Impvoving Horse Skills
5 Tips in Developing Self-Directed Awareness and Intention with the Horse
By Samantha Harvey, Founder — Alternative Horsemanship™ the Remote Horse Coach
1) Segmented Assessments
Each aspect of the equine interaction is connected and influences the horse's future responses. Sometimes what people assume is a "segment" is too big — i.e., catching, leading, tacking. Each of those could, and should, be broken down into smaller aspects to help one assess the horse's current mental and emotional state, triggers, and defensive responses/patterns. During the act of catching, one can break it down into "sub-categories." Things that can be observed and experimented with include: how does the horse respond to spatial and physical pressure, how does the horse respond to "letting go" of a distraction, does the horse offer or tolerate participating, how does the horse respond to seeing the halter, how does the horse respond to the physical putting on of the halter, how does he respond to the physical pressure of the lead rope, and is there a distinction in the lead rope directing his thought versus his movement?
2) Addressing the Horse
Take the time to assess what each observed response from the horse was, and address it — i.e., he looks away every time you step toward him; you call his brain back to focus by stepping toward him; he maintains focus on you; you step away as a release... he learns to stay focused on you. This matters to THE HORSE. It isn't about whether you've already presented a scenario many times before — it's about the horse's feedback, which will TELL YOU the future resistant, avoidant, and defensive behavioral responses to come. So if you don't acknowledge and address the subtle looking away, it becomes a look away, then a step, then a look away, a step away, then walking off a few steps... next thing you know, you're arriving at the gate and the horse is moving away before you've even entered his pasture or stall. But most people completely miss the "quiet" evolution of the horse trying to indicate there is a problem.
3) It Isn't JUST About You
It doesn't matter what your goals or intentions are for the day — if you have not taken the time to prioritize helping the horse work through his concern, fear, or lack of understanding of your communication, your expectations are irrelevant, and will often lead you to react in an emotionally triggered, defensive, critical manner toward the equine. If you are choosing to interact with the horse without violence or fear as a motivator, you have to learn how to work WITH the horse. Each horse has a different personality, confidence level, skill level, and previous human-taught experiences. You must "meet" the horse standing before you without assumption or critique.
4) Your Clarity
How clear are you in your communication? How specific? How adaptable? What is your awareness of your body posture, spatial movement, and physical imposition on the horse? How is your breathing, balance, stance, and tension? Where are your thoughts? Is there emotional neutrality? I wish every horse person had the opportunity to observe wild herds of horses in person, to help re-sensitize the human to just how aware and reactive horses are. Just because your domesticated horse isn't acting big, dramatic, or scary does not mean he isn't affected by your thoughts, emotions, and energy. People can be quick to complain about other humans imposing on or bothering them, but rarely do they see their own behavior and how it may negatively affect the animals they interact with.
5) Connecting the Intention
If you have a goal, plan, or agenda for your time with the horse, can you work "backwards" and explain in your thoughts — or even write it down — how you are going to accomplish it? For each aspect, break down how you will communicate what you want, how you will observe and address the horse's feedback, how you will acknowledge the horse's try, what your time perspective and expectations are, how you will adapt to the unexpected, how you will regulate your emotions, breathing, and tension, and how you will maintain your focus without being influenced by other nearby folks, etc.
I know it sounds absurd, right? Yet these are all skills that most people don't realize, nor often want to commit the time to learn... Then they have unrealistic expectations that "the horse will figure it out," and if he doesn't, they criticize him. So what does this teach him, and how will it affect his future behaviors?
— Samantha Harvey, Alternative Horsemanship™
The Remote Horse Coach
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