So I went and watched the Harry Whitney clinic on Saturday (till 4pm anyway). He's an incredible horseman, and I love his approach, and his teaching style. I learnt a fair bit. Particularly what it really means to work with a horses brain and mind, and making that the priority, rather than just making a horse physically do something. Basically its all about directing a horses thoughts in the direction you want, so that the feet and body follow, without resistance etc. Before seeing him in action this is the sort of concept I have been trying to get my head around, but Ive always had trouble I guess reading horses and being able to know how to deal with whats in front of me.
Now however I get it more. It makes a lot more sense to me, and Harry demonstrated a lot in terms of where various horses were 'thinking'. Ie: a lot of the horses when they first arrived in their lesson, were focused on everything outside of the arena, and were therefore really tense and worried etc. So he worked on helping the owners get their horses minds into the arena and focused on them. He also explained the difference between a horse who is aware of his surroundings, and looking, but still mentally with the handler, as opposed to a horse who was emotionally involved in what was happening outside the arena, therefore wanting to be outside the arena, with no focus on the handler.
Anyway, I found it incredibly helpful in terms of 'focus' and getting a horses attention, as thats something I struggle with, with my horses.
Theres so much more to it, but it would take ages to write it all!
I just wondered though how many people actually take notice of how a horse is actually feeling in a situation? And whether its a matter of not caring but expecting horses to go along with us and what we want, or whether its a lack of knowledge/education/awareness of whats occuring within a horse? The human tendancy is for us to purely see whats on the outside of a horse, and what they are physically doing, but its amazing how much horses can 'go through the motions' and do what your asking, without actually being ok mentally/emotionally about whats going on, or even be thinking about what they are doing. And its amazing how people work on a horses body to remove braciness and evasions etc, without working at getting the mind right first, so that the body can follow more easily. Its also amazing how much we can push a horse through, like competitions etc where they arent calm or confident or mentally ok, yet they will still 'cope' in a fashion on a physical level and get through it, and we assume that because they are doing it, they are ok with it.
I find it all fascinating. And Im sure as hell going to be so much more aware of what my horses are feeling, in order to solve our problems! If you get the mind right, the body will follow!
I am sure there is a lot of sense in all this, however I wonder about the value of constantly trying to analyse what the horse is thinking. Some of the people I teach attempt to do this - and particularly when riding, it seems to cause more problems than it solves. "He is going to be worried about that dog", "He doesn't like wind", "He once had a sore near fore, so he hates cantering on that leg". I find to make training more effective, you need to anticipate what the horse might react to, but to also have a plan to manage this (stop, go, neutral), and the capacity to NOT react yourself. I like Steffen Peters attitude "the horse has a right to express an opinion" - it is up to the trainer what he or she does with that opinion.
I didnt have the pleasure of seeing Harry but from what I've heard imagine i would have really enjoyed it.
I was working with my TB at my trainers for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Some friends came to watch who had done eventing etc and were saying to me they were amazed at how calm the horse was the whole time we were training with him.
Our thing is to keep it in the 'learning zone'. We try to break everything down into tiny tiny steps and - its a very fine line but always challenge and yet not stress the horse. Once you hit the stress button, you go into a zone where learning is impossible at worst and minimal at best.
This horse was stressed the second he stepped off the float so we had to be very careful and slow with our movements and gestures and very soft with our cues etc.
So I dont know if thats what you mean by the horses feelings?
Sometimes they will take themselves into that zone with no involvement from you (complete stress) and you also just need to make sure you are able to handle that as well.
I have only recently got Foxtel myself and have been watching the Dog Whisperer. Now dogs are completely different to horses but I think a lot of what Cesar says is relevant. Like remaining calm but in control - using your breathing and body stance and attitude to do that. So if you have Foxtel you may want to lookat that show too.
They sound like great clinics, Sapphire.
I think Kokage raises a good point too in that, as the handler, you need to be mindful of becoming too reactive to the horse. Nothing unsettles an already unsure horse more than to have the handler overeact to its every move.
Dont worry I completely agree with that also. You should never expect trouble or trouble is bound to happen. Horses are so intune that they pick up the slightest of hesitations in a rider/handler. And we cant always make excuses for our horses either, they are smarter than we realise sometimes, and will take advantage of us if we let them.
In my mind, when training, you ask a horse to do something as softly was possible, with a particular and specific purpose in mind, expect a perfect result, but accept the slightest try towards what you originally asked. If you dont get a response to a soft request, you demand more strongly to reinforce, until the horse is motivated to make a try in the direction that you requested, and then you go back to asking softly.
Correct?
I just think in the horse world so many of us are never actually taught to consider how our horses feel about whats going on. And to recognise the difference between a horse who physically carries out a job (due to conditioned responses and they feel they have no choice etc), and one that willingly carries out a job with body and mind.
OakyPoke, Caesar has actually stated several times that he works with horses also & that they're exactly the same as dogs tho', come to think of it, he was probably referring to specific areas of behaviour as one's a prey animal, the other, flight.
It is sooo important to know your own mind too! Otherwise you can't reward the smallest attempt or the tiniest reaction to the lightest touch - if you are not sure what that looks/feels like. And while it is important to have a plan, it is equally important to have the guts to abandon that plan if the horse is just not on the same wavelength. While I don't really believe that horses can read human minds, it is uncanny how envisaging/mentally rehearsing your proposed interaction with a horse can circumvent problems. I suspect it tones down our body language and helps us send the appropriate messages to the horse.
"If you get the mind right, the body will follow!"
Right on, Sapphire.
Most of the time, life's experience will tell you that about all living creatures, human or otherwise. But we have to hope that it's not mental manipulation ... which it just could be ??
Yes, there are plenty of people who try to "bully" their horses through to achieve their own ends ... but these people are bullies anyway. One day they will meet "that horse" who will teach them absolutely everything they need to know about humility, respect, consideration .. all that.
Then the trick is for them to understand that this horse is very very special, and not just send him off as "hopeless".
Working with a horses brain
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