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January 2008 • VOLUME 29 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine
What is Training? Part Two
Inner States – “Quiet or Calm” In the first part of this article I discussed the issue of teaching a horse new behaviors through his thinking brain vs. merely trying to control the behaviors that arise from his primitive brain. We want to teach behaviors that, with practice over time, become learnt, habituated responses. Those behaviors are based in rational thought and not reactive instinct. It is important for the trainer to be calm, methodical, consistent and thoughtful during this process – meaning the trainer must also be operating from his thinking brain. There are different ways to address the teaching of the horse, and due to the reciprocal relationship between mind and body, we can address his mental/emotional state directly OR his physical state, and thereby gain his mind. The best way to directly address the mental/emotional state is to first offer the horse a calm, quiet feel. We want to feel within ourselves what we want our horse to feel. If we feel fear, we will increase the chance he will become afraid. If we feel confused or agitated or frustrated or resentful, etc., we will increase the chance he will mirror our own inner state. So we want to begin by offering him a feeling of calmness and confidence. Our most important training tools are not the aids we give per se – rather they are our underlying intentions and expectations. However, offering a horse a clear intention and fully expecting him to live up to it is more difficult than it may seem. I see many riders floundering around because they do not themselves have a clear idea of what they want their horse to do. People say horses are not mind readers, but they can at times know more about what is in our mind than we do! Some riders approach training from the standpoint of essentially saying to the horse, “I’m not quite sure what it is I want you to do, but I’ll know it when I see it” - and then they expect the horse to offer the behavior they think they will recognize when they see it. The horse, however, recognizes the conflict within the human. Some horses – those with kind generous natures – will try to figure out just what is expected even when they don’t understand; however, other horses will become frustrated or confused when presented with such a conflict. Another common conflict occurs in the person who is afraid of the horse but tries to cover it up by being strong or harsh and acting with false bravado. Some horses will become resentful when they feel that in a person, and they can even become aggressive in reaction to it.
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