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The Road To Horsemanship Series 1
1.1. Building Knowledge, Naturally!
As horse lovers, many of us have had the dream of being able to just get on our horses and go - wherever we want.
To have the desire and willingness of our horses to form a partnership, that enables us to just ride and enjoy the freedom and sense of exhilaration that comes from being as one with a horse - in that moment when their speed becomes our speed – their power becomes our power – their spirit is our spirit – their feet are our feet. Running on air! More......
1.2. Equine Psychology.
Imagine a life where you are surrounded by creatures that are unfamiliar to you; that look, act and move differently from you and even worse, smell like they have just eaten your best friend for lunch? They keep you enclosed in a confined area from which you cannot leave and they randomly come and get you, tie something to your head and drag you away from your family and friends……..whether you like it or not! More.....
1.3 Horses are prey animals people are predators.
Just by understanding the nature of this one simple concept, we de-mystify many of the seemingly unfathomable reactions that horses have, that have baffled mankind for generations. Man the hunter, horse the hunted. More.....
1.4 Thinking Like a Horse.
Being prey-animals (animals preyed upon by other animals for food) means that horses are lateral thinkers…….they do not think direct-line like predators do. In other words, they are always looking around themselves and checking out their environment for possible danger. More.....
1.5 Right Brain/Left Brain
The horse, as with all creatures, has two sides to its brain; the left brain or logic side and the right brain or instinctive side. When a horse is thinking it accesses the left side of its brain. When it is reacting or listening to Mother Nature, it accesses the right-brain. More.....
1.6 Phases / yielding your horse – Part One
Have you ever seen a horse twitch his skin when a fly lands on him, but then not budge as a human pushed with all his strength to try and get him off his toe! More.....
1.7 Equine Behaviour
As prey animals (animals that get eaten by other animals) horses will seek the safety of the herd for protection. Horses instinctively know that on their own they are easy prey. As a mass of swirling bodies though, they can confuse a predator, making it hard for him to single out any one of them in particular as a possible target. As the old saying goes…..'safety in numbers'. More.....
1.8 Comfort and release
If we are to achieve success with horses, it's important for us to learn what motivates them and what they really need in their daily existence, as opposed to what we think they need. For predators, especially us humans, it"s praise, recognition and material things. We love to be told that we’ve done a good job, especially to be singled out and told that we’ve done a good job. Even better if we get rewarded for it, a pat on the back, smiley face, gold watch! Horses on the other hand are motivated by a different set of values. More.......
1.9 Approaching your horse
Some people have great difficulty just catching their horses, a few reasons for which we have already discussed. Remember that our goal is to try to not act like a predator, so thinking and acting laterally rather than direct line will be a great place to start. More.......
1.10 Sensitive Spots to look out for.
Have you ever come across a horse that just hates it's ears to be touched? Or maybe one that will not allow you to put anything in its mouth. What about those that are touchy around the feet, flank or girth? More.......
1.11 Respect and Personal Space
Have you ever been talking to a friend when a third person has come up and stood between you and cut you off? How about if you are in the middle of a conversation and the other person turns their back on you mid-sentence and ignores you? This is not the kind of behaviour deemed polite in human society and yet everyday we tolerate it from horses. More.......
1.12 Phases - Part Two
In Part 6 of this series of articles, we discussed the importance of using phases when playing with a horse. We discovered that because of OPPOSITION REFLEX, if we just push on our horse without first asking lightly and politely, we will probably just get a heavy, dull response. More.......
1.13 Groundwork, Getting Back To Basics
There is nothing more important than basics. Six Directions
There are six directions that a horse can move in; forward, backward, right, left, up and down - seemingly all at once at times! Being able to cause your horse to move in all of these directions will help build rapport, respect and communication with your horse as well as developing his range of movement and impulsion. More............
1.14 Equine Behaviour, The Flight Response
Sometimes comfort is to move, sometimes to stand still. Being a prey animal signifies that the horse has highly developed survival instincts, particularly the instinct to flee. In the instant that a horse perceives danger - even just the hint of a possibility - the right brain will kick in and he will go into flight from fear mode. That is, run first and ask questions later. More...........
1.15 Simulating the flight response
Following on from article 1.14 on the Flight Response, the impact it has on the horse and how it affects our success with horses, let's now use an example. Lets say the vet is coming because your horse has a sore ear and it"s imperative that he standstill for the vet to examine him. Your horse however, is suspicious of strangers and is a bit fidgety. The vet is in a bit of a hurry and doesn't fully understand why horses do what they do, and the more the two of you try to make your horse stand still, the more sceptical and nervous your horse becomes, especially when the vet starts trying to get a hold of his ear which just happens to be situated in the death spot (see previous article on Sensitive Spots). More.....
1.16 Body Language
The primary communication amongst horses is body language. Have you ever seen the old brood mare pull back her ears and send everyone running? At Quantum Savvy we call this type of driving yield a 'No Contact Yield'. In other words, yielding a horse by suggestion, without contact. More.......
1.17 Sceptical and Claustrophobic
By now we can probably understand a lot better why horses do some of the things they do. As predators, how many of we humans have ever considered what it was like to live our day-to-day existence knowing that we tasted good and that the world was full of creatures who would love to eat us. We would most likely become paranoid if we did! More........
1.18 Approach and retreat
If success with horses is about understanding that we are predators and horses are prey animals, then it makes sense that our whole thought pattern and the way we go about our daily lives are in direct conflict with those of the horse. More........
1.19 Becoming a horseman - 'if it's going to be it"s up to me!'
For humans that think like people, learning to become good with horses can be a frustrating thing. After all, you are learning to speak a new language; a language that the horse has spoken for millions of years and spoken so well he has survived and thrived in a world full of predators. And after all, we - the human - are the ultimate predator. More.........
1.20 Focus, Two elements of a positive focus
Throughout this series of articles, you will come across a frequently used word … FOCUS. One of the qualities of a true leader is focus, which needs to be strong and unwavering if they are to inspire enough confidence in order that others will follow. More......
1.21 Phases - Part Three
So far in parts one and two, we have looked at opposition reflex and the importance of offering consistent, polite phases; to use a pattern rather than your strength and to not increase your phases if your horse is already trying. More...........
1.22 Horse Floats - Dream Or Nightmare
Imagine all your worst nightmares coming true at once. By nature you are a sceptical, claustrophobic prey animal. Your vision lacks good depth perception*, you are prone to panic and need to feel free to move at any given time. More.......
1.23 One Rein Riding
The Road to Horsemanship True advocates of good horsemanship agree that horses should have options and this applies just as much to riding as to ground-skills. One of the most common questions that arises when students first reach the ridden part of the Quantum Savvy programme is, "wouldn't it be easier / safer just to ride with two reins rather than one?” The answer to that is yes! … and no! More......
1.24 Equine Behaviour, Assertive Vs Aggressive / Wimp Or Bully
As herd animals, horses instinctively understand the need for social order and accord. It is important that they socialize well and live together in an harmonious fashion in order to avoid detection by predators and to be able to protect each other. More........
1.25 Focus, Part 2. What You See Is Where You'll Be!
Have you ever been riding your horse merrily along and suddenly realised you were getting very close to that … tree, fence, shed, other horse, ditch etc. More........
1.26 Vision. The World Through The Eyes Of A Horse
Metaphorically we have already begun looking at the world through the eyes of the horse. If we now take this one step further and look at how the horse's eye actually works, we can gain further insight into why our horses respond to certain situations the way they do. More......
1.27 Adrenalin Vs Endorphin
In creating 'The Horse', Mother Nature created the prey animal in its finest form. No other prey animal has survived as long and as efficiently in this world of predators as the horse has. The horse"s instincts are acute, accurate and reliable. He has reflexes that are lightning fast as are his free flowing limbs and feet. More.........
1.28 Mental, Emotional, Physical!
One of the most significant keys in achieving success with horses is having the right attitude. It's important to remember whenever learning anything new, that there is going to a period of awkwardness, unfamiliarity and confusion until the new skills become habits. Your success during this time is going to come down to how you deal with these periods. More.........
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