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Getting Your Horse's Attention

© Gwenyth Browning Jones Santagate

When working with horses it is imperative that we have their attention. It doesn't matter if we're on the ground with them or working from the saddle. We need full attention in order to be safe and in order to effectively and successfully communicate with them. How do we do this?

Spend some time, if you can, watching horses in a herd. Look for the horse you feel is the lead mare. Watch the mare and her body language when "speaking" to the other horses. How does she relay her messages to them? Using the entire body, a horse can communicate it wishes to any other horse, regardless of where they are, what they are doing and what is going on around them. Wouldn't you like to be able to have your horse's full attention as the lead mare does in the herd? You can. It is not only important that you establish yourself as the lead mare, but in order to do so, you must be able to communicate clearly and concisely to the horse Let's take a brief look at how horses actually do talk between one another.

Horses use their bodies to talk to one another. They also use their voices, but if you are able to watch a live herd, you'll notice that the body language is used much more often. The placement of the body of one horse next to another; the swish of a tail; the flicker of an ear; the twitch of a muscle ... these are all communicating tools used by the horse. Humans don't have tails to swish or ears to twitch but we do have a body to position and we do have arms and legs and eyes with which to communicate which a horse can learn to understand. However, all the body language and cues don't mean a thing if where talking to thin air. We have to have the attention of our horse before we try to relay any wishes.

Getting the horses attention can be done easily and simply in a round pen, small paddock or having the horse on a long line attached to a halter. There are a number of good articles on the web about using the round pen. Kickin' Back Ranch http://www.ecis.com/~kbr/index.html has hundreds of pages on how to work and communicate with wild and domestic horses. Marv Walker's "Bonder" http://www.marvwalker.com is a must for anyone seriously seeking excellence in communications with the horse. And Penzance Equine Solutions http://www.kersur.net/~santa takes a good look at all aspects of horsemanship including the importance of a solid partnership with your horse and how to gain just that.