This lesson IS NOT about catching your horse, although if that’s a problem, you’ll make a good start to solving it with this lesson.
“Feel” is at the foundation of every type of success with a horse, whether it’s a blissful Sunday afternoon trail ride with your four legged best mate or whether it’s a Grand Prix dressage test, working a cow or training for a horse show like Hannah in the photo above.
Some people say that “Feel” for a horse can’t be taught, that you have to be born with it. I am very happy to tell you that that is not true.
We’ve figured out a way for ordinary people like you and me to develop the “feel” of world class horse people and I promise you that there is no exaggeration in that. Fine tuning the natural talent that EVERYONE already has, into a skill, is what will give you this level of Feel for your horse.
And when we use this talent and skill to help ourselves and our horses reach a deep and delicious sense of well being… well, the possibilities are just endless.
Start your journey with this simple and practical introduction to using your inner guidance system.
If you have any trouble with the audio above you can click hear to listen to The Fourth Key to Happiness with Your Horse.
Written Version of the Audio
You can print this and take it out to your horse if you need to.
What is it that makes the great riders so great?
Have you ever watched some of these riders? I mean the world class ones? They just know when to do something, they just know when to change something with their horse to avoid a problem or they just know how to get a great result and they make it look so darned easy.
Well, apart from being really, really good riders and we take care of THAT in Fast Track to Brilliant Riding – it’s because it IS easy for them – and it’s easy because they have this great feel for their horse and they are using that feel effectively.
I have found a way for normal people like us to develop our Feel for our horse so that we can be effective too, so that we too can know when to change something for our horse, BEFORE it actually becomes a problem and we too can get that great result of the really great riders.
And it all starts way back here with this simple little exercise about catching your horse – by learning to listen to an early warning signal, a feeling that something is Not Quite Right.
Recognising and listening to YOUR early warning signal that something is Not Quite Right is fundamental – absolutely fundamental to my short cut to becoming a brilliant rider and getting REALLY good with horses. It is sooo fundamental that in Fast Track to Brilliant Riding, we have all sorts of support systems in place to make sure that you get this really clearly.
When we pay attention to Not Quite Right, we get rid of the tension that comes from nerves and anxiety like I talked about yesterday, we can avoid most of the crappy nerves and anxiety feelings because we are listening and taking action EARLY – before the feelings start feeling crappy AND we develop this brilliant feel for our horse where we know exactly how to best help our horse, WHEN to do it and WHAT to do.
Catching your horse is a perfect time to start developing your feel, by recognising how you personally experience YOUR early warning signal.
This is an exercise in developing feel – so do it even if you don’t have any problems catching your horse.
So, next time you are going out to your horse:
Step 1 Stop outside the paddock or field or barn and scan yourself from head to toe, noticing how you feel. Notice any aches and pains, notice any tension, notice how you feel.
Step 2 Hold the halter openly in your arms and then notice what changes as you start to walk towards your horse.
Step 3 When you feel that first tiny feeling that something is Not Quite Right, the first early warning signal that I call Not Quite Right, you TAKE ACTION ON IT. You DO something about it. You CHANGE something. In the case of catching your horse – you take the pressure off your horse by backing away as far away as you have to for them to feel OK again – at least a few big steps – some of you might even have to go all the way out of the paddock or field or barn to feel good again and that is completely OK.
Step 4 And you wait there until your horse licks and chews AND finishes licking and chewing, before you walk towards your horse again. If your horse eats grass while you’re waiting and you can’t tell whether they are licking and chewing, then you can wait until there’s a good feeling before you walk towards them again.
Step 5 And you keep doing that – walking towards your horse – backing off when you get a Not Quite Right and waiting for The Chew – getting closer and closer each time – until you can walk up to your horse – openly and happily – until your horse is feels happy inside and is happy to have you stand beside them and stroke them and eventually put the halter on.
When you act on that feeling that something is Not Quite Right, you help your horse find a comfort zone again BEFORE your horse moves away – so catching becomes easy because they WANT to be with you because you help them feel good.
Everybody experiences their version of the early warning signal that I call Not Quite Right. I have come across many, many different ways that people experience this feeling. I felt it first as a horrible feeling in my solar plexus, but now that I am used to paying attention, it is a MUCH smaller feeling. You could feel a feeling of tension somewhere in your body as you walk towards your horse, or some discomfort – whatever.
Your mission should you choose to accept it – is to notice how YOU experience Not Quite Right the next time you go up to your horse and remember, it could well be quite different to how I feel it.
And if there were no Not Quite Rights at all as you walked up to your horse and haltered them, then as you move through your day with your horse, notice where there ARE some and take action on that early warning signal in the same way that we do here, by backing off, by changing something, by taking the pressure off, by doing whatever it takes until you feel OK again and then waiting for your horse to Chew.
In Fast Track to Brilliant Riding, we go to great lengths to develop this feel for your horse, by systematically helping you to notice more and more subtle signals that something is Not Quite Right and helping you to get in the habit of taking action on that warning signal ALL THE TIME.
We also have some great support systems in place to help you develop that.
Tomorrow’s lesson I call the “My Grass!” Game. This game looks like it’s about stopping you from getting dragged around while your horse eats grass – but it’s really about getting creative about motivating our horse.