The Human Emotional Filter Sabatoging our Equine Partnership

The Human Emotional Filter
Frequently I've had posts shared with me about how "cute" something is in a horse, mule, or donkey's behavior. Unfortunately, when folks filter their interpretation of an animal's behavior with human emotions, it clouds their judgment in learning, recognizing, or believing what the animal is experiencing and communicating.

Adaptability, Humans, and Horses

 Adaptability

People and horses get stuck in mental and physical patterns during daily interactions. There is often a lack of clarity or specific communication offered during many familiar scenarios.

Patience, Horses, and Humans

 Patience, Humans & Horses

I've had many comments over the years about how I seem to never lose patience with the horse during moments that for most people would trigger a rollercoaster of emotions... such as in the scenarios of when a horse:

Resists being caught

Difficult to Trailer Load

Bolts when Led

Won't stand quietly tied

Avoidant towards the farrier

Has excessive movement when tacked or mounted

Is sensitive about fly spray or bathing

Is buddy or "barn" sour

Horse Questions, Beahviors, and Interactions

Horse Interaction, Communication, Training, and Behavior Questions to assess the quality of the equine interaction. This BLM Mustang was Untouchable because of human "training" trauma when I met her.

Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach shares a glimpse into what groundwork with the horse could look like when the horse's mind is engaged, without fear or flee.

Subscribe to the YOUTUBE Channel for weekly videos.
 

Detrimental Patterned Human & Horse Interactions

Changing the pattern in
the small day-to-day interactions can be a great opportunity to safely assess Holes in your Horsemanship, refine, communicate, and build trust.

If there are any "holes," it can be a safe time and place to start changing up the Conversation, and refining influencing thoughts, without the equine getting overwhelmed. All in preparation for future unfamiliar situations.

Improving the Quality of communication builds trust and reinforces your support towards the horse. Establishing this before the day of unexpected events allows for less traumatic or overwhelming scenarios for both humans and horses.

Horse Skills : Position Alternative vs Critical Communication

 Positive Alternatives vs. Critical Commentary 

Most riders focus on what they don't want their horse to do and attempt to "block," drive, or reprimand the horse in what they consider is the moment of unwanted behavior (more often they are responding to symptoms vs root causes.)

If they are reacting to only the big and obvious physical movements of the horse, they are missing all the initial Opportunities to check-in with the horse's mental availability and directability which influences his behaviors. 

Mental Distractions and Anticipations in the Horse Interactions

 Mental Distractions & Anticipations

Many people get triggered by distractions and mentally go far away from where they are with their horse as they get lost in their "stories" of what ifs, history of previous experiences, or anticipation of what might potentially happen. 

Horse Skills

 "Following a Feel"

Those words had no value to me all the years I interacted with the horse unintentionally offering continuous tension- on the lead rope, on the rein, in my leg, etc.  There was never any true release of pressure towards the horse (other than during a jump.)

Horse Help

 Horse Help- Improving your Equine Communication- Eliminating the Brace

Building the Horse's Confidence by Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach

Confidence- just because a horse is going through the motions of "doing things" and is "learning" does not mean that he is gaining confidence and feeling secure from his experiences.

The horse may "quietly" tolerate a situation a few or even many times before he starts to show more obvious signs of stress, insecurity, or fear about what is being presented if he is being pushed to physically comply with the task given.

Need Horse Help? Experiencing Unwanted, Resistant, or Dangerous Horse Behaviors

Need help with your horse? Not understanding the horse's behavior? 

Feeling frustrated and overwhelmed when with your horse? Having problems with your horseback riding? 

Learn how The Remote Horse Coach can help you understand horse behavior, refine your awareness, improve your communication, build your confidence, and increase your horse's trust, try, and reasonableness in offering safe behaviors.

Riding Horses in Real Time- Learning to stay mentally present

Riding in Real Time

During moments of unexpected or unwanted equine behavior, the human often tries to understand why "it" is happening. The reality is while their brain is desperately trying to process and search for understanding of the horse's behavior (often feeling like they are guessing,) they don't recognize how long they are leaving or "abandoning" the horse with their lack of communication while trying to sort their thoughts.

Horsemanship and Horseback Riding: Reviewing the Release

 Reviewing the Release

As with everything, there are many interpretations when it comes to the terminology associated with horses. I try to be clear and precise in the words that I'm offering, but there still can be a gray area in the human student's understanding. This often comes from their level of awareness, background, and unintentional anticipation/expectation of their mind "getting ahead" of wherever they are currently at with their horse.

Helping Horses in less than ideal scenarios

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series

Helping Horses in less than ideal scenarios 

Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach shares thoughts on helping difficult, fearful, reactive, injured, distrustful, inexperienced horses in less than ideal scenarios. 

Weekly videos in the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel 

Are you teaching your horse to Quit?

 Are you teaching your horse to Quit?

Nothing is random when a horse does it. You may not know why the horse did it, but very rarely was it not intentional... 

Eliminating the Hurry to Improve your Horsemanship

In western society, people tend to hurry, and unintentionally carry their chaos into their horsemanship.

Their self-imposed urgencies of task accomplishment often become the focal point, rather than prioritizing the Quality of Communication with the horse. The general unspoken standard of "if the horse's behavior doesn't scare me, we're still okay," leaves many horses in the gray area during a majority of human interaction. If the horse "mostly" complies, the tendency is to add more to what is being asked of him.

Time and Horse Improving Skills

Wonder if you're progressing with your horse? Do you feel pressured to keep up with your horse friends' accomplishments? Feeling stuck in your horse's training? In the latest Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series video Sam discusses *Time, horse skills, and how self-imposed urgencies are detrimental to the equine partnership.

Horsemanship and Horse Training in the real world

Training with Reality

Most folks do not rely on their horse for their livelihood and therefore lack a perspective of what kind of quality partner they could have and would need if their life literally depended on their horse.

The picture I have included was taken from the time I spent on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Besides the modern-day truck and trailer, much of the day-to-day life was just as it was 100 years ago, including staying in cabins with no water or electricity 40 miles from the closes paved road.