Precision

Riding bridless requires precise communication!

Precision can mean a lot of things to a lot of people and horses. To me, Precision practice or patterns at Liberty, on line, Mounted, or over obstacles, is an opportunity to play with how well my horse and I are communicating.

I know many people who see arena practice as boring and pointless but it can add a fun challenge, variety and do what I call Skill building. If you work on asking your horse to do very specific things on very specific patterns, figures or obstacles, It builds Connection and Communication while exercising and strengthening your horse.

Precision can be a slippery slope to Control Freak for some people and that is not the goal. One of my challenges in teaching people Dressage and Dressage based riding is, that of all the disciplines, Dressage has the worst track record of turning people into obsessed control freaks. It is not the point to nit pick. It is the point to use progressively challenging patterns and figures to challenge you and your horses ability to communicate with each other.

Visualization is very important for patterns and in that aspect it can be very focusing and even meditative to practice. If your are more focused on the pattern then whether your horse will do it or not, your horse will focus on it very well. This applies to Liberty, Line, or Mounted practice.

The challenge for this week is to make a pattern at Liberty, on Line, or Mounted and practice it with your horse. Be mindful that the pattern is a foundation for a conversation to start between you and your horse and that it is only a target to strive for. The fun part is the conversation. For example, If I ask Mercury to walk a 15 meter circle with me with bend, the fun part is communicating that figure to him. If he leaves the figure or looks the other way, We will find a way to come back to our circle but it doesn't matter how long or what we do in between. Another fun pattern is to take 4 cones or Hula Hoops and lay them down in a square pattern that is a comfortable size for your horse to walk, trot, and canter (if you are ready) around. I will challenge you to use this pattern creatively as there are many ways to work with it from beginner to advanced. One hint is figure eights and another is transitions. Maybe you will come up with something I haven't thought of! Have fun!
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What food tells me about a horse

Once upon a time before I understood the relevance of food exercises with horses, I merely gave my horses treats whenever I wanted or just avoided food when it became an issue.

Upon learning the Carolyn Resnick's Waterhole Rituals, I became very aware of what an important area this was to work with.

As I began working more appropriately with food, I found ways to incorporate it into all types of exercises.

Let's start with simple ideas like how horses move each other around food to show leadership and rank when we drop multiple piles of hay, they will move each other around those piles. Sometimes people think it is mean or random but it is natural behavior amongst horses.

When I observe horses eating together it can tell me who is food oriented and who is not, who are buddies (they will share food), and what the general rank is in the herd.

When I have very little time to build rapport with a horse during session, I will use food or treats to get a feel for a horses' character. If I offer a horse food and he is stand offish, that tells me something about how he feels about me or people. If I offer a horse food and he tries to grab it or get pushy with me, that tells me about that horse. With the pushy horse, I know I have an opportunity to start shaping boundaries and that let's me start a natural flow to the relationship. I will spend more time with the shy horse trying to grow their trust until they are comfortable with me.

Another way I use food, is as a measure of how much a horse is set against something. For example if I am going to try to use food as a motivation to encourage a horse to do something more challenging, like step toward water and he wont take it. That tells me he is not ready to do the task. This is not to be confused with coaxing. It is meant to be a reward that is given for a good effort. (see videos below, horses are allowed to choose interaction with the exercise and leave if they want at any time).

When I travel with horses to new places, The grazing exercises combined with Eye Contact are invaluable. If I unload my horse from the trailer or have him at a new place with lots of stimulating activity going on, asking my horse to keep an eye on me and then giving permission to graze is a really good way to reward and gain focus. Once I have focus, I can keep the lines of connection and communication open between me and my horse.

Here is a video playlist of how I used treat games to work with clippers with several horses at Liberty and one in particular who refused to be clipped and was quite dangerous. I am also employing the very effective Monkey see-Monkey do approach by working with several horses at once and employing a couple that are comfortable with clipping. Enjoy!
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Patterns

Last week I played with a Fjord named Sonja

Sorry for the missed blog post last week but I was off at clinics and intensives. I had a lot of fun with new people and their horses. As usual, my 4 legged assistants were outstanding!

This week I wanted to talk about Patterns. Not the patterns we use to train with. But the patterns of behavior we have and aren't aware of. Why is this important? Because our horses are 100% aware of our patterns and adapt to them for good or bad. In other words our horses can train us without us even knowing it.

Often when I go to work with a horse and person, The first thing I look at is the person's patterns. I look at their energy, their body language, and their rhythm. I then look at their horses reactions to their patterns. I need to get a base line of what is working and not working in the relationship by what patterns are set between the horse and person. We can get into this cycle with our horses without even knowing how we got to them. Horses are so observant of our energy and habits, they know us better then we know ourselves sometimes.

Horses can get into a set behavior pattern because of our patterns. A great example of this is when a school horse learns to adapt to different riders and handlers. With one rider he will perform nicely and with another one he will be quite difficult. Horses that are handled by different people are masters of sizing us up quickly.

One of the things I learn when I teach Liberty classes is that I can watch several people perform the same exercises and see the patterns of their energy without judgement. I can quickly pick up on where they are most likely stuck with their own horses by watching them work with a different horse.

Sometimes people don't understand or see the value in why they would take a Liberty class with a horse nobody has worked with before and not your own horse. I have several reasons.

1. When we work with a strange horse we have no expectations because he is not our own.
2. We learn what the proper "neutral" non needy mindset is for our own horses by working with a strange horse.
3. We have no preexisting patterns with this horse so we have a "clean slate" relationship.
4. We can see how you can build connection with any horse from scratch.
5. You can learn with real time, real life reactions.
6. You can simulate herd dynamic and integration with several other "human" herd members and the participating horse.
7. We can learn by watching other peoples patterns.

I have an awareness exercise for you to try. Next time you go to your horse, pay really close attention to your daily patterns or rituals. Notice the positive ones and the ones that actually may be promoting a behavior you don't care for. If you are happy with all your habits, good for you! Think about your dog if you own one. All our dogs know when are going out the door and when it's for a walk or a trip.

I have a story from my younger days when I was little and I had my Saddlebred. I was just learning and I didn't have much experience with horses, Just a fierce love and desire and boundless courage. I got this horse with my instructor and set about working with him. I used to lunge him because he was very energetic. I used to do the same pattern every time. Walk, then trot, then canter. Day after day. I did not know to do anything else at the time. One day my instructor came out and said "why don't you change up you lunging routine a bit" so eager to learn, I tried doing things in a different order. My horse went nuts! He was so used to my routine it actually upset him when I changed it. I had know idea how much of a stuck pattern we were in. My instructor however, had been thankfully keeping an eye on me.

Now a days, This is not a problem so much for me, but I do like to work with a coach so that there are fresh eyes on me and my horses. It took fresh eyes to help me with some things with Mercury that I was not seeing. That is why I always work with someone when I can. Otherwise known as a ground person.

Even if you don't have a more experienced person around to watch you, you can have a friend or family member watch you and ask them if they see and patterns or habits. They can effect your handling and riding without you even knowing. Oats for thought.

Upcoming events:
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5/12 FDH 1 day Playshop and Demo at Windhorse International, CT
5/25-26 FDH 2 day clinic in Greenville, NY
6/21-23 FDH UK Clinic at The New Horse, Motcombe, UK

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Obstacles and Agility fun

With the growing interest in Agility, I thought I show some of the things I play with at Liberty. I incorporate obstacles for several benefits and reasons.

• They add variety and creativity to my sessions.
• Different configurations offer Physiotherapy, symmetry and suppleness benefits. 
• They can easily be done at Liberty.
• They help Hunter, Jumper, Eventer practice to be fun, a positive and Connecting experience.
• They build connection and desire in the performance horse.
• Enhance Dressage training.
• Help horses engage their core muscles and build stronger toplines.
• Help horses learn to focus and be careful with their feet.
• Fear issues around objects.

Enjoy this video http://fdhvirtualclinic.vidmeup.com/view?q=5170b6dfa3735.flv&playlist=1
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Macie

I met Macie a little while ago when her owner came to me concerned if they were a good match or not. I went to visit Macie for the first few times and quickly assessed her character and what her owner was struggling with.

The first thing I noticed about Macie was, she was extremely smart. One of the smartest horses I've ever met. There's smart and then there's Macie. She was also dominant with her smarts. I saw how she was brave, intelligent and VERY pushy. She also hadn't had an approach that respected her brains and beauty. She is a very sensitive mare and the challenge with her was to be worthy of her listening to a request. Also to come up with requests that kept her engaged and interested in the conversation.

Macie's training involves problem solving several things.

1. She was bolting
2. She was very strong on lead and in the bridle
3. She was energy dominant
4. She was heavy on the forehand
5. She was very stiff in her body
6. She didn't want to focus on requests
7. She had an erratic rhythm

Using the Liberty-Line-Mounted approach, she has and continues to become really fun. She is still a work in progress as you will see in her video clip, but she has come so far in so little time. It is awesome to see it unfolding.

Exercises I used to help her and her person were:

• Waterhole Rituals (most helpful leading from behind and eye contact)
• Work with food
• Liberty Fundamentals (Liberty suppling and Circling)
• Line work (precursor to In Hand)
• In Hand work for symmetry and suppleness
• Mounted work which reaffirmed Liberty, Line and In Hand exercises

A horse like Macie could easily be branded "Naughty" dangerous and disrespectful. She has strong opinions about things and requires a interesting and varied approach that suits her character. It is up us to make her training interesting enough for her not to be bored and keep inventing new exercises that challenge her in good ways. Enjoy a video of her here http://fdhvirtualclinic.vidmeup.com/view?q=516795180b9d0.flv

Scenes from Sharing Territory: Part 2

More scenes from Sharing Territory with Mercury and his new herd mates.
See video here http://fdhvirtualclinic.vidmeup.com/view?q=515e475e666a8.flv&playlist=1

Respect

Though small and adorable, Oliver can be quite rude!

Respect is a word I find thrown around a lot in horse training and Natural Horsemanship. I find that it seems to always be in favor of the horse respecting the person. But respect in my opinion, is a two way street for all beings.

I was working with a horse today. The horse was very defensive of it's space even from a distance. I was with the horse at liberty. I was working in a way to let the horse know I wanted to be clear where it was comfortable with me and how close. This horse gave me a lot of clear communication. I was very interested in building trust and curiosity with the horse so I was very attentive and respectful of the "Nos" I was getting. Those Nos are so important when working with a horse. They are not there to push through or pressure around. They are to be looked at and asked "why is that no there?" Once you understand the no it can actually be one of your most powerful tools to build a friendship with a horse.

I have a way of categorizing whether behavior is disrespectful or not. It's very simple. If a horse has no idea how I like to be treated because he has never been around me and he does something I don't care for, It is my responsibility to ask the horse nicely if they could do something else (or re-pattern the behavior). If I ask nicely 3 times and they still insist on the behavior. I then consider it rude and disrespectful. Why 3 times? Because in my experience with training and teaching, 3 times is enough times to establish a fairly clear understanding of a request or new information. Not perfect, just understanding. I feel this way about any animal or person for that matter.

More often then not I feel like the horses get disrespected more then we do. Some horses just take it and some horses will retaliate. So my next question when a horse seems to be "disrespectful" is "how did he get this way?" Does he have a good reason to be this way or is he a bit like a child that hasn't been given healthy boundaries. Again, that behavior is there for a reason.

People are often unintentionally and unconsciously disrespectful of horses. Horses are amazingly patient, compassionate and tolerant animals. I believe it is because they feel our intention and know we are not trying to purposefully do them harm. This is one of the qualities I love about them. I find it interesting and a shame, that when a horse is trying to let you know he would like to be treated differently in a more opinionated way, people often say that horse is naughty, mean or disrespectful. We need to stop and listen more at these times before we make a snap judgement.

So next time you are with your horse, pay close attention to your interactions and the no and yes and don't judge just gather information about your horse. Then decide what is the best way to proceed with trust and friendship in mind. Oats for thought...
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