We’ve all heard the familiar ‘natural horsemanship’ terms - Respect, Trust and Willingness - qualities we desire to see in our horses…
and I think most horsepeople would agree that no matter what discipline we are involved in, whether it be dressage, jumping, driving, trails, pleasure, endurance…you name it, it makes for a much more pleasureable experience when the horse we are riding, or working with on the ground, IS respectful, trusting, focused, and willing.
These key qualities make up a foundation that must be in place in order to truly “enjoy the rideâ€, and also to achieve the best possible performance from our equine partners.
So HOW do we go about building this foundation ?
A - it all starts with Awareness
“It is the human who must learn how a horse truly thinks, not the horse who should be
expected to learn to think like a human†Chris Irwin
- learn how to ‘read’ your horse’s body language, both on the ground and in the saddle – be aware of the signals you are being sent
- learn about herd dynamics – be aware of how horses communicate in the herd, and about their natural instincts as a prey animal
- learn how your own body language affects your horse’s behaviour and how to adjust it to speak ‘horse’ calmly and clearly
B - become the Better horse
“If we want our horses to respect us and trust us, then we need to be perceived as the
better horse, and that requires absolute clarity in the relationship as to “who pushes whom aroundâ€. C.Irwin
- learn how to play horse games by horse rules, and learn how to win
learn how to become the better horse, and how to avoid becoming a ‘bully horse’ – i.e., earn the respect by being ‘better’…not ‘badder’
C - develop Consistency
“If we learn how to communicate with horses in their own language, and if we are willing to play horse games by horse rules, and if we are consistently winning the game of who pushes whom, then we can gain our horse’s respect, trust, focus and willingness†C.Irwin
- work towards becoming 100% consistent and reap the rewards…rewards such as:
your horse gaining trust & confidence in you as the leader; you gaining confidence & trust in your horse.. other fringe benefits - the angry horse becomes content, the nervous horse becomes confident, the hyper horse calms down, and the sullen becomes willing.
