Adapting the Waterhole Rituals to Fit the Moment
Aug 3rd, 2010 by Carolyn Resnick Method
Today I am sharing another question from my Insider Circle program. This is a common beginning experience. The student writes:
Three times I have attempted the circle game with my horse. The first time he behaved liked he invented the game. I thought, “This is easy.”
The second day with the circle game when I moved him off his hay he would walk a few steps forward then circle to my side and stand there looking at me. I would have felt bad chasing him off after he faced up to me, so I rewarded him instead. But, I worried that he thought that is what I wanted.
Then today when we were going to play the circle game I attempted to move him off his hay, he walked off in the opposite direction of the hay piles and stood about fifty feet from me, looking at me.
Looked to me like he didn’t want to play. So, I fed him carrots instead. I fed him carrots when he came up to me, then I chased him away and fed him carrots for moving away.
So, what do you think?
So let me first explain what the circle game is and then I will go on to tell you what I said in reply. The circle game is to encourage what I call ‘reciprocal movement.’ You place 5 piles of hay around the arena and then when your horse is eating at 1 of them, you move him gently off towards the next pile. The idea is to build on Sharing Territory so that there starts to be some give and take in the relationship. Anyway, this is what I replied:
I would suggest that when he turns to face you you would stand a look at him for a while then ask him kindly to please move on and take it slow and get him to leave you. Just be really slow. If it takes you a couple of minutes to encourage him to move on that would be good.
What you are doing is making him move on, which is the wrong position to take. Be sweet, encourage and pause, but get him back to the task of him leaving you. Take it slow. When he then moves on make a great big fuss and give him a treat.
If you are too confused about this or it feels unfair pass on this game for now and choose the carrot game instead. The carrot game can be a good replacement.
[The carrot game is where 2 or more people all have carrots and take it in turns to send the horse back and forth to get the next carrot. A game enjoyed by all!]
As you are working with the Waterhole Rituals there will be times when you will need to switch it up to keep progressing. You will soon learn when to make the transitions. This is part of the learning experience.
Hope this helps you see how the bond forms!
Carolyn
Related posts:
Hello! I am just checking in and reading the blog. I just want to say that yesterday Ameri Kahn and I had our first longer companion walk. We halted a few times and moved forwards togethter. I had no reed and I feel that it works better without it!
When I went to Ameri K that evening I was completely out of an agenda. i brougth the halter with me and I thought we will see what happends.
After I spent some time with him I put the halter on and we went out for a walk. We stopped and worked on head down to let him graze and head up when we were on our way again. He starts to be raeally good at this now, me too
We went back home and I took off his halter and scrathed him. I was going to check the water and when I walked off Ameri followed me, I slowed down so I came in the position of companion walking and it worked, we walked togehter to the water and back again. I didn´t remeber to check the water, I was buissie with beeing in the moment with my horse!
I don’t have much to say, just thank you for more inspiration on what I can be playing with with Maia.
Blessings,
Hannah
Hello Carolyn,
I, too, am missing the class.
I have a question regarding sharing territory. When I go into Elmo’s space to share territory and I choose a spot to sit that is behind him, but at least fifty feet away from him, should I expect him to turn and face me? I have not expected this since I entered his space and I chose to sit behind him. But then, I was listening to a WRIC call regarding the horse turning to face you, and I thought I may need to change my expectations.
Thank you very much,
Kathy
Dear Kathy,
You can start off sitting behind your horse but once you have started your practice of the other Rituals make sure that he knows to keep his rear away from you. A horse that will shift his rear end away as a habit will give up kicking if he had a habit to kick. AS you advance with your horse you can expect more in regards to your horse facing in your direction. Remember no hard and fast rules. Use the rules to create more connection and wiliness and drop them for the same reason. I would try to find a spot that did not put me behind the horse. If your horse begins to take you for granted you could start off your day my taking territory right form the first meeting but only with a horse that is advance with the rituals. you must analyze the result and always use the result as your guide.
Hope this is of help,
Carolyn
Carolyn,
Thank you for the comments! I do have video of eye contact with Xcel. He is really very good at it. I will see if I can send it to you.
Xcel will be very limited for a few weeks. He can be turned out but is a bit lame as the vet had to remove a large section of his sole so he could have the A-cell applied. He has a bandage and a boot on but is, surprisingly, not terribly lame. He is in a very good mood too so I wondered about doing an exercise with him that doesn’t require much movement. I will work on making his uberstrikens better. Is there an exercise that you recommend? I wondered about head up/ head down.
Jan
Response to Lisa Mayer’s videos in the Insider Circle Program.
Dear Lisa,
1.
0m28: You tried to move the middle of your horse, and it worked for you, but put your focus to either driving the front or the rear end. 0m47: Very good interaction, like your choice of going up and sharing the hay with your horse. Good pause. 1m17: good turn around from Annie. 1m51: I would have gone back to the front of the head, because she did such a good job paying attention to you. 2m08: I would have returned to the head again, as in 2m17. But nothing was lost from the way you chose to approach your horse. You understand the method well. 2m53: you needed to put more pause before driving.
2.
Great. I watched it, I have no comments. A+ I wouldn’t know that it was hot. In fact, I felt Annie would have broke into a trot for Companion Walking, had you asked her to. However, I did feel myself wanting to shoo the flies off of myself as I was watching. And there aren’t any, I’m in the house.
3.
1m02: Circle around, and continue to try to get her to come to you. Then, if she goes for the food, lead her from behind, and ask for her to pick up her speed and move into trot. 2m09, great hello. 2m16 Great Companion Walking, 2m23 Great Halt, 2m44: Beautiful connection. A++: so proud of you both. You, my dear, are dedicated.
Hope this is of help,
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn,
I, too, am missing the class but continuing on the journey and still as fascinated and inspired as I was when I first discovered you.
Yowahtee and I had a great session just going with the flow on grass this week. We shared territory, with me reading an excellent book called ‘And the Animals Will Teach You’. As I learned, this drew him to me as well as the barn cats:). He had been grazing further away and once I was immersed, he was right there grazing while facing me. If I happened to look up, I would notice that his full attention was with me.
We exchanged hellos off and on and then I invited him to companion walk with me to another area of grass. It was amazing as he joined me without hesitation. Most often, he is immersed in the grass. We walked to some delicious grass and paused. I did some leading from behind and while pausing a few feet behind him, he dropped and rolled. I was delighted! We shared much laughter and love.
The circle game that you mentioned in this blog was an excellent beginning that led to where Yowahtee and I are now. It is amazing how much we can learn when we trust and try new things, not only do we learn about our horses but we learn much about ourselves. Looking back, I can see how all the pieces fit together in a way that I didn’t understand at the time and it is becoming a natural part of my horse and I.
Being in the moment and working with what presents itself is magical. Finding you, and taking your class is one of the best and most right things I have done in my life. Looking forward to continued learning with you.
Hugs, Connie H
Dear Carolyn;
Thank you again for your blog, it is so inspiring! Thank you for the new games to play with my horse.
We are still working on the leading from behind, and I stop when she stops. It is so much fun. She makes me laugh and giggle as she tries to figure out what I am doing. She will swing her head from one side then to the other to see me. Then she will start moving again and I try to stay in step with her. Before long she is going in circles trying to get behind me and I am running to stay behind her. Sometimes, I will just let her turn and look at me and we will just stand there together and look at each other. Then when she starts to move again I go behind her and start pushing a little to get her to walk forward.
Sometimes, I push a little too long and she gets a little upset and slightly kicks up and lets out a little squeel. I don’t mean to upset her, but I usually push one or two more times, and just love on her and rub her all over her neck. When she turns away, I go the opposite direction and leave her. She will usually stand and look at me then come join me and just stand close to me like she wants me to do something, but I don’t know what, so I just sit with her and she will eventually walk away.
She is very spoiled and headstrong. Sometimes when she doesn’t get her way she will kick up and throw a temper tantrum. Yesterday, she got to the gate to her paddock before me and because it wasn’t open, she threw a temper tantrum and tried to run me down. I know she does this from time to time and it is becoming less and less often. When she did it all the time it was very predictible, but as it becomes less and less, I don’t expect it as much. I know to stay safe, and I am hoping this behavior will eventually go away.
My question today is this: In walking from behind, do I keep trying to stay behind her or do I allow her to follow me from behind? When she follows from behind, I am not sure who is leading who.
Thank you so much,
Catra
Dear Catra,
When you ask a horse to go forward because your intention is to lead from behind, you do not circle around the horse to get the horse to move out. Instead, when the horse is looking at you, you drive her away from you, making her turn around and put you behind her. This way, you are clearly the leader in her mind.
Anytime you adjust yourself to your horse, there is a danger that you lower your rank in your horse’s eyes. For the same reason, do not try to match your horse’s step. When the steps are matching, it’s because you are engaged in the Magnetic Connection. It is an outcome, not something that you try to do. I can see why you and your horse may get confused in who is leading who. I do recommend that you take the In-a-Box or Insider Circle program, because all these points are made clear.
Hope this is of help,
Carolyn
Yes Carolyn:
Please let me know as soon as you know when your new programs will be starting. I am saving up so I can be in one of them. I am so excited because I have learned so much just from your blog. Thank you for your inspiration.
Catra
Checking in, Hello Carolyn,
what I always get from your blogs is the reminder to lose an agenda, go with the flow and take time, take time, take time…..I love that you said , when the horse walks off and then turns to face us, we could just stand there looking at him for a while before doing anything else, this keeps us in the ‘flow’ mentality rather than the ‘agenda’ mentality.
best,
Susan (IC, Italy)
Hello Carolyn,
Thank you for your response. This is what I felt and feared that I would not be able to do this with a stallion, not having a lot of experience in this and without someone like yourself, hand on guidance. I could see something going terribly wrong from a mistake made in my interpretation. When I am financially able, I would really like to take at least coaching calls with you, hopefully that will soon be a possibility for me.
Frank, I have seriously been thinking of gelding him, you are right in this. He is just so gorgeous and is a beautiful stallion for breeding with excellent blood lines, and so noble, but…. If I am too keep him, I must think not only of my safety in handling him, but also of my daughter who is around,as well as others. Plus I would like him to be together with the rest of the herd and not kept apart.
I can work with the Water Rituals with the rest of my horses, we already have a very good trusting relationship, and in time with this stallion too, who will then be gelded.
I like so much your way of being with horses, Carolyn and do hope so much to incorporate this within my little herd.
I have a “new horse” sighting with Xcel. Yesterday I had to take him to the vet for his “A-cell” treatment for his troublesome hoof. He hasn’t always been good about loading. A few years ago, every time he had to get in the trailer he was going to the vet and it wasn’t always pleasant. He also was very nervous about it in general and I worked with him quite a lot on loading. I usually try to have someone who will at least close up the back of the trailer once I get him in but I don’t always have help. I can usually get him on even by myself but it is often a struggle.
I have not worked on trailering lately and only trailered him once this year until yesterday. So I led him up to the trailer with a bucket of grain in my hand and he put his front feet on the ramp then stopped and didn’t want to go in. He wanted to go sideways etc. I shook my whip at the side he was going to and he got a little upset so I came out of the trailer and put the lead rope over his neck like I do with my older, self-loading horses and asked him to get on. I guess all the one line driving and the leading from behind has paid off because he immediately walked on the trailer! That surprised me!
Dar Jan,
Always glad to hear about New Horse sightings! Especially coming from X-cel. I watched your video.
00m22. I see what you were trying to do here was circle around and ask the horse to leave. You needed to be much slower. I would have moved him off the food by walking in a direct path and driven him off the food rather than to circle around. The result you got was fine. It’s just a small point, Jan. In watching your whole video, I really think it was excellent. I noticed that your timing was a bit hurried, and it appears that it was working for you. I don’t know that I would want you to slow down, but to vary it up in doing slow, and then faster work. But the timing that you used may have been the reason for your connection being as good as it is, and I suspect this is the case. This horse needs more Eye Contact exercise. Please, send me a Youtube of the Eye Contact exercise with him. I believe X-cel is the most changed horse in this last Insider Circle Program.
I am really happy,
Carolyn
P.S.:
7m05: you asked the horse to turn and join you, and he didn’t. You joined him. You didn’t lose the connection, but I would watch this with such an aggressive, negative thinker as X-cel can be. Through the whole Youtube, your horse appears completely signed up to the program. Good deal.
OH how I would like to say yes but that is not my answer for stallion owners who have not trained alot of them.For everyone on my blog that wonders about if they should try the Rituals on Stallions you need to set up a coaching call with me. Working with horses at liberty with my method takes me to coach you with them. Working at liberty can be very dangerous. I strongly suggest to work with an easy horse for the purpose off learning the method not to fix your horse or try to make a horse predictable. YOU need to be well versed with my method with a horse that is very willing relaxed and ease to predict and wants to please with a great gas pedal. YOu need to have a certain amount of experience with many horses and a horse that suits you well.
My method is for people who want to be a student of my method rather than to use the method for a goal. First I start the horse and human out in kindergarten and then you advance with my guidance at the pace that is most natural. A stranger to my method would not know what that pace is because the method is mine and not your.
I was a horses trainer for years in my on method before I tried to train a stallion. So I do not recommend my method unless I have talked to you in person in a coaching call. I would suggest you to read my book my blog and watch my DVDs for a long time and train an easy horse to dance with you to music so you would want me to see your work because you are a magical team.. Take it really slow. Jumping into my method with out my guidance is not advised.
Sorry and respectfully,
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn – I have a new horse sighting for you. I have a yearling filly who is rather shy.
Saturday I was sitting on my porch cooling off after cutting grass and she started coming up the 3 steps to see what was going on !! I had to stop her and tell her she couldn’t come up because I know the steps won’t hold out over that treatment.
Also, I was afraid the other 2 yearlings, the nursing foal and perhaps the mares would all think they would like to go up on the porch and perhaps in my trailer while I was at work !!!
I guess she was looking for a new people sighting and I should have been sitting under a tree sharing space !!
Dear Stephanie,
This New Horse sighting makes my heart skip.
Thank you for sharing,
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn
Just checking in and missing the class too. I’m so glad the blogs will keep coming though. Micah gets more trusting each day.
Thank you!
Regina
Hi Terry,
I’m far from an “expert” horseman. But for safety’s sake, those of us with limited experience(which includes yours truly) might do very well to think of the following.
I respectfully suggest that you seriously consider castration. If the stallion is not meant for breeding, this would be a viable alternative. My own horse was a 3 year old stallion when I adopted him in July, 2004. What’s more, he was captured with a wild herd in Nevada, in December 2003. I saw first-hand his immense power and strength while being loaded onto our trailer for the ride to his first “home”. There was very little I was able to accomplish with this animal until he was altered. Corny as it may seem, starting the day after his “surgery”; he was well on his way to becoming a ‘different’ horse! It was really amazing to see such change as the weeks went by; and we made good progress with training. Today, there isn’t any part of him I cannot touch. He is very responsive to many voice commands and most body language I may wish to use. I seriously do not think this would have been possible without castration. By your comments it appears your horse has some issues which may not be resolved leaving him in his natural state.
Hi Carolyn
Great blog as always. I loved the WRIC and am sorry they are over. Nice to keep in touch this way. Monica is coming to see me tomorrow which will be great. I am sure your name will be mentioned!! I have undertaken an Equine Touch course this weekend and enjoyed it immensely. It was great for me to approach the horses we worked on from my, new found, point of view. I know they appreciated my understanding as there were many deep sighs, licking and chewing and rounded necks to approve of what I was doing. The PAUSE was really appreciated. I look forward to hearing more about your 10 day class in December – hello to Apollo!
Carolyn B
I have recently acquired a big beautiful Iberian stallion ,who has been rather abused by a previous owner. He arrived at my place seriously in jured after a bad car accident with his previous owner. I have healed him and brought him back and he is doing quite well now, and putting on weight. His energy is also returning! Which though a good thing ,makes him more difficult to handle. That said he is very gentle for a stallion. I believe I do not have enough experience to handle a stallion. But the choice wasn’t completely mine, but the horse himself. who came to me, everytime he escaped his owenr. To save him from his owner I have decided to keep him. I wanted to know ,if I could apply the Water Rituals in a limited space (as I cannot put him out with my other horses,2 mares, a filly and a gelding) I am worried he might turn on me and attack me ,if I chase him off his food. I do not have the ideal place for him (for the moment) but want to start to build a trusting relationship and a safe one. I can touch him all over, pick up all his feet, for this he is well mannered. He leads not too bad, but will pull ahead too. He doesn’t like to back up, on the lead. Now as his energy is better and he is being well fed, I feel he is trying more to dominate me.Now if I enter his pen (enclosed area 4-5 x the size of stall) he will walk away and turn his hind to me, and sometimes try to nip. If I get into a good postion, and get hold of his neck,he will then stop and let me halter him and be lead. He didn’t do this at first. I think he could be feeling my unsureness of this and acting accordingly. Many years ago I was bit by a stallion, so I do have a little fear of this, I must admit. I would be very happy to have any help and advice on how I should be with him and how to proceed. I have read your book and also have your DVD Water Rituals. I posted once before. I live in Costa Rica.
I too have been wondering about using the Waterhole rituals with a stallion. I have a very quiet stallion and have been working with him as I would any other horse. But he is only three, so I’m never sure how things will be next year, as he matures. Anyway, I’m interested to hear the response to this question.