Feel

By Stevi Weissbach

We all seem to want to better our understanding with our horses. There is so much to learn, but once we get their willingness, proper training, and understanding of one another, it all becomes simple!

Part #1 : Problems with willingness?

A horse is not an animal that is naturally inclined to hurt humans. Or to push us into frustration. Or to go against our wishes. In the horse’s mind, it is doing what is necessary. Sometimes we just have to change their mind…

If you want them to follow a suggestion, once they clearly understand you, they will do it. They like being with people that try to help them understand their training and can communicate with them. If a person gets frustrated, mean, or pushes too hard when working with the horse, the horse most likely will not want to be with that particular human being, or people in general, until that person gets their act together and earns their respect.

Sometimes a horse’s training will work against the person trying to communicate with the horse. The horse will be trying to do what the person is asking, even if it is no where near close, logical, or reasonable to what we see as the task we are asking. The horse does what it thinks will work. If you put pressure on a rope, and the horse reared up as a reaction, and you quit, the horse may start to think that is a way to get rid of the pressure on the halter.

Another way horses seem, to go against a predator…If we act like a predator, it will become their natural instincts work against us. Mother nature has inlayed some pretty strong instincts in the horse. Whether they choose to fight or run from the unknown, this usually goes against the responses we were hoping to get.

Our instincts work against us too. When we feel the horse is being “bad” and disobeying us, we tend to get tight, frustrated, or harsh with them. This is the last thing the horse needs. Most of the time this will set you back with your horse. If a horse has had too many people getting rough with them, they will be suspicious or prepared to fight back. Their natural instincts tell them this is how they will survive. How they can stay alive. To fight for their life.

When the horse starts getting troubled… stop and think about it. Why is the horse behaving this way? Is he concerned about his safety? Could this behaviour have worked for him in the past? Or is he thinking you are asking something totally different? Is he over stimulated and not thinking straight?

It may need a gentle but firm hand to help get the job done, or get out of the situation he is in, but getting mean rarely helps anything. The horse may require reteaching. Sometimes their instincts are so strong that they will just need you to go with the flow for a bit, for them to let go of their instincts and be able to follow your suggestions. The horse just needs some problem solving done before everything falls into place and they do what you ask of them. The majority are very willing animals, they may just have previous misunderstandings or scarring that needs working through.

Part #2: Getting a Feel for your horse

There are so many different words for it… feel, energy, impulsion, momentum, power, action, understanding or being… of the whole horse. Getting a feel for your horse, and the horse for you, can create a “togetherness” that will look like magic. Your horse can enjoy your company and time together because once you understand each other, there is an agreement to work collectively and in stride.

Before you can possibly get your horse to follow your feel, you have to get a feel for him. Rather than trying to get control of him right away, try to understand how he’s feeling, where all his energy is going. Is he worried about his own self preservation? Is he gathering up like a coiled spring? Is he choosing to express his energy in other ways? Once you have an idea as to where this energy is going, you have to go with it. Ride with it, or go with the flow so to speak. When he understands that you aren’t trying to force him into doing anything, he will start to accept you, and your feel.

To offer him your feel, you need a bit of understanding. You need to have a basic understanding of what he is doing (or not doing) this moment. And you have to know what you want him to be doing with his energy. Take the evergy he is giving you and remold it into what you would like to feel. Whether he is running and you would like him to be walking, or he is strung out and you would like him collected and on the bit, it is possible to influence or harness his energy output.

Part #3 Timing to Teach…

It can take very little to get a horse to learn something. The more the horse uses the training, the harder it is to retrain, but it can be done if your timing is right.

Brain connections are very similar to lightening in a jar. The more the pathway is used, the stronger and easier the connection becomes. The less it is used, the weaker and more difficult it becomes for the connection to be used. If a horse is very high strung and is always running under saddle, the more that connection is used. If the horse is asked to slow down the thought pattern, and interrupt the cycle of “go- go- go” the easier it will become to do other things with the horse. If the connection has been strong for a long time, it is still relatively easy for that connection to be used again.

To teach something new, there is one basic principle. Put pressure on when you want something, and take it off when the gives it to you (or, in the beginning, even has the thought of giving it to you). If your timing is good, the horse will pick up quickly that the pressure is gone as soon as they moved a certain way, forming a new connection. The more you can use it and make it a positive experience, the stronger the connection will become, and the better the horse gets at the task.