The Mind Controls The Body And Emotions

This is very much a true statement.  We must first have a thought before it becomes an action. Even a reflex response is a rapid firing response to a thought. Our emotions and feelings are also tied to thoughts.

The nervous system is an amazing part of all living creatures. The main control of this is the mind. Signals are sent and received by the mind. Through this we think, feel and respond. I can go into great detail on this but my goal here is to explane some communication concepts.

Anyone who has been around enough horses knows that the horse is one big "NERVOUS" system.  So if we can connect ourselves with the horses mind, we can have some control over their movements and their emotions.

A concept I like to get people thinking of is. Address the thought before it becomes an action. If we can do this. We become connected to the horses mind.  Once we get good at it, this will allow us to see, think and feel all their thoughts. If  we address the thought our response is that much more timely. If we address the action we are at minimum 5 seconds to late.  Maybe more. The only way to stay completely in front and on time is to not have to respond at all. How? By keeping the horses mind thinking the same thing yours is, all the time. By keeping the mind active and thinking with us we minimize their stray thoughts. This will minimize how often we need to make corrections.  By doing this we do less negative reinforcement and stay more in positive reinforcement.  And this will make your horse like you better. In the beginning it can be difficult. The horses attention will stray and you will have to be very diligent.   But if you can get the horses attention on you or the task it is on and keep it there. Then things get a lot easier and way better.

Another concept I like is. Get the horse to think in a direction and the feet will follow. This is something I do in the saddle, on the ground and sometimes from great distances or even when I am out of sight. This concept is not easy for everyone to grasp and understand. There are so many ways to apply it. But I am able to get a horse to go stand in a certain spot from as far as 1,000 ft away as long as I have a motivating factor.  Usually the motivator is another horse but sometimes its me if the horse really wants me to come to it. Maybe they are waiting for some feed. Whatever the motivation as long as you have one you can do this. Just get them to think in a direction and reward every thought and movement towards it and discourage any thought or movement away from it. I know I just made it sound easy. But it really isn't that easy. What will make it easy is your ability to truly know what they are thinking and your timely response to it. The example above is something I do when I have an anxious or excited horse pacing at a gate waiting for another horse, some feed or just wants me to come get them. I want a horse to not be a pest and let me come in with the other horse or feed and not be mugged in the process. Its also a good way to manage emotions in an excitable horse. Because we can ask them through their thoughts to go stand and relax in a certain spot before we come in. Being they are loose in the pen and we are outside the pen at sometimes great distances.  They have to think it before they can do it. And we can guide their thoughts like that. As I said above. There are so many ways to apply this. It applys to every situation you can think of.

One more concept I would like to talk about is. Talk to the mind and not the body. If we initiate a thought into the horses mind and let their mind move their body themselves.  Then we give them more confidence in us and the added responsibility for themself increases their own self confidence as well. By speaking directly to the mind, the mind filters out anxiety and inhibitions making the horse calmer and more relaxed. Allowing them to be more calm and natural in their movement.

So when it comes to communicating with our horses. Our thoughts and theirs need to come together on common ground in order for us to understand each other and have a respectful conversation. If we can see and feel their thoughts, we respond more timely and appropriately.  If you have ever had a conversation through messaging that had some lag time. You may have experienced questions or statements that were being typed while you were typing something else. It can get a bit messy and confusing.  Specially if we go back and read it later. This is pretty much what happens when we miss a thought and respond to an action. It can get horses frustrated and confused or nervous.  And if you miss it all together and never respond at all the horse will surely see you as less compidant and probably not trust you.

When we ride or do our ground work we have our techniques and cues that we use to communicate our intentions to the horse. What we need to remember is even a horse that knows all the cues and can do so many different things to all of our cues or special codes. They are not a machine with a simple remote control  Many of us go at our communication in this way. Throwing a cue at them and expect them to respond. In most cases it will work for you. But the horse has a mind and the mind has thoughts. Get their attention and talk to the mind. Allow them to think with you and all your cues and techniques will work better. You can take this even further by getting better at connecting and communicating mentally, only using your cues as an insurance policy when they don't respond. Of course its not telepathy.  Its a response to your thoughts and actions. But the real Suttle things will be felt and responded to. Sometimes it looks like magic and feels really good.

I hope you enjoyed this and found it informative.
Thanks for reading.

Horsemanship Techniques

Many of us who are into horses spend a lot of time and money going to lessons, clinic, demonstrations and seminars to learn whatever we can to improve our skills. Unfortunately we put to much of our efforts into learning techniques so we can learn how to tell the horse what we are asking instead of learning how to listen to our horse and feel their thoughts and emotions.

Have you ever watched someone use a technique that made the job look easy? Then you try it and it doesn't work as well or maybe not at all in some cases?  If you ever wonder why it didn't work so well for you and it did for the other person. Its because the other person was more in tuned and aware of more things that were going on or present at the moment. What things, you might ask? Well the answer would be, EVERYTHING.   Attention, awareness, energy, movement,  location, posture, frame, emotions,  direction, ability, just to name a few. We are truly multitasking when we work with our horse. It doesn't matter whether we are doing ground work or riding.

Techniques are very abundant.  I have learned a dozen or more techniques for many of the things I do. The technique is not what trains the horse. What does is being able to have our intention clearly understood. The technique is the least important aspect in the equation.  Sure we need to have a few that we understand and can do well. But we need to be more aware of everything elses so our timing will be better. Its a conversation.  A 2 way conversation.  Listen to them and respond to them appropriately. Be aware of their thoughts and emotions.  As well as where you and your horse is and where you are both going.  If you are just going in a general direction you are just, sort of asking, or sort of guiding. We want to be very clear and very precise.  Not to be picky or demanding but to be extremely clear so they will have a better understanding of what you are looking for.

What you do and how you do it really doesn't matter all that much. And no matter what you do and how you do it, there is always room for improvement no matter what stage of understanding you are at.

I recently had a customer who was working with her horse and her horse was misbehaving.  I said to her, "you need to address that." She asked me, "what should I do." I told her, "it doesn't matter."  So now I can assume many of you have a very questioning look on your face just as she did when I said it. But really it doesn't .matter. The only thing that matters is that you address it and make sure your intentions are clear. Do whatever you think you can do at the moment that will get your point across. Sure there are better options in some cases than in others. But your timely resonce and being clear is the most important aspect.

If there is one thing that makes me frown a little its when someone says, "my trainer said when a horse does that you should do this." It may be a great technique.  But this is what i call "Gossip Training" it might not be the ideal thing to do for everyone or every horse or at that moment. And if the person using the technique has little understanding of it, then it may prove to be inappropriate or counterproductive. What the horse is saying to you should be clearly understood so you can make a better choice. But don't concern yourself with doing the wrong thing. Its never wrong if you get your point across.  I always say, "Confidently show clear intention respefully and you'll get great results."

So the bottom line here explains it all. Techniques are great ways to communicate but we need to go way beyond the technique and build a heightened awareness of everything that is going on. Work to you and your horses strengths and just do the best you can. Nobody can fault you for that.

Thanks for reading along.

The difference in leading and following

We all know that if we want our horses to respond well for us, we need to be the leader they need and deserve. 

There are many questions about leadership and many times we are trying to be a leader and end up in the FOLLOWER position.

The first question we need to ask is, "What makes a good leader?"  One answer is. The one who leads and guides the others with knowledge and understanding. The one who knows everyones strengths and weaknesses and knows the best ways to use them to benefit everyone involved. This does not mean that input from the others should be dismissed or ignored.  A true leader will listen and apply this information to its best uses. Even the most ridiculous and ludicrous of things will have purpose to a true leader who searches for understanding in it.. a true leader must also be a great follower.  Meaning at times they know that their understanding of something is not as good as anothers might be so they step back and allow another to lead for that situation. Doing this properly you can still maintain leadership and respect. Doing it poorly you could very well lose respect.

When you work with horses, they are always testing leadership. Many times you will find them putting you in the follower position to see if you can maintain leadership. If you don't recognize this and respond appropriately they will lose respect for you and you will have a hard time maintaining your role as leader. They do this in many ways. If they leave you and you chase them, you are now the follower. But if you can still guide them and control their direction then you maintain leadership. You can also go the other way so as to say to them, "you need me more than I need you." This will show them that you are a confident leader.

Another way a horse tries to switch the roles is by redirecting us or getting us to change our minds. Examples like, a horse comes into our space and we move instead of asking them to move. This tells them they are more significant than us and we lose respect..  Or if we are riding and we ask for a left turn. The horse doesn't want to turn so they brace against us and /or go the other way, so we change and ask them to turn right. In this example they changed our mind disrespectfully and we lost their respect for us. To maintain leadership we need to let them know that we will stay the course. This tells them that we are trustworthy and not flighty and that we do mean what we say. We are something they can count on.

There are so many ways a horse will test leadership. Sometimes they just won't do anything at all. Other times they go against our wishes, or they go a little faster or slower than we really want. Either way, they do it to make sure you deserve the position.  They need to know you are Mentally, Physically and Emotionally capable of keeping them safe in every situation. They also do it to make sure you know what you truly want, not just vaguely but precisely. If you can't prove this to them, some will try to take over. We really can't blame them for this but many of us do get bothered or angered by it. Instead we should look at it as a very important game of life. One in which a true meaning emerges and gives us clarity.  This clarity has been showing itself more and more since I learned to look for it. It has helped me in many other areas in my life. It has allowed me to become a better, more responsible and respectful leader.

I hope this gives you all a little clarity and you can take this information and apply in your horsemanship.
Thanks for reading.

Philosophies of Horsemanship

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It can also be described like this.

1.    the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or                  conduct.

2.

any of the three branches, namely natural philosophy, moral philosophy, and metaphysical philosophy, that are accepted as composing this study.

3.

a particular system of thought based on such study or investigation:

the philosophy of Spinoza.

4.

the critical study of the basic principles and concepts of a particular branch of knowledge, especially with a view to improving or reconstituting them:

the philosophy of science.

5.

a system of principles for guidance in practical affairs.

6.

an attitude of rationality, patience, composure, and calm in the presence of troubles or annoyances.

I am no philosophy major but I do like the studies of philosophy. Especially as described in examples 1,3, and 4. I can appreciate all aspects of it, but I have found there are many who try to use philosophy to their advantage and sort of stack the deck in their favor. I see this most in areas described in example 5. In most cases its a much respected system and well thought out. But not always. There are many who use it to try and sound more intelligent or of higher authority.

To me the principles of philosophy is what has allowed me to progress in my horsemanship. As example 1 says. I thrive to find truth, knowledge and proper conduct. Some times things are perceived to be one thing but in reality it's totally something else. Knowing this and being able to see this can really help you find what you need, not just what you want. Though we will never find absolute truth or complete understanding.  The principles of philosophy can get us closer to it. 

If we can see things for what they are and not for what we think they are or what we want them to be. Then we can make better decisions and get better results in our interactions.  We have to remember there is always cause and effect to think about. As well as consequence for every action. Using the principals of philosophy we can ask all the right questions and answer all the questions posed to us appropriately. This will give us a little better grip on understanding and better control of cause and effect. It will also help ward off adverse consequences.

The Philosophy I live by in my Horsemanship is one that puts all of the principles of communication into play. I also follow a Philosophy that knowledge is never ending and that  knowing something is not enough. We need to seek better understanding. When it comes to knowledge, we need to realize that what we know as fact in many cases is only a possible and or partial truth. Our take on any one thing can change at any moment when more knowledge or experience is given to us.

Philosophy's of perception are very big in my Horsemanship as well. Having a heightened awareness can help you absorb more input. More input leads to better understanding. Perception can come from all of your senses. Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch. These are our 5 primary senses. But when you Heighten your awareness you start to develop your intuitive side. Sometimes called our 6th sense. It can be and has been explained as "Feel" not to be confused with the "touch sense"  This feel as I see it is a fine tuned connection that gets you to a point that your thoughts are intuitively connected with your horses thoughts. You start to feel and understand their thoughts before any action is taken to show you what they were thinking. Your horse uses this form of perception naturally. This is why a horse won't do something for someone who has any reservations in their mind about the task at hand. They perceive your doubt and refuse to or hesitate to respond. While someone else can come and ask for the same thing, the same way, and get a great response. 

There are many Philosophies in the horse world. Almost as many as there are Horse People. I would recommend listening to them all and apply general rules of Philosophy to help you come up with your own. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't believe in a definitive right and wrong, or good and bad. You can learn from anyone and any situation. Even things that seem totally unrelated. This is also a Philosophy I follow. 

So dive in and see where the current takes you. I promise it will broaden your knowledge, understanding, and ability.

Good luck and thanks for reading.

Connecting Through Emotion and Feel

Many off you have had a connection with someone close to you or your horse. How deep that connection goes, only you know, or maybe you don't.  Maybe it just seems natural and you just go with it. That's how it should be anyway. Simple and without any thought.

Making the connection in the beginning took some work. You may not even have noticed.  But soon enough you knew what they were thinking at almost any moment. You knew what they would say or how they would respond to certain things. This is a great connection. One in which I share with my wife, my horses and dogs as well.

Connecting on an emotional level and being able to feel what they are thinking or about to do is not always a simple task. Many of the great horse trainers talk about working or riding on a feel. So many people take that as what they feel physically in their hands, on a rein or a lead. Or even how the horse feels under them when they ride. It goes so much deeper than that. This connection and feel can be felt from 100 ft away.  Not connected by a lead or rope of any kind. When you ride bareback and bridle less it goes beyond your body and leg cues deep into the core of your being and your horses as well. If you don't have that connection, it doesn't work. Anyone who has worked on the ground loose and from a distance or rode bareback and bridle less knows that it works awesome when the connection is there and not so well when it's not. When the connection is there. You are feeling each other on a deeper level that transcends your physical and emotional and carries you almost into a spiritual level. It is something that is very difficult to write about or explain.  But I can tell you this. If you achieve this. "It Feels Awesome" This is something that in order to have it working for you when you need it to. You must maintain the relationship and the connection.

How do we get there? By heightening our awareness and understanding the important aspects of all communication principles first. Then digging deeper into ourselves through testing theories, pondering and even meditating. In short we need to constantly be looking for better understanding and not guess or make up answers. No excuses. Excuses will hold you back from the truth. Seek the truth in a humble way. Show no prejudice in any direction.  That should help guide you there.

I hope you enjoyed this.  I thought about this one on my drive to the barn and felt I needed to publish it.
Thanks for reading.

Addressing inhibitions

Inhibitions are feelings of insecurity that can cause anxiety that interfere with the ability to act in a calm and natural way.

Every living creature has inhibitions of some kind.  When we work with our horses it is so important to address them appropriately.

Many people talk about riding on a feel. This goes way beyond how soft and light the rein or the lead rope is in your hand. They should feel you and understand you from a 100 ft away. As well as we would know exactly what they're thinking and are going to do next. It goes so deep that we feel all of the horses thoughts and inhibitions and the horse will also feel ours.

Being connected on a super deep level will help you feel all of your horses thoughts and emotions. When we look at our horses, most of us just look at them as an object of our own desire. We don't really see all the wonderful things that they are saying to us at every moment. When we don't respond to these things it creates insecurity in them. This causes inhibitions and this is what makes them anxious. It is the main reason a horse doesn't relax or respond in a calm natural way. If your horse has any adverse behaviors or anxiety, then you are either misreading something or missing it all together.

Knowing this is why I make sure every horse I deal with has the opportunity to get to know me and introduce themselves to me before we start working. I even do this daily with my own horses. Much like politely knocking on a door before you open it.

When dealing with inhibitions we first need to be aware that we are not causing any.  If we are feeling that way ourselves then it will transfer to the horse. The next thing would be to recognize and identify the root of the insecurity. We need to seek truth in this part and not just guess or make excuses for it. If we know for sure what the problem is, then we can put a game plan together to build their self confidence. The exact reason is not all that important. What is, is that we instill trust in us by making sure they understand that they can relax and we will handle any problems. After all inhibitions are just feeling of a lack of self confidence.  But we cannot help them with their self confidence if we are only guessing or making excuses for them. This will only make it worse. If we instill trust in us, then they become more confident when they are with us.

Building self confidence can be done in many ways. Desensitizing is what most people do. I find this to only help so much. And in some ways it can make it worse. I like to help them by asking them questions that I know they can answer. (This means I need to know them well enough to know what they can and can't do).  I will take my end plan and find a way to break it down to a series of questions that they are able to answer. I make each question help us move closer to our end plan. If they are able to answer every question to the end. Then they will have built up their confidence.  They also learn to try harder as well as seek out your intentions or the intention of the objects in question.

This also helps you build a dialect with them. Remember it is a conversation.  A two way conversation.  We must remember that as well. When we can speak to them and they can understand us and we can understand them. That builds both, our confidence, and the horses. This removes most all inhibitions. Ours and theirs.

Thank you for reading along with us. We hope this helps in some way.

Problems Resulting From Poor Communication

Poor communication is the reason we get misunderstanding or a complete lack of understanding all together. Many problems come from this. I put together 3 categories for the result of poor communication. Starting with the least severe to the most.  I will explain each one a little more below.
1)  The Horse won't trust you.
2)  The Horse won't like you.
3)  The Horse will despise you.

When it comes to our Horsemanship, communication is our foundation. Our foundations are never finished. They always need maintenance and sometimes expansion. Without it there are many things that lack understanding. Not just that the horse doesn't understand us, but we don't understand the horse. A good solid foundation gives you and your horse a really good understanding of each other. I see many horses each year being ridden without having any form of foundation. Many people think a foundation is just getting a horse to accept a saddle and rider and have some directional control. A true foundation is being able to have an in depth two way conversation with your horse. Being able to communicate with each body part as well as having control over the horses emotions. If your having any problems with your horse at all. No matter what the problem is, its do to, in some way, poor communication.

1) The Horse won't trust you.
If your horse doesn't understand you or your intentions clearly enough, they won't trust you. A horse that doesn't trust you will be more likely to be very hesitant or very nervous. It can show up at any time and in any situation. This horse might react to its fear in many different ways. Like freeze up and not move, or bolt off quickly. Even though this is the least severe problem of poor communication, its bad enough and very dangerous. The lack of good communications leads people to think that the problem just happened out of the blue and they never saw it coming. Or they will make an excuse like, My horse don't like vets, or my horse doesn't like the trailer... Etc...Etc...Having a good foundation in place based on communication will build the trust and minimize any problems you may get like this. Mainly because you will see it coming or know your horses needs and respond to them appropriately.

2) The Horse won't like you.
This horse may or may not have some understanding of your wants or intentions. I have seen horses with this problem and they still do most of the things asked of them. They sometimes learn its just easier to respond. Whether they do or not they learn to not like you because of your method of communication. It could be that you are asking to much or being to forceful. It could be that you don't pay any attention to where you are and whats around you when you ask for something. It could also be that the horse has voiced some concerns to you and you either never understood them or ignored their needs. There are many other examples I could give.

A horse that doesn't like you will be more likely to not try for you. They may even purposely do everything but what you want them to. They will not have any concern for you at all if a problem arises. Even if the horse is responding to your requests, you can tell if they don't like you because they will not acknowledge you or even look at you. This horse may or may not be more dangerous than the one above depending on how much they dislike you. Good communication practices can not only get better understanding between you and your horse. But it can also get your horse to accept you, and with consistency they will learn to appreciate you. When your horse appreciates you, that's when the magic happens.

3) The Horse will despise you.
Like the horse that doesn't like you. This horse is just one step further. They may be even very well trained and have a good understanding of your wants and needs. But poor communication on your part will be what creates this and all the problems that come with it. This is the most dangerous because they will be more likely to run you down, bite, kick, buck or rear. This horse will need you to go right back to basics and build a hole new foundation from scratch. The most important part of this foundation will be your ability to listen and understand the horses needs and to respond appropriately to them.

I didn't want to make this to long to read so I kept it brief. In all three examples things are interchangeable. You may have a little of all three going on in your relationship with your horse. Some might have such mild cases that it goes unnoticed. Our goal should be to recognize even the slightest misunderstanding. Whether it be our own misunderstanding or the horses, and work toward better understanding. Our Horsemanship Classes and Clinics can help you learn to see whats going unnoticed. We can help you learn how to develop a heightened awareness and give some techniques and concepts to help you progress. This is also the reason I write these Blog posts. We hope they help in some way.
Thanks for reading along.