Your ride starts when you arrive at the mounting block.
If your horse canāt stand relaxed while you are mounting, or after, there is a good chance that youāre going to be seeing a fair deal of anxiety during the ride too.
Getting on sets the tone.
For this reason, I make sure parking and happily standing at the mounting block is a fundamental stepping stone near the beginning of a horses training.
This is Hesa Tuff Surpriseās final week of his 30 days of training.
In that time heās gone from all around anxious in the barn, tying, unable to trailer load, anxious around water, and anxious under saddle to CALM, FOCUSED, and Willing. š„¹
This month was all about taking it back to the basics for him, which was so needed.
I am thrilled at how much he improved through all areas in such a short time.
Owned by Rachael Pierce. I hope his future is bright! Always happy to have him in my program. š§”
If you are interested in having me train your horse, please reach out for rates and availability!ļæ¼
Horses find confidence in consistency.
Horses find confidence in consistency.
For me, the keys to success when taking a horse from *unwilling* to load, to calmly, confidently loading starts with the human.
Most importantly you need the ability to self regulate!
Meaning my, or your own emotions.
Your horse feels everything youāve got going on inside.
If you arenāt sure of your ask, they know.
If you are anxious, they know.
The second key is the ability to help the horse regulate and shift back into the parasympathetic nervous system. This is made largely easier by having the ability to regulate your own thoughts and emotions.
Third is basic (but effective) ground work fundamentals under the horses belt.
Your horse doesnāt need to be a groundwork pro to load well. But they need to have the basics. Most importantly, they need to have an understanding of how to respect your space. They of course, need to know how to lead.
They need to know how to yield their shoulder. They need to know how to send forward.
They need to know to draw softly into your hand, and move softly and correctly away from pressure.
Itās also imperative that the horse has complete confidence with whatever physical tools youāre using whilst loading them. (Flag, halter, so on..)
Yes, you can get the job done with less knowledge, but itās even better with more.
Preparation fosters confidence in the horse.
Therefore, youāre less likely to face anxiety which shifts the horse into their sympathetic nervous system.
And finally you need to have near perfect and CONSISTENT timing with release.
If you are consistent, and confident your horse will follow. ā¤ļø
This guy has developed serious anxiety around trailering over the past year or so; so much so that he was becoming impossible to load for his owners. Getting him here was a two man job.
This is the end of his first short trailer loading session since moving in for the month; done in the exact trailer he arrived in.
(Ps I know this horse well. I donāt go s
