When a horse says.. YES!
Some time ago I wrote a post on how humans can struggle to recognise or purposefully overlook signs of communication when a horse may be saying ‘no’.
So, what about recognising when a horse may say yes?
When observing equine dynamics, be that feral or domesticated, it is obvious to see that within this environment that horse are capable of giving what we would call ‘consent’, that is the permission for something to happen or be agreeable to, such as the sharing of space, resources and touch between each other.
Therefore it would not take too much to realise that, should we learn the very subtleties of horse communication, that this too would be present within horse-human interactions and within training sessions.
Communicating primarily using body language, a horse saying ‘yes’ can present in a multitude of different ways, from subtle to obvious, and may look like some of these;
✅Curiosity
✅Engagement
✅Forward ears
✅Soft responses
✅Turning towards
✅Moving towards
✅Relaxed posture
✅Facial smoothness
✅Social engagement
✅Willingness in movement
The approach, intent and method used in training all factor in on a horses 'willingness' to consent and it is important to always remember behaviour is context specific.
This is a nice little example of Esme communicating a yes last year, which is in great contrast as she featured in my ‘when a horse says.. no’ video posted previously
In this video you can see Esme approach, stand at the block, and position herself; I check in with my weight before hoping on when she offers a curious expression and all important acknowledgement of me being there, followed by a head-to-leg rub, a subtle sign of tension, before hanging out
Do you know what? A little tension there is fine because we see it, hear it and the response after is she is perfectly happy to hang out there.
A little co-regulation from her buddy helps too!
For me it is important to be able to create the
People see loading as a singular task.
The box or trailer is open, they need to get their horse to go on, and that’s the black and white of it.
However, if you step back and consider the elements that make up the practice of loading, how many can you think of?
I can count at least ten directly related to the box, and that is aside from considering the groundwork preparation or the context!
Sure, some horses may be more confident working through certain elements than others, but either way these elements need to be considered alongside the response of the horse to ensure they are confident with each aspect before progressing.
There is no point in building a foundation with cement to start using sand half way through.
I have never had a ‘one size fits’ approach to working with horses, I see each of them as individuals, and therefore adaptations to my framework are always made to accommodate them.
My practice around helping horses that have trouble around loading, like everything, is always developing, but one thing that has always been a non-negotiable is not to compromise the horse in the process.
I have not seen little Faith since before Christmas, with the ice over here in Derbyshire over the start of the year making this kind of lesson one to hang-fire on!
Faith, who you may recognise from a previous update in November, had previously been blindfolded to load for many years, yet after not having done any practice around the trailer for three weeks prior to our lesson this week, and after after a quick sniff, walked straight up and waited calmly on our first session of the year.
Before Christmas we began working a little with the ramp going up, ensuring Faith was comfortable with each stage of the ramp lifting, not shutting, monitoring how she was feeling each time.
The day of this clip includes new variables for Faith; loading in the dark, a new box position, and a longer time of around 5 minutes stood in the box that she starts to investigate.
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The work I share online tends to have an emphasis.
It has an emphasis on the nuances in movement and communication, the behavioural signals to look out for and training the eye and mind to look for the subtitles at a steadier pace.
This does not mean that speed combined with refinement is not part of my practice, on the contrary this is equally important but only if the right fundamentals are built on, which so often they are not.
We need to forgo that a steadier means lack of progress, ehen in fact it can allow progress to be made without compromise and to a much more thorough degree.
We live in a world that continues to increase in pace, resulting in our mind being two weeks ahead or three days behind, overlooking the now that we have in-front of us.
Quietening the mind and slowing things down to enhance our observations is where I feel the bulk of the focus needs to be.
In a recent session with Esme, there were subtle signs of tension around the mounting block shown through her expression, posture and breathing.
So, I took a little time to hang out around the block, no expectations, whilst I focused on checking-in with myself and getting my own breath deeper in my body.
As my breathing deepens, what changes can you see in Esme?
Is her responses a result of me getting further into my own body, did the time I took to check-in with myself allow her important moments to process her own emotion, or a combination of the two?
Not long after this video, we moved on to a positive mounting sessio. around the block, free of tension.
Horses are masters at reading energy, intention and posture, offering us subtleties that we must train ourselves to see.
Take some time to slow down and seek out subtleties, in any situation; you may be surprised as to what you find!
I have worked with multiple troubled loaders.
I purposely use the word ‘troubled’ as that is how the horse feels about the situation; a horse will not choose to be a ‘problem loader’, which to to me can easily imply the horse is the issue as opposed to the horse finding what is being asked difficult.
If your horse is resistant to load, they are having trouble with a stage of the process, period.
As time has gone by, I have now personally come across both the cruel and down-right hard to comprehend ways people have attempted to load their horses, ways that I used to hear about but never actually believed actually happened!
These ways often exacerbate the problem through years of negative and traumatic associations.
At 17 years of age, Faith has never had the best experiences.
For at-least a decade, Faith has been loaded on to a trailer by being blindfolded, only to travel in a state of freeze (a sympathetic nervous system response which may give the impression the horse is fine) before the physical anxiety kicks in the other end, and so the cycle repeats.
Thankfully, her new owner is wanting to do things right by her, enlisting some assistance to build Faith's confidence and begin to undo the many years of negativity.
This video was at the end of my second session with Faith, and whilst the session as a whole was one I would rather of been split over a couple of sessions, I was very pleased with what I was able to help her with through the session.
Sometimes, we just need a little faith..
I look back at videos of Prince and It wasn’t so long ago that the approach of a person, never mind a halter and lead rope, sent his entire body into nervous system overdrive.
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Now, fast forward to our most recent session.
The internal balance and trust Prince has now found in himself, and people, has opened up to allow us to progress in so many different ways; the main focus of our sessions have been the incorporation of therapeutic exercises, a favourite area of mine, to create changes in his body, to continue improving the parallels between mind and body.
This was our first time incorporating exercises on a 22ft line, working in a little more cues for body position and improving confidence at a distance.
There are many parts of this clip I am pleased with, though one of the best parts was the little quite time he needed to process at the end before stepping in a little closer.
Working together in a controlled environment is one of the best ways you can set your horse up for the outside world.
This can involve any area, from confidence building with an array of objects to surety around groundwork and cues from the saddle.
However, this is often underutilised when it comes to creating confidence around vehicles.
Habituation, a form of non-associative learning where response to a stimulus decreases over-time, is the most common form of learning when we think about our horses response to vehicles, with many of us having paddocks next to roads, train-lines, and I remember I worked at a yard with an airstrip next door!
Whilst habituation can create a baseline for confidence, when it comes to active engagement with the environment it is important to ensure we do not just ‘assume’ and that we properly introduce.
The majority of yards have some form of parking area large enough to gradually introduce vehicles over a period of time, before gradually blending in exercises and body manoeuvrability from the ground and under saddle that will help you both out in a lifestyle situation.
This was Elsa’s second session and her first with tandem cars.
We started the process through allowing investigation, before progressing to engine sounds at a distance, decreasing the proximity of space over time with already established exercises.
Elsa, who has just turned three and has been coming on beautifully with her foundation this year under Sophie’s care, has reached a place emotionally where we can begin introducing these types of exercises that will continue to build her overall confidence out on the road, for years to come.
A short video clip from the 'Badger Diaries' of us doing some weighted stirrup exercises, helping him to prepare his body for the mounting of a rider.
This may not be a way a person chooses to mount their horse, but it is good preparation to cover all aspects to help them balance and confidence with how someone may.
When I think about foundation training specifically, the baseline education for our horses, the more years that pass in my work alongside horses, the more I see that laying a good, strong foundation for a horse takes YEARS to do, not months.
I've never been of the thought process otherwise, but the more I witness the changes that come about as a result of good continuous, mindful training, the more it is validating.
Sure, there can be an element of preparation in weeks of training, but if we take in to account the 1000's of repetitions needed for the brain to create new neural pathways and for the body to develop alongside, it really is no surprise at all.
We see this so clearly when, as we say, things all of a sudden ‘click’.
Quite often, as a result, aspects that you haven't focused on will come about quite organically, which is another awesome part.
Last week was a second session with the four Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Exmoor fillies that arrived here in Derbyshire from Exmoor National Park.
Though not as outwardly curious as the colts, these fillies are making great steady progress out in the paddock and have really settled in to a little routine interaction that has been implemented.
Allowing them the time that they need to gain that a little bit of courage each time, which, opens the door to curiosity, is great to watch.
Do you notice their grazing positions in the video, how they approach, investigate and move on to graze next to me?
That is what I am looking for, sharing space with no objective.
I am finding the difference between the colts and the fillies very interesting to be a part of in relation to their curiosity, learning ability and to see their future over-all development as a result of their different past experiences as a feral horses.
When you invest in the quality of your relationship, the connection comes naturally.
Maya’s owner recently wrote a pretty heart-warming post on my private Facebook Group, Rosca Horsemanship Community Spirit, about the journey we have been on so far, and the changes in Maya, now seeking out interaction.
Maya has not been able to be handled or touched in two years, yet over these past months she has continued to make huge progress without restriction, coercion, or compromise.
We are all able to make a choice in what we invest in, yet we need to also consider what return we want on that investment; how do you want that to look?
To me, Maya’s face and behaviour is speaking volumes and blowing up the speaker!
For those who love the subtleties and nuances of the body, here are a few minutes of quiet time working on the equine hyoid..
The equine hyoid is an assembly of several bones, five pairs in total, each with their own name, collectively known as the ‘hyoid apparatus’.
This small but significant part of the horses anatomy is found between the mandibles and has multiple soft tissue connections, including to that of the tongue, directly and indirectly effecting equine movement all the way down to the pelvis.
Considering the multiple changes that young and adolescent horses go through, from fluctuation of hormones to fascial tension and dental changes, I find doing a little work around the hyoid exceptionally beneficial during a session if a horse may present a little physical or emotional tension.
Last Monday I travelled to Exmoor National Park in Devon with the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to oversee the trailering and transporting of four semi-feral Exmoor Pony fillies, ensuring their first travelling experience was to be as stress-free as possible.
This week I am down in Sussex at the awesome Knepp Rewilding Estate, this time aiding with the transporting of four feral Exmoor yearling colts who we will be travelling back up to Derbyshire later this week!
I will be working alongside the trust in a project spanning the Summer to not only work on handling basics of all eight ponies, but to train members of staff in equine behaviour, management and both ethical and practical handling skills.
The little guys made a fantastic start on my first visit to them!
The Exmoor will play an important role in land management and rewilding schemes here in Derbyshire, which I will be delving into in a little more detail over the next few weeks.
It’s going to be an awesome few months, with many, many updates to follow!
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Knepp Wilding
The Wildlife Trusts
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust
The April Mindset Challenge, Week 3! 🌱
The third mindset task of the month reqyires a little more awareness and thought, but will continue to help you appreciate what you have and see those positives.
The task for the third week of April is: positive reframing
