20/07/2025
Can a horse be untrainable?
👀
😵
This is a conversation I have often, and would like to share my perspective so that hopefully it can give you an AH HA moment as well, and help you find an answer. 🌱
When your horse shows unacceptable behavior, your first step should always be to interfere and let him know that this is not ok. Indicate to your horse that this is not a place you want him to go and redirect him to a happier/safer place to be for both of you.
If, after your intervention, the X behavior still keeps showing up (and especially if it starts escalating), it means you need to find another way to bring the message across because your horse didn’t understand, and now needs to repeat itself and may even find release in showcasing behavior X. 😵💫
What I see often is people using the same intervention over and over when behavior X is showcased. The person his trying to redirect the horse, but they keep repeating the same corrective process to a horse who is not responsive to this type of intervention.
Example here: You are on a job site, they assign you a partner, and you are starting to feel overwhelmed with the task you have to do. Your partner means well, but doesn’t speak the same language as you do.
When you proceed to leave the situation, the person notices and starts speaking to you. Not understanding this language, you do not know what they are saying, and it seems that they do not understand that you need to leave. You start leaving the job site again, and the person repeats the same phrase in the same language again but louder... now you know your partner doesn’t understand what you are going through, and that makes you want/needed to explain that this situation is not ok even more! 🔥
And just like that, 5 minutes later, both people are shooting and screaming, and you decide to leave the job site completely. 🥵🤬
That snowball effect could have been stopped as soon as the person partnering up with you would have realized that he needs to change the language he his speaking to you for you to understand.🙌
Once he would have done so, you would have understood what he was saying all this time: 🌸
We all have great intentions toward our horse, but often what makes the difference between a great horseman to an AWESOME one his the person's ability to bring the message across and the flexibility to change his way of communicating with the horse until he finds a that the horse understands. ❤️🩹
No horse wants to behave just for the sake of being ; they always have a reason to react. From their reaction, it is up to us to defuse the situation. If you are dealing with issues that make play time with your horse not so fun, don`t stay stuck for too long. Reach out to someone who can help you to communicate the message differently and find a solution.
📸Here taken by of her special man Thor is my first play time with that precious stud.