Reading Horse Behavior to decrease dangerous moments

I'm very excited about the seven-day upcoming online course "Reading the Horse" ( https://bit.ly/horsecourseonline ). One of the great opportunities for learning from these videos of seven different horses will offer people to learn to SEE and put value to all of the numerous and continuous ways they communicate. I know that may sound funny, but often the more time folks spend around the horse the more "routine" many of the interactions can become.

This builds unintentional mindlessness in the human and the horse or "autopilot" responses between the two. If this is the case, the human may miss when potential concerns begin to build in the animal until "all of a sudden..." he does something and it totally surprises the human.

In other cases, the person may see what the horse is physically doing, but not put value to the behavior or recognize the connection in what is currently happening to where it may lead in future actions of the horse.

Often folks are also hopeful. People will "wait" until the horse is committed to an unwanted response and then attempt to intervene at his peak concern. What the human may not have realized is that their initial pause or delay in communication with the horse has taught him that he is "on his own" in a stressful situation. The problem is this consistently, (often unintentional) unsupportive response from the person, teaches the horse that when concerning moments arise, he needs to fend for himself. As he does so, it can create an overwhelming feeling in the handler or rider.

So remember even the seemingly most "mundane" interactions are teaching and conversation opportunities between humans and horses. If folks prioritized quality interaction with their horse during these times, they would be diffusing and diminishing potentially dramatic and dangerous ones in the future, without even realizing it.

Keep in mind horses do not one day randomly become "trained" or reasonable. Even with a horse that has had years of training, someone can "undo" the training depending on how they interact.

Every moment the horse spends time with a human is a continuous learning opportunity. The person can teach the horse either desired or undesirable responses depending on their approach.

What has the quality of your conversations with the horse been lately?

Encouraging Curiosity in the Horse as the Training Continues

Curiosity in the Horse

I had a horse... one of those "I didn't mean to acquire him" types... one of those the hoarding breeder got out of control and ran out of money with a bunch of malnourished pregnant mares... one of those orphaned colts as a consequence. I tried to say no... but Pico wound up with me. He was Curious. Not the most confident nor athletic with his clubbed foot, but he sure did keep everyone entertained. 

Adjusting the Human Perspective: Pain in Horses

A horse that is curious about training...

Many horses and humans live with pain to varying degrees on a daily basis. If you've even been injured or having ongoing pain, think about the all-consuming feeling and emotional state the pain triggered in you.

• How functional were/are you?
• Were/are you in a frame of mind to learn something new?
• How was/is your patience levels?
• How long could/can you focus?
• Could you/can you physically stay still, get comfortable, or relaxed?

Preparing your horse for "life"- including not killing the farrier

As a trainer who over the years has gained a reputation unintentionally for working with horses often after the "mainstream" ways of training have not worked, (think big, dramatic and dangerous horses,) I receive many requests for help after all else has "failed." Many unwanted behaviors arise during the handling of horses in everyday scenarios. Two big challenges for many people is trailer loading and having their horse stand well for the farrier.

Cause vs the Symptom: Horses that quit or abruptly stop moving forward

With current world events, I've been doing a lot of Remote Horse Coaching. For folks that have access to their horses, one of the "spring" themes seems to be horses that were going "fine" and then "randomly" or suddenly started stopping, where they abruptly quit moving forward, either when led or ridden.

Using a round pen- an Alternative Horsemanship perspective

I find 95% of folks misuse a round pen, whether under the guise of "exercising" or teaching conditioned responses, an example being the lesser of two evils is to turn, face the human, and be caught rather than made to run; which is a bullying tactic. The problem with teaching conditioned responses and patterns is the day you change the routine, the horse does not know how to react because his responses have been obedient versus thoughtful. Sometimes, this creates him throwing a tantrum or seemingly becoming a fire breathing dragon instead of the horse you're used to. 

Communicating with the Horse

Do you ever think of the interaction with your horse as a Conversation?

Dangerous Horse Behavior: Food Aggression

Question: My 3-year-old gelding has developed a habit of dipping his neck down, then shaking his head at me at feeding time. He didn't do this over summer, of the two youngsters he was the most respectful. I assume his attitude says he is more important than I am, and wonder how to correct him. He is second to the mare in herd status, she is just 4 but very dominant over him, but accepts me as the lead mare. Why has my lovely Chinook taken such a turn? Had him since he was a baby, and the only difference is, its Alaska and its winter so I don't spend as much time with them.

Learning to Believe the Horse's Communication

A client's mule from a few years ago...

30+ years ago when I started out with horses I never would have thought my journey would evolve as it has... The variety of disciplines and animals I've worked with was not exactly intentional, but rather part of my evolving journey. The more exposure I had to unfamiliar experiences, the more I wanted to learn.

Whether it was 3 Day Eventing, jumpers, Dressage, racehorses, driving, ranch roping, moving cattle, cutting, reined cow horse, packing in the mountains, colt starting, Horsemanship, or rehabilitating dangerous horses, each area had something to add to my foundation of understanding. Over the years my experiences ranged in working with a variety of breeds such as Thoroughbreds, ponies, Warmbloods, Arabians, Heavy and Light Drafts, Chilean Criollos, east Asian horses, gaited horses, Mustangs, Mules, and many others.

Practice Listening to the Horse

We could gain a lot more out of our relationships if we practiced listening and hearing more, especially when comes to interacting with the horse.

Trail Riding with your Horse: All the right Ingredients

One of the greatest challenges I have is getting folks to switch from reactive to proactive behavior with their horse. Although for a majority of people riding is supposed to be a fun outlet or escape from other aspects of their life, it isn't always the romanticized experience that initially inspires most folks to start riding in the first place. But it can quickly become an emotionally frustrating experience when the human has intentions that may not yet be appropriate for their own abilities or that of their horse. 

The Follow Through with the Horse

I was recently asked a great follow up question and thought I'd share my response here. Paraphrasing here, I was asked what happens if you try to be aware and support your horse 99% of the time, but "miss" the 1 % when a horse's behavior catches you off guard. Is it just horses being horses or? So I thought I'd share my answer in today's post.

Preparing the Horse for Realistic Unknowns

If you have the opportunity to spend time with your horse, there are plenty of ways to learn to notice any unintentionally conditioned behaviors in them.

Why Horsemanship matters in Everyday Scenarios

Why "it" matters...
Yesterday in preparation for embracing truly remote isolation for the next few months, I had to pick up three different horses (all currently at private, remote desert locations) and bring them to a fourth private farm to meet the vet.

I haven't taught in person in the last month, and these horses will be making the 1,400-mile journey north through country most folks in the USA have never even been to. Do you know what it is like to drive for 300 miles on one road and only pass a few other vehicles? My rig is self-sustained, including with enough fuel so that we never have to engage with another human to make the entire trip! We will summer in isolation in the heart of the rocky mountains.

Horse Training Approach: What do you do with horses?

People often ask "what kind of horse training do you do?" I say, "I work with people and horses."

In the traditional world of horses, not categorizing yourself meant that you didn't really know a whole lot about anything. Nowadays I find it quite ironic how many students I have that many of my clients come from "specialized" trainers but are having major issues on fundamental basics with their horses and the specialized trainers are unable to help them through the situations other than forcing the horses into submission through fearful and aggressive tactics.

Mindfulness in our Horsemanship

As with most things, there is a learning curve in the progression and improvement of Horsemanship. It involves recognizing, understanding and then grasping concepts and building the skillset not only in the mechanics of the "hands-on" communication but also learning how to achieve quality interaction with the horse. 

Desensitizing the Horse vs Supporting the Horse

I don't try to desensitize or de-spook a horse. Instead the more the horse is mentally available and engaged in a Conversation with the human, the less overwhelming the world can be.

Addressing the horse's thought before his physical behavior...

Rather than the handler or rider critiquing the horse's unwanted behavior, the person needs to "dig deeper" and address the root cause of it.

Getting fixated on stopping the obvious physical actions may temporarily curb the horse's initial actions, but it will not address the root cause of them.

If the behavior is only contained or criticized, the original unsought movement will evolve into a new undesirable one.

The horse's actions are a reflection of his mental and emotional state. If we prioritize having quality conversations with the horse helping him to learn to think through what we are presenting, he can then offer a soft, reasonable, physical "try" in his response to our requests.