it's head. Like he said, giving the horse a choice to obey, and showing him that he isn't under pressure or he should be afraid of you. You are calm, relaxed but alert, and your body language, which he can 100% feel, will give him an indication to what he should feel. Overall, great video and training!!!! I am inspired!!!
Stunning and obviously powerful horse. I believe you are correct on giving the horse back his confidence, after all he is a leader, not a follower. The cows were clearly in awe of him, they stood there gawking at him for quite a while, not a one of them even moved a muscle or seemed even slightly disinterested in watching this amazing being of a horse in front of them. That did wonders for this amazing horse. And then, you suggested visiting “the mule”. That horse heard you...his ears pricked up and knew what was coming next...he was already happy knowing he was going to nuzzle with his friend. Holy cow, Dark and the mule are truly friends, they are absolutely fond of each other, perhaps the mule more...but cannot know for sure as the mule was not bridled up. Dark just melted upon nuzzling with that really beautiful mule...but even more surprising was how once you turned Dark away, the mule nearly frantic, was trying to get back to being with Darlene again. It made me sad to see the mule trying so hard...while you were only focused on Dark. I understand your intentions, but honestly, it hurt me to see the mule try again and again to get his friend back. I am new to your channel and a new subscriber as well. I realize you have goals for this horse but I also hope you can allow him to just freely be a horse...for longer than 30 seconds.
Yes, this so true. Alot of people don't realize that (while on the horse's back) they spook at everything themselves! What I mean is, if you see something ahead that you're pretty sure your horse isn't going to like ( so to speak) you stare hard at the object and tense up. That alone tells your horse " oh oh, look out! I used to do just that. I finally learned not to look or fix my eyes on the object. Just relax look way ahead past the potentially scary object and ride with soft hands and no matter what your horse does, ignore it and just ride. Works like a charm.
Hi there - In watching this, and from the comments, it appears some of us are making assumptions about what the horse was feeling. Such as - Just because the man is supposedly a top horseman we assume that he is actually doing what is best for the horse. If a person was that anxious and stressed would you make them confront all their fears at once? If it was a stressed pet dog - would you take that approach? Was the trainer being a bit ego-led here? - jumping on, wanting to impress the owner with his camera - showing how he can tame a difficult beast without a hat, taking unnecessary risks? - As some threads have pointed out - this horse is extremely well trained - it is doing its best to please the rider, but that does not mean the horse is not scared of having a rider on its back - or rather what being ridden means to the horse. What was it the owner was hoping for in this session? A relaxed horse that trusts its owner and rider? If so surely there are other ways that the man could have worked with this horse to help it restore trust in humans? I think we all have to question what kind of a relationship we want to have with our horses, and also what it is we are working towards and break that down into smaller steps. Is what we want the same as what our horse wants? Whose needs are more important? I believe that a horse like that needed someone who would go back to the beginning and build trust again, try to understand the horse, listen to the horse, not try to master it or control it, just steadily build back confidence. I hope the owner finds someone else to work with his horse, somebody who has more empathy. We can all learn from watching this and question how would we do it? That so-called expert in my mind was plain showing off and did not impress me - proper training, rebuilding trust with any animal, takes a long time, lots of small steps and consistency on the part of the owner - there are no quick fixes.
So well written! Thank you. Taking a horse this frightened, getting on him and making him confront all these scary things is not going to yield long lasting results, in my opinion. Starting with the very basics would be so much better for the horse and safer for the rider - just a halter and a lead rope in a round pen. There are no quick fixes indeed.
At no point in this video couldn't that horse be described as relaxed or even comfortable, he was terrified and keeping a lid on it because he didn't have any choice. I'm sorry but that horse was being bullied whilst scared the entire time. This is only my opinion though and I completely respect anybody that does not agree with me. He's a stunning horse!!
Formidable! Bon travaille et courage et sentiment de l' homme sur chaval . Le moul et su nuevau ami, mirage su reacción, tres content et afectuosos avec le chaval .Merci por le video . salut bon journee
superbly experienced rider...n an excellent lesson in riding skills for the watcher. that lovely horse has been extremely well educated at some stage then f****ed over by morons.this rider knows the horse's skill level n easily interprets that it;s not terror the horse has ( you never once saw the horse bolt, flip, freeze, rear as a fear reaction), just a mistrust of his previous handlers' lack of ability....evidenced by the horse going from bracing to long rein relax in moments. lesser riders would have pissed about for ages lungeing....or only riding with another horse, fearful as ever n so still imparting rider fear. the one-on-one, instant rapport in this combo was a joy to watch.
black top road, horse w shoes on all 4, barbed wire fence, no helmet? not a good mix when riding a horse thats scared of everything...just sayin. i would never let this guy work w my horse. taking him under that bucket on the tractor was mind boggling. i just dont get it.
Neither did I get that.... completely agree.... but who are we compared to someone as Stephane ... for him Dark was a pussy, for me he was dangerous. Look at the respect he gives the horse. That’s why it is so interesting to share this experience. I wanted to get rid of Dark, didn’t liked his behavior. Now I love him, respect him, he is amazing, but I understand him a little bit more now. And I never want him to leave us... all because of this half an hour coaching of Stephane..... who can do that ? Experienced riders can come here and ride him and they all fall in love. I refuse to put him into competition again.... he is here for us and for him. We think we know.... we know nothing... we can only be amazed of what we see.... but we know nothing.
@@lamaisondesouhey8419 I'm confused. When commenter Dettmann protested the trainer taking Dark under the boom of that equipment, you defended it. Now you're agreeing with the next commenter's concern. As you should. It was a stupid thing to do. Especially when the horse was still very nervous. Maybe give the horse a break and come back to it later. It doesn't all have be laid on him at once.
That was alot for any new horse to deal with out on the road. Cows can be scary!! Donkey. tractor. This rider however 'professional' should have a helmet and proper foot wear. I have also seen horses far more terrified of moving forward than this horse. Results were ok but horse will need more time. But not done in a safe manner. My opinion only.......
What do I do when the horse freezes first and then turns around and runs away. Once he is frozen he does not react to anything and then I get scared not to be able to stay on when he tries tobescape the situation by running the other direction
What was this horse Dark "championchip level" (sic) at? What dicipline? It is a promising horse, under condition and under muscled up in the hind quarters , back and loins. Personaly I wouldn't sit on him untill he was stronger and more confident. In other words start his training all over, forget everything he was. Build up his frame and muscling with in hand work, take him on rides being led by a much calmer horse. Confidence is something that comes with working a horse daily, there are no quick fixes. This horse appears to have never been in a field, by the looks of it rarely even outside .
C'est bon, c'est bon, c'est bon! May the rest of the Equestrian world come along soon. The OLD way is not good. Let them become dinosaurs 🦕 Time for positive change, for the horse's sake. About time. They have suffered enough.
Such a beautiful horse, I'm sad to hear that he was mistreated. Good thing he's in a place where he's understood and will get the guidance he needs to get over his fears. You probably have a lot of expertise and all, but I would still wear a helmet and better shoes for riding with a heel so you don't risk getting stuck. Especially on a nervous horse. I know it's just a small thing to some, but I get nervous whenever I see it. No matter the horse or the rider, an accident can happen when you least expect it.
I don't think he did, because he stasted that it would have been best to have done lunging 30 to 60 minutes prior to the ride. With most horses working at liberty or on a long line prior to the ride both without saddle and with, gives the horse a chance to blow off steam, and the rider a chance to evaluate the horse's mood and energy level.
Walk with a companion horse (that will reassure him). Turn him in a circle when very alarmed. Horse & cattle have never seen each other? Look at THE THE HOOVES!!! It looks like he needs a trim!!! When the hooves are LONG,THE FLESH IS PULLING FROM THE HOOF WALL---very painful.!!!
Pulling on a bit doesn't help the scare factor man. Patting horses they not dogs you may have got the outcome you wanted you have done it completely the wrong way. No horsemanship at all. Cruel Noseband can't even lick and chew to relieve tension.
Absolutely obvious that the rider had a great seat and 'was in charge'. As for the horse, it was being 'flooded' with stimuli, a technique used in police horse training. I saw tension at every turn except when he was with the donkey. His hind legs were full of tension when meeting the cows. There is a danger of superimposing our own thoughts onto the horse on seeing this from a human perspective. Honestly, it was a lesson in how Sebastien Mourier could ride an extremely anxious horse. Bravo. Though I would have loved to have seen a relaxed horse in just one of these situations.
If the horse was relax , we would not have the need to do anything , there is no fun in scaring a horse, and the training was not about the horse. Dark is doing great.... but I was not able , or did not know how to react when he got scared. Sébastien showed me how to behave and how to give the horse security and confidence in a situation like that. He went far on his training, but with no other purpose then to show that is all about the rider and not the horse. A really amazing experience we need to share. We have to make others understand that you need no force , no pressure, no hurting ... nothing, just a respectfull leadership in confidence. Your horse will do anything you want if he trusts you. NEVER BLAME THE HORSE , only yourself , or others who treated your horse Horses are smart and don't forget.... sometimes it takes long to get there confidence back. Those beating and forcing horses ... are no horsemen and not worth being with horses... I hate them.
5:35 if there is a problem with the horse, the problem is always connected with us, even if the horse is hurt, he is hurt because we fucked up somewhere. But the beautiful thing about problems, unless it's death, there is always a bunch solutions.
a very skilled rider but never ever ride a horse without a helmet especially if the horse is very nervous like Dark seems to be. Although he s a beautiful horse with a lot of energy.
