#Equi-Quality Challenge
Letting go of Have Tos
Day 4
Somewhere along the way, much of the equine interaction has
become compartmentalized into good and bad, right or wrong.
It comes from a place of human expectation (irrelevant of if
it is appropriate or not,) which overshadows the interaction with continuous
critical communication.
Approaching the horse as something to "make"
comply, when the person's fixation is stuck on the agenda, they miss things
like:
*Assessing the horse's mental and emotional state during
that session
*Assessing and experimenting with the Quality of their aids
AND the horse's response to them
*Being all consumed mentally with the task takes away from
being present in the moment causing late, unclear, reactive, and critical
communication
The more insistent that they must accomplish X,Y, and Z,
with their horse, creates defensiveness between horse and rider, it triggers an
emotional rollercoaster for the human, and teaches the horse to be defensive,
distrustful, and unwilling to participate.
Your thoughts influence your behavior and communication with
the horse.
Many people want to use the words "equine
partnership" but very rarely do they commit to building one. You hear it
reflected in the comments they make about the horse, what the horse is or isn't
doing, but rarely do you hear them refer to the relationship as "we."
What are some "have to" statements you make or
have made in the past when with or about the Horse?
How could you replace them with open-ended "we
can" thoughts, short and long-term goals?
The changing of words eliminates unnecessary self-imposed
pressure allowing for time, learning, absorption, experimenting, and
refinement.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment!
Sam