Live Q & A - Fifteen for Friday

In preparation of TGIF I'll be doing a #FIFTEENforFRIDAY

Guess what? I'm going to be answering Q & A on a LIVE FB video feed tomorrow-Friday- for fifteen minutes!!!

Be sure to join the facebook.com/groups/AltHorsemanship group for this fantastic learning opportunity!

You can submit you questions ahead of time or tune in at 5pm PST for a fifteen minute Q & A.

Don't worry if you are unable to attend, the video will be made available.

See you there!

Horsemanship

Taking a moment...

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.

Would like to have a private one-on-one consultation with Sam? Now you can with her REMOTE COACHING option!

Curiosity in the Horse

facebook.com/groups/AltHorsemanship

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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