Word of the Day: Avoidance

Avoidance- This is a horse who is mentality unavailable or "shut down." He will create methods to evade communication with his handler or rider usually because of defensiveness, a lack of clarity, pain, and distrust. Physically he may display behaviors such as tucking his chin towards his chest evade the bit, his focus is often not where he is at physically, if experiencing pain he may raise his head to avoid discomfort.  In many cases, people use severe equipment to "make" the horse comply. Instead, they need to revisit the quality of communication and mental availability in the horse to recognize what triggers the horse to avoid scenarios.