Hagens Yeats 2008-2011

A picture says more than a thousand words. At least that is how the saying goes. When I decided to write about the journey together with Yeats so far, the first thing I did was watch the video from the evaluation ride back in the summer of 2008. Moving pictures do capture a lot, in fact looking at the video from 2008 I'm surprised that I actually went ahead and bought Yeats in the first place! Knowing now how much time and effort we both have spent in overcoming his stiffness and resistance I would hesitate to take on a similar project. This stiffness and resistance is evident in the way he very reluctantly performed rein back. It is also evident when I asked for sideways moment and got pacing instead.

Our joint journey during our first two years together had mainly been focussed around establishing calm, trust and communication. I don't have any videos from our early days when he couldn't be left alone in the arena and would panic when asked to go into the wash rack or the trailer, but there is a damaged barn door that can tell you just exactly how it feels to be ploughed down by a Connemara determined not to get his feet wet. The fact that he now hardly flicks an ear when being washed brings me as much happiness as a nice ride in the forest or the execution of an (almost) perfect shoulder in.

Since the video is 10 minutes long I shall not write a complete novel about it. I will however offer a few more words. A picture says more than a thousand words, but at the same time it does not convey any of the feelings present in the moment. When I look at the videos of me riding Yeats, I can marvel at how light and easy a sequence can look when I have the memory of Yeats leaning on the hand and being anything but light. I can also look at some clips and wonder what I'm doing although at the time it felt absolutely right. The journey is never ending.

In the video I mention SixKeys to Harmony as well as Ecole deLégèreté and you can read more about those philosophies in previous blog entries.  

Training to be a good leader: Six keys to harmony

In last week's blog Maria discussed the difference between leader and trainer.

For me it has in a way been a relief to see myself as a trainer of my horse, rather than the leader. When the horse did not respond to my request as I wanted him to, rather than think my leadership had been faulty, I could think “oops, this we need to train some more on”.

The problem for me was that I used to think leadership was an inherent quality that some people have and some don't. The logic would then be that I could not change or influence my faulty leadership, which would cause negative emotions like frustration, sadness, anger etc. But now I believe that leadership, or the ability to present my request to the horse in such a way that he can understand it, is a skill that can be thought, learned and perfected with training just like any other skill.

I do however have one objection to Andrew's reasoning as Maria presents it: “One of the reasons that Andrew would prefer to call us trainers instead of leaders has to do with the horse. Everything the horse does for us it does after it has undergone training. A horse that shies away from a flowerpot does not reveal a bad leadership from the rider's side, only lack of training.

I agree that the horse who shies away from the flowerpot does it because I have not taught the horse that it need not be afraid of the flowerpot. What I react to is"everything the horse does for us it does after it has undergone training". The horse's reaction depends not only on the training, but also on its inherent instincts (for instance the flight instinct). Individual horses also have their personality, for instance different thresholds to trigger that instinct. One horse looks a little at the flowerpot and dose not react any more to it, while another has a major reaction and a near-death experience. These reactions are, as I see it, not the result of training but a result of the horse's instincts and personality.

The individual horse's behaviour on a certain day is the sum of the horse's general nature (its inherent instincts), the individual's personality and mood on the day, as well as the training it has perceived.

As I see it, it is my job as the trainer (or leader) of my horse to be consistent (the same signal always means the same thing), to be clear (just to give one signal at a time), to lead myself so I'm emotionally stable (calm, present, focused), to avoid hidden agendas (not hide the halter behind my back and then surprise the horse with it once I'm close t to him).That way I do everything I can to help my horse understand what I ask of him.

On the subject of the horse being my equal partner or not, my mind is made up: I am the one who leads the dance and the horse follows. I take all initiative regarding speed and direction. If I want to make those decisions and have the horse pay attention to me when it really matters, there are no exceptions. The horse is not my equal partner. If I ask the horse to back up, I make sure the horse backs up and the horse has not responded to my request until his feet have moved back. In my role as trainer of, or leader of, my horse, it is my responsibility to do everything I can in order for the horse to understand what I'm asking for (see the paragraph above), to confirm when he gets it right (stopping the request and giving praise), not asking for something that the horse cannot do and to give the horse all the freedom it needs to carry out what I ask for (when riding, this means that I for example do not pull on the reins nor keep a heavy pressure on the reins and in the horse's mouth).


Both Maria and I study with Ed Dabney, a soft-spoken cowboy from the USA who has put his unique stamp on Natural Horsemanship. The exercises included in Ed's Six Keys To Harmony are the same as in most other NH systems. The difference is the accuracy of how the horse is asked to place his feet, and the focus on the horse's ability to read the intent behind our body language. This system is a very user friendly tool to train the horse, and yourself, to an amazingly subtle and light communication between human and horse.

I've trained myself and my horse using this system, which has made the day to day handling of my horse easy and safe for both of us. The exercises in themselves are also a good basic gymnastic for the horse. The video shows me as I handle my horse in some day to day situations, and also some of the exercises in the Six Keys To Harmony. The video is produced for my Swedish students so it will be an opportunity for you English viewers to brush up on your Swedish. However, the pictures speak for themselves in showing what it is possible to ask for from any and all horses.



Thanks to Mark Stanton of Horsemanship Magazine for proof reading! All remaining errors are all my own.

Different models for keeping horses

At a scientific kitchen table conference, I got the book Hidden Horses by Mark Hanson put in my hands. It is an interesting read about the shared history of horse and man, how we worked together over the years and how horses have improved our lives. In his book Mark urges us, now when the horses in our part of the world no longer is the difference between life and death, to really make an effort to give our horses a "horsey life" during the hours we do not use them.

Mark presents four models of horse keeping that defines our relationship to horses, there are no solid walls between them. We can in various degrees be influenced by them and I do think that we can recognize ourselves (and others!) in them.

The Utility model:
The model is based on tradition, history and the culture in which horses were made “useful”. They could play a part in warfare, in agriculture, in industry. In our Western culture the horse was a kept for a reason and few individuals were kept just for pleasure.

Horses played a significant role in the military and that affects the key ingredients for utility model, that is control (via the reins, bits, proper seat), dominance and discipline. Dressage competitions are traces of that era in which horse and rider's performance is assessed based on predetermined ideals of obedience and control through gaites and turnes in geometric patterns. Western riding also falls into the utility model: the horse was expected to do a job on the ranch.

Professions such as veterinarians, farriers, trainers, agronomists are often trained with the utility model as a basis for their education.

A brief summary of the utility model:
* Horse is defined by what it is to be used for, everything that falls out of this definition is irrelevant (unless it would increase the horse's performance)
* the model is simple, straightforward, practical and effective, based on "things that work" even though it may be a question of beliefs rather than knowledge in certain situations
* the model is created by men for men, it is rigid and difficult to change
* The horse has nothing to say in this model and many horses fall-out early

The Anthropomorphic model:
Anthropomorphism is a term coined during 1700 to describe how people look for human characteristics in animals, plants, and phenomena such as storms. The model is interpreting the horse's behavior in terms of human behavior.

According to Mark, this model is the most dangerous threat to horses and people in the world today, even though it is based on human qualities as benevolence and kindness.

In this model there are four rules.
1, Anthropomorphism is alway rewardig for the human
2, the more like the human environment we can make the horse's environment, the more we feel like we take care of it
3, because it is rewarding to the human in itself the feedback for humans is strong in the model
4, despite the best intentions the model may often have the opposite effect on the horse.

Significant features of this model are shopping (treats, compound feed, blankets and other equipment), an overly protective attitude that prevents the horse from being in the paddock with other horses, being out in rough weather, and forces it to be covered for long periods of the year. The horse is completely dependent on the owner's personal beliefs about what is best for the horse, often based more on others' perceptions and sometimes pure misunderstandings than facts.

For the horse does this model include increased risk of obesity, laminitis, stress and various behavioral disorders.

The Horsemanship model:
This model Mark sees as a step forward in keeping and training horses. The model focuses on communication rather than control of the horse, something the previous models are based on.

The disadvantage of this model is that it is a system which, like other systems (utilitylmodel), do not adapt to the individual. The downside is that the horse learns “compliance" instead of wanting to be a active part of the training. Mark points out that horses are trained by this method easily learns to look for "the easy way out/the minimum effort" to get the release from the pressure that the trainer uses.

The origin of this model comes from how horses behave towards each other, where the threat and submissiveness is an important part in the daily life of the heard. What distinguishes the horses' use of these method is that when the high ranked horse has presented her threat and the low ranked horse has yielded there is all there is to it.

When we are training the horse by this method we will continue our threat during the time we train and we do not stop when the horse "yields" the first time but instead progress to the next exercise. One obvious danger with this model is that the trainer can easily create a horse that turns off.

The Natural Horse Keeping model:
The last model is the one that Mark advocates. In that model, he wants the horse to be in paddocks that stimulates the horse to walk and eat and to be part of a heard. The feeding is based on the fact that the horse digest food through microbiotic fermentation. It should be covered as late as possible and the blanked should be removed as soon as possible. The equipment must be suited for the job the horse will do and with no auxilliary reins.

The training of the horse is done through 'positive reinforcement, clicker training, where the horse learns to actively seek to do what leads to the reward (Mark stresses that the goal is that the horse will learn to work for the click and the sweet becomes secondary).

I have taken myself to the horsemanshipmodellen and I find it interesting to read about what Mark describes as the next level in the relationship horse-human. I can agree with what he writes about how we can improve the horse's environment.There is plenty of room for improvement for many horses in Sweden today.

Clicker training as opposed to horsemanship then? My own experience comes from horsemanship, I have not myself tried clicker training. However, I have seen good and bad effects of both kinds. When it comes to training models, I believe in what he says about system in general - namely, that they can leave the individual behind and that goes for both man and horse.

I personally believe that we could become more "means where by" focused in our training of the horse (and ourselves), be aware of our desired goals and humbled by the journey. If we manage that I think we can work together as two happy individuals.

PST!
In response to post about BT-circumference, here is a link to a page that gives more information.

"There really is a hidden horse in our horses, it is sometimes a little strange anf always rather wonderful and it is waiting for you to discover it."
Mark Hanson

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!

Leadership, something to strive for? Or...

I've been pondering the concept of leadership since ISES this summer. What is leadership for you? Is it something you strive for, or do you interpret it as something that dominates your horse in a way that his/her personality is stifled?

Scientists don't want us to use words like ”leadership” or ”respect” when we talk about the way our horses relate to us. They say that horses don't have the same ability as humans for abstract reasoning. I agree with this. Scientists also say that the way horses behave is all about learned behaviour. Whatever the horse does is, from this point of view, something you taught the horse to do and has nothing to do with any feeling of love, respect etc that the horse has for you, or if the horse sees you as a leader.

But, horses are herd animals. This mean that a horse always knows who the leader is in a herd, even if this herd only consists of one horse and one human. Or at least the horse always knows who at the moment is in charge of looking after potential danger spots in the surroundings. As Maria wrote in last week's blog:

”Within a horse herd there is a situation-based leadership. Different jobs have different 'leaders', some individuals are responsible for certain stages of the everyday activities of a herd. One is good at finding water, one being the guard, one finding herbs, minerals, one fostering the fillys and one being ready for defence, etc. ”

So, OK, horses cannot perform abstract reasoning, they don't write blogs and don't read any for that matter. But there is for sure a big difference in being with a horse that doesn't see me, walk all over me, does whatever he/she feels like but not whatever I asked for (follow me from the field to the barn, stand still when mounting, loading, pick up the correct lead etc), and a horse that calmly follows me, and in a calm and attentive state responds to my light requests.

The horse that response with lightness to my light request, does he/she see me as his/her leader? Well, I don't know what the horse calls it, but to me this is leadership. Leadership to me is to gain the horse's attention so that I can communicate with my horse. If I have the horse's attention and ways to communicate, at the least I can let my horse know I don't particularly like being physically pushed around by backing him/her out of my space. So, if the scientists don't want us to use words like “leadership” and “respect”, what words should we use to describe the difference in behaviour between the first and the second horse?

Whatever word you choose to use, leadership or learned behaviour, the one thing that both science and NH have in common is the emphasis on the horse handler's behaviour. If I want to teach my horse to behave in any particular way I will have to behave in a way that the horse can understand. What this is called seems to differ with different communities.

What do you want to call it?

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

Leadership is all about relationship.

When I started with horses, no one talked about leadership with me as it is talked about today. I remember being pushed and shoved around by cunning ponies, had my share of bruses and aces and that it somehow was considered to be the kind of lessons a rider needed to have.

I do believe (in retrospect, of course) that these bangs and bashes laid the foundation for the fear that I actually had for horses for many years, without ever believing I was scared! I felt a lack of trust, I knew that even if horses were said to be "nice" they could actually cause real pain.

What made life unpredictable was that I could not see the pattern for when the horse would be "good or bad." It meant that my action was based on the principle Guilty By Suspicion with the horsemanship I have learned, and that would be to jerk the reins roaring "Stand still you biiip-ing horse".

We've talked leadership in the blog, and I thought I'd add to that on the basis of two books - All the King's horses by Emelie Cajsdotter and Finding the Magic of Dan Sumerel.

A quotation from Emelie's book. "If you communicate with wild horses, they seldom speak about leadership. But they often talk about survival. For a flight animal, it is necessary to detect a potential danger, and when it occurs, already be in motion. When all this happens in the split of a second, there is no time for doubt or a peer discord. Each herd member must know his place. From a human perspective, we have studied this behavior and decided to call it ranking. By doing so, we assume that the leading horse is the group leader. We assume that this horse is the fastest, strongest and most intelligent horse. As a result, there are many animal owners who ask me to find out who the leader is in the stable. Alternatively, which human they regard as the dominant. But if you ask that question to a horse, you always and without exception get the same answer. They describe the different herd members' personalities, horses as well as people. --- It seems to be impossible for them to define a specific leader. Instead, they describe a sophisticated interaction, where the foundation of the structure is that each individual first and foremost knows himself. "

Within a horse herd there is a situation-based leadership. Different jobs have different 'leaders', some individuals are responsible for certain stages of the every day activities of a herd. One is good at finding water, one being the guard, one finding herbs, minerals, one fostering the fillys and one being ready for defense, etc.

In Dan Sumerels book is a wonderful section that shows that this situational leadership includes us. After an distance competition Dan and two friends rides out to remove all the paper-strips that has marked the track. When they turn back home they realize that it will be dark "Can-not-see-hand-in-the-black" and with at least three hours of riding ahead of them, along the winding and brushy mountain paths he will experience something extraordinary.

I quote "My concern and fear started to release and I handed over my well-being to Cisgo. My whole perspective on the ride changed. I had to trust him, because I had no opportunity to control the situation. We humans always want to be in control, because we believe we can and know everything. Sometimes we do not know everything. Lose the possibility to see when riding in the Colorado mountains and you will notice how little control you have. " (This is a quote based on the swdish translation of Dan’s book and therefore not an exact quotation.)

Leadership is about the relationship between individuals more than determing who rules and who obey. But nevertheless, it must be a certain degree of rule and obey in the horse and human relationship.

I take my own ladies and as an example. When I itch my 17 year old, I let her itch back, because she has learned just to rub me with her muzzle. My 1-year old can NOT itch back because she wants return the favour with her teeth. That sort of mutual grooming is ok with a horse but not with me!

In everyday chores, there are many moments that qualify for the application above, for the simple reason that we humans are so much more fragile (and slower and weaker) than horses.

Trust is a basic requirement for any relationship, and it grows out of friendliness, comfort and clarity and is made possible by the fact that "every individual first and foremost knows himself." as it says at the end of the quotation from Emelie Cajsdotters book.

Horse's nature and leadership

What have high quality Natural Horsemanship and Classical Equitation in common? Both respect the nature of the horse. I wrote ”high quality” since unfortunately there are trainers who claim they work according to the principles of Natural Horsemanship and Classical Equitation but still don't respect the nature of the horse.

Horses are not humans. There are certain specific differences in the way horses function compared to us humans. The nature of the horse as a species have not changed in the 6,000 years humans have invited horses to be part of our daily lives. I like to think that people who either instinctively understood or learned to understand the horse's nature were, and still are, more successful in getting the horse to do whatever he or she asked of the horse.

What are these ancient secrets of the horse's nature*?

1) The horse is a herd animal. In a herd of horses all individuals always know how the leader is. This also holds true if the herd consists of you and your horse.
2) The horse is a flight animal. The best defence for a horse is to run away from danger. It is the leader's job to look out for danger and to make decisions about the necessity of flight, or not. Who do you want to make these decision when you handle a horse, you or your horse?
3) The horses' reflexes are 6-7 times faster than humans. This is the reason we as humans don't always notice what the horse does until after he's done it. Especially if the horse thinks he/she is the leader and need to make a decision about flight.
4) Horses are desensitized quickly. When the horse's flight response is triggered, it will usually run 200-500 meters. If whatever scared the horse is not still in pursuit, the horse will stop, turn and start to explore what triggered the flight response.
5) Movement determines who is the leader. The individual that can get others to give up a certain space is the leader. A very good leader can get others give up their space simply by being focused, no need for negative emotions like frustration or anger.

The day-to-day handling of the horse as well as riding is so much simpler if I just remember how the horse's nature influences its behaviour. Riding can also be seen as a manifestation of leadership. The leader is the one that makes a decision about where to go and when. On a basic level this might mean you ask the horse to turn right, exactly how this is done the horse can decide for itself. When riding with precision, you not only ask the horse to turn to the right, but also exactly how this should be done. For instance with the weight on the right hind leg (turn on the haunches) and looking in the direction of the movement.

* Read more in "Understanding the ancient secrets of the horse's mind" by Robert M Miller(1999)

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

Train confidence and independence

Last week Maria wrote about her clinic experience with Ed Dabney. Last Saturday it was my turn to organise a demonstration and lesson day with Ed, this time in Vallentuna right outside of Stockholm. More than 30 people attended and they all went home with new inspiration and practical tools to achieve a better relationship and communication with their horses.

At dinner we discussed the difference between training the horse's confidence and its independence.

Train confidence
When you are training your horse's tolerance, it is simply to get him/her used to scary objects, sounds and so on. When you train the horse's confidence, you teach the horse to dare to stand still and not run away. To run away is of course the horse's first response when something frightens it. When the horse gets used to the saddle/plastic bags/wash rack/horse trailer etc. the flight response will no longer be triggered, instead the horse remains calm, and a calm horse is a horse that is safe to handle for us humans. Your horse will have gained self-confidence.

The horse's reaction decides
To train the confidence of your horse you gradually introduce a frightening object, like a plastic bag. At first you fold the bag in your hand and caress your horse with the bag. The important thing here is that it is the horse's reaction that determines when you remove the bag. When the horse stands still, you remove the bag. The behavior your horse displays when you remove the scary object, this is the behavior your horse will repeat. The learning for the horse is in the release. If you remove the bag when the horse steps away, this is what the horse learns to do. So it is the horse's reaction that determines what you do and when you do it. Gradually you unfold the bag and move it with more intensity until the horse is completely confident.

Train independence
You train your horse's independence when you teach the horse to leave his herd. Horses may react strongly when they are left alone inside the barn, or outside in the paddock, or when she/he is separated from other horses when you are out riding. Here it is the horse's need to belong to a herd that determines the horse's reaction. What your horse needs to learn is that his/her herd members will come back.

The clock decides
When you train your horse to have greater independence, that is to be without his/her herd, then it is not the horse's reaction to decide what to do, but the clock. A horse that has difficulties with, for example, being left alone inside the barn, you leave him/her alone inside the barn for a predetermined period of time. Whatever happens, you do not bring the horse's friend back until the deadline is up. You can start with 30 seconds, two minutes or 10 minutes. The important thing is that you do not bring the horse's friend back into the barn until the time is up. When your horse learns that his/her friend will come back your horse will learn to accept to be left alone. Gradually, you can then increase the time that your horse is alone.

Rescued at the right time

When the need is great, help is close, so they say. And in my case, I am happy that the saying was accurate. Our newly bought filly, a one-year old North Swedish Draught horse had already early in life realized that she is stronger and faster - both in reaction speed and movement forward than us humans.

My limited experience of NH was not enough. Lena, who has a little more experience, managed to hang in there a bit longer but even she found herself outmaneuvered. Our little lady had learned that when she was sent out on the volte, she could, by going in the tangent direction, escape our influence. When Lena managed to stop her a few times, she just a stylishly rose on her hind legs and added a light twist to release herself from us. Thereby she transformed a small victory to a big loss for us.

Now we had do put our heads togheter, this maneuver was so effective that we felt that if we were to continue, it would only result in her developing and refining her escape technique.

Who could help me??! I did not want someone who would "push through" anything, nor was I interested in putting a bit in her mouth to gain some sort of control through pain and discomfort...that kind of control is only an illusion and often leads to other problems later in the training program. There is a risk that the horse's trust in people is effected. It was then remedy materalised itself in the shape of a man from the American plains, Ed Dabney.

Madam Fortuna arranged that Ed was giving a clinic in northern Finland (Kokkola) and that he had the opportunity to dedicate one day to my challenge before he had to move on.

We had a demo at out house, where Ed showed "Six Keys to Harmony" the program he developed to train riders and horses to a better relationship. Before we started the day we had agreed to do all six keys, and then "provoke" a escape-reaktion after lunch, we did not have to wait so long ...

At 11, without warning, Houdini Horse pulled from Ed's daughter Elizabeth and disappeared into the forest. After the escapade Ed took over the rope and even he saw the horse's rear end disappear in between the trees.

The duel had begun. Ed picked his weapons. Lasso. Single pillar.
When Ed chosed the lasso, he removed the rope halter - one aid at the time. He made sure that he never (and I mean n e v e r) was the one who began to pull, our filly had to run out lasso rope before Ed put it to a stop by using a tree pillar. When she after a while realized that there was a stop to run into, Ed changed back to the rope halter.

Now an interesting moment occurred. Ed let her go on a volte, we all saw that she was considering pulling but, at the moment when she could have left, she reconsidered her descision and chose to remain on the volte. At that point two hours had passed and we took a break for lunch.

After lunch, Ed continued the training and showed me how I could break the escapes without ever having to pull on the rope and thus her head. And this is when it struck me how strong the habit is within me (and probably for some of you too) to just "pull on the head" of the horse when it gets hot. I had to be very observant of myself so that I had a good slack in the rope when I asked her to give the hind legs. If I was hanging on to her, albeit tiny, I could feel how she "took my force and leaned into it" and that force, really was something we wanted to avoid provoking...

Ed pointed out that the hand is the primary aid and that, by virtue of being it, should always be light. Especially in my case, it seemed relevant. I want her to be with me but without me needing to hold on like mad, be it reins or rope, and I can achieve that lightness by letting the secondary aid make my will clear. I can let the rope whiz in the air or cause it to land on the horses hip as a reinforcement, and thereby I need not to compromise on the lightness in the rope.

Now it has to be said that Ed possesses a cobra's speed in his work with horses. At one point, he worked my old mare and I saw that she tried to slip away from work by moving forward instead of sidways. He made the necessary correction long before my brain even had taken the decision of a correction. I have a little left to work on...

So the recipe from Dr. Ed reads that I should under no circumstances lose the filly as long as she demonstrates a tendency to go against the rope halter. Believe me, she was smooth as butter with Ed but showed evidence of her old behviour as soon as I took over the rope. They know who runs them. My shift begins at the single pillar before I move out in the paddock. Pure classical training in other words!

The day gave me a lot more insight, such as the horses adapt more quickly to each of us than we do to any of them. They read us better, they outsmart us faster, they establish leadership hierarchy faster than we can imagine.

Ed left a question for you. Out of one hundred horse owners, how many are there who have a functioning leadership in relation to the horse?

Think about it, the answer will be in my next posting.

Three pair of words to devote your life to

This is a description of three pair of words which play an important role in the Alexander Technique.

First out is inhibition and direction.
Inhibition, to cancel something, can also be summarized in the word no. Direction is what you consciously choose to do instead. For riders, the ability to inhibit is crucial. In practical terms this means that if you give the horse an aid you sit quietly and inhibit all impulses to do anything further and wait for the horse's response.

If you work the horse from the ground and would like to make a "join-up” inhibition is necessary. It is when you remain silent and still you give the horse space to make a choice - join up or await. And the horse's response will determine your next move - not your own impatience or desire for a specific outcome.

And that automatically leads to the next pair of words; means-where-by and end gaining. Our proverb "the end justifies the means" sums it up pretty well. What do you do to achieve your goal? Is the goal primary and how it is reached secondary? Do you make your horse sacrifice himself, his health, his life for you to reach your goals? Or do you let your horse have a say and take account of it? Are you taking account of yourself?

But, as it is said in Alice in Wonderland, if you don’t know where you are going you can go either way…So a goal give our directions something to aim for.

And finally, use and function. How you use your body affects how well it can function. Muscles that works tense up, tense muscles become tight muscles and that means that all blood vessels inside the muscle is squeezed together. If you constantly have high muscle tension in your body the circulatory systems within will have a hard time working properly and that means that oxygen, nutrients and waste products have difficulty travelling inside you.

For the rider the high muscle tension affects your ability to be flexible and pliable on the horse. Tense muscles will lead to less mobility in the joints and that is detrimental because it is through having access to freely moving joints we absorb the horse's movements.

Now you have a task to train you in all three word pairs.
Take a pen and paper. Grasp the pen, as if you were to start writing,
say NO to the impulse and
check whether or not you have leaned into the paper by rounding your back, check how hard you hold the pen.
Now straighten your back, keep a certain distance to the mission. How hard do you need to hold the pen to keep in place? How light can you hold it between your fingers and still be able to write? A light touch generates less tension which in turn leaves freedom for movement in the joints.

Take that light touch and straight back with you to your next ride and see what happens...