Horse Learning- Making Changes

 Too many people tend to hurry in life and often the same applies to their horsemanship.

The “task” often becomes the focal point, rather than the quality of communication. If the horse mostly “goes along” with what is asked, people tend to accept the behavior.

 But without effective “tools” (I don’t mean gadgets, rather how a person uses pressure to communicate) they often wind up at the “mercy” of the horse or “surviving” the ride. 

This creates a cycle of worry, fear, and insecurity in both humans and horses.

Consider the following questions:

🐴If you walk into the pasture/stall does your horse automatically move away from you (fleeing from your spatial pressure)? 

🐴Does he approach nicely but “hover” in your personal space (delegating the pecking order of where you’re at in his herd)? 

🐴If you raise your hands to halter him does he move his head up, away, or “dive” into the halter (defensive, anticipative, disrespectful)? 

🐴When leading him is he lethargic and slow in response, does he try to “hide” behind you as you walk, does it feel like he is “leading” you and rushing, or does he constantly walk with his head cranked over his shoulder with his body bumping into you?

🐴If you walk past grass or a buddy horse does he try to drag you over to where he wants to go? 

🐴If you ask him to stop moving using the lead rope lightly does he respond slowly, is over-reactive, push or lean on it, or altogether completely ignore you? 

🐴If you walk faster or slower, does he follow the feel of the energy of the rope drawing him forward and mimic your energy with his, or does he only offer one speed irrelevant to what you’re asking?

🐴If he is tied does he paw, wiggle, chew or lean on the lead rope, pull back against it, or move away from you as you groom and tack him? 

🐴When you mount, does he stand still, walk off before you’re ready, or fidget if asked to stand longer than he wanted?

If you’ve answered yes to any of the above questions, there is an Opportunity (even in “accomplished” or “trained” horses) to refine their interpretation of pressure and the Quality of your communication.

 People misunderstand or tend to have a lack of consideration of the seemingly small moments of resistance and defensive equine behavior, which often are not acknowledged as "a big deal"... until the day the horse "all of a sudden" does something "new." Then the horse's resistant or defensive behavior is "suddenly" considered a problem, rather than the human acknowledging the source of it was there the entire time. Without seeking out and addressing the contributors, one unwanted form of behavior will morph into another with escalation in the horse's emotions and physical state.