Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Tristan Tucker and the TRT Method

My interest was sparked in Tristan Tucker and "response" training by an article in the Chronicle of the Horse a couple of years ago.  The article was about how Tristan Tucker helped Catherine Haddad, a prominent U.S. dressage rider, with her very sensitive horse Hotmail.  All sorts of things popped out at me that were interesting about his methodology including the fact that he doesn't believe in desensitizing the horse, instead he believes in giving the horse a new response to any fear stimuli to make them potentially calmer in all sorts of stressful situations. Jet is so well intentioned, but so sensitive, and has such a quick fear response, I really thought this would be of huge benefit in our training.

So, I played with a couple of the exercises I could find via YouTube and liked the whole concept, but figured since I won't be training in the Netherlands anytime soon, that was that.  Recently though, after following Tristan's Facebook page, I was hit up for a new online, module based program using the TRT Method.  It is fairly spendy at $300+ U.S. but I am so fascinated by the methodology and end results that I decided it would be training dollars well spent on Jet.

I am on the first of eight online modules and so far I am very pleased with the content, explanations, and exercises.  The first module is about controlling the horse's balance and feet through ground work.  It is totally different from anything I have encountered before. Since this an eight module course over months, I think I will wait to do a full review until I am closer to the end.  Go check out the website at http://www.trtmethod.com and tell me what you think.


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4 comments:

  1. LandofWOZMarch 10, 2016 at 6:21 AM

    It seems a lot like approach and retreat? It is so nice to see this sort of work being done within the dressage discipline. I personally use a lot of ground work--the coolest part about groundwork I have found is that it facilitated a new language for my horse and I and opened the door to a deeper communication. I likened the basics to teaching the alphabet and then more complicated things could be done by putting 'letters together to form a word'. Fun stuff and really results in a more thoughtful horse.

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    1. Exploring Dressage BiomechanicsNovember 17, 2016 at 5:34 AM

      I'm not super knowledgable about "approach and retreat" but I agree about it being so nice to see different forms of NH being blended with traditional dressage. I have found success with the TRT Method but from what I have seen so far, there is a ton of overlapp in the various Natural Horsemanship methods. It's just a matter of picking the one that works best for you and your horse, and I think most methods should end up in the same place with a calm attending horse.

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  2. KateApril 2, 2017 at 10:49 PM

    How was the rest of the course? I just saw him in Omaha and was blown away by his symposium... Immediately signed up for the course and I'm looking forward to the next modules. Watched the first one in my hotel room && can't wait to try these exercises with my horses. We do lots of groundwork but I do love the way he's phrased it all.

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    1. Exploring Dressage BiomechanicsJune 22, 2017 at 3:21 PM

      The rest of the course was wonderful and I feel like the TRT Method is one of the best things I have ever done to improve my training and horsemanship. Just successfully used the "pattern" at my first (and my pony's) dressage show in years and it was very helpful for relaxation.

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