Critique vs Positive Alternative communication with the horse

One of the themes at a recent clinic in Oahu was discussing a positive alternative vs. a critique in our communication with the horse.

Most riders focus on what they don't want and attempt to "block," drive or reprimand the horse in a moment of unwanted behavior.



But they are reacting to the physical movements of the horse, which all initially started as thoughts in the horse's brain. So the critique is responding to a movement, but not actually addressing the source causing the unwanted movement.

So does this communication help the horse, direct the horse or offer the opportunity for the horse to get something asked of him right? No, it doesn't because the horse can't quite rationalize that the human's response towards what he was offering was really about his mental focus or his thoughts.

Does the critique or containment of his body change his thought? No. So the undesired behavior continues, irrelevant of the critique.

Instead riders need to recognize the unwanted behavior as the end result. They need to backtrack and "play detective" in their mind as to all the events that led up to the final outcome. Then they could start to learn how early their timing and how specific their communication needed to be in offering a positive alternative as what the DO want.

Learning to prioritize directing the horse's thoughts in order to influence future movement takes practice. It involves assessing ourselves and the horse, experimenting and learning to makw decisions and ride in "real time." It also is crucial part of the conversation with the horse to build a solid foundation and quality partnership leading to rewarding rides.

By doing so, the rider can prevent or diffuse many unwanted scenarios by how quickly they give their horse what they do want, or a way of getting "it" right.