I just cannot let go of this fasinating subject. Here is some kore thoughts on humane ways of teaching and living, plus a few quotes from Monty Roberts website [link in there somewhere] -

Karlin writes:
Animals are not Humans, and vis-versa, but their reactions to cruelty and pain are similiar.

Also, the way in which horses, and humans, are schooled are following similiar timeline as relates to they style in which they are taught. "Bend to my will" , the authority-driven, punishment threatened, way is being replaced , for both species, with the more humane style of "letting the student find a way to learn" which allows for individual need and talents. There is also an opportunity for healing the wounds and the terrors of the student as the "optimal learning environment" for each student is discovered.

This new awareness of a more humane teaching methods [pedagogy] spills over to international politics. "How best to help the underdeveloped nations" and more specifically, "How best to approach the problem of terrorism" are issues where we see the old authority driven, punishment-threatening style that is being employed by "The Bully Nation" , the USA. There is NO consideration for understanding the terrorists motives for attacking the USA, there is no appeasement of the issues that drive them, there is no allowance for their fears and no goal other than to establish the American Lifestyle, rampant consumerism, the farce of market-driven capitalism, and freely flowing oil.

The parallel is obvious - the way we are schooled, the way we train horses, and the way we approach international political situations, [and many other areas of life not touched upon here], are all challenged by this new 'humane' way. Even though we are still using that old brutality style, the HUMANE way is slowly taking over... If 'the people' could vote on it, I am confident that more people would choose the new way... which may indicate that the wealthy Elites and authorites now in power are adhering to the old ways, and they want to keep it that way because it helps keep them in power by keeping the masses of ordinary people from developing to our fullest potential.


Once again, I find myself using the term "humane" to describe something that humans are not yet doing, as if we are not yet humane ourselves, as if humane is a target, a goal, something humnans MUST NOW PURSUE. only now that that goal is becoming clearer to us are we able to understand that we are humans who are not yet humane, we only know what it is. We go by the name "humans", but we are not yet "humane", as if we knew that it would be our biggest achievement as a species to actually be "humane" in all our actions and thoughts.


OTHER EXAMPLES OF HUMAN BEINGS BECOMING MORE HUMANE BEINGS:
1] Environment - Resistance to 'remediation of our tresspasses against nature' is not humane, but that is mostly a corporate driven attitude. Where people are amenable to stopping pollution and environmental degradation, we are witnessing another area where we are clearly moving towards being more humane.

-end of Karlin's words -




QUOTES FROM MONTY ROBERTS:
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http://www.montyroberts.com/ju_about.html

Traditional methods aim to teach the horse to ‘DO AS I SAY’ and involve the use of pain and intimidation, but Monty focuses on communion with the horse, rather than domination. "For centuries, humans have said to horses, 'You do what I tell you or I'll hurt you,' I'm saying that no one has the right to say, 'you must' to an animal or to another human,” Monty said.

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The result is a willing partnership in which the horse’s performance can flourish to its full potential, rather than exist within the boundaries of obedience. These principles are valuable tools to understanding what motivates horse behavior and increasing effectiveness in any application.

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Join-Up training methods are most simply expressed in the process of starting raw horses. Without the use of pain or force the trainer persuades a raw horse to accept a saddle, bridle and rider. Working in a round pen, one begins Join-Up® by making large movements and noise as a predator would and begins driving the horse to run away. She then gives the horse the option to flee or Join-Up®. Through body language, the trainer will ask, "Will you pay me the respect due to a herd leader and join and follow me?" The horse will respond with predictable herd behavior: by locking an ear on her, then by licking and chewing and dropping his head in a display of trust. The exchange concludes with the trainer adopting passive body language, turning her back on the horse and without eye contact, invites him to come close. Join-Up occurs when the animal willingly chooses to be with the human and walks toward her accepting her leadership and protection. This process of communication through behavior and body language and mutual concern and respect, can be a valuable tool to strengthen all other work with horses.


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Here is the link for the main website of Monty Roberts
http://www.montyroberts.com/