Today we are talking about Dealing With Anxious Horses.
Watch the Video Here or continue reading below!
I’ve been blessed and cursed to come from the hottest breed in the world: the Paso Fino. They were even show Paso Finos at that! When I became a clinician I first thought, “Man I want to be a famous clinician.” The second thought I had was, “How am I going to do that? I come from Paso Finos, which nobody’s ever heard of a Paso Fino.”
Well, where I thought it would be a curse, it’s been a blessing.
What Do I Mean By That?
Coming from really hot, anxious horses in the show ring means that I really understand how to deal with anxious horses. The big misconception around hot, spooky, or sensitive horses is that we have to tone ourselves down. What I’ve learned is that you DON’T tone yourself down.
This Is One Of The Biggest Things I’ve Learned:
If you’re careful around the horse, you’re creating a horse that you’ll always have to be careful around.
So How Do We Combat This?
With those hot horses, whenever they’re being anxious, it’s all about redirecting that attention to you. A lot of times that has you being ridiculous and over the top so that instead of them worrying about the other horses in the arena, now they’re worried about you. The louder and more rambunctious you are with dancing the jig, spinning, flags, tarps, and all this ridiculousness shows the horse that we’re not worried about them at all. It restores the natural order of things that they’re a prey animal and you guys are predators. They should be worried about you, you shouldn’t be worried about them.
A sensitive horse that’s anxious makes us want to get really quiet. The quieter we get, the more they listen and the more sensitive and explosive they get. So if we want our anxious horse to not be so anxious we need to take that leadership role and be ridiculous until they calm down and only worry about you. As you do that you’ll be able to soften back up and relax again which will make that horse relax with you.
In Conclusion
In dealing with anxious horses, it’s all about getting their undivided attention. So much of that is just not melting inside yourself. Do not get smaller! Get bigger, get more boombastic, go spastic, do crazy things, jump up and down, do jumping jacks. Do things that make that horse say, “Oh I need to pay attention to you because everything else doesn’t matter; you’re the scary one.” By getting that horse’s undivided attention you’ll see that anxious horse whether it’s a rescue, or hot, or anxious, is going to be able to relax, trust your leadership, and find ease in being itself.
Try that out and let me know how it goes. Thanks so much for joining us today!
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