Voice

Electra learning directional language and Voice Communication

There is a lot of debate about using your voice when training. Some are for it and some are against. I don't mind either way. I sometimes use my voice when I feel it's useful and sometimes I prefer my body language. Sometimes I use both.

If you were a fly on the wall during my training sessions, you would hear me babbling conversationally to my long time friends and trainees. It is how I personally set intention for myself. I feel in turn the horses read that intention and my patterns and inflection. I don't always talk though. I know that there will be times when I cannot use my voice for a variety of reasons so it is good to be able to ask your horse things both with and without verbal communication.

For young Electra, I am teaching her words like Walk, Trot, and Canter. Also, most importantly, the word "Good" you've done well. We've done well. It is important in her development that she learn the word and the body language so she has what I call an association cue when I am mounted on her. By combining Liberty FUN!damentals with Voice, Line and In Hand exercises, Electra will be well prepared to understand direction and the progression to Mounted by the time I feel she is ready for me to get on her. She will mainly have to get used to my weight and the communication coming from her back.

It's important to discipline ourselves to say a word only once. Also to cluck no more than twice. Alright, all you readers out there, who is a unconscious violator of this rule? I know I see plenty of repeating of words and clucking in my travels! That is my only suggestion when using voice communication. It is a fine way to communicate but always have a body language to make it clear what that word means. Horses are VERY fast learners and literally Electra learned those words in one session.

I tend to do things with balance in mind. Never too much of any one thing. So use your voice or not by your own decision and train in a way that works for you and your horse. It really comes down to learning to be a clear, effective, Communicator. Oats for thought.
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9/31-10/2 FDH Horsemanship Clinic: Plainfield, MA
11/30-12/2 FDH clinic in New Zealand: at Taralee stables, Carterton, NZ
11/22-11/24- FDH Clinic in Australia Strath Creek, Victoria, Australia
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Context

In this Context, I see the perfect moment to bring up Eye Contact

I talk a lot about trying as much as possible to keep things in context for Horses. What do I mean by that? It means that horses don't just do things for the sake of doing them. They do them with intention and purpose. For example, a horse will only move another horse because he wants to communicate something. He is not practicing moving the other horse. There is always a rhyme or reason.

When I am training horses, I try to keep things in context by doing them in real time and working with situations which are directly in front of me in the moment. It even works with more advanced exercises. Let's take an easy example. My horse is in my personal space a bit too much. If I ask him to back up a certain distance and halt. This Communication has Intention, Meaning and Clarity to the horse. I didn't move him just to see if i could. I moved him because I feel safer with him a little bit farther away. He will not take that personally because he sees there's a reason for the request. You see what I am getting at?

While working with the young Mare Electra. I noticed she was very oral and liked to chew on things. I gently communicated what I thought was ok to play with (hula hoops, barrels and she loves tarps!) and redirected her away from things I'd prefer her not to chew. She understands now which things are ok to put her mouth on and which things are not. She is young and she will like to inspect things out of curiosity which I want her to freely express. At first, she was unsure of the video camera and then became very interested in it. Using the context of wanting to show her it was my territory but I wanted her to be able to inspect it gently (and not damage it) I allowed her to come in with her nose but not to push it or get it wet. In this interaction, There was context. I was communicating that this object was mine and how I would like it to be treated without deterring her curiosity. This is a very important balance.

Food exercises will bring up Context immediately with most horses. You have it or another horse does and they want it. It is the way I build quick rapport with horses if i have the opportunity, when I have very little time to do so. 

In more advanced exercises, Patterns and Intention set the Context. For example, If I carefully visualize and focus on a specific shape (a square), at a specific speed (a walk), at a specific symmetry (in shoulder in) ( I know that's a lot but I said more advanced! :)) I have given my horse a clear context for what the objective is. As opposed to thinking things like "I really wish my horse would put his head down" "Why isn't he responding to my cues?" "I must not be doing it right" None of these provide context. This does "Let's make a Square" "The square is exactly this big" "Let's do it in this gait" "In this shape" And remember, This is not about the doing and perfection, It is about the Conversation that comes up when we create the Context. That is the fun discovery part if you let go of expectation and needing it to be perfect right away. The shape pattern gives you a purpose and you use it to guide the conversation without judgement.

I brought this up because it is very important to our daily practice and how we avoid what feels like drilling to our horses. I also always say if I need to practice something for my own understanding a few more times, I explain to my horse, It's for me to learn not for you, you are doing fine! And I thank them for having patience with my learning process. Oats for thought.
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Upcoming events
9/31-10/2 FDH Horsemanship Clinic: Plainfield, MA
11/30-12/2 FDH clinic in New Zealand: at Taralee stables, Carterton, NZ
11/22-11/24- FDH Clinic in Australia Strath Creek, Victoria, Australia
for more info and registration
Calendar:http://www.fdhorsemanship.com/#!calendar

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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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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Confident Horseman exercise part 3...Change your mind, Change your horse

Riding Mercury Bridless requires me to be completely focused on what I want to have happen and not what bad and dangerous things could happen...

I will be offering for those who want to participate, a Flower Essence mix suggestion for a new approach to dealing with fear in the horse and person. It will complement the next exercise which has 3 steps to it, is the hardest but also the most powerful.

The next part of the exercise is:

Step 1: Learn how to identify fear coming up in yourself as it starts. Then recognize the fearful or negative thoughts that follow.
Example: "Oh my horse is scared of dogs, and hear comes one" the next thought may be "oh he's going to spook and I'm going to fall off!"
So this is how the fearful mind starts to gain power or the situation.

Step 2: Recognize the the thoughts coming up and make a choice to change them to a positive thought.
Example: "I am now changing my mind about this" We are walking calmly past the dog, and nothing is going to happen" You'll note I said "we" not the horse is going to. "We" is a team, a partnership. You can add calm deep breathing to release your own fear and tension and mirror to your horse. Two other very powerful exercises is to visualize you and your horse doing exactly what you'd like. So I'd see me and my horse walking calmly past the dog together. I'd see that picture in my mind and hold it and breath. Some of you may find it nearly inpossible to not visualize a bad experience so instead, I want you to visualize something calming and soothing that may have nothing to do with that moment. Examples would be a sunset, A beach, doing yoga, a hot bath, even a glass of wine! Hold that though until you can own it and the moment has passed. This takes practice but it does become a new thought pattern with time.

Step 3: I consider an advanced exercise and a goal to set for yourselves. It involves getting to the point where you don't even get to a place of fear anymore when a possible situation arises. This is when you have mastered the power of the mind.
Example: You are riding toward the dog and you immediately send a picture of the two of you walking calmly passed the dog. In this scenario you exhibit what I call Calm Leadership. You recognize the horses concern and using positive visualization. you "Lead" your horses mind to a calm place with yours. You maintain clear focus and your horse has confidence in your Leadership and guidance. We don't want our horse to feel like he has to take over every time he is afraid because we get just as frightened as him.

One other scenario I want to talk about is "Real" fear, necessary, sensible, self preservation fear. This is the voice that says "We are in real danger and we need to get safe. That is the time to listen to your instincts and stay as clear as possible. Try to learn the difference between your gut telling you the truth and your mind taking over control of clear thinking.

As for the Flower Essence part of this. There are Essences that can help release the grip of fear and "Stuck Thinking Patterns" I am offering to help anyone who may feel they need additional help of Flower  Essences to help release a really stuck pattern in themselves and or their horse. Respond in the comments section. Let me know how your confidence is improving!
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