Leadership = emotional balance?

This fall there have been a series of entries discussing leadership here at The Quest for Equipoise:

*) Leadership, something to strive for. Or?

*) Leadership is all about relationship

My leadership ”over” my horse Yeats was put to the test last week. I've decided that we should go out on the trails to enjoy the beautiful autumn days. The test this day came in the shape of the brand new hunter's tower that had been set up on a field about 50 meters from the road we usually go on. That Yeats noticed there was something new is an understatement.

Soon after Yeats started to stare and tried to make a 180 degree turn to run back to the barn I made the choice of dismounting. Since Yeats still isn't 100 % secure in leaving the barn without a fellow horse have I made a habit of leaving the rope halter on underneath the bridle. This gave me the option at this point to give him the space he needed, instead of hanging on to the reins. I could also ask him to focus on me by asking him to yield his hind- and fore quarters rather than on the – according to him – lethal tower.

Since I didn't bother to look at the watch I don't know how much time we spent on getting by the tower. Since we were there, we did go back and forth a couple of times. On the way home we passed it without me having to dismount. The day after, when we passed the tower with another horse as company, he didn't even raise his head to look at it.

So, what made Yeats go past the tower? My leadership? The equipment I used? The technique? My attitude? What is most important – how I present myself to Yeats, or that I achieve a certain goal (in this case getting past the tower)?

This is what I think:
About the equipment – Since I'm used to handling the rope halter and the rope I also trust my ability to not have Yeats get loose and run home, possibly getting hurt in the process. The rope also let me give Yeats the extra space he needed to deal with his own emotions without me finding myself pulling on the shorter reins and by doing so hurting him in the mouth.

About the technique – the ground work I have done before has not only opened a bridge of communication between me and my horse (Six Keys to Harmony) but also gave both of us a familiar and well-known routine to lean on. The way I approached the situation was with the goal of not getting by the tower, but to gain and keep Yeats attention.

About the attitude – For the non-Swedish readers I might need to explain a little about the attitude toward the horse that is prevalent at most Swedish riding schools. The horse is usually seen as someone that the riders “need to put in his place”, and it is said to be important to “make the horse do” whatever we ask of it. When the horse tries to communicate back this is often seen as the horse having a bad personality.

This day I made a conscious decision not to make the horse do anything, but just to offer him the possibility of relying on me by remaining calm and assertive instead of getting frustrated (that my plans for the day were spoiled), upset (with the horse for “making trouble”), insecurity (what if Yeats hurt himself?!) and so on. Time was of no importance since horses don't have the same mental capacity as humans to measure time anyway. What they remember is not the time spent achieving something but the emotions and level of stress involved. By remaining calm and assertive I could grasp this opportunity to deepen my relationship with my horse.

I think that the attitude together with the equipment and the technique worked in this instance to produce the successful outcome. What do you think?

PS Thank you to Mark Stanton of Natural Horsemanship magazine for proof reading!