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[RC] affecting the horse - Steph TeeterI was reading the posts on how to 'make a scared horse braver' - and my first reaction was that it often becomes a cascade of rider/horse fear and behavior. A tiny bit of nervousness on the part of the rider can have a profound effect on the horse, and the horse effects the rider, and on it goes... I had an experience with one of my horses (Jaziret) this morning that totally floored me. He's an extremely sensitive horse to begin with - very much affected by people and environment. We were doing one of our regular loops - a fast loop with lots of cow trails and washes and a few good gallops but I was sleepy (early morning ride trying to beat the heat) and it was already hot and we just poked along rather than making it a real workout. We were headed down a section of single track trail close to home, just walking, only half awake. I was day dreaming about Khruschev (my Orlov horse) and how he would always veer off the trail at this point and take the side hill, avoiding the steep downhill part - and before I knew it Rhett started veering of the trail exactly the way Khruschev used to. I've ridden that trail a hundred times with Rhett and other horses before, and no other horse ever thought it was something to avoid - it was totally unexpected. He must have sensed something in my body, or my mind, giving him the idea to veer off. And I was too deep in my day dreaming to even notice it until we were well off the trail (I can be a bit spacey sometimes :) It was very powerful - and really gave me a sense of how 'telepathic' these horses can be, especially when we just let things happen. They can pick up on our mood, our fears, our excitement so easily! Whenever I'm taking a green or scared horse out I try to make a game out of something - either chasing rabbits, or trying not to step on a rock - something to take my mind off my worries - and it effectively takes the horse's mind off his worries (as well as mine). Try it sometime - whoop and holler and go chase that gopher - your horse will forget about missing his buddys, or being afraid of those cows. Or focus all your energy on something - anything - and your horse will too. Steph =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= http://www.endurance.net/ads/seabiscuit.html Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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