Working with the horse's mind

I got a call last week from a good friend and client of mine.  I started her 3 year old mare at the end of last year.  This is a very smart and athletic mare that stands over 16 hands tall.  She’s not a beginner’s horse but the owner is advanced and is very capable of working with her.  She’s a dedicated student and spent a lot of time with me before the horse went home from training.  She said that the horse had started bucking and wanted to bring her back to me for some help.  She wanted me to ride the %^&*# out of her.  I told her that probably wasn’t going to solve the problem and I was pretty sure that the probem was in her mind.  She delivered the horse to me that same evening.  As soon as the horse stepped out of the trailer my suspicions were confirmed.  She was extremely wound up and was about 10 feet tall.  The owner supplied me with several reasons why the horse was so upset and I just calmly said that it didn’t matter.  It's not the reason that's important, it's the solution.  I started with her the next morning.  I worked her body from the ground until her mind started to get quiet.  If you can get a hold of a horse’s feet, it starts to create a calming effect.  When I climbed into the saddle, I could feel her tension.  I just kept working with her body until I could feel her relax.  She did buck to the right at the canter.  Again, I got a hold of her feet until she started to relax.  When we were done, her nose was on the ground, and she was quiet.  She wasn’t sweaty and out of breath but her mind was quiet.  What I felt from the horse is that when she would get scared or anxious, her owner would grab up on her.  These young horses need to move their feet when they are scared or anxious.  It's our job to give them a structured program where this is possible.  The more that we try to suppress movement, the greater the need becomes and that can lead to rearing, bucking, and bolting  Her owner came by the next day to watch me work with her horse.  The following is her view of the process.  I will update my blog with their progress over the next few weeks.

1/28/2011

Connect – Reading her mind through her body.

Watching Susan work with my horse this evening, I learned that the most important element of my work with her is my approach of connecting with her.  I thought that I was accomplishing this through my groundwork drills – but I was missing the point.  I was putting her through her paces, but not really noticing her mental attitude - the relaxing of her mind.  To gauge her mental attitude, take notice of her head set – the lower the headset, the calmer and quieter she is.  Work to accomplish this (the low headset); insist on a quiet, calm, relaxed demeanor before riding her.