As I sit down to write this, I realize that this week totally flew by! I'm really excited about some projects that are coming together behind the scenes, we introduced a gelding into Annie's little herd, and she and I continue to work on her physical conditioning under saddle. She continues to impress me with how well she is coming along!
An interesting observation I've made is that I can now definitely say that she does best when we work in the evenings after she has had her dinner and not before. I keep a training journal and it's clear that if I work with her before she has had her dinner (because I normally work with her in the early afternoons or evenings), she is more likely to be distracted compared to when we work after she's eaten her dinner. She has hay all the time (and definitely is eating it!) and I always give her a flake of hay while I groom her so it doesn't seem to be related to hunger, but rather routine. I think because I work her after she has had dinner 90% of the time and right before or around the time of it the other 10%, she gets distracted by the fact that the normal routine is being disrupted. This isn't a bad thing, just something I've noticed and hope to work on in the future so that I can best set her up to be adaptable, happy, and successful.
With that said, we shook up her world a bit this weekend - we introduced another gelding who was living out 24/7 at the barn to Annie and Phoebe's pasture! The mares have shared a fence line with him for the last few months and have all met in passing in the barn but we finally took the step to put the three of them out together. Parker's owner had expressed that she would really love for him to be out with other horses and not just out by himself being able to see and touch the other horses over the fence. I was really excited (but admittedly a bit nervous because you never 100% know what will happen with new horse introductions!) to add a gelding to the mix. Not only does this mean I can take Annie out without Phoebe being alone now, but also because studies have shown that mixed herds tend to move more which is a huge plus for all of them.
I have to say their meeting was the least eventful introduction of horses I think I have ever witnessed - phew! Not only did they have a lot of time to meet over the fence line prior to bringing Parker in, but we made sure to have the hay feeder fully stocked, hay bags in the run in shed, and a variety of hay balls around to mitigate any resource guarding. I was not too worried about Annie accepting Parker as she tends to be pretty social and has been out happily with another gelding at our last barn. We were more concerned about if Phoebe would accept him as she was definitely not a fan of Annie when we first introduced them about a year and a half ago. We put Parker out with Annie while Phoebe was in the barn and the two of them basically ignored each other. They sniffed each other briefly before Annie went back to looking for Phoebe and Parker wandered off to explore his new space. He quickly figured out where everything was and we waited a little longer before adding Phoebe to the mix. When we brought her in, she stood with Annie and stared at Parker for a bit before marching up to meet him. We were joking that Parker gives off little brother vibes in that he is so oblivious and easy-going that he just wants to fit in without rocking the boat - which ended up being perfect! Phoebe gave him a few little squeals the few times he got too close to her at the hay feeder but that was it. They all settled in really nicely and ate their respective dinners in peace.
Another fun thing that happened this week that was a little different than normal is that we got to share the arena with two other horses while we worked. So often I'm at the barn later than the other boarders so we normally end up working on our own in the arena. On one hand, this is great because it means there are far fewer distractions, but on the other hand it means that there are far fewer distractions to practice with! Annie did a great job adapting to this change despite a bit of initial confusion around the presence of a small pony. He is relatively new to the barn so she has seen him for short periods but he is definitely still interesting to her - especially when he trots and even more so when he dares to trot near her! The first time he went by her at the trot she spun around and looked at him and then back at me as if to say, "Is he supposed to do that?!" I let her stop and look at him until she relaxed in her own time (which was only like 10 seconds), I rewarded her for relaxing, and then she moved on with her life and didn't give him a second thought. I was super proud of how she handled that and moving around Parker who was also being ridden in the arena with us.
One of the things I mentioned last week was that I'm pretty adamant about not holding our horses to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. I discussed the importance of this in a physical and emotional context, but I also want to mention that is applies in so many more situations than that! One great example of this is in terms of attention and focus which ties into the above scenario and into another conversation I had with a student this week.
I hear so many horse people say that they expect their horses to give them their full and undivided attention from start to finish in their interactions. Some people are taken back when I say that I firmly disagree with this truly unreasonable expectation. As a prey animal, your horse is quite literally designed to be constantly attuned to their environment in order to protect themselves. This means that it's nearly an impossible task to expect them to give you their full, undivided attention at all times!
So not only is that a tough ask of them simply because of their very nature, but let's be real - are YOU giving your horse your full, undivided attention from the moment you arrive at the barn to the time you leave? I highly doubt it!
Try this exercise the next time you're at the barn. Practice being mindful of where your attention is at from the moment you step into the barn to the moment you leave. Between thinking about the phones in our pockets (or hands), to the other boarders or lessons going on around you, to what you're going to eat for dinner later, I think you'll realize pretty quickly that it's nearly impossible to give your horse your full and undivided attention for the entire time you're with them.
We need to allow them to look at and listen to things while we're working with them and try not to take it personally that they don't give you their full attention. They're simply doing the one thing that what we're all meant to do - survive!
Empowering Observations:
Training logs are your friend! Even if you're not one to journal, just jotting down a bit about each session with your horse is a great way to pick up on their patterns and to track your progress. You can keep track of as much or as little as you'd like, but having these records at all has been super helpful for myself and my students. I personally don't love to write in physical journals because I tend to be rather long-winded (can you tell from the fact that I moved to a blog?!) so I use the notes app in my phone. This allows me to use voice-to-text and save on time!
If you feel like your horse has a hard time focusing on you, take a step back and evaluate how much of your attention is on them first. This whole topic came from a conversation with a friend who mentioned that she feels like she struggles to keep her horse's attention. When we talked through how much attention she was giving to her horse, it quickly became clear that her mind was also wandering quite a bit! One of the things she is going to try is meditating for short periods of time around her horse so she can practice mindfulness in his presence and see what happens. The more you are fully present with them, the more likely they will be to be more fully present with you. But know that it's unreasonable for both of you to pay full attention to each other for an extended period of time - it's natural for both of you to become distracted!
Things I'm Loving This Week
The Pin Point Practices that are included in Jane Pike's JoyRide program! I joined Jane's membership a few months ago and it's been super interesting to see how her nervous system awareness practices and body mapping exercises have changed how my body moves in space and how much more aware I am of it. I love the Pin Point Practices because they are bit-sized recordings of the movement practices that I can do almost anywhere. I highly recommend anyone (riders and non-riders!) take a peek into the program simply because it's such an interesting and accessible way to get to know your body and nervous system better.
Horse Guard's Flix Treats! I honestly have been eyeing these treats for a while now but held off on buying them because I had heard some others saying that they felt the treats were too hard and I also wasn't sure Annie would like them. They happened to be on sale for Valentine's Day and I figured what the heck, and ordered a bag. Not only do I find that they are not too hard (maybe the way they are made changed?) but Annie *loves* them! They're a great size, a good price for what you're getting, and I really appreciate that the only ingredient is flaxseed! I'll definitely be ordering more in the future and adding them to my list of commercial horse treats that are worth your money. You can also save 10% off your next Horse Guard purchase by using this link!
Equestrian Reflection
Journal Prompt: Horses have taught me...
Oh gosh now THIS should be a blog post of its own! Horses continue to teach me to be patient. They have taught me that my intuition is much stronger than I have sometimes believed. They have taught me to stand up for myself and for others. They have taught me the meaning of hard work and how rewarding it is. They have taught me that nearly anything can be achieved with kindness. They've taught me about loss. They have taught me how to slow down. They have taught me how to really listen. They have taught me how to play and experiment. They have taught me about love and friendship. They have taught me about people. They have taught me so much about myself.
Affirmation: Horses have shaped the person I am.
Equestrian Oracle
Theme for the Upcoming Week
Multidimensional
Where are you putting yourself in a box and not allowing yourself to truly shine? Perhaps you feel like you need to show up in one set way throughout your life, but this simply is not the case.
We are multidimensional beings that will continually evolve and aren't meant to stay the same. You may be the kind of person who goes through chapters in your life that represent your growth, or perhaps you also like to show up in many different ways on a day to day basis depending on who you are around or how you feel.
It's your turn to step outside the box and show up in a way that feels good for you. You don't need to hold yourself back. The world is ready for all of you.
*The Equestrian Reflection and Equestrian Oracle cards are courtesy of Felicity Davies and can be purchased directly from her here. Full transparency - I receive no financial gain from sharing these, I just love them and find them to be helpful on this journey!
Comments