Communicating with the Emotional Layer
Over the last couple of months, as I have been thinking about this stuff more consciously I have discovered some ways to deliberately communicate to the horse about their emotions. At this point the techniques are:
This is when the human starts to see "what happens before what happens happens" and then uses it to "get with the horse so the horse can get with them". Basically it is recognizing the subtle signs of tension and then consciously mirroring it back to the horse with intensity of energy until the horse relaxes. When the horse reduces their tension then the human reduces their intensity and then the horse starts to think that they can keep their human's energy feeling good by being relaxed themselves.
Big Mirroring
This is when the horse has gone into acting on their tension. At this point, subtle is out the window because the actions of the horse are too big and so the human needs to be able to find that level of intensity and "bigness" in order to even be noticed by the horse. One way to do this is to have the horse to more or faster of whatever it is they are already doing. So if they are backing up, then the human could have the horse back up further and faster than the horse was doing on their own. Another way of doing this is to "freak out" just like the horse but opposite. So if the horse is spooking and leaping away the human spooks and leaps away in the opposite direction. This works on-line because then the rope is going to cause the horse to have to change directions. In both of these techniques, the human calms down when the horse calms down.
Wait for Change and Release
This is using the concept of "it's the release that teaches" in a very deliberate and conscious way. So if the human asks the horse to g yield their hindquarters while riding and the horse gets tense as they move their hips over, then the human would keep yielding the hindquarters until the horse could yield and be calm at the same time.
Fluid Rein Technique
This is Linda Parelli's technique of combing the reins to help teach longitudinal flexion. I have used the combing of one or two reins as a way to match and mirror the tension of the horse when riding. So the more tense and tight the horse got, the faster I combed the rein(s). When the horse softens, then I soften. This worked great when Gunny had decided to start getting emotional each time I picked up the reins. I look at this as kind of a friendly game for things to do with reins as well as a way to communicate to the horse about their energy and emotions.
"In this Moment" Game
This is a way to maintain leadership over the horse in a situation where the horse starts to either get emotional and take over OR take over and get emotional. Basically it helps the human to keep control by separating what is happening in each moment and focusing on getting that thing before going onto the next part.
So, to do this the human needs to have the big picture in mind of what they want the horse to do. For example, squeeze game past the barrel with the plastic bags dangling from it. Then the human needs to understand and separate each little piece of what they want for that task. So in this case their is a path you want the horse to follow and then the pieces of asking for the horse to accomplish the squeeze.
The human would pick up the rope and think, "in this moment I am picking up the rope because we are going to do something". And in that moment the horse should notice the human picked up the rope and wait for orders from headquarters. Then the human would pause and move to the next step, "in this moment I am asking you to move your forehand over to the line of travel". When the horse does that the human can take a mental pause and then, "in this moment I am asking you to follow the line of travel past the scary barrel". And as long as the horse is staying on the line of travel and in the correct gait, the human leaves the horse alone. If the horse starts to deviate from the line of travel, then the human needs to fix it as close to that moment as possible. So they would use rope, stick, or string and phases as necessary to get the horse back on the line of travel and be thinking "in this moment I am asking you to be on THIS line". Then when they get the horse on that line the human can pause and if necessary they might say, and "in this moment I would like you to relax". Then they can ask the horse to walk on.
Basically this keeps the human and the horse focused on the task at hand and also focused on who is in charge in each moment. This is very effective for a horse who is used to changing the subject as a way to gain control.
Once a person starts to think in this way, it isn't jerky at all and can flow together or can be used with pauses to help the horse to collect their thoughts and understand what is wanted. It is a very good way to practice the concept of "isolate, separate, and recombine". Because you can alternate what you are isolating in each moment, then pretty quickly you can recombine the things you were isolating and the horse is able to put them together.
So for the example above, the isolations of "walk on my line" and "be calm" can be alternated in each moment and pretty soon the horse can walk calmly past the scary barrel.
If this technique isn't working, then maybe the horse is truly scared and thresholds or approach and retreat needs to be tried. But if it seems to be more about who is in charge, then this can be very effective.
- Subtle mirroring
- Big mirroring
- Wait for change and release
- Fluid rein technique
- "In this moment" game
This is when the human starts to see "what happens before what happens happens" and then uses it to "get with the horse so the horse can get with them". Basically it is recognizing the subtle signs of tension and then consciously mirroring it back to the horse with intensity of energy until the horse relaxes. When the horse reduces their tension then the human reduces their intensity and then the horse starts to think that they can keep their human's energy feeling good by being relaxed themselves.
Big Mirroring
This is when the horse has gone into acting on their tension. At this point, subtle is out the window because the actions of the horse are too big and so the human needs to be able to find that level of intensity and "bigness" in order to even be noticed by the horse. One way to do this is to have the horse to more or faster of whatever it is they are already doing. So if they are backing up, then the human could have the horse back up further and faster than the horse was doing on their own. Another way of doing this is to "freak out" just like the horse but opposite. So if the horse is spooking and leaping away the human spooks and leaps away in the opposite direction. This works on-line because then the rope is going to cause the horse to have to change directions. In both of these techniques, the human calms down when the horse calms down.
Wait for Change and Release
This is using the concept of "it's the release that teaches" in a very deliberate and conscious way. So if the human asks the horse to g yield their hindquarters while riding and the horse gets tense as they move their hips over, then the human would keep yielding the hindquarters until the horse could yield and be calm at the same time.
Fluid Rein Technique
This is Linda Parelli's technique of combing the reins to help teach longitudinal flexion. I have used the combing of one or two reins as a way to match and mirror the tension of the horse when riding. So the more tense and tight the horse got, the faster I combed the rein(s). When the horse softens, then I soften. This worked great when Gunny had decided to start getting emotional each time I picked up the reins. I look at this as kind of a friendly game for things to do with reins as well as a way to communicate to the horse about their energy and emotions.
"In this Moment" Game
This is a way to maintain leadership over the horse in a situation where the horse starts to either get emotional and take over OR take over and get emotional. Basically it helps the human to keep control by separating what is happening in each moment and focusing on getting that thing before going onto the next part.
So, to do this the human needs to have the big picture in mind of what they want the horse to do. For example, squeeze game past the barrel with the plastic bags dangling from it. Then the human needs to understand and separate each little piece of what they want for that task. So in this case their is a path you want the horse to follow and then the pieces of asking for the horse to accomplish the squeeze.
The human would pick up the rope and think, "in this moment I am picking up the rope because we are going to do something". And in that moment the horse should notice the human picked up the rope and wait for orders from headquarters. Then the human would pause and move to the next step, "in this moment I am asking you to move your forehand over to the line of travel". When the horse does that the human can take a mental pause and then, "in this moment I am asking you to follow the line of travel past the scary barrel". And as long as the horse is staying on the line of travel and in the correct gait, the human leaves the horse alone. If the horse starts to deviate from the line of travel, then the human needs to fix it as close to that moment as possible. So they would use rope, stick, or string and phases as necessary to get the horse back on the line of travel and be thinking "in this moment I am asking you to be on THIS line". Then when they get the horse on that line the human can pause and if necessary they might say, and "in this moment I would like you to relax". Then they can ask the horse to walk on.
Basically this keeps the human and the horse focused on the task at hand and also focused on who is in charge in each moment. This is very effective for a horse who is used to changing the subject as a way to gain control.
Once a person starts to think in this way, it isn't jerky at all and can flow together or can be used with pauses to help the horse to collect their thoughts and understand what is wanted. It is a very good way to practice the concept of "isolate, separate, and recombine". Because you can alternate what you are isolating in each moment, then pretty quickly you can recombine the things you were isolating and the horse is able to put them together.
So for the example above, the isolations of "walk on my line" and "be calm" can be alternated in each moment and pretty soon the horse can walk calmly past the scary barrel.
If this technique isn't working, then maybe the horse is truly scared and thresholds or approach and retreat needs to be tried. But if it seems to be more about who is in charge, then this can be very effective.
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