Day 4 #Equi-Quality Challenge with Alternative Horsemanship™

 #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.