How to bond before you ride
Aug 25th, 2008 by Carolyn Resnick Method
Hi again. Here are some tips on how to connect with your horse on a daily basis so that you can warm up the working bond between you before you ride.
1. Before you get to the barn remember to clear you mind and make a mental outline of all the things you are going to do with your horse. Be prepared however to change course depending on how the connection with your horse goes and how he is feeling. Be in a good mood and happy to see your horse. Remember to give him your full attention as a horse finds it hard to follow your lead without your full attention. Try to see him around the same time each time so he looks forward to your arrival.
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Carolyn – This is great advice. Thank you for once again generously sharing your experience and philosophy. The change in my relationship with my horses was HUGE when I moved from boarding them in a barn to keeping them in my backyard. Mostly, it was because I could just be with them, as you suggest, reading my book and hanging out as part of our little herd. There is so much to be gained by doing nothing – Trust, awareness, understanding to name just a few of the benefits.
Hi Carolyn,
One other thing that greatly improved my relationship with my horses was to allow “play” time before we actually go out for a ride. Gone are the days when I would just enter the stall, slap on the halter, and rush off. Now I spend a good deal of time just greeting both of my horses each morning. We have sort of a fly wipe ceremony that they’ve come to look forward to. It certainly has improved their outlook toward me, and I know I enjoy spending the extra time with them. Now, any time I want to take my horses out for a ride, I know they’ll follow me out of the stall because they want to, not because I’m forcing them to come.
Hi Katrina,
Thank you for your response to “How to Bond Before you Ride”. I enjoyed writing it and it is more enjoyable to me when people respond to what I write as you have. When people and my students respond to what I write, their comments help bring more clarity and connection with the training and the relationship that we share with horses to my readers. – Carolyn
I find it refreshing that someone will suggest that down time and bonding with your horse after working. I have even felt guilty about allowing my horse to just graze after work. Some trainers make you feel like your teaching your horse bad habits or souring them.
Thank you Carolyn for relieving my mind about this.
I try to remember when I was a child how easy it was to bond with my horse and how the results were fantastic. As an adult I don’t always follow through, sometimes I have a time limit and a schedule and that can get in my way and I rush that is usually when I have trouble connecting with my horse.
When looking back at my horsemanship abilities and my thought process as a child and teen, I believe that the connection is what created such wonderful results with my horses. My horse and I seemed to be of one mind most of the time. As a kid you take the time. I try to slow down and think about that when I get in that rush mood. For some people they do not have that childhood/horse experience, and it is probably much harder to settle into the frame of mind Carolyn mentioned in this post, but I believe whole heartedly in what you are teaching here and I know that it works.