A missing key in the Equine Partnership- Mental Directability

 Mental Directability 

For years I was taught about containing, controlling, and critiquing the horse's movement.

Often interactions felt like guessing games, like "Let's see what he does today and if I can handle it."

Riding in lessons or competitions would often feel like it was a challenge of survival and if I could prove myself.

It was a physical challenge to keep the horse together, and it was a mental challenge to take the often severe, critical, and too frequently inappropriate "teaching" approaches that so many professionals used.

Fast forward to many years later, when the most simplistic of concepts, having your steering separate from your gas pedal, finally became clear.

Now it is one of the foundations and what I teach, especially when working with reactive, dangerous, defensive, and fearful horses.

Without the ability to influence the horse's thought first, redirect the thought, or interrupt his fixation, then it will feel like all energy is focused on containing unwanted responses.

The horse's movement is a reflection of his mental and emotional state.

Learning to change his thought, then ask for movement, eliminates reactive, after-the-fact communication.

Very few horses I meet are able to look, think, and then move due to continuous chaotic human communication.

Whether from the ground, in the saddle, on the lead, or loose, we must prioritize the horse's mental availability to hear our input without defensiveness. Without that, we're just being hopeful.
📸@pinecrestfarm