“The point I would hope to make is that my choices and your choices are all valid as long as we adhere to the first principle of horsemanship — that whatever we choose is always in the best interest of the horse.”
In describing that competitive mindset he says, “everything I had been doing was based on too much — too much force, too much pressure, too much too soon, too much assumption that my horse knew what I wanted but was simply not doing it right, too much, too much. I wasn’t teaching, I was forcing.”
I think that most of us who have been riding horses for some time have been guilty of doing too much. I certainly have and it’s resulted in lots of “make them do it” moments and “don’t let them get away with it” decisions.
As Denny says, the use of force with your horse “always escalates because force creates anxiety in the horse, anxiety creates resistance, resistance elicits more force from the rider to counteract it, and down the rabbit hole we go”.
So I hope you're listening to your horse, and you're experimenting with ways to train your horse with connection and relaxation. Please remember that you are an individual, your horse is an individual and your relationship with your horse is unique. Please choose in the best interest of the horse because that choice is in your best interest too.
And a link to Descript, my go-to choice for audio and video editing.
Henry:
“The point I would hope to make is that my choices and your choices are all valid as long as we adhere to the first principle of horsemanship that whatever we choose is always in the best interest of the horse.” This is a quote from Denny Emerson from the closing paragraph of Begin and Begin Again: The Bright Optimism of Reinventing Life with Horses Welcome to the Almost Daily Second Half Horsemanship Podcast where we talk about using your mind more than your muscles on the path to better horsemanship in the second half of life. The podcast features a thought for the day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and a more in-depth discussion or interview on weekends. I’m your host, Paul Sherland. Denny Emerson’’s Begin and Begin Again is a book that belongs in the library of every second half horse person. It reflects Denny’s change of thinking in second half of life horsemanship from his mindset as a Hall of Fame eventing rider and trainer. In describing that competitive mindset he says,“everything I had been doing was based on too much too much force, too much pressure, too much too soon, too much assumption that my horse knew what I wanted but was simply not doing it right, too much, too much. I wasn’t teaching, I was forcing.” I think that most of us who have been riding horses for some time have been guilty of doing too much. I certainly have and it’s resulted in lots of“make them do it” moments and“don’t let them get away with it” decisions. As Denny says, the use of force with your horse“always escalates because force creates anxiety in the horse, anxiety creates resistance, resistance elicits more force from the rider to counteract it, and down the rabbit hole we go”. I was looking at some video of one of my horses at work in the round pen a few years ago. This was before my reawakening to the need for a trusting foundation and the importance of connection and relaxation. The tension my horse felt in doing various groundwork exercises was obvious. My decision at the time was to do various desensitization exercises, but that only made him more tense. The better decision the less ego decision would have been to do less. Do something to remove the force, lessen the anxiety and promote relaxation. I hope that you’re a better horse person than I was. I hope that what you’re doing is always in the best interest of the horse, that you’re finding ways to train and ride with less force. That you’re interactions with your horse build trust and connection. Thanks for listening to the Almost Daily Second Half Horsemanship Podcast. If you’re also on the second half horsemanship journey, please leave a comment on our website, second half horsemanship dot com. We’re always looking for topic and interview ideas. When I use links to books, products and services in the podcast, some of those links might be referral links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I earn a small commission when you purchase something through those links, but you will not be charged more by using the links. One more note. I’m not in a place where I can record the podcast today. So I’m using the auto dub feature of Descript to convert my script to voice. If you do any video or audio editing, you should check out what Descript offers. It is an incredible tool for creatives. I’ll also have a link to Descript in the show notes. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Your reviews help the podcast reach a larger audience. Thank you very much!