Horse Problems- TOP 5 Unintentional Interfering Human Behaviors

Horse Problems: Interfering Human Behaviors

As folks are learning with their horse or experimenting with a new way of communicating and interacting, they can unintentionally develop intensity in their facial expression, posture, energy, and movement.

 
Without meaning to, as a person is trying to mentally understand and physically coordinate something new with the horse, the human through their own behaviors may also be conveying unintentional signals to their horse.

 
This can add to the confusion between horses and humans when attempting to change old patterns of how the interaction between them has been.

So here's a checklist for My TOP 5 Physical Assessment of yourself any time you work with your horse, but especially if you feel out of your "comfort zone."

Are you breathing?
As folks fixate their focus they tend to also hold their breath. A great way to address this is to talk. Tell your horse about what you are doing. Sing to him. Anything! Yes, I'm not kidding. If you are speaking, you are breathing.
Breath is one of the most underrated aspects of interacting with our horse. It affects our own softness and specificity, our mental clarity, our muscles, and the effectiveness of our aids.

 
What are you looking at?
Literally. As folks try to coordinate learning the mechanics of communication and the finesse of "feeling" what is happening, they tend to fixate their focus. Learn to "scroll" across your horse's body, rather than zooming in on one body part. It will help you learn to associate what your feeling and what the physical behavior looks like, especially when you're feeling resistant or unwanted responses from the horse.

Are you gripping?
Without trying to be "strong" many people tend to grip their hand on the lead rope or the rein. Society always tells us to "hang on" in other aspects of life when we aren't sure. Unfortunately when it comes to our horses, gripping makes us become an anchor for our horse to lean on.
So practice having "piano" fingers. Check in that you can open and close your fourth, middle, and index fingers on the lead rope or rein as if you were playing the piano. This can release tension in your neck, shoulder, rib cage, elbow, bicep, forearm, and hand.

How are your feet?
If you are on the ground, notice if your feet are at a comfortable distance, with your weight distributed evenly or if you are physically in a position where if you had to move quickly you've "blocked" or put yourself in an unsteady position. Notice if you stand with a slight bend in your knee or do you lock them causing rigidity in your leg and roll your weight off balance onto your toes when addressing your horse.
If you are in the saddle remind yourself every once in a while to lift the bottom of your foot slightly off the stirrup. This will show you if you are pushing down and bracing onto the stirrup causing you to be rigid in the saddle and "moving" against the horse's momentum. Especially for folks who expect their horse to hang on the reins, this is a "go-to" unintentional coping mechanism.

Are you smiling?
This is not a joke. When the human smiles their demeanor, energy, breathing, emotion, and intensity are affected. Often as folks ride, I'll say something funny, this isn't to be a comedian, but what happens when a person smiles, is their entire posture can change.

 
There is a feeling of "invitation" from the human towards the horse, which they can immediately pick up on. This can create a lot more support rather than critique even when teaching the horse something new. It also diffuses the potential for the human ego to take over if the horse is struggling during the learning process.

Obviously, there is much more, but this simple checklist can help change the timing, feeling, and effectiveness of your communication with the horse.