Uncommonly Good
Horsesense
Horsesense
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| Your horse will love you when read and follow the wisdom in this book! |
LEARN TO :
- be a horse magnet
- see the world through your horse's mind
- know your horse's character
- know the difference between leadership and dominance,
and how leadership will give you greater partnership - deepen your connection with horses and all animals
- see the whole picture in horse behavior
- AND LOTS MORE
| Uncommonly Good Horsesense By Penny S Stone |
| Evolved Guidance for Creating the Horse Partnership You Always Dreamed Of |
Read an excerpt below:
"This is great information. People and their horses will really benefit from this!" Val Heart, author, animal communicator www.valheart.com |
There are always good reasons for bad behavior
Most unwanted behavior is caused by fear, pain, fear of pain or misunderstanding.
Reducing or removing these make it easier to pay attention and do what is asked.
Sparky is a pretty nice pony. He is usually easy to get along with when handled on the ground, but when he was put in crossties for
grooming and tacking up he would become very mouthy, and try to bite whomever and whatever was around. His owners tried swatting
him and shouting at him, they tried ignoring him, they tried poking him and a variety of other disciplines, but nothing would make him stop.
Finally they just accepted it and decided that “that is just the way he is”.
When I began working with him he was tied in crossties so that he could not reach me to bite. As soon as began to put my hands on him,
he began tossing his head with his ears back and snaking his neck around in an effort to reach me. I could see that he was trying with
everything he had to tell me he had a problem with being tacked up. I quietly began stroking him with a wand, and told him that I understood
that he was upset, and didn’t want to have the saddle put on. I then told him that I would try to understand what the problem was. I stroked
him with a wand for about three minutes and he calmed down and stood quietly. (Wand stroking causes brainwave patterns to calm and
coalesce)
Then I explored his body with my hands. As I stroked and pressed he responded quite clearly by head tossing, or putting his ears back
and swinging his head around with bared teeth, to any area that was uncomfortable. I could see by his responses that his back and one
shoulder were quite sore.
Horses, and animals in general do not lie. They respond directly in the moment to what is happening in their experience. I knew from
his responses that his “bad behavior” was his response to pain. All the drama and biting, head tossing, and ugly face making was his ever
escalating way to tell his people that his saddle was hurting him.
When we checked his saddle fit we found that his saddle pressed down on his withers. We padded the saddle in a different way,
relieving the pressure on his withers. Then I gave the owners some simple bodywork to do to ease his pain. Within a couple weeks, the
biting and mouthiness disappeared. When you find and remove the source of pain, the bad behavior usually disappears.
If your horse is “acting up” look for possible sources of pain. For instance, a horse that is tossing his head while being ridden could have
one or more pain sources causing head tossing. If the horse doesn’t act that way whilemoving around without a rider, you can bet that it is
caused by discomfort from the rider or the tack, or it can even be caused by poor nutrition which has caused permeabilility and pain in the
horse’s digestive system.
The bridle could be poor fitting or have sharp points poking the horse or rough spots rubbing him raw. If the bridle leaves marks on the
horse anywhere, it needs cleaning, adjusting or replacement. The bridle could also be pressing on an already sore poll, causing head
tossing.
The horse’s teeth may need dentistry, or may be hitting against the bit. The bit may not fit the horse’s mouth. Just as not all shoes in your
size will fit you, horses have different shaped mouths, and the bit that is the right width may still not fit his mouth. In addition, different styles
of bits work better for different horses.
The saddle may not fit and may be causing the horse great pain. Imagine wearing bad fitting shoes and running a marathon - - while
carrying someone on your shoulders, and you begin to get an idea of how the horse feels trying to carry you with a poor fitting saddle
If you are a rider who is out of balance, or not in control of your own body, you can be causing the horse pain just by being on his back.
Reins are connected directly to a piece of metal in the horse’s mouth. They are not there for you to “hang on” to for balance or security.
Before getting mad at your horse, take a few lessons with a good teacher who can make sure that your riding habits are not hurting your
horse.
The horse have chronic back, hip or leg pain from injury, or overwork of muscles.
Horses seldom make it to riding age, without some kind injury. These often go unnoticed or ignored and can be causing pain every time
you mount up. If your horse acts up in a consistent pattern take the time to find out what could be causing it. Ttouch is a great technique
for finding pain and you can easily learn enough in a weekend seminar to improve your horse’s well being. Equine Chiropractic,
Acupuncture, Osteopathy, Dentistry and Massage are other methods of finding and relieving pain
Head tossing is a very normal way that horses communicate strongly with each other. When they are tossing their head to communicate
with you, they have already been trying to get the message to you with less obvious body language, so head tossing is the equivalent of
shouting. If your horse has reached the point of “shouting”, you need to figure out what is bothering him not escalate the same thing you’ve
been doing. If you continue to ignore his signals, he may feel he has no choice but to take an even stronger action, such as bucking,
rearing, bolting, or even flipping over backwards, in order to avoid continuing pain and/or fear.
We cannot expect horses to hear our requests when pain or fear is getting in their way. Pain and fear make it difficult to think. When your
horse is in pain or fear, their attention is focused on getting out of that pain or fear. Taking away the source of that pain or fear, or showing
them the way to remove that pain or fear safely, opens the way for them to be able to understand what you are asking. When pain or fear is
removed they can “hear” you, and try to fulfill your requests.
When we look for the causes of unwanted behavior, rather than just trying to make them stop that behavior, we begin to see horses as
individuals with thoughts and emotions of their own, rather than unthinking beings ruled by instinct alone. Seeing them in this way opens
the door for us to have real, profound relationships with them, to dance a joyful dance with them to the music of life.
Most unwanted behavior is caused by fear, pain, fear of pain or misunderstanding.
Reducing or removing these make it easier to pay attention and do what is asked.
Sparky is a pretty nice pony. He is usually easy to get along with when handled on the ground, but when he was put in crossties for
grooming and tacking up he would become very mouthy, and try to bite whomever and whatever was around. His owners tried swatting
him and shouting at him, they tried ignoring him, they tried poking him and a variety of other disciplines, but nothing would make him stop.
Finally they just accepted it and decided that “that is just the way he is”.
When I began working with him he was tied in crossties so that he could not reach me to bite. As soon as began to put my hands on him,
he began tossing his head with his ears back and snaking his neck around in an effort to reach me. I could see that he was trying with
everything he had to tell me he had a problem with being tacked up. I quietly began stroking him with a wand, and told him that I understood
that he was upset, and didn’t want to have the saddle put on. I then told him that I would try to understand what the problem was. I stroked
him with a wand for about three minutes and he calmed down and stood quietly. (Wand stroking causes brainwave patterns to calm and
coalesce)
Then I explored his body with my hands. As I stroked and pressed he responded quite clearly by head tossing, or putting his ears back
and swinging his head around with bared teeth, to any area that was uncomfortable. I could see by his responses that his back and one
shoulder were quite sore.
Horses, and animals in general do not lie. They respond directly in the moment to what is happening in their experience. I knew from
his responses that his “bad behavior” was his response to pain. All the drama and biting, head tossing, and ugly face making was his ever
escalating way to tell his people that his saddle was hurting him.
When we checked his saddle fit we found that his saddle pressed down on his withers. We padded the saddle in a different way,
relieving the pressure on his withers. Then I gave the owners some simple bodywork to do to ease his pain. Within a couple weeks, the
biting and mouthiness disappeared. When you find and remove the source of pain, the bad behavior usually disappears.
If your horse is “acting up” look for possible sources of pain. For instance, a horse that is tossing his head while being ridden could have
one or more pain sources causing head tossing. If the horse doesn’t act that way whilemoving around without a rider, you can bet that it is
caused by discomfort from the rider or the tack, or it can even be caused by poor nutrition which has caused permeabilility and pain in the
horse’s digestive system.
The bridle could be poor fitting or have sharp points poking the horse or rough spots rubbing him raw. If the bridle leaves marks on the
horse anywhere, it needs cleaning, adjusting or replacement. The bridle could also be pressing on an already sore poll, causing head
tossing.
The horse’s teeth may need dentistry, or may be hitting against the bit. The bit may not fit the horse’s mouth. Just as not all shoes in your
size will fit you, horses have different shaped mouths, and the bit that is the right width may still not fit his mouth. In addition, different styles
of bits work better for different horses.
The saddle may not fit and may be causing the horse great pain. Imagine wearing bad fitting shoes and running a marathon - - while
carrying someone on your shoulders, and you begin to get an idea of how the horse feels trying to carry you with a poor fitting saddle
If you are a rider who is out of balance, or not in control of your own body, you can be causing the horse pain just by being on his back.
Reins are connected directly to a piece of metal in the horse’s mouth. They are not there for you to “hang on” to for balance or security.
Before getting mad at your horse, take a few lessons with a good teacher who can make sure that your riding habits are not hurting your
horse.
The horse have chronic back, hip or leg pain from injury, or overwork of muscles.
Horses seldom make it to riding age, without some kind injury. These often go unnoticed or ignored and can be causing pain every time
you mount up. If your horse acts up in a consistent pattern take the time to find out what could be causing it. Ttouch is a great technique
for finding pain and you can easily learn enough in a weekend seminar to improve your horse’s well being. Equine Chiropractic,
Acupuncture, Osteopathy, Dentistry and Massage are other methods of finding and relieving pain
Head tossing is a very normal way that horses communicate strongly with each other. When they are tossing their head to communicate
with you, they have already been trying to get the message to you with less obvious body language, so head tossing is the equivalent of
shouting. If your horse has reached the point of “shouting”, you need to figure out what is bothering him not escalate the same thing you’ve
been doing. If you continue to ignore his signals, he may feel he has no choice but to take an even stronger action, such as bucking,
rearing, bolting, or even flipping over backwards, in order to avoid continuing pain and/or fear.
We cannot expect horses to hear our requests when pain or fear is getting in their way. Pain and fear make it difficult to think. When your
horse is in pain or fear, their attention is focused on getting out of that pain or fear. Taking away the source of that pain or fear, or showing
them the way to remove that pain or fear safely, opens the way for them to be able to understand what you are asking. When pain or fear is
removed they can “hear” you, and try to fulfill your requests.
When we look for the causes of unwanted behavior, rather than just trying to make them stop that behavior, we begin to see horses as
individuals with thoughts and emotions of their own, rather than unthinking beings ruled by instinct alone. Seeing them in this way opens
the door for us to have real, profound relationships with them, to dance a joyful dance with them to the music of life.
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