Over the past few years Mother Nature has offered more than her share of natural disasters challenging both humans and animals in extreme situations ranging from devastating fires, floods, earthquakes, heavy snows, long winter freezes, to "long term" power outages/shortages. I was inspired to write about this topic after a wet wintery day.
I'm sure you've all experienced a day like today no matter where you live. For those of you living where I spend my winters (SW AZ,) the following weather report is rare and usually only happens once (yes, ONCE) a year because the norm precipitation is less than several inches for the ENTIRE year... According to the Weather Underground website it was reported today as follows:
"Very windy. Showers with a chance of thunderstorms. Rain will be heavy at times. Southwest wind 30 to 40 mph in the evening...becoming 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Gusts to 55 mph in the evening...becoming 30 mph after midnight. Chance of measurable rain 90 percent. High Wind Warning in effect until midnight MST tonight... Flash Flood Watch in effect through Friday afternoon... Tornado Watch 8 in effect until 10 PM MST this evening... "
I'm not going to give you the common "How prepared are you..." speech but rather something else. I'm also not going to focus on things such as riding on a windy day, or desensitizing a horse towards those "life threatening plastic bags" that whip past on windy days. I'm also not going to talk about evacuation preparedness for your four legged friends.
The point of this entry is to encourage you to be prepared by helping your horse ahead of time. As someone once told me "Expect the unexpected." You never know what you might face with your horse, but why "wait and see" how the both of you will handle an unforeseen event?
What I am going to address is how to get from POINT A (where your horse currently is) to POINT C (where he needs to end up) in an emergency situation while experiencing the least amount of stress possible (for BOTH of you.)
You may be asking why I called my second point "C." This is because there is also a POINT B that too often is forgotten about or not addressed with enough priority because typically during times of stress, panic, worry, fear, chaos, bad weather, and traumatic situations all too often people's and horse's brains check out. This of course is the WORST possible time for this to happen.
Point B that I've mentioned could be various situations. It might be the actual loading into a horse trailer to evacuate a property. Or it may be needing your horse to cross (while you lead him) the ditch/stream/river to get to higher or safer ground. It could be needing to have your horse ponied, roped, hobbled, tied or herded somewhere for his own safety. Or how about when you get that flat on your horse trailer or have engine problems and need to unload your horse on the side of a busy road. It could also be having SOMEONE ELSE having to handle your horse (they may not interact with him the way "mom" does) but he will still need to be participative.
You'll find if you've read any of my past blogs or if you've visited my website one of my main focuses is working on creating a horse's mental availability. So how does a horse's mental availability have anything to do with bad weather or an emergency situation?
I have found a horse's physical actions are a reflection of his mental and emotional status. If he is feeling confident and relaxed on the inside, he'll be physically cooperative and happily participative on the outside. I wrote a recent post about not being "hopeful." You might take a moment to review it. Being challenged by a stressful situation and still having to "get the job done" with your horse is NOT THE TIME to start neither “training him” nor when you want to be "hopeful" in how you interact with him.
The point of this blog is to stimulate YOUR thinking about "POINT B." I'm not going to explain literally "how to" prepare for point B. There is no way we can ever expose our horse to ALL the situations he might experience in life. Instead if AHEAD of time (who knows when the unexpected event will occur) you have built a trusting partnership based on clear communication with your horse he will be mentally prepared and available under any circumstance presented to be helpful and REASONABLE. This will eliminate unnecessary stress for the both of you.
Your goal should be to encourage our horse to "TRY" to think about what it is that you are asking of him (even if he's never experienced the scenario before.) On the calm quiet days you will need to take the time and put in the effort to build a solid foundation with our horse by teaching him to mentally address and focus on whatever you may present.
By preparing ahead of time and without the stress of a "crazy" situation you will have established the tools in communication necessary to SUPPORT (not physically manhandle or force) your horse to explore his options and then participate in a reasonable manner during a stressful situation. Your end goal is for him to be mentally available to search for the "right" answer no matter the situation, circumstance or stress level without him having a complete mental break down.
Keep Warm! Sam
Alternative Horsemanship™ with Samantha Harvey the Remote Horse Coach shares horse training and horseback rider coaching, philosophies, and approaches she has developed over three decades. Offering horsemanship clinics worldwide, distance horse coaching instruction, equine consultations, equine re-education and rehabilitation, colt starting, and lessons. Follow her #alternativehorsemanship on all social media platforms.
Today's Chuckle...Cliches of the Equine World
Some of you may have seen this before and others may not have... I have EXPERIENCED most of the following scenarios, whether it was a competitor, trainer or student... I hope you can chuckle at the cliches used to describe the riders of each discipline. When people ask me "What TYPE of training do you do?" or "What's your method?" I find many are frusterated because they can't easily catagorize what I offer into one grouping. It's the same for my clinics; in one clinic we may have as participants an unstarted horse, a Dressage schoolmaster, a trail horse, a green broke horse and a "bomb proof" one. People are astonished that they can all LEARN from one another no matter their experience, background, discipline, etc. The following has been reprinted with the persmission of the it's original author. Enjoy! Sam
THE BACKYARD RIDER:
Usually found wearing shorts and a sports bra in the summer; flannel nightgown, muck boots, and down jacket in the winter. Drives a Ford 150 filled with saddle blankets and dog hair. Most have deformed toes from being stepped on while wearing flip-flops. Has a two-horse bumper-pull trailer, but uses it for hay storage, as her horse hasn't been off the farm in 6 years. Can install an electric fence, set a gate, and roll a round bale, solo. Rode well and often when she used to board her horse, 5 years ago. Took horse home to "save money" and has spent about 50 grand on acreage, barn, fence, tractor, etc. Has two topics of conversation - 1) How it's too hot/cold/wet/ dry to ride. And 2) how she may ride after she fixes the fence/digs drainage ditches/stacks 4 tons of hay.
THE NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP DEVOTEE:
Looks like a throwback from a Texas ranch, despite the fact that he lives in the suburbs of New Jersey. Rope coiled loosely in hand in case he needs to herd any of those kids on roller-blades away from his F-350 dually in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Cowboy hat strategically placed, and just dirty enough to look cool. Levi's are well worn. "Lightning" is, of course, this natural horsemanship guy's horse. Rescued from a bad home where he was never imprinted or broke in the natural horsemanship way, he specialized in running down his owners at feeding time, knocking children off his back on low-hanging branches, and baring his teeth. The hospitalization tally for his previous handlers was 12, until he was sent to Round Pen Randy; after ten minutes in said pen, he is now a totally broke horse, bowing to the crowd, and can put on his own splint boots (With R.P. Randy's trademark logo embossed on them) R.P.R. says, of all this, "Well, shucks ma'am, tweren't nuthin'! It's simple horsemanship. With this special twirly flickitatin' rope ($47.95 plus tax), you'll be round-pennin' like me in no time!"
THE ENDURANCE RIDER:
Wears Lycra tights in wild neon colors. The shinier the better, so the EMTs can find her body when her horse dumps her down a ravine. Wears hiking shoes of some sort, and T-shirts she got for paying $75 to complete another torturous ride. Her horse, Al Kamar Shazam, used to be called "you bastard" until he found an owner almost as hyper as he is. Shazam can spook at a blowing leaf, spin a 360, and not lose his big trot rhythm or give an inch to the horse behind him. Has learned to eat, drink, pee, and drop to his resting pulse rate on command. He has compiled 3,450 AERC miles; his rider compiled 3,445 (the missing five miles are the ones when he raced down the trail without his rider after performing his trademark 360.. Over-heard frequently: "Anyone have Advil?" "Anyone got some food? I think last year's Twinkies went bad." "For this pain I spend money?" "Shazam, you bastard-it's just a leaf" [thud]!
THE HUNTER RIDER:
Is slightly anorexic and trying her best to achieve the conformation of a 17-year-old male in case she ever has a clinic with George Morris. Field marks include greeny-beige breeches and a baseball cap when schooling or mud-colored coat and hardhat with dangling chinstrap when competing. Forks over about a grand a month to trainer for the privilege of letting him/her "tune" up the horse, which consists of drilling the beast until its going to put in five strides on a 60 foot line no matter WHAT she does. Sold the Thoroughbred (and a collection of lunging equipment, chambons, side reins) and bought a Warmblood. (Bought a ladder and a LONG set of spurs.) Talks a lot about the horse's success in Florida without exactly letting on that she herself has never been south of the Pennsylvania line.
THE DRESSAGE QUEEN:
Has her hair in an elegant ponytail and is wearing a visor and gold earrings sporting a breed logo. A $100 dollar custom jumper (also with breed logo) is worn over $300 dollar full-seat white breeches and custom Koenigs. Her horse, "Leistergeidelsprun dheim" ("Fleistergeidel" for short) is a 17.3-hand warmblood who was bred to be a Grand Prix horse. The Germans are still laughing hysterically, as he was bred to be a Grand Prix JUMPER, but since he couldn't get out of his own way, they sold him to an American. His rider fell in love with his lofty gaits, proud carriage, and tremendous athleticism. She admires mostly while lunging. She lunges him a lot, because she is not actually too keen to get up there and try to SIT that trot. When she rides, it's not for long, because (while he looks FINE to everyone else), she can tell that he is not as "through" and "supple" as he should be, and gets off to call the chiropractor/ massage therapist/psychic, all of which is expensive, but he WILL be shown, and shown right after he perfects (fill in the blank). The blank changes often enough that the rider can avoid the stress of being beaten at Training 1 by a Quarter Horse.
THE EVENTER:
Is bent over from carrying three saddles, three bridles, three bits, and three unrelated sets of clothing (four, if she is going to have to do a trot up at a 3-Day). The hunched defensive posture is reinforced by the anticipation of "a long one" a ditch and a wall, and from living in her back protector. Perpetually broke because she pays THREE coaches ( a Dressage Queen, a jumper rider, and her eventing guru, none of whom approve of the other) and pays trailers/stabling/ living expenses to go 600 miles to events that are spread out over 5 days. She is smugly convinced that Eventers are in fact the only people in the world who CAN ride (since Dressage Queen's don't jump, the H/J crowd is to afraid to go OUT of a ring, and the fox hunters - a related breed - don't have to deal with dressage judges). Hat cover on cross-country helmet is secured with a giant rubber band, so she can look like her idol, Phillip. Her horse, (who has previously been rejected as a race horse, a steeplechase horse -- got ruled off for jumping into the in field tailgating the crowd -- a jumper, a fox hunter, and a polo pony (no bit stops this thing) has two speeds: gallop and "no gallop" (also known as stop 'n' dump). Excels at over jumping into water, doing a head first "tuck and roll" maneuver and her horse exiting the complex (catch me if you can!) before his rider slogs out of the pond. Often stops to lick the Crisco off his legs before continuing gaily on to the merciless oxer jump just ahead. Owner often threatens to sell, but as he has flunked out of every other English-riding discipline, it will have to be to a barrel racer.
THE BACKYARD RIDER:
Usually found wearing shorts and a sports bra in the summer; flannel nightgown, muck boots, and down jacket in the winter. Drives a Ford 150 filled with saddle blankets and dog hair. Most have deformed toes from being stepped on while wearing flip-flops. Has a two-horse bumper-pull trailer, but uses it for hay storage, as her horse hasn't been off the farm in 6 years. Can install an electric fence, set a gate, and roll a round bale, solo. Rode well and often when she used to board her horse, 5 years ago. Took horse home to "save money" and has spent about 50 grand on acreage, barn, fence, tractor, etc. Has two topics of conversation - 1) How it's too hot/cold/wet/ dry to ride. And 2) how she may ride after she fixes the fence/digs drainage ditches/stacks 4 tons of hay.
THE NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP DEVOTEE:
Looks like a throwback from a Texas ranch, despite the fact that he lives in the suburbs of New Jersey. Rope coiled loosely in hand in case he needs to herd any of those kids on roller-blades away from his F-350 dually in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Cowboy hat strategically placed, and just dirty enough to look cool. Levi's are well worn. "Lightning" is, of course, this natural horsemanship guy's horse. Rescued from a bad home where he was never imprinted or broke in the natural horsemanship way, he specialized in running down his owners at feeding time, knocking children off his back on low-hanging branches, and baring his teeth. The hospitalization tally for his previous handlers was 12, until he was sent to Round Pen Randy; after ten minutes in said pen, he is now a totally broke horse, bowing to the crowd, and can put on his own splint boots (With R.P. Randy's trademark logo embossed on them) R.P.R. says, of all this, "Well, shucks ma'am, tweren't nuthin'! It's simple horsemanship. With this special twirly flickitatin' rope ($47.95 plus tax), you'll be round-pennin' like me in no time!"
THE ENDURANCE RIDER:
Wears Lycra tights in wild neon colors. The shinier the better, so the EMTs can find her body when her horse dumps her down a ravine. Wears hiking shoes of some sort, and T-shirts she got for paying $75 to complete another torturous ride. Her horse, Al Kamar Shazam, used to be called "you bastard" until he found an owner almost as hyper as he is. Shazam can spook at a blowing leaf, spin a 360, and not lose his big trot rhythm or give an inch to the horse behind him. Has learned to eat, drink, pee, and drop to his resting pulse rate on command. He has compiled 3,450 AERC miles; his rider compiled 3,445 (the missing five miles are the ones when he raced down the trail without his rider after performing his trademark 360.. Over-heard frequently: "Anyone have Advil?" "Anyone got some food? I think last year's Twinkies went bad." "For this pain I spend money?" "Shazam, you bastard-it's just a leaf" [thud]!
THE HUNTER RIDER:
Is slightly anorexic and trying her best to achieve the conformation of a 17-year-old male in case she ever has a clinic with George Morris. Field marks include greeny-beige breeches and a baseball cap when schooling or mud-colored coat and hardhat with dangling chinstrap when competing. Forks over about a grand a month to trainer for the privilege of letting him/her "tune" up the horse, which consists of drilling the beast until its going to put in five strides on a 60 foot line no matter WHAT she does. Sold the Thoroughbred (and a collection of lunging equipment, chambons, side reins) and bought a Warmblood. (Bought a ladder and a LONG set of spurs.) Talks a lot about the horse's success in Florida without exactly letting on that she herself has never been south of the Pennsylvania line.
THE DRESSAGE QUEEN:
Has her hair in an elegant ponytail and is wearing a visor and gold earrings sporting a breed logo. A $100 dollar custom jumper (also with breed logo) is worn over $300 dollar full-seat white breeches and custom Koenigs. Her horse, "Leistergeidelsprun dheim" ("Fleistergeidel" for short) is a 17.3-hand warmblood who was bred to be a Grand Prix horse. The Germans are still laughing hysterically, as he was bred to be a Grand Prix JUMPER, but since he couldn't get out of his own way, they sold him to an American. His rider fell in love with his lofty gaits, proud carriage, and tremendous athleticism. She admires mostly while lunging. She lunges him a lot, because she is not actually too keen to get up there and try to SIT that trot. When she rides, it's not for long, because (while he looks FINE to everyone else), she can tell that he is not as "through" and "supple" as he should be, and gets off to call the chiropractor/ massage therapist/psychic, all of which is expensive, but he WILL be shown, and shown right after he perfects (fill in the blank). The blank changes often enough that the rider can avoid the stress of being beaten at Training 1 by a Quarter Horse.
THE EVENTER:
Is bent over from carrying three saddles, three bridles, three bits, and three unrelated sets of clothing (four, if she is going to have to do a trot up at a 3-Day). The hunched defensive posture is reinforced by the anticipation of "a long one" a ditch and a wall, and from living in her back protector. Perpetually broke because she pays THREE coaches ( a Dressage Queen, a jumper rider, and her eventing guru, none of whom approve of the other) and pays trailers/stabling/ living expenses to go 600 miles to events that are spread out over 5 days. She is smugly convinced that Eventers are in fact the only people in the world who CAN ride (since Dressage Queen's don't jump, the H/J crowd is to afraid to go OUT of a ring, and the fox hunters - a related breed - don't have to deal with dressage judges). Hat cover on cross-country helmet is secured with a giant rubber band, so she can look like her idol, Phillip. Her horse, (who has previously been rejected as a race horse, a steeplechase horse -- got ruled off for jumping into the in field tailgating the crowd -- a jumper, a fox hunter, and a polo pony (no bit stops this thing) has two speeds: gallop and "no gallop" (also known as stop 'n' dump). Excels at over jumping into water, doing a head first "tuck and roll" maneuver and her horse exiting the complex (catch me if you can!) before his rider slogs out of the pond. Often stops to lick the Crisco off his legs before continuing gaily on to the merciless oxer jump just ahead. Owner often threatens to sell, but as he has flunked out of every other English-riding discipline, it will have to be to a barrel racer.
Tip of the day: KEEP A RIDING 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 just 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 end 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 wise 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! Sam
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 just 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 end 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 wise 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! Sam
Being HOPEFUL: The missing link in communication
Hopefulness. Waiting and Seeing. Reactive Riding. Taking the "try" and willingness out of your horse.
What do all of the above have in common? They are a domino effect that occurs in the riding world far too often. Let me explain.
Each of the following three scenarios is acts of "Hopefulness" by riders:
Have you ever experienced or witnessed someone riding down the trail and seen something "scary" before your horse did? What did you do? A common response is the rider will hold their breath as their horse gets closer to the scary item, sitting very still in the saddle, and perhaps asking their horse to look the opposite way from the item as they "snuck by." Then they waited, and were silently hoping their horse didn't have a melt down as they passed by. Afterwards they let out a "sigh of relief" that nothing dramatic had happened.
Or how about the horse who was inconsistent about his willingness to load in the trailer. After he was caught as he was walked to the trailer the handler is chanting in hushed tones under their breath a message of hope "that today the horse would load willingly and not have it turn into the 5 hour fiasco like it had last time."
What about as you watched (or experienced) someone approaching a jump, half way through their barrel pattern or was building a loop while waiting in the box, what was going through your head (or what appeared theirs based on their facial expression) before the horse was asked to perform? And then what was the reaction from the rider AFTER the round? "I wasn't sure what he was gonna do..." "Whew, glad that's over with..." "Well THAT was a little scary..." "I hope that doesn't happen again..."
Many equine enthusiasts talk about communication between horses and their owners. This in itself is a whole other topic for another entry. What I want to mention is what about the LACK of communication between the rider/handler and the horse. All too often I see horses that have been deemed a "bad" or "ill behaved" horse. When I actually watch the interaction between the rider/handler and the horse often I find myself staring at a horse with a totally blank expression or confused look on his face due to "silence" from his rider/handler.
Then when the horse starts showing signs of worry, concern, stress, or other dramatic behavior, because he doesn't know what is gong on, he is punished or reprimanded for it. Instead the rider/handler ought to be having a CONVERSATION with the horse. The horse needs to be told AHEAD of time what is going to be asked of him. All too often the person winds up being "hopeful" and then after the horse offers a physical action does the person address him. By now, it's too late. The rider is REACTING after the event. This is what I call REACTIVE RIDING.
When people sit down in that saddle their brain tends to focus solely on themself. Instead if they treated their horse like they were "on the same team" and told the horse what the PLAN was ahead of time, the horse would have a better chance of offering the desired response to the handler or rider. BUT in order to have a plan, one must be THINKING (again, another blog topic) AHEAD of time of what, how and when they will ask something of the horse.
People tend to HOPE their horse will figure out what is going to be asked of them without ever offering any physical, spatial or verbal communication. Then when the horse doesn't respond as the handler/rider had wanted, the horse is reprimanded but never shown what the desired response had been. So the horse continues to stumble mentally and emotional, therefore physically, due to his continual existence in the "gray" area when interacting with a human. Eventually the feeling that he "just can't get it right" overwhelms him and he mentally checks out. Once he's mentally gone, there's no chance he'll physically comply.
When a horse reaches this point, people term them as being "naughty," lazy," "disrespectful, 'bad," etc., when in fact this is not the case at all. After trying all of his "options" if there is no communication from the handler/rider, the horse eventually gives up trying to figure out what it is that the person is asking of them. This is how people take the "try" and CURIOSITY (again, another blog topic) out of their horse.
In summary, by being HOPEFUL you will end up WAITING AND SEEING how your horse is going to respond in the future. This means you are now RIDING REACTIVLY which causes your horse to be operating in the "gray" area which will eventually TAKE THE TRY out of him and cause much stress to both of you.
So the next time you head out to visit with your four legged friend, please keep this in mind:
IF YOU DON'T TELL YOUR HORSE CLEARLY AHEAD OF TIME DON'T EXPECT HIM TO BE ABLE TO READ YOUR MIND AND PERFORM AS DESIRED.
Until Next Time...Sam
What do all of the above have in common? They are a domino effect that occurs in the riding world far too often. Let me explain.
Each of the following three scenarios is acts of "Hopefulness" by riders:
Have you ever experienced or witnessed someone riding down the trail and seen something "scary" before your horse did? What did you do? A common response is the rider will hold their breath as their horse gets closer to the scary item, sitting very still in the saddle, and perhaps asking their horse to look the opposite way from the item as they "snuck by." Then they waited, and were silently hoping their horse didn't have a melt down as they passed by. Afterwards they let out a "sigh of relief" that nothing dramatic had happened.
Or how about the horse who was inconsistent about his willingness to load in the trailer. After he was caught as he was walked to the trailer the handler is chanting in hushed tones under their breath a message of hope "that today the horse would load willingly and not have it turn into the 5 hour fiasco like it had last time."
What about as you watched (or experienced) someone approaching a jump, half way through their barrel pattern or was building a loop while waiting in the box, what was going through your head (or what appeared theirs based on their facial expression) before the horse was asked to perform? And then what was the reaction from the rider AFTER the round? "I wasn't sure what he was gonna do..." "Whew, glad that's over with..." "Well THAT was a little scary..." "I hope that doesn't happen again..."
Many equine enthusiasts talk about communication between horses and their owners. This in itself is a whole other topic for another entry. What I want to mention is what about the LACK of communication between the rider/handler and the horse. All too often I see horses that have been deemed a "bad" or "ill behaved" horse. When I actually watch the interaction between the rider/handler and the horse often I find myself staring at a horse with a totally blank expression or confused look on his face due to "silence" from his rider/handler.
Then when the horse starts showing signs of worry, concern, stress, or other dramatic behavior, because he doesn't know what is gong on, he is punished or reprimanded for it. Instead the rider/handler ought to be having a CONVERSATION with the horse. The horse needs to be told AHEAD of time what is going to be asked of him. All too often the person winds up being "hopeful" and then after the horse offers a physical action does the person address him. By now, it's too late. The rider is REACTING after the event. This is what I call REACTIVE RIDING.
When people sit down in that saddle their brain tends to focus solely on themself. Instead if they treated their horse like they were "on the same team" and told the horse what the PLAN was ahead of time, the horse would have a better chance of offering the desired response to the handler or rider. BUT in order to have a plan, one must be THINKING (again, another blog topic) AHEAD of time of what, how and when they will ask something of the horse.
People tend to HOPE their horse will figure out what is going to be asked of them without ever offering any physical, spatial or verbal communication. Then when the horse doesn't respond as the handler/rider had wanted, the horse is reprimanded but never shown what the desired response had been. So the horse continues to stumble mentally and emotional, therefore physically, due to his continual existence in the "gray" area when interacting with a human. Eventually the feeling that he "just can't get it right" overwhelms him and he mentally checks out. Once he's mentally gone, there's no chance he'll physically comply.
When a horse reaches this point, people term them as being "naughty," lazy," "disrespectful, 'bad," etc., when in fact this is not the case at all. After trying all of his "options" if there is no communication from the handler/rider, the horse eventually gives up trying to figure out what it is that the person is asking of them. This is how people take the "try" and CURIOSITY (again, another blog topic) out of their horse.
In summary, by being HOPEFUL you will end up WAITING AND SEEING how your horse is going to respond in the future. This means you are now RIDING REACTIVLY which causes your horse to be operating in the "gray" area which will eventually TAKE THE TRY out of him and cause much stress to both of you.
So the next time you head out to visit with your four legged friend, please keep this in mind:
IF YOU DON'T TELL YOUR HORSE CLEARLY AHEAD OF TIME DON'T EXPECT HIM TO BE ABLE TO READ YOUR MIND AND PERFORM AS DESIRED.
Until Next Time...Sam
Patternized Behavior... Thought for the day
Have you ever been in the shower thinking about stuff you'll need to get done that day and suddenly stopped and asked yourself, "Did I already put conditioner in my hair?" I know it sounds silly but I bet a lot of you have. This is what I call Patternized Behavior which I define as after having done a specific task numerous times it starts to become part of your "routine" where you no longer have to think in detail or focus completely in order to get the task done.
So how does this term Patternized Behavior apply to horses and their owners? I find most horses that are mentally unavailable are resistant to change. That means they "know what they know" and will be what I categorize as tolerant or obedient to what is asked of them. That is, until you ask them something different from the "norm." Then they come completely unglued mentally, emotionally and physically. Kinda like when the babysitter tries to do something with your kids and the kids respond "that's not how my mom does it."
The topic for this blog came to me this morning as I went to feed. While at my winter location we have stalls where we overnight the horses in, then usually around 11am we turn them out into the pasture for six or seven hours of grazing. This morning because of my schedule, I decided to turn them out in the morning and bring them in the afternoon. I like to do things as "simple" as possible, so when I turn horses out I swing open their gate and they know to go and look for the opening in the hotwire.
So this morning I opened each of their stall gates and all five horses (except one) stood with an absolute blank look on their face. Total shock had overwhelmed them that they were not being fed breakfast. I shooed them out towards the pasture where they reluctantly trotted off to. Then they promptly turned around and stood at the pasture gate with a look on their face saying "This is NOT how we do it."
People and horses can get VERY comfortable with routine and patterns. They catch their horse the same way, tack up at the same time of day in the same spot, mount from the same side, start their warm up in the same direction, ride for the same length of time, etc. So the horses start to learn what to "expect" from their riders and figure out how to "comply" within the demands of their rider. This seems like a quality relationship until the day the rider comes up with something new. Then "ALL OF A SUDDEN" (one of the terms I dislike most when people attempt to explain a negative occurrence with their horse) their horse does something "he's never done before..."
Hmmmm. Most "issues" are not the issue at all; in fact they are the SYMPTOM of an issue, not the issue itself. So how do we know what the real issue is? Well this is where we need to assess if both our horses and ourselves are suffering from patternized routines or behaviors. The next time you're with your horse try an experiment. Take a few minutes and interact with him in a way that you have not done before. Below are some ideas:
Catch him, let him go and catch him again.
Carry your tack to a different place than the norm and tack him up in his stall, pasture, at a trailer, etc.
Mount him from the "off" side.
Mount him then dismount immediately and start picking rocks out of the arena.
While you are offering this new way of presenting things to your horse you should be assessing his mental availability and be asking yourself some of these questions:
Does he appear to get stressed (swishing his tail, pawing, chewing on the lead rope or fence, excessive movement as you work around him, etc.)?
Does he get a blank (literally) look on his face trying to figure out what you are doing?
Does he try to resort to "the old way" when you are asking him to do something new or different?
Does his breathing rate increase?
Does he become physically resistant to where you are asking him to move?
Now both your fellow riders and your horse may think you've gone off the deep end when they see you doing these "silly" little things with your horse, but by doing so you'll be able to evaluate how much MENTAL availability your horse has towards what ask or present something, new or different. If he appears to respond by "shutting down" you may need to go back to the basics and review what tools you are using to communicate with your horse, how and when you use them, how effective they are in offering "black and white" communication and increasing your standard as to what behaviors your horse offers that are acceptable and those that are not...
Your goal is for your horse to offer in any situation, whether he has experienced it before or not, "How can I make this work?" If you horse is mentally availability he will be physically willing to do what you are asking.
Stay tuned! Sam
So how does this term Patternized Behavior apply to horses and their owners? I find most horses that are mentally unavailable are resistant to change. That means they "know what they know" and will be what I categorize as tolerant or obedient to what is asked of them. That is, until you ask them something different from the "norm." Then they come completely unglued mentally, emotionally and physically. Kinda like when the babysitter tries to do something with your kids and the kids respond "that's not how my mom does it."
The topic for this blog came to me this morning as I went to feed. While at my winter location we have stalls where we overnight the horses in, then usually around 11am we turn them out into the pasture for six or seven hours of grazing. This morning because of my schedule, I decided to turn them out in the morning and bring them in the afternoon. I like to do things as "simple" as possible, so when I turn horses out I swing open their gate and they know to go and look for the opening in the hotwire.
So this morning I opened each of their stall gates and all five horses (except one) stood with an absolute blank look on their face. Total shock had overwhelmed them that they were not being fed breakfast. I shooed them out towards the pasture where they reluctantly trotted off to. Then they promptly turned around and stood at the pasture gate with a look on their face saying "This is NOT how we do it."
People and horses can get VERY comfortable with routine and patterns. They catch their horse the same way, tack up at the same time of day in the same spot, mount from the same side, start their warm up in the same direction, ride for the same length of time, etc. So the horses start to learn what to "expect" from their riders and figure out how to "comply" within the demands of their rider. This seems like a quality relationship until the day the rider comes up with something new. Then "ALL OF A SUDDEN" (one of the terms I dislike most when people attempt to explain a negative occurrence with their horse) their horse does something "he's never done before..."
Hmmmm. Most "issues" are not the issue at all; in fact they are the SYMPTOM of an issue, not the issue itself. So how do we know what the real issue is? Well this is where we need to assess if both our horses and ourselves are suffering from patternized routines or behaviors. The next time you're with your horse try an experiment. Take a few minutes and interact with him in a way that you have not done before. Below are some ideas:
Catch him, let him go and catch him again.
Carry your tack to a different place than the norm and tack him up in his stall, pasture, at a trailer, etc.
Mount him from the "off" side.
Mount him then dismount immediately and start picking rocks out of the arena.
While you are offering this new way of presenting things to your horse you should be assessing his mental availability and be asking yourself some of these questions:
Does he appear to get stressed (swishing his tail, pawing, chewing on the lead rope or fence, excessive movement as you work around him, etc.)?
Does he get a blank (literally) look on his face trying to figure out what you are doing?
Does he try to resort to "the old way" when you are asking him to do something new or different?
Does his breathing rate increase?
Does he become physically resistant to where you are asking him to move?
Now both your fellow riders and your horse may think you've gone off the deep end when they see you doing these "silly" little things with your horse, but by doing so you'll be able to evaluate how much MENTAL availability your horse has towards what ask or present something, new or different. If he appears to respond by "shutting down" you may need to go back to the basics and review what tools you are using to communicate with your horse, how and when you use them, how effective they are in offering "black and white" communication and increasing your standard as to what behaviors your horse offers that are acceptable and those that are not...
Your goal is for your horse to offer in any situation, whether he has experienced it before or not, "How can I make this work?" If you horse is mentally availability he will be physically willing to do what you are asking.
Stay tuned! Sam
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