I treated my recruits like men and taught them the Navy way. He was an idiot, and said what you wanted to hear. To 'break them down' would be an insult to my profession.
He wasn't and isn't an idiot; I've known him his whole life. I don't know his mind but a bunch of them were talking about this in my kitchen...20-somethings drinking and have a good time. Years ago. But I remembered it after all this time. He was almost my son-in-law.
This post was edited by Thriftymaid at October 4, 2020 8:57 AM MDT
The term breaking in refers to a method which involves brute force and unnecessarily cruel techniques. One is the rodeo style of throwing a saddle on, mounting, and letting the terrified horse buck till it becomes exhausted - and continuing that everyday until it ceases bucking. Another, which teaches the horse to stand when tied, involves roping three legs together so that it casts itself; this has a peculiar effect which zombifies the horse. As would happen if caught by a predator, it goes into a state of unconsciousness or coma. After that, its eyes have a dull expression and it never completely recovers its spirit. I've only slightly touched on some of the cruelties of the old cowboy methods. Thankfully, even though there is still a strong and profitable rodeo circuit, fewer and fewer horsehandlers are practicing or tolerating these methods. A time will come when they will become illegal.
The various forms of "natural horsemanship" developed by people like Tom Durrance and Monty Roberts use species-specific cognitive behavioural training. These are referred to as starting or gentling (UK English) a horse. I've used this technique with 19 horses.
This post was edited by inky at October 4, 2020 8:58 AM MDT
Element 99 