The Effective of your Horse Communication

 I find that sometimes making comparisons outside of the “horse world” helps folks better see/believe when they are with their equine.

Have you ever seen a small child- maybe two or three years old, walking on the edge of something- a pool, hill, sidewalk near a road... doesn’t really matter “where,” the point is your ability to recognize (and believe) the potential of an unwanted outcome- if the child missteps, falls, etc.

My question is, where is the “line,” the imaginary boundary, as you observe the current behavior and can imagine the negative result in a cascading domino effect of events, that you step in and intervene, offer guidance, or redirect the child, to prevent a possibly undesired/bad/scary/dangerous outcome?

One person could argue, “They (the child) needs to learn the hard way...” i.e., the child has a negative experience, and if they survive it, they won’t do the same behavior again.

A second person could argue, scolding the child with a “Don’t do that, get away from there,” trying to block or prevent an unwanted scenario from unfolding is enough.

A third person could offer a warning and then redirect the child’s focus to doing something else that they could safely do, instead of continuing their current behavior/path.

With the three different intervention styles, people could argue the pros and cons of each approach in “teaching” the child.

For me, the effectiveness of the intervention is an outcome based on previous interactions. The prior interchanges those same three people had with the child directly affect their ability to interrupt the behavior. What “life skills” has the child started to learn that will make the adult’s comments relevant or not? What is the frequency and timing of the adult and child interaction (i.e., only during stressful times or communicating criticism)? How often previously has the adult offered similar communication, and what was the child’s response?

I’m the first one to remind people not to anthropomorphize horse behavior, BUT the above three adult responses are a common factor in human communication- whether with a child or horse. Each of the aforementioned is typical of what I see in the horse world.

So the consideration I leave you with is this:
Is the manner in which you are educating the horse teaching foundational pieces in his skill development, leading to a mental availability toward your communication, and creating a willingness to participate without defensiveness?

If not, when you see moments, whether subtle or obvious, of the horse’s behavior potentially leading to an undesired outcome, you have no ability to influence what and how he responds. This leaves him and you in a potentially dangerous scenario while simultaneously teaching him to “protect” himself or block/avoid your communication. This mental trigger leads to increased anticipation, with him taking over more frequently, and increasingly “bad” choices as his level of  defensiveness towards your communication triggers his dysfunction to multiply.