Exploring Energy
Yesterday I was working with someone whose horse continually "happens" to come into her space and get so close that she is rendered ineffective with her tools. I started to try to explain using energy to her. As a demo I took the lead rope and walked up to the horse and stopped about 6" from his nose with a medium level of energy in my body. I was not totally relaxed, but I also wasn't asking for anything. The horse stayed exactly where he was when I approached. I stepped away and then walked up the horse again at the same speed, but raised my energy as I got to the horse. Milo rocked his whole body away from me. I then had the owner walk up to the horse in her normal demeanor and as she stopped in front of Milo, he immediately put his nose into her space and started leaning his whole body forward like he was being sucked into a vortex. I asked Pat to step away and told her to think about getting ready to go to an appointment where it is very important to be on time and you need to leave the house in about five minutes. Then with that amount of energy in her body I asked her to approach Milo at the same pace as before but the addition of the energy. When she got to Milo, he immediately went to put his nose into the vortex, but it was like he hit a wall and his nose deflected back sideways. He stayed like that and licked his lips. Next I asked Pat to picture the amount of energy she was going to need if she was going to sprint to a fence post that I pointed to. I asked her to approach Milo again without increasing her pace to see what happened. As she got to Milo, he initially kept his nose out of her space but the Pat leaned forward thinking she was going to get Milo to move back like he had for me with my increased energy. Instead, the second that she gave her power away by leaning forward, he put his nose forward into her bubble and leaned into her space.
I decided that I needed to try to make it more clear for Pat so I asked her to close her eyes. I walked up to the edge of her bubble, stopped, and raised my energy. Right at the moment I raised my energy, her whole body leaned back. I asked her if she felt herself lean back and she said, "yeah." So then I explained that I had raised my energy right before she leaned back. Then I asked her to close her eyes again and I reapproached her, stopped, raised my energy for a second but then bent forward at the waist. She stayed standing still. I asked her to open her eyes so she could see me leaning forward at the waist. Then I explained that was the difference between Milo responding to my energy and the fact that he didn't respond to her raised energy.
I asked her to walk up to Milo again and put the sprinting energy back in her body. She did so and Milo leaned away from her easily.
Next I told her to put the energy stuff on the backburner for a little bit and we play the "real estate game". I told her to visualize having a moving bubble of energy that goes out in front of her and claims real estate as she moves. If she moves forward and Milo steps into her real estate or looks like he is planning on stepping into her real estate, then needs to protect it by using her carrot stick or rope to either tap the ground or make a wall around her real estate. If horse parts are in the way then they are fair game, but it is about claiming the ground. After a few tries of this Pat got the hang of focusing on the real estate and not the horse. Milo was licking his lips and yawning more than usual.
One area that has been difficult for Pat with Milo is asking for a hindquarter yield. Milo consistently would move his hindquarters away but at the same time step towards Pat with his front end, so the net effect was that he was spinning like a pop bottle from the center. It was like he was saying, "I will give you my hindquarters, but I am going to invade your space with my front end so we still stay even and you don't gain points for the hindquarter yield." I asked Pat to play the real estate game by being aware of where the edge of her moving bubble was as she asked for a hindquarter yield. If Milo stepped into her real estate at any point, she was to protect her real estate and not worry about where Milo went other than out of her bubble. After a few tries of this, Milo started to do a correct hindquarter yield, picking his front foot up and putting it right back down in the same spot as he turned around. There were quite a few more lip licks and yawns.
Next I had her send Milo out in a circle so she could yield his hindquarters from a distance. What Milo would usually do is to turn and face and come right into Pat's space. I told Pat to concentrate again on only protecting her real estate and not worry about whether Milo turned and faced or started back on the circle. After a couple of times of Pat protecting her real estate a very puzzled and surprised Milo stood out there yawning and licking his lips. Pat decided to try a trot. At this point it was interesting to see that Milo's send had improved dramatically too. Instead of basically walking forward and through Pat's bubble, he was yielding his shoulder and going out on the circle. He also started to offer to canter and his trot got much softer. After a few sends of trotting in each direction, Milo's whole demeanor changed to one of exhuberance and interest in what Pat wanted next. It was a very dramatic change and very cool to see the transformation from a bickering, disgruntled horse to an exhuberant, happy and playful horse.
I decided that I needed to try to make it more clear for Pat so I asked her to close her eyes. I walked up to the edge of her bubble, stopped, and raised my energy. Right at the moment I raised my energy, her whole body leaned back. I asked her if she felt herself lean back and she said, "yeah." So then I explained that I had raised my energy right before she leaned back. Then I asked her to close her eyes again and I reapproached her, stopped, raised my energy for a second but then bent forward at the waist. She stayed standing still. I asked her to open her eyes so she could see me leaning forward at the waist. Then I explained that was the difference between Milo responding to my energy and the fact that he didn't respond to her raised energy.
I asked her to walk up to Milo again and put the sprinting energy back in her body. She did so and Milo leaned away from her easily.
Next I told her to put the energy stuff on the backburner for a little bit and we play the "real estate game". I told her to visualize having a moving bubble of energy that goes out in front of her and claims real estate as she moves. If she moves forward and Milo steps into her real estate or looks like he is planning on stepping into her real estate, then needs to protect it by using her carrot stick or rope to either tap the ground or make a wall around her real estate. If horse parts are in the way then they are fair game, but it is about claiming the ground. After a few tries of this Pat got the hang of focusing on the real estate and not the horse. Milo was licking his lips and yawning more than usual.
One area that has been difficult for Pat with Milo is asking for a hindquarter yield. Milo consistently would move his hindquarters away but at the same time step towards Pat with his front end, so the net effect was that he was spinning like a pop bottle from the center. It was like he was saying, "I will give you my hindquarters, but I am going to invade your space with my front end so we still stay even and you don't gain points for the hindquarter yield." I asked Pat to play the real estate game by being aware of where the edge of her moving bubble was as she asked for a hindquarter yield. If Milo stepped into her real estate at any point, she was to protect her real estate and not worry about where Milo went other than out of her bubble. After a few tries of this, Milo started to do a correct hindquarter yield, picking his front foot up and putting it right back down in the same spot as he turned around. There were quite a few more lip licks and yawns.
Next I had her send Milo out in a circle so she could yield his hindquarters from a distance. What Milo would usually do is to turn and face and come right into Pat's space. I told Pat to concentrate again on only protecting her real estate and not worry about whether Milo turned and faced or started back on the circle. After a couple of times of Pat protecting her real estate a very puzzled and surprised Milo stood out there yawning and licking his lips. Pat decided to try a trot. At this point it was interesting to see that Milo's send had improved dramatically too. Instead of basically walking forward and through Pat's bubble, he was yielding his shoulder and going out on the circle. He also started to offer to canter and his trot got much softer. After a few sends of trotting in each direction, Milo's whole demeanor changed to one of exhuberance and interest in what Pat wanted next. It was a very dramatic change and very cool to see the transformation from a bickering, disgruntled horse to an exhuberant, happy and playful horse.
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