Mindfulness in our Horsemanship

As with most things, there is a learning curve in the progression and improvement of Horsemanship. It involves recognizing, understanding and then grasping concepts and building the skillset not only in the mechanics of the "hands-on" communication but also learning how to achieve quality interaction with the horse. 

Prioritizing learning to influence a change first in the horse's thoughts, emotions, and physical behaviors is a constantly evolving journey. Every Conversation with the horse offers both the human and horse opportunities to refine it. I thought I would share several crucial factors that can help you along the way of self-exploration with the horse! 

1.) Rarely when you watch an equine professional demo, do they offer a level of refinement in their teaching to communicate to the human student how to begin a session with a fair assessment of the entire interaction occurring between them and the horse. To the untrained eye, these "examples" of "quick fix" interactions (i.e. trailering loading, disrespectful horses, etc.) with the horse can lead to the lesser experienced person trying to imitate what they see, without understanding the specifics of the how's, why's and what's. DO NOT TRY TO EMULATE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING. This gets more folks into trouble with their horse.

 
Instead, start by asking yourself these questions after watching a Demo video: a)What was the horse's mental starting point in the session? b) Have you unintentionally "assigned" a human emotion to it when watching it, causing you to have a critical response to it?
c) Was the root cause of the horse's behavior ever discussed or just the obvious task?
d) If so, how?
e.) Did they offer specific instruction or generalizations in their teaching? f.) If they used foreign "tools"- flags, whips, ropes, etc., and you were to use these same "tools" with your own horse- what is your current ability to literally handle the tool and your horse at the same time? How does your horse feel about the foreign "tool"? If he is currently concerned about a foreign tool, would it actually help you and your horse in an already stressful scenario for him? 

g.) Then watch the demo video again and assess if the horse is offering thoughtful or obedient responses? 

h.) If you thought you had a similar problem with your own horse, is the information and instruction being offered in the video actually appropriate for your current abilities and interactions with your horse? 

2.) Keep in mind that what most horse owners think is the "problem" with their horse, is usually just a symptom. It is usually the obvious unwanted behavior that the human fixates on, rather than searching for and recognizing the root cause.
Such as Trailer Loading. Most horses that have trailer loading "issues" have no clear understanding of physical pressure (following, yielding, softening to it,) they have never been asked to change their thought or focus, and they are defensive towards the handler in stressful times. 

Most people are taught to "fix" the unwanted behavior, leading to a disconnect of understanding how each teaching opportunity with the horse should be building blocks in how to help a horse think through a scenario and offer reasonable behavior. 

If people started addressing those three concepts first, then the Conversation about trailer loading, which is also the same Conversation when asking a horse to walk through water, cross over tarps, respectfully go through gates, line up for a mounting block, etc. is presented with the handler having the skill-set to support the horse through the experience rather than using stressful pressure "driving" him through it. 

3.) Where most people want to "start" changing the interaction with their horse is too far along into the Conversation. People need to realize your horse is already evaluating you when you're still standing on the other side of the stall door or outside of the pasture. (Yes, even when it appears that they haven't looked at you, and have their rear end towards you.) 

Start putting value to what seems even the most minor moments of interaction with the horse, and you'll start to notice earlier when just your horse's thought is leaving rather than waiting until his entire body is leaving you. 

Connecting in your mind, recognizing the horse's thought and then his behavior will start to take away the "all of sudden" moments, as you'll learn to "see it" before it physically is happening. This improves your support and timing of communication, leading to increased quality in the interactions.

Would you like support with your horse? Click HERE to find out about Remote Horse Coaching