I was talking with an older farrier and a vet over the last
several days and a common theme of owners not wanting to admit what has been
going on with their horses came up in our discussions. Whether it is an obvious physical issue or an
emotional one, if you are willing to listen, the horse will often tell you his
story.
The question I pose to most clients, and yes most wait until
it has “gone wrong” before they seek out someone like me to help, is “what is
your underlining goal with having/riding horses?” The initial response is usually a self-centered
based thought, i.e. I want to relax and trail ride, I want to compete,
etc. And often it is not until owners
find themselves with a horse that is not able to “tolerate” what humans are
asking/presenting to him, that they realize, the relationship between human and
horse cannot be a one way interaction and reach a rewarding and successful
partnership.
So what is considered “successful”? Depends on who you
ask. For some it is the ribbon won in
the competition for others it can be as simple as “surviving the ride.” (You
may laugh at the later, but I cannot tell you how many people are riding in
constant fear due to the “survival” approach.)
Successful to me means a mentally, emotionally and
physically happy/comfortable horse. What
is “done” with the horse (trail riding, working cattle, competing) I believe
should be an after affect, rather than the sole focus.
If you took a vehicle that had mechanical problems, or even
something as simple as a flat tire, and used it to “perform” (drive, haul a
trailer, etc.) you may be able to cover some ground or get to some
destination. But without addressing the
problems the vehicle has, you’d always carry some worry, stress and concern
about whether you’d make it without breaking down, having an accident, etc.
And yet so often with our horses, we get easily distracted
by our goals and wants, that our vision becomes clouded as to “what is really
going on” with the horse. Sometimes we “see”
but don’t want or know how to deal with what our horse is experiencing.
I believe it all comes down to time. I know in past blogs I’ve mentioned time and
not rushing interaction with your horse, but I cannot stress enough the mental “urgency”
we as humans tend to carry with us when we don’t even realize it. Why are we really “rushing” and not
addressing what the horse is doing? Is
whatever we had planned so important that we cannot take an extra few minutes
to address the horse, or perhaps even “change” what we’d planned on doing with
our horse that day? For most riders,
there are lots of “old wives tales” that seemed to have misdirected and
influenced their intentions.
Often I believe the biggest “gift” I can give to students
and their horses is allowing them the opportunity to slow down. Literally explaining that they don’t “have”
to do anything, letting them experiment with searching for how to help create a
change in their horse’s mental and emotionally state. With the removed self-inflicted mental “urgency”
so many people get so much more “done” with their horse.
The irony is often in the rushing chaos, little is
accomplished, and as soon as a student’s mental chaos is slowed down, they
immediately see changes in their horse, and are usually shocked at how quickly
they can influence a change. But most
folks don’t know how or even recognize to pursue helping their horse until the
horse reaches that point of change for the better. Often they accidentally leave the horse in an
uncomfortable state, only setting up the horse to be more
defensive/worried/anticipative during their next encounter.
So whether anyone else around you is doing it or not, even
if you’ve owned your horse for years, please recognize any excessive movement,
chaos, busy-ness, distraction, anticipation, or other behaviors are not an
accident. The horse is being honest in
what he is showing, so please be proactive and see if you can mentally and
physically slow down to start to address your horse, in the end what you’ll “accomplish”
will be rewarding to BOTH you and your horse’s well-being!
Sam
