Posts Tagged ‘horse whispering’

Horse whispering and natural horsemanship have been a source for a great deal of income for those with marketing skills. When people imitate without having a clear idea what they are doing it and why they are apt to get hurt. With the wrong horse it can be worse. The horse is a prey animal with a strong flight or fight response. Their first choice is to run, and the speed the horse is capable of means they can outdistance most predators. However for the biggest insight into horses it pays to study THEM.

Horses usually will do what is easiest. They naturally follow the path of least resistance. Faced with the wall of a roundpen and a human with a funny looking thing attached they can be directed like so much water through a hose, changing the way the water flows by moving your finger. We often underestimate how powerful this is and if misused how much mistrust it creates with our horses.

If we watch horses interact with each other it will quickly become clear a pecking order. If you doubt this at all put down one less feeder in the pen than you have horses and put a cup of feed in each one. The boss horse eats first and once done will clear out whatever feeder she wants. There might be squeals of protests but other horses bow to her then move to horses they can chase away. This works for all but the bottom horse who will be left looking for scraps, sometimes picking at the boss horse’s feeder after it’s been left in hopes there’s a bit of grain still left.

A horse who challenges a higher ranking member can be bitten, kicked or pushed out physically. The lower ranking horses know their place in the herd and find it easier to go hungry than fight the bosses. It is this strict herd order that can, in a group, result in all horses being fed twice per day and one is skinny while the others are overweight. Often the lowest ranking member will starve to death rather than risk injury in a fight with the boss. This goes to that fight or flight instinct – a horse that cannot flee is in danger of becoming predator dinner.

Using this in a horse training program then you have to insert yourself as a boss mare. Your body language will get through to the horse faster than any other method because they are used to watching body language. The horse knows when something comes at them aggressively they need to run as they could be dinner. Something approaching quietly and calmly, without being a threat, doesn’t bring up that reason to flee. Remember this when you go to catch your horse…the “hard to catch” horse may well be doing what you’re telling him – RUN!

Get your horse in a roundpen with a lunge whip. By imitating things seen in that pen of horses you can get pretty predictable responses. Walking quickly towards the head usually generates a spin and running the other direction. Walking towards the hip drives the horse forward. If a horse stops and raises his head he’s challenging you. Getting your highest point above his – including if he rears – means you have dominance. This is where the whip is invaluable. With the whip you can wave it above his head. You can shake it at him, threaten him and drive him at your will.

There’s an odd thing that happens much like the boss horse. If the horse knows you will follow through with the whip then you probably will not have to. Use it very sparingly – if the horse kicks at you, strikes or charges you follow through like you mean it. Other than that the whip is a tool – it’s used to reach and touch without having to hit. By directing the horse’s movement and speed you can also stop and allow him to stop.

Once he’s established you are in control the horse will often tip his nose towards you, “watching” you with his ears, and in his language he”s asking “can I stop now?” If you aren’t actively driving him forward you have told him yes – and when people have problems with their horses on the longe line or in the roundpen this is often the reason. Allowing him to stop and approach you safely builds trust.

Not surprisingly the hardest horses then to work with are the boss and the bottom. The boss can be the horse that needs strict handling and may always look for that “in” to be dominant. The bottom horse lacks confidence in many cases and that lack of confidence means a great deal of work boosting confidence and making sure when you ask something it is safe. For most people the middle range horses are the easiest but either ends of the herd can, with the right handling and understanding, be wonderful mounts.

Observe your horse daily from the time he’s a weanling. Even as a weanling and yearling he will have very distinct likes and dislikes – these things you can use in training! An individual that is tense will have a rigid jaw…learning people won’t hurt him brings relaxing, and usually he’ll move his mouth – often described as a lick or chew. This is something that as you progress with your horse to look for. Always let him think about things and get that mouth movement before giving up for the day. If you quit while he’s tense you’ve taught him totally the wrong thing!

So often we want great things from our horses. The biggest way to get this is asking the least. Sounds impossible? When working with your horse ask for only 1% improvement. That is not very much! By backing off our expectations the horse often gives much more than 1%. We make more progress by asking for less, providing we are accurately reading their body language as well as accurately projecting ours to them.

Try it. Watch your horses…”talk” to them like a horse. It works! Always try to look at things from the horse’s point of view. If you do that it’s amazing the things horses let us do to them that goes against their instincts and how much they give us that is, truly, a gift. There is no human being alive that can hold still a 1200 pound animal that wants to leave. By getting in his mind it never comes to having to force him. This makes all the difference!

Author: Jan Hoadley
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera News