Horse Transitions- Mental and Physical by Alternative Horsemanship

Horse Transitions - Mental and Physical 

Most horses I meet fall into two categories:

*Fearful or defensive (tight, rigid movement) to go forward

*Hypersensitive and overreacting with fast, fleeing movement 

Over various sessions here are some of what I look to address in re-educating the horse.

When I work with the untacked horse first, I am watching for the disconnect in his brain and body, defensiveness towards human pressure, imbalance in his movement, and dramatic upward or downward transitions. This tells me what I need to address before adding tack.

I'll work the horse on a lead increasing and decreasing my spatial distance, being able to direct his focus and energy. Watching for triggers if I move in a certain manner or towards various body parts. All the while the lead rope acts as my communication support to help him think and slowly in segments work through any troubling areas.

Later I work on the quality of tacking up while the horse is not tied. I'm looking for mental triggers the experience of saddling may be creating that lead to fussy, chaotic behavior. My goal is to help the horse learn to let go of fears, tension, etc. During the tacking up as it directly influences his movement if he retains defensiveness.

At some point, I'd add in working with the horse loose while tacked to notice if there is a change in his mental and physical state. I'd address those concerns by breaking things down into smaller segments of Conversation with the horse.

By the time I'm riding it often is like colt-starting, irrelevant of the age of the horse. Being able to direct the horse's thoughts, allows him to understand what will be asked and he can offer to move his body accordingly. Then I add movement with soft changes in the energy... such as transitions that began with mimicking the slightest change in my seat.

So many people randomly ask things in an unclear, chaotic manner often teaching the horse to respond in unwanted manners because the human wasn't clear, specific, or addressing the horse's feedback.

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