Recognizing and Addressing Avoidance
If I asked what is the horse in the picture doing? Most people would say, "Standing there."
Their answer would be looking at the horse's physical lack of hoof movement.
But what if we look at the direction of his eyes, the tightness of his ears, the locked up posture of his knees, the bulge in his rib cage, blocking with his left front shoulder... He is obediently standing there, but nothing about him in this moment reflects mental presence, available, or physically softness.
How would the information from the assessment affect what you address or ask of him next?
Your evaluation would "tell" you that instead of saying "yeah he accomplished the task, let's move one," you perhaps say, "Wait a minute. I need to help him mentally participate in what we're doing, rather than physically tolerating it. I need to first engage his brain to focus on what we are doing, rather than physically standing but without an availability to my communication. I need to "check-in" to assess if there is a physical brace (rigidity)- or if I can move his head, neck, shoulder, front end, and hindquarters separately. I need to assess if he can separate looking at where I'm directing his focus, before offering movement. When I attempt to do so, if there's a push/lean/drag on the lead, the horse is defensive toward how I'm communicating- which means I have no ability to influence his mind, or affect what is about to happen. I need to recognize what the horse is trying, and address his counteroffers (unasked for responses,) rather than ignoring them and causing them to escalate because I'm fixated on my task or goal."
Helping the horse learn to think through scenarios, let go of patterned avoidant responses is crucial to eliminating the "all of a sudden" unwanted behaviors.
The human's interpretation of what we see and acknowledge in the horse and his feedback, directly affects the relevance, quality, and the specificity we offer in our communication and equine interactions. This then influences the effectiveness of our ability help the horse think to think, search, and try. These are what create the willing, adaptable, reasonable horse.
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
Equine enthusiasts are often focused on task accomplishment without having a foundational understanding of how the quality and timing of their communication affect the horse's future willingness, adaptability, and try.
Subscribe to participate in this 2-part horse learning series in the November Livestreams.
Is your communication relevant?
Saturday, November 2nd 9am
Real-time Communication
Saturday, November 9th
This describes a horse who is mentality unavailable to hear the human; frequently referred to as one that is "shut down, dull, dead sided, lazy, heavy or leaning on the bit, bombproof, kid proof, husband proof, etc. Orrrrrrr one that is, "always mentally anticipative and physically chaotic."
The misnomers come from a person's misinterpretation of the outwardly slow, still, and "quiet" behavior, thinking this is a reflection of the horse being okay with life.
The overly lethargic movement, postures and responses can actually be a build of emotions brewing inside that have been contained; until the day the human unintentionally presents something unexpected, and then the horse "suddenly" gets dramatic in letting out those pent up emotions and stress.
The contained horse will offer "quiet responses" to evade confrontation and to avoid conflict or reprimand. These are often displayed physically as:
Tucking the chin towards the chest to create slack in the rein, or evade the pressure of the lead rope, rein, ...
Too many people tend to hurry in life and often the same applies to their horsemanship.
The “task” often becomes the focal point, rather than the quality of communication. If the horse mostly “goes along” with what is asked, people tend to accept the behavior.
But without effective “tools” (I don’t mean gadgets, rather how a person uses pressure to communicate) they often wind up at the “mercy” of the horse or “surviving” the ride.
This creates a cycle of worry, fear, and insecurity in both humans and horses.
Consider the following questions:
🐴If you walk into the pasture/stall does your horse automatically move away from you (fleeing from your spatial pressure)?
🐴Does he approach nicely but “hover” in your personal space (delegating the pecking order of where you’re at in his herd)?
🐴If you raise your hands to halter him does he move his head up, away, or “dive” into the halter (defensive, anticipative, disrespectful)?
🐴When leading him is he lethargic and ...