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This was a horse I met in South America this past winter. He hadn't been caught in years. He'd put multiple people in the hospital. Everyone thought he was crazy.
I wanted to share a glimpse into the interactions I had with this horse in particular as I think it's a great opportunity and reminder for people to recognize how often we are relying on the smallness of the area we are working on or some form of containment in order to mask the areas in which some of our horse skills could use some refinement.
When you don't have the option of coercing the horse into compliance, the level at which you focus on improving yourself greatly increases.
I understand that most people would not find themselves in the situation that I am in with this horse, but sometimes I don't think people realize what is possible because their perspective and experience is limited.
So, even if you never are in a situation such as what is shared in this video, I hope that it motivates you to recognize the importance of raising your awareness, recognizing horse behavior and communication, noticing your patterns of believing or ignoring the equine's feedback, and learning what horse skills it can take to build the horse's trust.
Do you value the horse's feedback? Do you see the horse's behavior as insight into what may have been missed in his education? Do you prioritize addressing the horse's communication in a manner that has value to him, without triggering his fear?
Horse Training Tips
Teaching the Horse to Learn how to learn, think, search, and try while building his confidence, willingness, and adaptability.
Full video on the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel
#alternativehorsemanship #horses #horsetraining #horsebehavior
Equine Emergencies & Horse Evacuations
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Emergency Evacuation YouTube Video 1
https://youtu.be/52RflMZoP4w
Emergency Evacuation YouTube Video 2
https://youtu.be/jRCmOTq9mto
Meet Peggy. (Re-Post shared by follower.)
Peggy is the skeletal remains of a polo pony mare that was euthanized due to dangerous behavior. It was said that she, and I quote, "was trying to kill people".
The first image is of Peggy's thoracic spine. The spinous processes of her vertebrae directly under where the saddle would be not only have no space between them, but have rubbed so hard against each other that they wore holes in the adjacent bones. Attachment points for tendons and ligaments further down on the vertebrae are spiky and sharp and feature errant bony deposits where her body was trying to support soft tissue structures that were under tremendous abnormal strain.
The second picture is of the ventral aspect of Peggy's lumbar spine. This is the view you would have if you laid down on the ground on your back underneath skeleton Peggy and looked up towards the sky. Not only does she have areas where the vertebrae are trying to fuse to stabilize her back, she has an enormous 1.5" bony growth ...
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http://eepurl.com/iXHO2I
Emotions have been "high" here in the USA... and the residual effects will remain. Some folks are feeling very confident, while others are devastated. Either way, many equine enthusiasts "seek refuge" in spending time with their horse as a reprieve from politics, daily life stresses, and the future unknowns...
I wanted to offer a gentle reminder of how much the horse mirrors human emotions during interactions by sharing a story that occurred at the end of a six-day Alternative Horsemanship clinic a few years back.
A participant was recalling the interaction he'd had with his horse that morning before arriving. Things had not gone as he anticipated, and he used negative human emotional terms to describe the horse's behavior.
As we spoke, the horse stood nearby, saddled and in a halter and lead rope. There was lots of slack in the rope as the man loosely held it, and he was facing me as he spoke, with the horse a slight distance behind him. As the student started talking, the horse fussed, flipped ...
