Riders replace spurs with trust Clinic leader teaches equestrians to use natural instincts as a guide

CARIBOU – County native Kevin Crane believes horseback riders don’t need spurs or a crop to get a horse to do what they want. In fact, he believes all it takes is trust.

Crane, who originally hails from the Houlton area but now operates Crane Horse Farm in Albion, spent the weekend at the Horse-Talk Equestrian Center in Caribou offering a two-day clinic on natural horsemanship.

The technique involves communicating with a horse by understanding its natural instincts and body language, using specific body motions to get it to do certain maneuvers, and developing a trust between horse and rider.

While the approach may raise an eyebrow, Crane said during a break on Sunday that the result speaks for itself.

“This morning, we had horses running around, jumping and getting away from people,” he said. “But now the horses are relaxed and they’re responding.”

Crane said that he first was introduced to natural horsemanship in 1988 – “It changed my life understanding that there was another way to handle horses,” he said – and he has been teaching the concept to other people ever since.

“It’s great to see the change in horses and people,” he said. “When I come here, I see what people have done in the past [to get their horses to cooperate], but when they leave, they’re all in a better frame of mind. The horses aren’t arguing anymore and they’re more willing to work with their human being.”

During the morning session on Sunday, some of the 50 participants in the two-day clinic learned how to tell their horses to turn around, back up and prepare for a ride.

“It’s always a good opportunity to get a better understanding of your horse and see what makes them tick,” Jenn Ayer, co-owner of the equestrian center, said on Sunday.

Ayer, who co-owns the business with her husband, offers speech therapy on horseback and riding lessons out of a building that houses a stable and indoor riding area. She said they decided to begin offering a clinic series and brought Crane up for the first one.

“People who work with horses generally work too hard,” Ayer explained. “We want to see how little we can do to get an appropriate response from a horse, but have it still be safe for the rider.”

Center instructor Amy Cheney Seymour said the clinic has been invaluable both in helping riders and the center itself.

“We’re really motivated now to make this more a part of our daily lessons,” Cheney Seymour said. “We want more complete riders, and this will help them understand what the horse is doing on the ground before they get into the saddle for a lesson.”

As for clinic participants, they said they wouldn’t miss the chance to work with Crane.

Martin Doustou, 14, brought his horse Dodger all the way from Fort Kent to work with Crane. Doustou said he and Dodger trained with Crane last year and that “he came back a totally different horse.”

With a summer full of state, and maybe national, barrel-racing competitions on his schedule, Doustou said getting a “refresher course” with Crane is a big help.

“He’s so good, you can’t even put it into words,” Doustou said. “He can fix a horse in a day. It’s really the rider that needs the most work.”