Can your horse do this?
Feel your horse seems to *know* just what you are asking and will comply calmly? Feel that either in hand or under saddle that you and your horse are "partners"? Ever feel that your "alpha" horse seeminly "hands over" the "alpha" position to you when you enter the paddock or pasture? (or stable/barn).
Ever feel that instead of you "owning" your horse, you are your horse's "person" and he/she trusts you with all heart?
These are all situations that any horseman can attain with his or her horse. It takes time, patience, understanding and most of all, a good foundation of knowledge in equine behavioral science. It also takes experience but, there's no better time to begin than right now. Everyone has to start somewhere when learning something new. So do horses. What better way to begin a new journey with your horse than just simply spending *time* with him? Study your horse's facial expressions. Study his or her body language. Learn what "signal" means what ... and learn to emulate that language. Horses cannot learn *human* language. They simply are not created to "talk" as humans do. But they certainly do have a language among themselves that works just fine.
After learning a bit about the equine language, learn as much as you can about the reasons behind the horses' communications. Why did that horse make the other move over? How did he do that? With his eyes? With his tail? With his ears? Or all of them combined? Study horses in the pasture and see which ones are higher in the hierachy than others? How do they behave? Which horses are best buddies? Do they mirror each other? How?
After learning about the behavior of horses, study just how they can physically move. How does their skeletal and muscular systems work? How do these structures relate to the human body?
Once you are learning these things, start applying them to the way you handle horses and ride them. You'll find that the understanding of the horse will strengthen your empathy and in turn, your relationship with your horse. You *will* be able to become true partners with your horse. Always remember ... a horse can be nothing more and nothing less than a horse. Learn to understand what 'being a horse' means. Work and train as slowly as the horse needs -- horses don't work on timetables. Set goals and break each goal
Latest Articles