Working with horses…leadership vs agendas

Hi Jennifer,
I’d like to respond to your posting about working a horse ‘old school.’

First, let me commend you on your thoughtful approach to communicating your experiences. It sounds like you take your horses needs into consideration and are interested in learning more about how to apply your useful knowledge further, as well as gain more. It also sounds like you are concerned about your approach to training your horses, as well as how well they will respond.

I’m a Communication Coach and one of my coaching programs uses horses to help humans transition into more effective communicators. My mantra is ” A HORSE DOES NOT AWAKEN EVERY MORNING, FIND A MIRROR, MEASURE ITSELF, AND THEN BELIEVE IT WOULD LOOK AND FEEL BETTER AS A DIFFERENT HORSE.” On the other hand, that’s the first thing most humans do every morning…find a mirror, find a way to measure their appearance, find fault with it, and then try and make themselves believe they would look and feel better as some glittered out botoxed media magnet. They already have a conversation going before their first cup of coffee!!! With themselves!

To my knowledge, horses don’t do this.

So…

One of the platforms I teach about in my workshops (using A DRAFT HORSE,) is what a humans intention is when they enter into a conversation, with another human, or an animal.

Many times, when humans enter into conversations with other humans, they have an ‘agenda,’ a conversation already going on inside their heads. They confuse being agreed with with being accepted or being loved, choose anger when they are not agreed with and find fault with the other person when they don’t get their way.

When a human begins a conversation with another human, or a horse, one must remember and take to heart, that ‘there is a fine line between getting what you want and standing up for what you believe in.’

So when a human works with a horse, there can be no ‘agenda,’ no other intention than to have a conversational exchange, verbal and non, to get along and enjoy working as a team. If we stop for a moment to think about our fears, the what if’s, the oh my gosh’s, then plant them on the other person or our horse, we open up the conversation for the horse to join our fears and get the heck outta dodge! Remember, he is a fright or flight animal. A horse smells our fear, feels it’s vibration, before we have time to act on it.

Horses, as you know, do not relate to humans with agendas. They are clear and consistent in their communication and responses. Whether we are working with a two thousand pound Draft horse or a Shetland Pony, the language is still the same…the intent is still the same. We may need to present it differently depending on size, breed, temperment, weather, etc…you get the picture. We still are a human communicating with a horse and the first thing we better do is observe him when we get to his house, be a good listener and remember that this very sensitive animal, no matter his size, is allowing us in it’s most vulnerable space to exchange information and walk together as a team.

Hope this information is of some value to you.

Please visit my website at http://www.lifehorsequine.org for more information or email me at sjd@lifehorsequine.org to schedule a workshop.
Regards,
SJ Dortch
Director/Coach
LIFEHORSequine.org

HAPPY TRAILS…

It’s all by the severity of the situation I guess. If a horse has a small fit about doing a job then we try to work through it. Lately I have been working with a kicker that is owned by a friend of ours. We haven’t found her exact trigger yet. She was a pretty aggressive kicker with both feet last year. I drove her yesterday and she only kicked once with one foot while backing a wagon to turn around. She flicks her tail a lot and that is a potential sign of a kicker. I was apprehensive to put her through her paces knowing her background but by the end of the lesson she was ok so she needs some hard work to make her give up on the kicking habit. I have a hard time letting them get away with not doing something familiar to them. Something new to them if they refuse I might try it from a different angle or let them think about it and let them think it’s their idea.
As far as broke horses they are expected to do whatever I ask within reason and will because they trust me like your Manny does for you. Once my Dad did wagon rides for a big city wide “First Night” celebration that involved fireworks. He agreed to do it only because the fireworks wouldn’t start until an hour after the wagon rides. He dropped off the last load and headed for the trailer and the fireworks started. The mares are great horses and did nothing wrong but they shook from fright all the way back to the trailer. He made up his mind at that point he would never put them in that type of situation again for any amount of money. They did try for several years to get him to come back to no avail.

Several years ago I decided that after driving some one else’s sleigh ride horses that I was only going to use my horses for working purposes. I realize many people truly enjoy getting out and interfacing with the public with their animals. It clearly wasn’t for me.

That being said, I have driven them to town to the grain store etc. For a couple of years I did drive them in the fourth of July parade to promote some local agricultural initiatives. I always felt weird, because I had already decided that that sort of thing was not for me. They always performed perfectly, but I was always on guard, trying to balance my conscious uncertainty, with the need to be a calm and confident leader. The last year, as I was entering down town Randolph, looking out at a sea of hundreds of people standing ten deep between the store fronts and the street, it really sank in, “This is so unfair to these horses”. I had ultimate confidence in my relationship with the animals, but I had absolutely no control over any one of those people, and I had no back-out, no way to protect the working relationship. Everything about that situation was to meet the expectations of some one else.

We finished the parade, and I haven’t taken them off the farm except to go to a log job since. I do however take them from time to time to participate in work days, and educational workshops, where we are doing meaningful work, which i can buy into, and I can set expectations on the people involved, in stead of the other way around.

Just my experience, Carl

Carl

My limited experience agrees with what you wrote. I enjoy having friends admire my well trained team and taking them for rides around the farm but feel much more in sinc. with them when the horses are doing useful work. I know it’s not the same for everyone and some really enjoy pleasure driving and all that does into it but for me I like to see my boys put their shoulders into the harnesses and accomplish something with all their strength. I think they like it better also.

Many of my early mistakes with my horses (it’s only been a 1.5 years) revolved around doing too much too fast. I had a notion (agenda) about what I wanted to get done and didn’t take into consideration whether my horses (and I) were ready. This lead to some serious setbacks which resulted in us going back to ground zero and doing some of the training strategies Don and others have mentioned (round pen, rope halter, yielding, etc.) even though I bought my horses well trained. This helped establish a healthy working relationship that has grown enormously ever since.

I still have an agenda, but it is not task oriented. Rather the new agenda is how we (horses and I) move forward together as a team with mutual trust and respect. There are times when I still ask too much, but I am quick to re-assess and alter my plan if necessary. The result of my new approach has been a better relationship with my horses and our ability to accomplish tasks I never would have dreamed of a year ago. This winter these new accomplishments are pulling logs up hill out of tight places. Our horses were never used in the woods so the saw, snapping branches, and other stimuli were nerve-racking for them. The horses vary their pace beautifully (stepping slowly through tight places and giving it their all when it comes time to pull), standing quietly, and doing what is asked. This is commonplace for loggers like Carl and others but big steps for my horses and me.

George

Yesterday my Dad went up to the big field to plow. It was windy hear so the horses were more alert than usual. He had our Belgian Buddy, Belle our more nervous mare, and Dixie her laid back coming 4 daughter. He had to ground drive them about a 1/4 mile to the plow. On his way up to the field the city guys that bought the field across the road started shooting targets with their assault rifles. He got hooked ok but all the horses weren’t paying attention when he went to start them. Belle frustrated because the plow didn’t move reared up and when she came down somehow broke the snap on Dixies quarter strap. He thought about quiting right there but decided to tie up the quarter strap and plow. They got used to the bursts of gunfire and he got alot of sod plowed. I’m sure at first he wanted to tie up the horses and go over and smash their guns into little pieces but instead he went to work just like he planned. He ignored the shots and after a while so did the horses. I guess if you want to get something done you have to work past an obstacle once in a while. Last night he felt like he had a good day and the horses looked content.