Hannah & Her Horses

12/12/2022

Comanche is a wild animal

12/12/2022

12/06/2022

“My horse braces against the bit!” “My horse leans aginst my leg!” “My horse ignores my aids!”
The next time you accuse your horse of behaving in these or similar ways, remember that any leaning or bracing behavior takes two participants. For the horse to brace against my hand, my hand has to brace, too. For the horse to brace against my leg, I have to brace with my leg, too. Neither of us can brace if there is noting to brace against.
Bracing is learned behavior. It does not feel that great to the horse, either, but it becomes familiar over time, to the point of seeming normal.
It’s human nature to respond to what we perceive as resistance with more pressure. We’ve all been taught that we need to give when the horse gives to us, which many of us interpret to mean: “I will wait until the horse has given in. Then, I will give.” This is not exactly true. What we need to do is explain to horses who have learned to brace that there is another way, that our aids mean something. To do this, we need to do what goes agains our instinct: to give - not after the horse has given to us, but while the horse is bracing, before the horse has given to us. We need to be the ones to interrupt the cycle. Then, we need to break through the bracing behavior, using leg-yields and lots of transitions, always looking for the moment to give, which is not after the horse has given in, but at the first indication he is thinking it. This is a subtle distinction that makes a huge difference in teachign a horse (and ourselves) to be light and responsive.

11/18/2022

Ridden exercises and easy to follow workout videos to improve your balance, strength, and coordination in the saddle. One-month to better riding!

05/30/2022

Consideration vs Consistency
I am a big fan of the current shift in Horsemanship. I see an overwhelming move towards an empathetic approach which takes a horses nature, psychology and behavior into account.
Much of this approach is centered around connection to our equine partners. My personal belief is that more focus on connection will not only make the lives of horses better, but also improve rider safety and, in most cases a horses performance.
A few months back I said something along the lines of 'connection is considering your horse in every request we make of them'. Seems pretty straight forward. Mark Rashid wrote a great book called 'Considering the horse', which I have been recommending for years. As always, there seems to be a big but (just the one t on the end)... I think some people misunderstand what consideration means. Yes, we need to consider all the things mentioned above, natural behavior, natural habitat, all the things that drive a horses fears, but it doesn't mean we simply avoid crucial training because a horse will be scared.
When raising kids we should also consider our kids, but when they want to eat ice-cream for breakfast lunch and supper we need to consider their health as well as their desires. When they want to punch the neighbour's kid because he didn't wave back at them when they waved we have to consider their social development as well as the hurt that drives their anger, not to mention the neighbour's kids well being.
We need to remember consideration is not just considering their motivation, it is also considering their future adaptation to the human world we have put them in. We still need to get communication in place, and acceptance of some challenging experiences. We just need to do it with empathy without blaming them for their fear or reluctance. I once heard Buck Brannaman say 'Be firm in what you do, be gentle in how you do it'. I am not sure it's his quote, but I love it. The gentle way is the consideration, the being firm is the consistency. One without the other will result in an unbalanced horse (or kids for that matter)

05/13/2022

Here is the video of right before our decision to go ahead and trim Boudica’s front feet. This is the first time she’s ever had her feet picked out.. it went so well we just went onto the trim!
https://youtu.be/p5nXBD4tkCE

05/09/2022

Horses changed my life 💜

Here’s something about connecting with your horse that may surprise you… 👀⁣
⁣
Or maybe you’ve already lived it out and you resonate with this entirely 🌀⁣
⁣
It can appear to us at first that 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 with the horse is all about interacting with him in the right way, doing the right exercises, or reading body language.⁣
⁣
When Maddy set out on her horsemanship journey, she was fully focused on the animal 🐴 She studied countless trainers, worked with lots of horses, and developed her skill set 💫⁣
⁣
She was surprised to find that, in order to truly connect with horses… she had to connect with herself, too.⁣
⁣
In fact, she found that her connection to her horses was a direct reflection to her relationship with herself 👁⁣
⁣
Consider this 〰️⁣
⁣
🌀 If you feel ashamed of having fear and don’t realize it (maybe after a lifetime of conditioning that fear is wrong, makes you weak/dramatic/dependent, etc)… how can you see a horse’s unwanted behaviors as fear reactions *not* disrespect — and then approach her with empathy, acceptance and patience?⁣
⁣
🌀 If you have rage you’ve suppressed your whole life due to your boundaries being violated long ago… How can you see your horse’s behavior as *morally* neutral, just unwanted, when she makes you feel unsafe? How could you not lash out?⁣
⁣
🌀 When things don’t go as planned, how can you simply take that as feedback for where you can improve your training, when you unknowingly put your self-worth into how well you (and subsequently, your horse) perform?⁣
⁣
This is just scratching the surface, but you get the idea 🧠⁣
⁣
To connect with your horse, you need to 𝘴𝘦𝘦 her, for who she is. But she will trigger you. And if you lack awareness in your triggers, you’ll project that onto her. You won’t be able to see her clearly, and the connection will be lost.⁣
⁣
To connect with your horse, you’ll need empathy for her, which begins with having empathy for YOU. Which often comes from understanding yourself.⁣
⁣
This is *not* about perfection. It’s about awareness, acceptance, and empathy for yourself… and therefore, your horse ✨⁣
⁣
How have horses taught you to connect to Self? Share in the comments, we’d LOVE to know ♥️

05/08/2022

We’ve reached one of the biggest milestones in a wild mustang’s domestic life: the first farrier trim!
I am so lucky that my farrier is also my co-trainer and life partner 🥰 He did an incredible job with Ms. Boudica, whose feet were unbearably long. She has come around so well with the gentling that one day, we decided it was time to just trim her feet. No preparation other than the connection built. I’m so proud of this little lady!

03/21/2022

I SEE YOU. My favourite line from the movie Avatar. In the movie, this is the way they greet each other by honouring the soul of a person. This horse has brought this to life for me. He introduced me to the ability that horses have to “see us” as we truly are without judgement. Thank you my friend, for all you have taught me and continue to in this beautiful, crazy life.

Do you have a picture of you and your horse that brings up this feeling in your soul? We'd love to see your photo!

03/02/2022

Get a mustang mare they said…
It’ll be fun they said…

02/03/2022

To go along with my post the other day. Perhaps worded better? 🤔

08/15/2021

A while back, I decided I was ready to get a wild mustang off the range and gentle it using no tools: no ropes, halter/lead, whips, etc. But how? How was I going to retrain and work past hundreds of years of genetic memory and nature's programmed survival responses (fight, flight, freeze)? Well, it's not easy... The key is working WITH them. You MUST speak their language if you're going to get anywhere without tools.

So my journey with her began with me. I had to be as present and aware (of everything) as possible. What am I feeling today? What am I thinking about? What am I intentionally and unintentionally communicating to her?

Then, her. What's going on with her? Where is her mind? What is she looking at? How is she responding to me? Where and when is she standing still?

On top of that, I then had communicate with her effectively and intentionally. I had to choose when/where to put my body, when to look directly at her, when to turn and walk away from her. At first, I retreated for her looking at me. This built our first "tool". She could look toward me to cue me to walk back & away from her, and I could use it to gauge her comfort level. I made her a promise that I continue to hold to; I will never ignore her body language & barge past her boundaries.

She began taking steps towards me, started choosing to engage with me. Then I started trying to touch her. At first, every time she looked at me when I walked toward her "personal space bubble", I would back off. Then, after consistently managing that, I began to push just a little bit. "I see you are looking at me, cuing me to leave, but what if I just linger here for a bit longer?" With tiny approximation after tiny approximation, I began to get closer and closer.

I started getting a feel for what her signals looked like:🚦

✅ Green light: head low, closed or blinking eyes, leg cocked, even breath, licking & chewing (parasympathetic nervous system)
⚠️ Yellow light: head raised, body tension, eyes wide open, lip twitching, turning head slightly away
❌ Red light: this is the loudest body language, when fight, flight, or freeze is activated as a last resort for survival

I never pushed her to the Red light. Whenever she gave me Yellow, I would stop and wait, sometimes even retreat to give her the space she was asking for. My doing this fundamentally impacted our relationship; she started to TRUST me.

Then she let me touch her.

07/23/2021

Daily dose of inspiration ☀️

I really do believe we are on the right track 💛

With illuminating insights and fascinating stories, The Journey On Podcast is a conversation about the horse training jounrey and life experiences of Warwick and guests.

06/09/2021

It’s happened! My amazing White River mustang has produced a fine young specimen. She’s my first mare, my first mustang, and he’s my first baby! I’m so excited for this opportunity, so please, follow us on our journey, I know it will be incredible!

06/09/2021

About a month after we got her (a month ago at this point), Boudica confirmed my suspicions by demonstrating how very much in foal she is. She came from the Ridgecrest facility in California, where some things went down that were not intended. Long story short, surprise baby! Or two…

06/09/2021

There’s something special about interacting with a wild horse; I don’t have the words to really explain the magic of communication and the feelings of true connection. These horses —if you let them— can help you remember the universal language that exists among us all. Have you experienced what it’s like to understand your animal while they understand you?

06/09/2021

✨Welcome to the herd✨
White River HMA #8696 and #8670