Hedera Horsemanship

Establishing a rapport.

Establishing a rapport. This is from Orion’s first few days here, where we were working on establishing a rapport and finding out each other’s communication styles. With any horse that comes to HH, the first week is all about fostering a curiosity towards a connection and feel with the handler. I want Orion to know people are here to help him if he ever gets nervous or uncomfortable, and as a new person, I want to give him a great impression. If there is anything he’d like to tell me, I will take his words on board and respond accordingly. Not punishing a horse for sharing his thoughts, allows a horse to feel safe expressing his concerns. This means you’re already doing damage control if something happens, and the horse can look to support from the human instead of worrying that the human will make the situation worse. This is where you get horses that “dump and run”. Ditch the extra weight, it was only going to make things worse anyway, right? Not at HH. I truly believe that we should serve our horses, not the other way around. And there is difference between saying you are willing to serve your horse, and actually doing it. Where we consciously take up the responsibility of an animal’s life, we take up the responsibility of their mental state. Escalating pressure where a horse provides the incorrect response is largely ineffective, so instead I allow the horse to make mistakes, feel those feelings, and come back to me when they are ready. To me, there are no incorrect answers. Only efforts. It’s important to recognise and thank the horse for the try. When they do find the desired response, this is what it can look like. A total state of peace, deep connection, and effortless coexistence. This is what being around horses really means to me, something I lost a few years ago to the competitive world, but now I have it back, I hope to share this information and inspire others. There is so much your horse can offer you, but you need to offer them mo

10 minutes difference. Context is important with this one. Peggy is a 13yo OTTB mare, who has already had quite a ridden career, having trained to medium dressage and ~90cm jumping. She brought home a plethora of rugs, ribbons and rosettes, so she is certainly educated and decorated. Peggy also deals with anxiety. She may have been performing well on paper, but she was quite “hot” and “trigger happy” most of the time. Which isn’t really a personality trait of her, but a result of anxiety. Anxiety can come in many forms, which can often be labelled as quirks (-where it can then be perceived in a negative light). Head tossing, rushing jumps, pawing, and so on. These are not “naughty” behaviours, and they’re certainly not a personality trait. They are the result of what the horse is dealing with externally and internally - and you have a great deal of influence on the severity of that. I speak about this very regularly with my clients; trigger stacking can start as far as the night before. Sometimes there are actually some pretty good reasons for why your horse may be having a “bad day”. They may have been experiencing trigger stacking. Humans experience this too. A bird flies out in front of the horse’s face and spooks them. You nearly hit an animal while driving and it leaves you feeling unsettled. A horse steps on a rock and develops a bit of stone bruise. You roll your ankle badly, and now it’s aching. A horse gets handled a bit firmer than usual due to their unsettled behaviour and they won’t stand still. You get yelled at your boss at work, leaving you feeling unheard and distressed. After all that, imagine if your boss asked you to complete another difficult task that required mental and physical effort, while you are feeling mentally and physically down in the dumps that day. You can imagine how this is exacerbated by a language barrier between human and horse. So how did we stop Peggy going into such a state of alarm when

Easifa’s first saddling

Easifa’s first experience with the saddle on. 🤩 She was fantastic! She was so present and willing to try new things this session. She has been a little apprehensive about things going over her back and hanging from both sides, but I feel like she had a huge lightbulb moment and suddenly she found the confidence in herself to overcome anything! I introduced a few new things to her this day and she took to them so kindly. Very happy with her! Easifa is owned by Yallaroo Endurance Arabians. #hederahorsemanship #hederaeasifa

I thought this was worth posting. This is Quinta! She is a nearly-4yo WB x TB filly. She has been here for a few months gaining condition and recovering from being neglected on spell... The owner was not informed of her true condition by the agistment who unfortunately never actually checked on her, or under her rug while she was there. Needless to say we were both disappointed and shocked when she came off the truck. She’s finally coming around a few months later and is feeling so much better. We have just started some light groundwork and she is really fun to work with! When she first came here she wanted absolutely nothing to do with me, so I’ve been eating my lunch with her, sitting in her paddock, giving her carrots and just simply spending undemanding time with her. We have fixed the huge worm burden, the sand in her gut, the ulcers, the rug rubs have grown out, her weight is coming along, and now her mind is more at ease too. She is a very sensitive little thing and very strong-minded, but she has really opened up and started displaying some curiosity towards me. Can’t wait to see how she turns out. She will be coming back to Gidgegannup with us and being started once she is settled in there. • Quinta is owned by Emmaleigh E. • #hederahorsemanship #hhquinta

Tiny left 3 days ago, but I thought I should post this. What a big difference from the start of this session to the end! Tiny is definitely a pony that warms up as the session goes along but this day she really showed a little more trust in my intentions. I would let her walk forward when she got worried so she didn’t feel boxed in, and this greatly improved her confidence. At the end, I could swing the blanket up and onto her while she stood really well. So proud of this little filly. She was nothing short of a delight to have! • Tiny is owned by Hayley W. • #hederahorsemanship #hederatiny

Tiny Update! We’ve been working on her confidence and letting her know I respect her boundaries, and it’s okay for her to not feel okay. Initially, she was quite concerned about me patting her back and bum, and would usually scoot out from underneath my hand, flinch or try to turn away from me. I always kept a fairly loose contact on her but I was very careful in where I positioned myself, to allow her to have her reactions and be able to remove herself from the situation if she felt the need to. I don’t like the idea of holding them still while doing desensitisation as it can make them shut down and can create a sense of learned helplessness. This is where you get horses that freeze then explode. If I felt she was moving away slightly but not abruptly I’d guide her with the rope into a little more of an inside bend to encourage her to look for a place of peace and softness while she was worried. Occasionally I will manage her slightly and ask for a little more “still”, just so she knows she can do it. But, I never put her in a box where she has nowhere to go. You can see she had a little moment where she humped up at the sensation, and I hardly reacted, because “That’s okay, you’re allowed to feel that way”. I simply asked her to take a few steps back and then moved her into the other side while being as non-confrontational as possible, then allowed her to stop and stand to think about it. Since that, she became a lot more confident with me patting her back and bum. Now it has actually become a support for her, as she is familiar and comfortable with the exercise! This came in handy when I started training with the blanket, as she was quite scared at first. She was trying to run away from it a bit, so we did R+ and every time she interacted with it, there was a reward. To begin with I couldn’t stand at her side with it, or lift it up without upsetting her, but by the end of the session she took the blanket over well! If she was worried, sh

Comanche, a few days ago. This guy is so cruisy. • Comanche is owned by Zoe G. • #hederahorsemanship #hederacomanche

Comanche’s 2nd ride in the arena! We’re at approximately just over 10 rides now. He’s tonking along very kindly. We need to work on responsiveness to the aids, but he is calm, confident and happy. This is the most important thing for any horse, but especially one that has had to overcome mental and psychological barriers just so a human can sit on top of him, and so he can physically canter on the right rein. So proud of this little guy! • Comanche is owned by Zoe G. • #hederahorsemanship #hederacomanche

Comanche had his first ride with his mum today. So pleased! He was so happy to be there and they went together beautifully. 🥰 Not sure which ride this is, believe his 6th-8th. I don’t really keep track. 🤣 He did a wonderful job and is showing all signs of being an absolute pleasure to ride with some refinement of the aids. • Comanche is owned by Zoe G. • #hederahorsemanship #hederacomanche

Comanche being an awesome little man; walk, trot, canter, halt. So stoked with him! He is really flying along now! 🤩 • Comanche is owned by Zoe G. • #hederahorsemanship #hederacomanche

Comanche update! This little fella has been rather complicated to get to the point where I can stand above him and make noise, let alone sit on him and walk around. He has taken the longest out of any horse I’ve ever had to get to this regarding a rider, however he has been the quickest I’ve ever had to introduce to gear. It’s like he came out, broke to saddle and bridle! He was remarkably unfazed right from the start and never questioned the gear. But he had a lot of mental blocks regarding me in his space (and especially with the idea of me being on top of him) as he felt intruded upon, and didn’t see the point in my questions. Now we’ve gotten to this point, he has become so much more sure of himself and my questions, and has mellowed a lot. His defences have really come down and dare I say it, I think he might even enjoy me sitting on him now as that’s where all the scratches and treats are! Excited to see how he progresses from here as I think he will start to catch up quickly now we have gotten through the first big humps. He is a highly sensitive and intelligent horse with a lot of curiosity, it’s just been a case of manifesting it in a manner that looks towards being a happy + comfortable ridden horse. • Comanche is owned by Zoe G. • #hederahorsemanship #hederacomanche

Yes, we train in the pouring rain too. • Comanche is owned by Zoe G. • #hederahorsemanship #hederacomanche