Am I changed by horses?

I have previously mentioned that every horse I meet is like a university of its own. No horse I've met have been the same and every horse I've ever met has left me with both new valuable insight and a changed personality.

In a good relationship, both parties receive and transmit, there is a give and take and mutual influence. I can still feel deep gratitude to the horses that in one way or another has given my relationship with horses a nudge in a different and in some cases a new direction.

The first and foremost is Sandina, my first horse, who patiently showed me that there was another way to communicate with a horse when mounted. I experimented with, among other things, the thoughts presented in Sally Swift's first book and took centered riding lessons for two years. Setif (Sandinas filly) took me to the next door. She showed me that my body and I needed to find each other and straighten out various twists and misunderstandings, she showed me the way to the Alexander Technique. Salvia (a true Thellwell pony!) led my husband and me towards Natural Horsemanship (NH). And once again Setif, opened a door, this time to Classical Equitation when she needed to be rehabilitated in a manner that was not soul-destroying for her. I would be able to continue with more examples - the point is that my horses leads me...

The universities I have in the pasture now makes sure that I continue my training and reflecting.

Amaretto has showed me that if something works on the first try, we can do something else. To repeat, for me to feel confident that he can (which he could indeed!) is nagging. And nagging is not appreciated neither by horses (nor children).

Shy Boy, who now should be called Unshy Boy, have thaught me that you can not train horses with slaps. Shy Boy has his own history and is perhaps the closest I will ever get to a "wild horse". In the beginning he was shy but had a sympathetic attitude to people.

NH is a general concept for training horses using methods of controlling each part of the horses' body and although the term is used as a generic term, there are differences between trainers. In the style I have trained in accordance with the last few years there is a so-called "three-stage rocket" in training of horses. I ask the horse with my body language to for example give the hind, I reinforce by swinging the end of the lead rope in the air and as the last step, I let the end of lead rope hit the horse.

Nota bene,if Shy Boy comes too close to me when I pour up water and I give him a thouch with my elbow, he takes it with equanimity. If he pushes on me, and I resume my space that also works without a hitch. But on one occasion as I would have him to give his hind (to cross a hind leg over the other) and went through all three steps and let the end of lead rope land on his loin he was really scared and we suffered a crisis of confidence.

This happened a while ago and I've carried it around me in my thoughts. One theory I have is that when my telling him off were associated with our respective bubbles/ personal space, Shy Boy has recognised that he crossed a border. When I wanted him to give his hind, there was no natural connection on his part as to why I should give him a flick with the lead rope - a slap. He was inattentive, but he was not "in my zone."

The incident has caused me to study how Amaretto react when I get to stage three and cause the end of lead rope to touch him and he responds, not with fear but with a grievance.

So this is a question that I, as a university student, currently is thinking about. Does slapping actually work in training and raising horses? A thought that in itself should not be awkward since slaps are not included in the upbringing of my children.

"Teachers open the door but you have to go inside."
Chinese proverb