Horseback Rider Communication and Equine Behavior- the Box- Help by Alternative Horsemanship

The BOX

First and foremost I developed the concept of "the Box" because I was finding too many people wanting to be polite and kind in the communication with the horse, but were lacking specificity, boundaries, or spatial awareness.

The intention of the Box was to give the human a mental image of where they especially needed their horse to be to communicate clearly without being distracted by the horse leaking, fleeing, drifting, or pushing into them.

Although when we start the Box is stationary and the horse is at a standstill, the concept evolves into forward movement, with the goal being that the horse's brain and body are staying within the imaginary boundaries.

One purpose of the Box is to "create" time for the human to assess the horse's communication through his subtle body language and patterned behaviors.

The BOX helps folks that are unintentionally "waiting" for dramatic or unwanted movement before intervening, so their timing and communication are late and reactive.

It also allows for the human to practice things like learning how to direct the horse's thought or redirecting his focus before asking him to move.

It is an Opportunity for the human to practice checking in with the horse to both visually recognize if there is a physical brace, and to learn how to feel any heaviness on the rope in the horse's body.

It is a safe place to address the horse's defensiveness towards physical and spatial pressure.

Then it allows for the follow-through to help drain any tension or physical resistance whether it be in the horse’s poll, neck, shoulders, legs, or hindquarters.

The human can learn to offer specificity as to where the horse needs to be spatially, is an evaluation opportunity to recognize the horse's thoughts and physical tension, and time for a pause in both the person and equine to mentally process what happened in the communication.

It is the segment or a link between one moment and the next with the horse that creates a non-critical, emotionally neutral, safe place for the horse "to be."

As a herd animal, this makes sense to him as it is the same feedback he would be getting if he was in a group of horses.

The BOX eventually transfers into forward movement and riding.

Follow up regarding a question about the Box concept...

If you're visualizing the Box as the goal being the horse is not moving, then you're missing the point. The goal is to be able to influence the horse's thoughts before his movement.

Most people are continuously chasing after the horse trying to "catch up." I have found using the visualization tool of the Box, allows people to be more proactive in addressing the horse's brain, rather than fixating on trying to contain unwanted movement after the fact.

The Box is not a solution. It is one of the many ingredients that go into creating an opportunity for a two-way conversation with the horse.

But if the horse is mentally constantly 10 steps ahead and physically fleeing from the human, the person has no ability to influence what is about to happen. So even though initially, it is stationary, it is not about the horse obediently not moving his feet. It is an opportunity for him to learn how to slow down and check-in, and receive clear guidance and communication for doing so. He learns that he doesn't need to flee every time he is concerned and instead checks in with the human for support.

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