Horsemanship: Learning to Observe the Horse

A session of Learning 

 I'm always talking about being an observer of the horse. Often incredible things will unfold before you. 

Yesterday I was teaching a client how to teach her 2-year-old mare how to "follow the feel" of the ring rope. The youngster had recently had dental work and we didn't want to create pain with the halter. We started with the halter and lead rope on normal (as support if needed), and the ring rope around the mare's neck. 

We started by asking the mare one step at a time to "follow the feel" of the ring rope, and then pause. Mentally process. Breathe. As the horse became more clear in how to follow the pressure, we then asked for halting softly, backing from the energy of the ring rope, make left or right turns based on the energy sent down the ring rope.

 

We removed the lead rope, hanging it over her back for her to carry. As the mare continued to soften her responses, we then took the halter off and had her "carry" it behind the lead rope already on her back. 

Up to this point the other three loose horses had paid no attention to us... and then, within less than a minute of putting the halter in the "wrong" place, one by one each horse walked the 50-100' over to us and gingerly inspected the change on the young mare. 

It was so incredible to watch the thoughtfulness and curiosity from the other horses, all the while the young mare had no concerns. I think folks often discard the level of awareness of any type of change horses have. This can influence their mental availability to be directable, reasonable, and curious if the human is respectful of their sensitivity rather than critical due to the person's lack of awareness. 

Please do not randomly go out and tie ropes with your horse. Much preparation needs to be made for it to be a soft, uneventful learning experience for the horse.