Cristobal Scarpati

Fear and Tickles  (translated by Victoria Salvato)

The Nature of the horse is the most important topic in Indian Taming, which helps us to understand the horse. After understanding that, we can give the horse an appropriate treatment, without hurting his spirit, with respect, and looking for many ways to get positive results in his education.If we talk about “The Nature of the Horse” we can spend hours, because it is very very interesting, extensive, entertained, rich, etc. It helps us to have a better view about the horse, but all tamers have to understand this in different ways. Tamers must know that the horse is a prey, herbivore, and lives in herds, in open fields, with sharp senses…. But all these characteristics, at the moment of taming, have to be reduced in only two important things:  wild horse = FEAR and TICKLES.  
Every item of his nature has changed. He is alone in the yard without his fellows from the herd, he is not in the meadow anymore, his life is different now and we have to take care of them and be very responsible. 
FEAR and TICKLES are really important topics for tamers. Once we get through these obstacles we are ready to communicate, understand and learn everything we are going to teach him. If the horse continues with fear or tickles, the colt will not be able to learn clearly and will be defensive. Even though we do not mean to hurt him, the colt will think that our actions are possible aggressions.  
If we want to take out the fear, the secret is very simple; we should behave like a horse trying to communicate with them. How do we communicate? By playing a game, which pretend to show the colt our intentions, we just want to be nice and play without being aggressive.  At the beginning, is going to be a little bit doubtful for the colt, so we need to be very clear and then he will understand what we want. 
Fear is natural, is normal between colts and let the horse survive up to these days.  They are afraid of their predators and they are afraid of everything they do not know, it is their instinct. First of all, by playing this natural game, we have to show them that we are not their predators. After that, we have to teach and show them everything they do not know and which is going to be part of his day to day life.  
If the colt looses the fear, he will let us touch him a little bit more and more. And we will be able to work in his tickles. Firstly by touching him slowly and then a little bit harder so that we make sure that his tickles are disappearing, and we are also getting his confidence and trust.  
It is very difficult to explain how to play this game with words. Basically, consist in imitating the game that colts usually play in their first years, they bite and follow to each other,  they stand in two legs, and they simulate a fight but, it is not a fight, it is a funny and friendly game which they usually play.
When someone is able to express himself by imitating a colt in a natural way, he can make the colt believe that you are another horse, not a predator. You are showing the colt that you are a nice person and do not want to hurt him.
Not only Fear and Tickles, Hierarchy is another and very important topic that we are going to explain in another article.
Horses not only have body language, hearing and smell are also very important. A person, who wants to have an excellent communication with the colt, must know all his languages and use them so that it is easier for the colt to understand you.Our proposal is to establish a good relationship with the horse. A relationship with an excellent communication, where the horse respects the man, understands and answers to his messages or needs and vice versa.
On the other hand, if there is a poor communication or no communication at all, we will not have a positive relationship. Not necessarily, we will have a bad relationship because it is totally possible to have a good, sincere, honest, fluently and constructive relationship.  
The tamer has to begin with the communication and understand the horse’s languages. He has to use them to create an excellent communication. Then, the horse will have to learn our languages.
If the tamer acts in a natural way, being expressive and communicative, he will get a horse in these conditions. On the other hand, if the tamer ignores the horse’s languages, he will get a shy absorbed, subdued and close horse. Of course, it is also possible to get a horse in these conditions that may do what you want, but like a slave. 
For the Indians, horses were sacred. They respect the horse and their spirit and they take care of them. Fear and tickles were their message showing that they were not giving their spirit to the man. They believed “The horse does not give his soul to the man if he can not see the man’s soul first”. The deal was: Being as animal and natural as the horse, so that the horse can give himself in soul and body.
Today we are proposing to have a more sensitive perception, understand the horse and their fears and to learn how to be more natural to express ourselves. Improving these important points the horse will continue giving us his soul.
In Indian Taming we know what horses need. We have learned from an ancestral culture, the needs from the spirits of the horse and men. If we open our minds we can clearly see how many similarities we have with horses and how connected we are with them. Even though ours differences are because we are different species, we can understand that horses and people have very similar needs.    
Love, comprehension, consideration, respect, communication are universal concepts. If we want to create a good relationship with horses, men, women, sons, environment, etc, we have to use these basic concepts. Cristobal y Oscar ScapatiSan Luis - Argentina