What was your attitude when you woke up and thought about training your horse today? Did you think about how excited you were? Or did it raise feelings of nervousness, fear, anxiety, intimidation, or anger.
Did you ever think that from THAT very moment you might have already started training your horse?
Imagine having those same feelings when you approached your horse’s stall. Your body language reveals your thoughts, feelings, and attitude, which affect how you present yourself to your horse. Horses are master interpreters of body language.
Now as you approach your horse’s stall, your horse will respond to your physical “presentation.” Are you weak, aggressive, distracted, enthusiastic? Are you dreading that a consistent problem will re-occur? If you seem small in presence, not stature, he may be pushy or completely ignore you, because he doesn’t see you as a leader. If you seem overly strong in presence not strength, he may avoid you and go to the back of his stall. He may even get fearful, defensive or aggressive. Does he look forward to coming out or see you as a walking feed cart? By your presence, he will know what kind of leader you plan to be, if at all. It all started with the attitude you projected when you approached his stall.
Continue reading Tip of the Week – When Does Training Really Begin?