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.

Keeping a Horse Riding/Activities Journal

Whether you are a trail rider, a weekly "lesson" participant, or a die-hard clinic auditor/participant you can get MORE out of your time, effort, and money spent by keeping a riding journal.

Now, hold on and don't sigh yet... I'm not recommending a "write everything that was said or learned" journal. Instead think of it more as something to highlight 3 focus points from your session.

Staying Neutral
Don't focus on the big or obvious things and don't write your opinion such as "I like that my horse..." Write your entries from a neutral perspective rather than an emotional one and jot several focus points that you worked on with your horse. The sooner you can make your entry after your ride the more accurate it will be. "Life" can happen and even just a day or two later you'll forget a lot of what you had noticed during your last session with your horse.

What to write about
You may want to include: what, when and how you asked something of your horse. Then observe the level of his participation mentally, emotionally and physically to your communication. You'll find his physical participation will be a reflection of his mental and emotional availability towards you.

Why keep the journal?
Many times we think we "know" our horses, but all too often the little details escape us. Once you start to make it a point to raise your level of awareness when working with your horse, you'll find that you'll also start to "learn" a lot more about both yourself and your four legged partner.

Examples journal entries:

•How long into a session when working your horse either from the ground or when riding does it take for him to sigh, like his lips or blow his nose?

•Is he "patternized" and require a "routine warm up" or is he mentally available to address whatever you offer whenever you might present it?

•Does he "always" respond in the same manner when you ask a specific task of him?

•Evaluate yourself when you present one specific task for your horse. What did you learn about you? How, when, and why did you do what you did? What are other ways you might be able to communicate the same desired result using different aids?

Keep in mind
Health Wise- if you notice odd physical behavior (coughing, runny nose/eyes, soft stool, etc.) make a note of it. A lot of times it can help prevent or diagnose an on-coming health issue. Keep track of worming, vaccinations, shoeing, etc. and notice if there's a correspondence to a change in your horse's health.

Lameness- if you start to notice your horse becoming sore after a certain type of workout you might be able to "break down" what is causing this and prevent any long term damage.

Learning from YOU
Learn from the past- REVIEW past entries in your journal once month. You'll be amazed at how fast your level of awareness and sensitivity increases once you make a point of noticing the small details. You'll also be amazed at how much you "thought you knew" but then had forgotten as you advanced on. It's always a good idea to go back and review the basics no matter what level rider or horse you have.

Enjoy!

The Missing Link: Understanding and Connecting your Horse's Brain and Actions

Question: What does a horse refusing to move or kicking out when asked to move forward such as at the canter or lope, spooking, herd anxiety or herd bound, trailer loading issues, bolting, “leaning” on the bit, becoming aggressive, fidgeting when tied, a horse that won’t stand quietly to be mounted have in common? The horse’s brain.

Most “issues” people focus on are not the problem itself, but rather a symptom of the underlining issue. How many times have you heard or maybe said yourself, “MY horse does (or doesn’t)…” or maybe, “It was all going fine and then suddenly…” or how about “My horse is really great but he has just one little problem with...”

Frequently FOUR missing links contribute to common issues or “problems” with the horse:

• Lack of Awareness in the person
• Lack of Understanding of the horse’s actions
• Lack of Clear Communication between humans and horses
• Lack of Mental Availability from the horse

Lack of Awareness: So many times the person does not recognize, put value to or address their horse’s behavior until it gets dramatic enough that it no longer can be ignored. The horse does not randomly act out. If a person is reacting after a horse is at its peak stress level, the horse is not being supported by them, and is on its own as to how they handle itself.

Lack of Understanding: Have you ever seen the magician move the three cups around with one cup covering a small ball? The object is for you to try and visually follow the cup shielding the ball. The distraction of the movement tends to confuse the person watching and they usually pick the wrong cup at the end.

The same goes for horses. People tend to focus on the “big” and “dramatic” movement instead of watching or noticing the small ways their horse is constantly communicating with them. Focusing on the unwanted horse behavior rather than reviewing what led up to the unwanted moment. A lack of understanding regarding the root cause makes efforts from the rider attempting to “fix the problem” seem futile.

Lack of Clear Communication: If you spoke English and were attempting to communicate with someone who only spoke Italian, it would not matter how many times you repeated yourself, how loudly you spoke, or how much you changed your tone of voice; they still would not understand you.

This often is the case between human and horse communication. First the rider’s manner of communicating, using their energy or aids may have no meaning to the horse. So the horse appears to “ignore” them because of a lack of understanding, causing frustration in the rider. Using “stronger” aids (harsher bit, longer spurs, whips, etc.) is often suggested, and yet frequently this does not clarify the communication. The seemingly random use of aids, with increasing severity, offering critique can cause the horse to become mentally tuned out as a coping mechanism.

Lack of Mental Availability: If you have ever been asked to do something that you did not want to or did not understand, can you remember the feelings of physical resistance in your body because of the mental stress you were experiencing?

The same goes for horses. When a person is lacking awareness of their horse, this affects their understanding of why and when a horse behaves as it does. Unclear in how to communicate with the horse, the horse has no alternative but to mentally “shut down.”

Without the horse mentally participating “surviving the ride” and being “hopeful” for an uneventful ride becomes the norm in the rider. Neither of which will make either horse or rider come away with a positive and motivated feeling for the next ride.

How many times have you witnessed or experienced a “difficult” or resistant horse and stopped to notice where his brain was?

Have you ever watched a horse resistant to load into a horse trailer? Have you seen him looking in the opposite direction from the trailer? How will he load with quality if he is avoiding thinking or literally looking at the trailer?

Have you ever tried to turn left and had your horse “leak out” to the right? Notice where his eyes are looking? Towards the right, which is why his body is leaking out in that direction. Since the horse’s body follows where his brain is at, he’ll never make quality and balanced left turn if he isn’t thinking about turning left.

Have you ever felt your horse “shift gears” and noticed you were passive, or hopeful, that he’d slow down? Until that horse thinks about slowing down, he will not offer a soft and thoughtful physical response.

Have you ever been riding in a group and gone to leave the group and had your horse have a complete emotional meltdown and physical tantrum? Until your horse can keep his thoughts with you, irrelevant of whether you are near the other group of riders or not, his brain will remain with the group of horses that left, and therefore his body will try to follow his brain to get back to that group.

I’ll close by mentioning another key “tool” missing from most horse/people partnerships' quality. Too many times it’s not until “the day you need to get the job done,” that people suddenly and randomly demands quality from their horse.

Don’t wait until the moment you need to get the job done as the first time you ask for quality from your horse. Every day, every moment you interact with your horse. If you’re not offering it, don’t “hope” for it from your horse.

If there is a lack of confidence, understanding or clarity the horse won’t/can't do his job well.

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Curiosity in the Horse

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Green Horse & Timid Rider: When to head out on the Trail Ride

How do you know when a green horse is ready to ride out on the trail with a timid rider?

This is a common questions for a lot of folks, feeling a bit of "Are we ready yet?" moments. So I'm going to break down riding out like a baking recipe.

First, do you you have all the necessary ingredients?

This means do you have effective "tools" in your communication? Can you influence your horse's thought before his movement? Can you interrupt him fixating on something when he is distracted or unsure? Can you regulate varying degrees of energy within each gait? Does your horse feel quiet at the halt, or does he feel like the halt is containment and as you let him walk out from it, does he rush off? How specific can you be/have you offered in your direction of the path he will move on? Can you offer him to do something other than "move out straight," (circles, turns around the tree, rock, etc. that are thoughtful and soft vs obedient,)? Can you work around different places at your barn/pasture/home facility and have him interested, or do you notice you feel his heart rate increase under the saddle and his breathing become short and raspy or dragon like, and he starts looking for the other horses?

Next, we have to "mix" the ingredients.

At all properties there is usually a safer zone and an imaginary boundary where the horse becomes a bit unsure. Use this opportunity not to "make" the horse tolerate the uncomfortable place, but rather help him think through it. This means giving short, specific, direct communication and breaking down the big "let's ride through this spot tolerating it and feeling uncomfortable," to instead, small, intentional, soft pieces where he learns to think through his worry, rather than flee from it. Eventually you'll be able to link the pieces together and ride "through" with it concerning your horse.

This is NOT repetitiously practicing riding back and forth, back and forth, in a scary area to get your horse "used to" a specific location. That approach does not offer confidence for the unexpected moments and things that can arise on the trail that you may not get to "practice," such as when the moose jumps out.

The horse should become more relaxed for your efforts in helping him through an area that bothers him. If he isn't letting down the tension in his body, concern in his brain, softness in his response to you, then something has been missed and you'll have to go back and revisit the quality of your ingredients.

What about the rider's confidence?

Learn how to take the pressure off of yourself. The timid/unsure rider comes from a place of feeling "surprised" by what the horse does, or feeling ineffective towards their horse.

So, I want you to learn how to practice assessing and having mental conversations (without your horse in hand,) allowing you the time to think through various scenarios. I want you start to think back and learn from the past, to moments when you started to see behaviors in your horse that were concerning. Then think through, how your horse "handled it" and what you your communication was towards your horse. Then assess how early did you recognize those behaviors (which are a reflection of the horse's brain and emotions) and if you were "hopeful" that your horse would just let it go on his own, or the passive rider trait. This is a vicious cycle that occurs with timid/fearful riders. And no, horse's cannot rationalize if the way they are choosing to do something isn't safe, therefor the human needs to interject.

But this is where fear in the rider comes in. If you don't have quality ingredients, such as being able to ask your horse's brain and body to pause, or stop, and check in with you, then you will typically not offer a "boundary" for fear of an over reaction from your horse. And of course not wanting to have a "blow up" during the moment of peak stress. That is why it is so crucial to have a mental availability, or willingness, for your horse to hear you, and offer a "try" in whatever you've asked of him, BEFORE you present a location that could potential cause him to be unsure. The time to "fix" your tools is not at the time of peak stress.

So, since hind sight is 20/20, I want you to think about times your horse was starting to show concern, such as when you START to feel him getting looky, walking a bit faster, not quite as responsive to an aid, and I want you to talk yourself through your options of how you could communicate with him in order to influence a change in his BRAIN first, that will result in a different behavior from him. The earlier you influence a change in thought, the faster he will diffuse his worry or concern, therefor you've "drained" his cup from overfilling.

This conversation is not about critiquing the horse for what he is doing, he is honestly telling your his concern, so if all you do is tell him "no" it does not help him. But if you offer a "not that, but how about this?," re-directing his thought and focus, it is offering a positive alternative, or a "way out" from his mental discomfort.

The other huge factor is most folks shut down, or quit communicating, at the time the horse needs them the most. Learn what your own triggers are when you go passive in the saddle, and come up with ideas for yourself to "try out" that can keep you mentally present and offering conversation with your horse. The more you learn to stay present in the moment with your horse, the more supported he will feel, and he will gain confidence, offering softer and more willing responses, which in turn builds your own confidence.

How does this all tie together for riding out?

Once you have the ingredients, have done your own mental preparations, practiced using quality communication to work through your horse's bother, or you've now mixed the ingredients, you are ready to "bake."

Just as with cooking, even if you have the correct amount of everything mixed together, if you leave the batter in the oven too long, it gets burnt or overdone.

For green horses and insecure riders, this is such a frequent occurrence. They have this idea that "trail riding" needs to be a certain distance, or amount of time, and they tend to "over do" or burn out mentally, because it was initially too long mentally for the horse and rider.

So the initial trail ride(s), might be to the mailbox at the end of the driveway and back. Or a hack around half the property. The horse does not have the ability to decipher between what is a "real" trail ride and that which is not. That comes from human's judgement and the horse world's standard. But who cares about all that? Because really what is the goal? To expand you and your horse's confidence and ability to ride out into the real world, and be better mentally and emotionally for the experience.

So think of it like the competition arena. You don't show up to the show without practicing, right? So don't head out on the three hour ride without practicing in incremental, quality shorter rides.

So how do you know when you've baked your ingredients and you get the desired end result? Your horse will tell you. When whatever conversation you present feels soft and willing, when he gets distracted but can let it go when you ask him to re-focus without him getting defensive, when you can communicate without feeling mentally and physically exhausted after 15 minutes (part of which comes from folks not remembering to breath as they are attempting to help their horse.) And really, you'll feel the fear or unsureness in the horse diminish and his curiosity (different from fixation) perk up. He's telling you, with your support, he's ready to take on the world and ride out.


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Alternative Perspective on Positive Reinforcement with Horses

Question: How do I feel about positive reinforcement with horses?

First if you ask a group of people what positive reinforcement means to them, they will give you answers varying from clicker training to offering treats as a reward, etc. so let me share my alternative perspective on this.

I've recently had several clients on the hunt for prospective young horses, which has brought up many conversations about dynamics in horse behavior and herd balance.

Folks nowadays rarely get to see "horses being horses," and unfortunately many horses have limited social experiences as youngsters, which can greatly affect how they mature, their confidence and their curiosity in the world around them.

If you have the opportunity to watch horses together, you'll start to realize how much CONSTANT support they get from other herd members. It isn't just about the lead mare running the herd, but each horse has something to contribute, and there is a continual conversation, or support, that is occurring among herd members.

Now let's think of the human/horse dynamic and conversation between the two of them. People frequently assume the horse will "be okay" in a human's world. And though the horse has the amazing skill to adapt and participate in things completely foreign and unnatural to them, there needs to be a foundation of clear and specific conversations built upon one another, so that the horse can succeed in the human's world.

So how do we have a conversation with the horse? The most natural way is through the concept of pressure and release. Unfortunately in human terms, we think of pressure as a negative thing as in, "work pressures, family pressures, etc." But to horses, pressure makes sense. It is how they communicate with one another, whether through spatial or physical pressure.

So the challenge is first for the human to recognize what pressure even is to the horse. You can create pressure from 100' away or from how you are touching your horse. The challenge is for you to be able to read the horse's feedback as you present pressure, and learn to recognize when he is showing defensiveness, concern, fear, feeling relaxed, or curious about it.

That feedback tells you what things are creating bother in the horse and what you need to address so the horse is not feeling concerned through your pressures and attempt at communicating.

Pressure should and can be used to guide, to support and help the horse, if he is not defensive towards it. It is so crucial that your "tools" for communicating do not make the horse weary.

That is why when you walk in to the stall and go to halter and your horse looks away from you, or you attempt to lead and the horse drags on the rope, or you go to mount and the horse moves away, matters. It is all feedback from the horse telling you that he is uncomfortable with the pressure. If that level of pressure causes concern in the horse, how does he feel about all the pressures that will follow as you to attempt to communicate?

So, for every horse various types of "pressure" can feel different, so the "release" is going to be different. To me, the release of pressure, whether spatial or physical, is a thank you, or positive reinforcement.

Most folks, rarely offer a release, as they don't realize how much pressure they are continually imposing on the horse.

In the beginning of the horse's learning with the human, things like the "halt," typically thought of as a command, though I perceive it as a release, or a positive reinforcement, if it allows the horse to mentally, physically and emotionally relax.

From the halt starting as the initial positive reinforcement, as a horse's education evolves, his experiences will expand in what makes him feel emotionally quiet. Things like walking out- soft and thoughtful, standing in the stream, playing "games" and searching out the soccer ball, etc. can all start to feel like the release, or positive reinforcement.

There is no one "behavior" that should feel like the positive reinforcement from the human towards the horse. The world around us is continually changing and the horse needs to feel confidence in being adaptable and feel positive reinforcement from the rider for his willing and soft thoughtful participation, rather than offering patternized, conditioned responses.

The release can come in any shape or form, and if it offers a positive feeling in the horse, I see it as positive reinforcement. So for me the more thoughtful, present, and participative the horse is to have a conversation, the better the horse feels, the more willing he is to participate, the more his time with me feels like a "positive reinforcement," or support, similar to what he would receive from being in the herd.

Becoming the Horse Person we Imagine

"You become what you want to be, by consistently being what you want to become each day." Richard G Scott

I think the above quote is so true when it comes to our own personal journey of Horsemanship.

Lately I've been working on putting together projects and have been including interviews from students past and present.

None of the students heard each other's answers to three simple questions about their learning experiences with me. Yet there was a consistency in how they evolved in their own personal growth from our sessions working together.

Most commented on realizing that at some point, they had reached a mental shift in their approach and Horsemanship from their initial, "I want," to the supportive, "What my horse needs..." This created such an availability in themselves, that they then could see and hear their horse without judgement, in turn leading to emotionally satisfying experiences with their equine partners.

It is VERY hard in today's extremely critical society, including the equine world, to be able to have the courage to create your own journey for you and your horse.

What may work for one person and their horse, may not work for you.

What may work with one of your horse's may not work with another horse of yours.

What may work with your horse on one day, may not work the next.

Someone else may have more talent, skill or riding history, but it is irrelevant to your own journey.

Whether you have the "fanciest" horse in the barn, or someone's unwanted rescue, the future is unknown, and there are no guarantees.

Some horses, just as with people, can come into your life for a short time, or their entire life time, and we never know what will come in the potential joys and heartbreaking twists and turns that we may experience with them.

But if every moment we spend with them, we prioritize that we are mentally present, emotionally available and physically quiet, we can learn to appreciate the littlest tries, the quality moments and the connection where it seems we have become one for a precious time.

I think we all can agree the euphoria one feels after a particularly "connected moment" with our horse can last for hours or days... and it makes all of the other effort and energy worth it!

So the next time you head out to your horse, be sure to check in with yourself for a moment, and offer the best possible version of you for your horse!

Illusions of the Safe Horse: Avoidance Horse Behavior

Avoidance

This describes a horse who is mentality unavailable to hear the human; frequently referred to as one that is "shut down, dull, dead sided, lazy, heavy or leaning on the bit, bombproof, kid proof, husband proof, etc."

The misnomers come from a person's misinterpretation of the outwardly slow and "quiet" behavior, thinking this is a reflection of the horse being okay with life.

The overly lethargic movement, postures and responses can actually be a build of emotions brewing inside that have been contained; until the day the human unintentionally presents something unexpected, and then the horse "suddenly" gets dramatic in letting out those pent up emotions and stress.

The contained horse will offer "quiet responses" to evade confrontation and to avoid conflict or reprimand. These are often displayed physically as:

Tucking the chin towards the chest to create slack in the rein, or evade the pressure of the lead rope, rein, etc. bit, but still moving in rigid, short steps.

Looking in the opposite direction from where something is bothering the horse or quietly fixating elsewhere to mentally avoid pressure (induced by the human's presence, activity, or anticipation of what might be asked of him,) while physically standing still.

The horse getting "stuck" on an idea; he offers only one behavior or response towards the human, becoming more and more bothered as he is asked to offer a different response.

The horse that you feel like you have to keep "starting over" with after you have previously presented something.

The horse that "always does ___________________..." in the same place, location on the ride, time in the ride, etc.

The horse whose response is to "do less" the more you attempt to communicate.

The horse who is overly "helpful," such as autopilot lining up to the mounting block, diving into the halter, automatically swinging his hind end around after going through a gate, over-enthusiastically loading into the trailer, etc. (These behaviors aren't a negative, unless you cannot interrupt, pause or change what the horse is doing while in the middle of the movement. There is a difference between a horse "asking you" and "telling you.")

The horse that "goes through the motions" without being mentally present; great example is the lesson horse that learns the pattern, the dude horse that knows which tree you turn at to head towards home at, etc.

I posted this picture of a horse avoiding as a visual example.

Avoidance

If I asked what is the horse doing? Most people would say, "Standing in the tire cutout and with the pressure of the blanket on the ground underneath him."

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

But what if we look at the emptiness in his eyes, the tightness of his ears, the locked up posture of his knees, the bulge in his rib cage... He is obediently standing there, but nothing about this moment has him feeling good.

Now, how would the information from those assessments affect what you present to him next?

Your evaluation would "tell" you that instead of saying "yeah he accomplished the task, let's move one," that instead you say, "Wait a minute. I need to help him take an interest in what we're doing, rather than tolerating it. How can I mentally engage his brain to focus on what we are doing, rather than physically standing in the tire, all the while mentally avoiding it."

This change in our interpretation of what we actually look at and see in the horse, can improve everything in how we approach our horsemanship.