For sure there are many great minds and educators in this world. Hundreds of books have been written, DVDs to watch, websites, horsemanship clinics, etc. All have a valuable place. However when we look at horsemanship half of the partnership is the horse. Horses possess great minds and make fantastic educators. A horse is like a mirror reflecting right back at us the very aspects of we need in a way of personal development. Think about what qualities our horse is looking for from us as their partner. If we lack these it will turn up in our relationship with our horse. Sometimes it is uncomfortable to recognise what we need to do to step up to be the partner our horse needs and expects. Horsemanship is as much about personal development. They say when the student is ready the teacher will arrive. Teachers can have 2 legs or 4. Your horse can be your personal teacher and guide. Often it is only our horse that can teach us.

My once in a lifetime horse Merlot, that I rescued from a life of abuse taught me so much. The first I had to learn was no matter how much I loved Merlot that love was not going to be returned until I had proven without doubt I was worthy. Although he was not able to return my love for a long time I had to consistently give unconditional love. I learnt I had to freely give with no expectation of it being returned. It taught me to wait until Merlot felt comfortable to freely love in return. Read for FREE my published article - The Power of Love. When I had proven myself to him to be trustworthy, respectful and through enjoyable quality time together the bond grew from strength to strength and little glimmers of love from Merlot shone through like precious diamonds. Giving him unconditional love helped him learn to love, open his heart and let me in and over time this love and bond deepened. One of the lessons my teacher taught me was to put love into everything I did with him, to make love my goal. To show the way I had to give love unconditionally, wait, practice patience, not to give up and to look for and appreciate the smallest glimmer of a try. The glimmer of a try is the ignition to greater things to come and must be treasured just like a fleck of gold when gold panning.  Read for FREE my published article - Panning for Gold. The first article in a series about motivation in horsemanship. 

Horses are mirrors they reflect back to us exactly what we need to see in ourselves. It is a question of being brave enough to open yourself up to this experience. Being strong enough to listen and humble enough to learn. Switching roles from the human educating a horse to being the pupil being educated by the horse for many is a huge challenge. One of our greatness is that humans can rethink, change our approach and remake ourselves. The only thing that stands in our way is our-selves, beliefs, values, mind-set, and thinking. What you think is what you become, as it shapes your actions and actions become life choices and priorities. Being open to new ways of thinking, new approaches is not as easy as it sounds. Read for FREE my published article – The Power of Thoughts. 

Being open minded isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are many pressures that keep us from trying new or different approaches. Peer pressure is one, if you are on a livery yard you will find people are always happy to offer their advice and help. What you may find in short supply is people’s understanding and tolerance to approaches they know little or nothing about or disagree with on principal. You may even be unlucky enough to have an “expert” or “experts” on the yard who will expect you to follow their advice as clearly they know it all and know what is best for not only your horse but you too. Using a different approach to what they expect you to use can then cause you further problems. You may even been seen as a maverick for going against the norm. I certainly was seen as a maverick, a few people on the yard had very little tolerance or understanding of my approach. I found it was best to quietly work by myself. Read for FREE my published article – Maverick. Sadly as a horsemanship instructor I still see people following natural horsemanship on livery yards working in isolation, with others around them happy to criticise and undermine. It takes great strength of character to have faith when you are in the minority. Myself, I struck out following my own path of natural horsemanship. I was not affiliated to the well-known methods, so even more of a target for disrespect from fellow liveries on the yard. Even when my successful methods had been showcased and published in national magazines they did not stop belittling my horsemanship. Going it alone and against the mainstream is never easy. I remind myself daily that what mattered was my relationship with my horses, not the relationships with these small minded people. I used to select times of the day that the yard would be quiet, to ensure I could work without disturbances. Nothing and no-one was going to compromise the special relationship I had with my horses. 

Another barrier that will stop you being open minded and receptive to your horse being your teacher is the influence of negative people.  These people love to side track you, and try to influence your consciousness.  Negative people are often perfectly nice people on the surface, but they will drain you energetically. Their favourite occupation is to drag people down. It is done in a nice way; they pretend to be doing everyone a favour they love to surround themselves with grateful “friends”. They love to hold the limelight, and often focus things that go wrong in their life and create unnecessary and pointless drama for others. Arguing with them is what they want, they crave attention.  It all stops you from moving in your own direction and making the choices that feel right for you and your horse. I reminded myself when I meet these characters that I keep my horse on a livery yard to be with my horse, not to get involved. 

Tradition is another pressure that can hold you back from trying a different or new approach. If something has always been done that way then it can be hard to go in a different direction. Still today there are people who are very rigid in their traditional thinking and will only work within one method or set of approved guidelines. However consider this: There is a big wide equine world out there outside these guidelines. 

There are also people who will only work within one natural horsemanship approach too. By narrowing your thinking you will not allow yourself to open up to trying another approach, or something new. As with all things there are fashions and fads within the horse world. It is easy to get caught up in this, to jump on the latest band wagon / try the fashionable training method / be attracted by the media and marketing / and use the latest training gadget that promises to fix your problem etc... All of these are barriers for you to being open minded and trying something that is not in the spotlight or fashionable. Assuming something will not work before you have even tried it is another barrier for you to try a new or different approach. 

Opening up to letting your horse’s great mind educate you sounds easy. In practice it is not simple. Along with what it takes to be truly open minded people can get stuck doing the same and getting the same. Stuck in a rut is struggling along with a lack of vision to see any other paths. The same old thinking will bring you back to the same point. What you think is what you become. Often people carry on doing the same and getting the same. Fine if that is giving you and your horse the results you are after. If it is not giving you the results you are looking for you need to do something different. Often we can’t find the answer using the same things we know, and sometimes it is very helpful to approach things by asking different questions. It helps you to see things from another angle or a different view point. So again I come back to the horse as the great mind, the educator and the other 50% of the partnership. What questions is you horse putting to you? Are you brave enough to ask? Do you carefully listen to your horse? Are you humble enough to be the student and learn from your horse? 

Do the same and you will always get the same. Rethink your attitude to problems. Have you ever considered that problems and difficulties are opportunities in work clothing? Read for FREE my article – Golden Gifts in Crappy Paper. The way forward to solving these problems can encourage us to get creative and the process can be very enriching and rewarding. There is always more than one method when working with horses to approach something. Tap into your horse’s great mind and you will unlock opportunities for learning and enrich the relationship with your horse.  

• Do you want to help your horse to overcome fear of scary objects? 
• Would you like to play with your horse?
• Does your horse get easily distracted and would you like your horse to concentrate?
• Would you like an accurate way to let your horse know it has done the right thing?
• Are you curious about how to get an incredible bond between human and horse?
• Do you want a partnership with your horse based on saying yes?
• Would you like to build self-motivation with activities that are fun?
• Are you curious on how to unlock potential and be successful?

Yes to any of the above then read on……

How to Get Started

Firstly I teach a noise = a reward. This is easy to do.

1)      Place a treat in your hand and offer it to your horse.

2)      As his mouth goes round the treat make a click noise that you will use to replace the word yes.

I don’t use the word yes and often we interact with our horse and talk at the same time and if we used the word yes it would be confusing to the horse. I don’t use a hand held clicker as I want to be able to indicate my horse has done the right thing in any situation at any time with my horse.  It’s a pain to always carry a hand held clicker, but our voice is transportable everywhere.

3)      Repeat numbers 1 and 2 as many times as you need to teach your horse your chosen noise = a reward. 

4)      Test to see if your horse has learnt the noise = reward by one day when your horse is minding his own business chilling out nearby make your click noise. If he’s learnt that noise = reward his head will turn towards you with an expectant look. Then give the reward. Your horse has now learnt the click noise is the bridge to a reward arriving. Now we can attach it to any given situation and training.

Yes it is easy to teach your horse a noise that = YES. This is a wonderful horsemanship tool, as two legs or four we all love positive feedback when learning.  

When we engage in any training activity, no matter the methods we use with a horse we are using an extrinsic motivation. It could be a positive or a negative reinforcement. And there are good, bad and ugly practices out there.  And maybe you already know the difference between a positive and a negative reinforcement, or maybe not?  You can read for FREE my published article in the motivation series which examines the difference between negative and positive reinforcement in horsemanship. It also discusses extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in horsemanship. Knowing the difference makes a huge difference in the ignition of self-motivation, joy and fun in the horse. 

Cool so you taught your horse a noise = yes. Here is how to use it in a practical way. I am going to select for an example teaching your horse to target touch. Why? Most horses haven’t been taught it, so it’s something new for the horse. You can’t force your horse to touch either, so you will have to engage with your horse in meaningful horsemanship dialogue. You and your horse will have to work together. You will have to recognise a try from your horse and be ready to reward. For some horses the smallest try is like panning for gold. 

There are so many practical reasons for teaching your horse to taget touch: Your horse will never risk touching anything without investigating it first with its’ nose. So having a shared language about checking out new objects can be very handy if you wish to do agility, or play with objects such as ball, or help your horse to be confident with everyday spooky objects, or be a confident self-loader into your trailer.

How to Teach Your Horse to Target Touch

1)      Select a safe object for your horse to learn target touch. I suggest something your horse is used to seeing every day, so it is familiar and non-threatening.  When I am teaching this on an agility day I use a plastic cone.

2)      Let your horse relax and be comfortable before you start.

3)      Place a treat between your fingers and with your hand in a pointing gesture use this to draw your horse’s nose towards the cone. I use the word touch as I do this.

4)      When your horse touches the cone use your click noise then reward.

Once practiced your horse will recognise the hand gesture and word are to indicate to check out an object and that you will reward the right behaviour. Any safe object can be used for target touch training. So get creative. This can be extended to teach your horse to push a ball, or pick up objects and even to retrieve objects.  

You can also use a hand held target. They are easy to make, some people use a simple stick with a ball on the end, or with a paddle like bat end etc… These are great for encouragement direction of movement, as you can teach the horse to follow the target. Great for motivation of moving in circles or from one point to another.  

You can also use targets to train stand and stay. Such as on a target mat; or use your rope earthed as a ground tie.

Target touch is great for spook busting and helping horses gain confidence approaching scary objects.  It is a Golden Gift in Crappy Paper to use positive reinforcement to help you and your horse tackle confidently every day issues that will no longer limit your world. There are two types of objects ones you can move and ones you can’t – I have covered how to tackle these in my FREE to read article – Lets Go Walkies.

If you want to have a go at horse agility or tackle natural trail obstacles target touch is an essential skill to master. A horse will not risk any part of its’ body or feet until it has investigated things with its’ nose. They risk things in this order, nose, head, neck, shoulders, body and feet.  So for example: For your horse to stand on a podium it will need to check it out fully with its’ nose before its’ head will move over a bit further, then it may move more over so nose, head and neck are over the podium before it will risk walking over. You can also help your horse by teaching target touch with its’ hoof touching the object, click and reward.  

You can also use target touch for physio type carrot stretches. Plus teach your horse it is safe for you to inspect and handle parts of their body.

You can also extend positive reinforcement into training tricks, liberty work, in hand work and if you ride ridden activities. Plus every day interactions such as catching, leading, mounting, etc…. The only thing you are limited by is your imagination and creativity.   

My work takes me out to meet all types of people and their horses. All have very interesting stories to tell. Mostly people want me to help them with a problem of some description. Sometimes I am a last resort call. Horsemanship by nature is inter-species communication. So it not surprizing that when horse and human are learning a new shared language, great learning opportunities are brilliantly disguised as problems. My calling is to help people and horses. The first thing is to help them make peace with the problems, no matter what they are. These problems can be the “golden gifts in crappy paper”. 

It is a matter of perspective. A problem is often an opportunity to explore. Sometimes it is about starting a fresh. This time more intelligently, to learn new skills, to build a strong foundation to build success upon. The trouble with a problem is it can be viewed as hard work and not worth the effort. How about thinking it could be a fun journey? There could be opportunities for personal growth. It is sometimes about switching mind sets. A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. However an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Opportunity rarely arrives easy or neatly packed. Most people miss opportunities because they arrive as problems.   

Opportunity dances with those on the dance floor, so my work is often about getting horse and rider as dance partners. I help people and horses to walk confidently onto the dance floor, with the skills they need. My aim is to facilitate them being able to dance together without me. For this I use a blend of horsemanship, cognitive behavioural techniques and when required healing. 

Horsemanship technique will get you so far. It will only work with the correct mind set and emotional state. Time and time again I can show someone technique and the person can try to replicate it. However if the person is not in the right emotional place the horse will know. Horses know if we are nervous, anxious, fearful, tense, apprehensive, tentative, etc…. Horses are hardwired to read emotional state within their own species and that of other species. You cannot wear a mask, the incongruence rattles them. For horsemanship to work horses require us to be authentic, consistent, trustworthy, respectful, calm, confident, patient, listen to understand, and above all honest. Horses are divine mirrors and will reflect back to us what we must work on from within. Horsemanship is as much about personal development as it is about being great with horses. This is why cognitive behavioural techniques bring so much to horsemanship. As some people need help to deal with issues such as anxiety, fear, stress, depression, lack of confidence, the what ifs, the negative inner dialogue, the self-doubt, etc…  And often their horse and a little help is the only way onto the right path. 

When I meet a new horse and human partnership presenting with a problem I have to come at it with a problem solving mind set. This is what I will share with you, as problem solving is essential in almost every area of life. 

Responsibility

Firstly I need to establish the root cause of the problem. Not that easy as humans are great at burying their heads in the sand and avoiding the problem. Avoiding the problem doesn’t make it go away. It builds up in the background until a crisis point is reached. The problem may have been inherited. Humans are great at passing the buck. Sometimes the problem gets given to a professional to train the horse. The horse returns fixed, however the horse is only 50% of the partnership and the problem resurfaces. Then it can lead to the blame game. This sadly leads people down a negative pathway where others are less likely to offer assistance. I have to help the person to see the problem, and take responsibility, be willing, proactive and committed to working through to a solution. 

Emotions

Emotions play a huge part in horsemanship. You can’t convince me that horses are not emotional beings. So understanding the horse’s and the human’s emotional state is critical to success. We invest so much into our equine dream. Emotions are so powerful they can have a huge impact on decisions and actions. A massive part of helping someone; be they have 2 legs or 4 through a problem is to respect their emotional state. And offer appropriate support, guidance and encouragement. Some emotions take time to unpack. Taking ownership of feelings is the first step in how to work through emotions. Horsemanship requires horse and human to centre them-selves so they are composed, calm and confident, enabling thinking, rather than reactive behaviour. This enables an effective choice for the correct response in a situation.  

Goals  

Success is not just for the gifted and talented. When faced with a problem, knowing the true root cause and the desired end result enables us to put in place a step by step plan. You can read for FREE my published article Set Yourself Up for Success.   

Listen to Understand

I have to listen to not only the human but also the horse when I am asked to help solve a problem. I need to make sure I really understand what I am being told, so I often ask lots of questions, observe, reflect and check back with the person and horse so I really understand. With complex issues it can take time for the layers to open up and the information we need come to light. It is about the relationship I have with the client and their horse that enables delicate topics to be aired. Some issues run deep, abuse, trauma, frightening experiences, etc… I am 100% committed to my clients, dedicated, and above all what is said to me is confidential. It is not just listening. It’s about being compassionate, supportive, caring and empathic. 

Explore Options

There is always more than one answer to a problem. Spending time considering each and this will lead you to the one that feels appropriate. Plus enable you to be flexible in your approach as there is always more than one way to work through things with horsemanship.   

Review and Evaluate

Once you have embarked on your problem solving journey from time to time, stop and reflect. Keeping a journal can be a very useful tool, as it will enable you to see the distance you have travelled. Your journey is not set in stone so you can review and evaluate your progress and adjust your plan as you go along. 

Dealing with Set Backs

On our journey through solving a problem, there can be setbacks and times you feel like giving up. This is the time to use tools and strategies that help with keeping you and your horse motivated. You can read for FREE the 7 articles I wrote on motivation that appeared in Horsemanship Magazine. Start by reading the article - Panning for Gold, then the 6 in the Motivation series.       

I have shared with you a few insights in problem solving, which hopefully you can test run in any area of life.  

Our horse Kez was purchased as a riding horse for my husband Steve and I to share. Sadly with a few short months of horse ownership our dreams soon laid shattered at our feet. Kez was diagnosed with health conditions that mean he cannot be ridden. We cannot have more than one horse as Steve and I have serious health conditions. We would never part with Kez to replace him for one to ride. We love Kez way more than riding. We love Kez for who he is not what he can give us. So we gave up riding. I grieved terribly giving up riding. I have ridden all my life, and riding is part of my life. However I have no interest in riding for riding sake. For me riding must be permissive and based on the relationship we have with our horse. To give up on riding was hard, and to cut those dreams off I sold Kez’s saddle and all my riding gear. I needed no reminders of our dreams and aspirations.  

I write this article as the road I have taken has not been easy. My passion and love for riding had been taken from me, riding died. Kez didn’t die, he needed Steve and I even more than ever. He needed loving, responsible guardians who would step up no matter what for his physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. He needed to be heard, his voice mattered. We ensure Kez has what he needs to be a happy, healthy and well cared for horse with a life that is enriched and fun. Kez is the lucky one, thousands like him suffer. Many don’t have loving and responsible guardians. Non ridden equines are the most disadvantaged, most at risk form neglect, abuse and abandonment. Many get passed on with the truth hidden and sold as riding horses. Many get passed from pillar to post, sold time and time again. Some are dumped near death or dead. So Kez was our inspiration to do something for non ridden equines. We started the Non Ridden Equine Facebook group and little did we know that thousands of like-minded people would join. We soon realised that way more than clicking like amongst like-minded people has to be done so we launched the not for profit Non Ridden Equine Association UK. Standing above the parapet I got shot at. The equine industry is rife with bullying and unpleasentness. I recieved relentless pressure which was making me very ill. The final nail in the coffin for the not for profit Non Ridden Equine Association UK came from an external organisation we supported in showcasing their non ridden services. This external organisation was in legal dispute with another external organisation and issued legal threat of prosecution to the Non Ridden Equine Association UK if we continued to showcase both organisations on our website or in our Facebook groups. Getting dragged into legal issues is not what we started this journey for. Nor did we have the funds to employ legal representation. So the entire committee for the Non Ridden Equine Association UK agreed to close the venture down. The sad truth is the indusrty we set up to support killed our dream.  

They say one door closes another opens. Kez is my daily reminder. He is an ambassador for thousands like him. He has his own Facebook page. Click here to visit. Here we share our personal views, our experiences and stories. And as the door closed on the Non Ridden Equine Association UK the door that opened was a personal one. We decided to create FREE resources for all to enjoy and in tribute to Kez we called it Kez's Club Here you will find published articles, detailed downloads, how to guides, blogs, useful links and much more. All FREE. Our gift with love.  

However it isn’t just the horses that suffer. And this article is about the emotional journey to non-ridden that I have experienced. If it helps just one person on their journey it is worth sharing. I grieved the loss of riding. It is a very natural response to grieve when your life’s passion is taken away. Grief affected me on so many levels, emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually. I cried rivers. 

The anger I felt at times was more than I could bare. I hate anger, yet anger can be used in a positive way to move forward. Refusing anger is not helpful it is part of the healing process. Under the anger where other feelings of being cheated out of our dreams along with the pain and anguish of seeing our Kez struggling. The anger was so interlinked with the intensity of my passion from what was stolen from me. The anger was for the other equines that cannot be ridden that are dumped and seen as worthless. Non ridden is not worthless.  

I nearly drove myself crazy flipping in and out of “the what ifs” and “what if we had done this or that” and the “if only” and the guilt of trusting a friend who profited from our shattered dreams….. I realised nothing would have changed the outcome. As I believe Kez is in my life for a reason.  So if I was to give up riding I had to look at for messages and the lessons I must learn. Kez was going to teach me something I needed to learn.

Boy has Kez taught me lessons. Because of Kez we have made friendships with like-minded people from all over the world. He has opened a door and the non ridden equine agenda is now getting out there. Kez is a warrior horse, who has made me pick up the cause for ones like him that have no responsible guardians. Because of him I have stepped up and spoken out and others have joined us. 

Kez is a warrior horse because during my cancer treatment he stood wisely over me, protecting me, and offering his wise healing. This horse has pushed me out my comfort zone into the equine world to do things I never could have imagined I could do. What he inspired me to start others have picked up the calling, and the message is slowly getting out there.