Minful vs Mind Full Horse Interactions

For people who are new to my teaching and training theories, there are many questions and frequently a great deal of pondering and brooding as folks start to question “the way they’ve always done things” with their horses.

 

 

 

Explaining Horse Behavior - Raising Awareness

Alternative Horsemanship Word of the Day...

Over the years, I have developed my own lingo when I'm teaching students. I thought I would share some of the words that I bring up to make a point to students of what is often normalized or ignored, should not be part of the equine interaction. It can reflect defensiveness, tension, and anticipation in the horse.

 

Word of the Day: Accordion Effect

Shortening of the horse's topline: from the tips of the ears to the base of his neck, to the withers, through the back, along the top of the hindquarters, and down into the horse's hocks. 

 

This creates stiff and resistant movement, with the stride short and choppy, similar to the upright movement of a sewing machine needle. The equine's step has a more up and down action rather than rhythmic, balanced, forward rotation in a relaxed manner. Often, there's a rocking or stepping back to go forward.

 

This reflects a horse that lacks a "forward-thought," with his entire body shortened, similar to that of an accordion.

Refining Ground Work with the Horse

 

Whenever I show up to work with a horse I go through a mental checklist assessing things such as:

Where is the horse’s mind today?

How is the horse looking/feeling in his postures, breathing, and movement?

What was the feeling or energy he offered when greeting me in his pasture or stall?

Does he seem mentally available as I ask to halter, lead, and stop at the gate?

If I ask for him to change his focus, "let go" of a mental distraction, decrease/increase his energy, step on/at a specific spot, or pause while I "fix" something else, is he getting defensive for my opinions or his he willing to try?

Empathy + Horses 🚫= Weakness

 

There is a constant human imposition upon each other and horses... 

 

Unrealistic ego-based demands without having accountability as to how a person's clarity of thoughts and intention, quality of communication, adaptability in energy, accuracy of timing, and everyday mindless interactions, are constantly "teaching" horses unwanted responses that people then criticize and chastise the equine for.

Alternative Horsemanship™ December Livestreams

 

 

Join the Alternative Horsemanship Locals community to watch. Replays available throughout the month.

Horse Maturity- Is the horse too young?

 Gentle Reminder...

Although most equine enthusiasts want to do right by their horse, many people are pushed into starting to ride horses at far too young of an age.

Improving Horse Skills- Horse Tips by Alternative Horsemanship™

 Links of Communication 

 

What does the mounting block, walking out a gate, loading into a horse trailer, crossing over a tarp, or passing through a stream have in common?

None of them are about the actual task. Instead, they can all reflect if there is quality, intentional, specific communication or if one lacks having the tools to present scenarios without overwhelming the horse. Each is an Opportunity to refine first engaging and directing the horse's focus, then asking for adaptable, specific, intentional movement.

Aggressive Horse Behavior or Pain

 

Meet Peggy. (Re-Post shared by follower.)

Peggy is the skeletal remains of a polo pony mare that was euthanized due to dangerous behavior. It was said that she, and I quote, "was trying to kill people". 

Human Emotions and Horse Problems

 Emotions have been "high" here in the USA... and the residual effects will remain. Some folks are feeling very confident, while others are devastated. Either way, many equine enthusiasts "seek refuge" in spending time with their horse as a reprieve from politics, daily life stresses, and the future unknowns...

Horse Help- Fear of the Barn

 Question:
I decided to have stables built and they are now ready for my horses to use. The ex-racer will be fine as he is used to being stables, but the other horse has not been stabled for many years! I am worried he will refuse to go in the stable he gets anxious and skittish when walking through gates as well. How can I make him feel safe and encourage him in this task? I have been leading him to the stable to allow him to look at the space but now I  need to introduce him to actually entering the stable without getting frightened or panicking.

Answer:
I have lost track of how many folks have built their horse a barn, that the animal has refused to go into. Multiple aspects need to be considered and addressed that influence the "how" you help the horse work through concern.

November Livestreams

 

 Equine enthusiasts are often focused on task accomplishment without having a foundational understanding of how the quality and timing of their communication affect the horse's future willingness, adaptability, and try.

Join the Alternative Horsemanship Locals Community to participate in this 2-part horse learning series in the November Livestreams.

Click the link to subscribe. Replays will be available throughout the month.

Horse Considerations... Task Fixation Haltering

 

We've talked about how the "ride" begins when you think about going for the ride, and learning to "leave" reality of daily stresses and demands behind as you show up to be with your horse.

I've mentioned the Conversation starts with how your horse approaches you to be caught, whether in a stall or pasture, which is a great time to assess his mental focus and "tells" you what you might need to address before you even catch him.

Avoidant Horse Behavior

 

Recognizing and Addressing Avoidance

 

If I asked what is the horse in the picture doing? Most people would say, "Standing there."

Their answer would be looking at the horse's physical lack of hoof movement.

Horsemanship and Doing Harm

 

There have been multiple very experienced, "well-trained" horses that have participated in recent clinics (all are obedient, but tension-filled, hypersensitive, hyper-responsive, and avoid humans if given the choice.)

 

An interesting discussion has accompanied working with them to "reawaken," re-educate, and rebuild trust, when addressing old triggers and giving them "new" clarity and quality during human interactions. This then allows for teaching relevant skills, with curiosity replacing the fear, thought replacing anticipation, and soft, intentional movement replacing tension-filled reactions.

The Illusions of the Safe Horse

Many people I meet judge the horse based on how the equine's behavior makes the person feel (safe, scared, confident, anxious, etc.) rather than having any acknowledgement or understanding of the animal's communication to learn how to decipher what the animal is experiencing in real-time and howthat will affect his future behaviors.

This leads to a lot of "he seemed fine" moments followed by excessive, dramatic, reactive, or even dangerous  behaviors.

Illusions of the Safe Horse: Avoidant Horse Behavior