Intention

Intention is a very important part of everything we do with horses. Especially because animals, not just horses can sense our intentions. I posted this photo because interestingly, I never intended to ride bridless. It evolved out of my Intention to communicate with less equipment and more language.

There are numerous examples of this in action but here's an easy one you may have seen. A person goes out to a pasture of a hard to catch horse. They have a halter hidden behind their back. This makes me laugh always. That horse knows the intention to catch him. He is reading the person not the halter.

I had a mare in training a long time ago who hated to be de-wormed. I swear she knew the day I woke up and "thought" today is worming day before I even came out of the house. She was no where to be found that day and wouldn't come near me. Any other day she was no problem at all.

So how do we do we use Intentional thinking to create positive communication instead of sending out unclear and unintended ideas and body language.

Today I was at the farm and Mercury had gotten a cut under his eye. These are notorious difficult areas to doctor due to the proximity of the eye and the delicateness of the area. I did not put a halter on Merc. I simple stood with him and said I need to look at your eye so I can help you heal it. I made my actions slow, patient and deliberate and he allowed me to put the Calendula gel on the wound. He never pulled away or even flinched.

In training communication, Intention looks as broad as "we're going to have a fun session today" to "I am going to help my horse learn to push more with this hind leg" All Training starts with a thought of what you would like to do BUT no attachment to what the outcome is. That is something that needs to be felt in the moment and is a constantly changing energy. My Intention during training may change and evolve throughout the session. The key is staying slow and giving space for thoughtful Intentions. Sometimes my horse does something so fantastic and unexpected because of this. Training without expectation is the key to more fun and relaxing times with your horse. Learning when to let your intention shift with the horses is another good thing to practice.

That would look like, I intended to do some high energy work and my horses energy was low. The path of least resistance would be to recognize this and adjust my intention to match my horses true energy levels. Some lower key less energetic play. Anyone who is really into their technical work knows you can fill an hour with quite complex Liberty, Line or Mounted walking movements!

Clear Intention, combined with clear communication and adaptability will assure you of fun, positive sessions with your horse.
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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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Thought

Mercury and I are thinking the same thought here...

Energy follows thought...."Think" about that. What it means is, what you think, dwell on, worry about, or visualize is drawn to you and broadcast back out like a radio wave.

This week, the theme in lessons and training was overwhelmingly, change your mind, change your experience which of course goes right to your horse.

I caught myself not helping my situation with Mercury where he was spooking and I got mentally "stuck" on the behavior and it kept happening at the same spot in the arena on each pass. After about the 3rd time, I said to myself " why aren't you thinking about him going past this point calmly and thinking of the destination after the scary spot. As soon as I did that, He went past the rest of the ride with minimal fuss. Thank you Merc for the reminder to stop focusing on what was happening and think about what I would like to have happen.

A phrase I often say is "If you are not happy with a current situation, think about how it would look if it went the way you wanted."

Another statement I give to new riders is, If you think about falling off all the time, you will think it into reality. The horse will keep getting this mental  "text message" of you hitting the ground. And....he will think that is where you want to go! If you think about your horse spooking all the time, he will think about spooking etc.

It's human nature to get caught in negative thought cycles and also to want perfection and a feeling of being totally safe. So what if we went to the barn every time we saw our horse and said "We are perfect" and "I feel safe with you" or "My horse and I are not afraid" Every statement has the ability to move you toward the place you want to go or hold you in a "stuck" pattern.

Here is a list of examples of how you can switch your thinking which in turn will send a positive message to your horse.

1. "I am not a good/confident rider." Positive: I am becoming more confident all the time, I am a confident rider. Horse hears " I am not a leader" or I am becoming a better leader.

2. "I am stiff" Positive: I more flexible, balanced and strong everyday. Your horse hears "I am a good rider and getting better all the time"

3. "That transition was bad, my circles are horrible, I am terrible at "X" etc. Positive: These transitions are improving, My circles are so much better than 6 months ago, We are really improving "X" Your horse hears " I can never get it right no matter what" Or "We are having a good ride/liberty etc!"

I could go on but you probably get the point. The exercise is write down all the "Negatives" you say about anything especially goals and then write a positive statement that reflects the outcome of what you'd like to see REALLY happen. How ever long it takes. More oats for thought! : ) Let's hear some thoughts in the comment section!

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