Reading Horse Expressions in the Waterhole Rituals
Aug 17th, 2010 by Carolyn Resnick Method
Today I am going to share another question from an Insider Circle student about some typical expressions horses have and how the Waterhole Rituals can help you understand them and work with them.
While participating in a clinic at Return To Freedom with Neda De Mayo (2007, I believe) I was introduced to your way of being with horses and have been practicing ever since. HUGE breath of fresh air! I have no words to describe the gratitude I feel.
My questions are:
- Horse pins ears when walking toward food, with or without me walking with him. What does this mean and how would you shape his behavior, or does it matter?
- Sour expression, pinning ears while companion walking. What does this mean and how would you shape his behavior, or does it matter?
- Head slinging when sending away quickly. What does this mean and how would you shape his behavior, or does it matter?
- What are your insights on mutual grooming as a herd behavior? Does it matter who initiates it? Who usually initiates it, lead, dominant or lower in the order? Is this a ritual that can be used to strengthen the bond and shape behavior? How do you use it?
Thanks so much for your reply!
I’m so glad you are enjoying my Method. Now, about your questions:
- Sometimes horses cannot be broken from the ear pinning habit. What you have described may be a situation where she puts her ears back when she is approaching food when no one is around her. Certain breeds, like the Kemosabe Arabian line, will behave as you have described, and you cannot get it out of them. But, the horse has no ill intentions from the ears being back. It’s just the way they are. They connect and love as well as the next horse. The other thing to consider is that when horses are in a herd and are traveling together very close, it is natural to connect to the horses that get too close by laying their ears back, even when the horse next to them isn’t disturbing them at all, or too close. It’s a game they seem to participate in. I still take all the time it takes to train this behavior out of him, if I can. I find that it’s easier to teach them to put their ears forward as a way to ask for a treat. How you do this is to just wait the horse out; he can’t have the treat until at least one ear goes forward. Eventually, you can put a word to the horse and say “pretty ears” or whatever, and the horse learns what he needs to do to get the treat. You should be able to accomplish this in a week’s time, but, maybe, it will take a month for the horse to be consistent.
- On Companion Walking, sometimes it will help to stop and not go forward until the ears go forward. This might take a lot of time. You may just have to accept this from your horse.
- The behavior of head tossing could very well be connected to your horse’s ear behavior. In a way, it could be a genetic reflex. Whether it is or isn’t, I find that, when they are tossing their head as they are on a send-away, it will eventually go away. You can try, when you send your horse away, to have him go faster, and that might help. But, I do not think that a horse that throws their head in a send-away is something to be concerned with. I think that one should be concerned of a horse that has forgotten how to express himself. The main place to put your focus is on how your horse is advancing. If there is advancement, no matter how slow. You are on the right track.
- With regards to mutual grooming, obviously, a lower-ranking horse would not start grooming a dominant horse, because he might get in trouble. It doesn’t matter who starts the grooming. What happens with horses and humans, is that the horse gets demanding about being groomed, and the human allows this. I use grooming as a way to train interactive behavior of the horse to be polite and accept when I choose to groom and when I choose to stop. If the horse begs for grooming, I give him a little scratch and then send him on his way. If you groom a horse always when he wants to be groomed, you will take the gas pedal off your horse when it’s most important for it to be there. In my book, Naked Liberty, there is a chapter titled “Boulder Rituals”. It shows how I used only grooming as a way to train a wild horse even to the point of riding her from a bonded trust.
What has been your experience of reading horse expressions using the Waterhole Rituals? I’m sure we’d all love to hear your stories, so please share them below and I look forward to reading them.
Keep practicing the Rituals and change will come!
Carolyn
No related posts.
where can i buy your book?? i would love to play these games with my horse to better emphasize trust and understanding in our relationship.
Checking in.
Speaking of horse expressions, just wanted to say that sometimes I really feel like I can see one of my horses “smiling”, not the horsey smile that the other one always does with the lips, but the “Mona Lisa” smile.
Today I took the horses to their field and Dakota ran out and took a roll in the grass and I yelled, “Good baja” (my word for laying down) and then I called him to me. So he got up immediately and came running really fast
and came to a sliding stop in front of me. I swear he had a twinkle in his eye.
Pat
Hello, checking in.
Hi Carolyn,
I enjoyed this post & others’ responses. However, after 5 weeks, Falcon will let me approach him, but not touch anyplace else except for his head during the bucket exercise. Even this is not entirely inviting. I am concerned about his needing to be groomed and treated for flies and being prepared for the farrier, vet care, etc. I try to reach these areas while he is relaxed & eating. Yet, I cannot get close enough before he jumps away.
I have focused on the rituals in working with him and have not attempted “desensitizing” methods or restraints (flags, bags, sounds, ropes, etc.). He had enough of that with a former trainer. Other than more time and patience, what small, non-threatening ways can we deal with unwanted touch? While he has overcome a lot of fear already, I need some new ideas. What might you recommend? Thank you!
Hi Carolyn, somehow I lost your “Reading Horse Expressions…” and I couldn’t react. Now it’s back which is fine. It is wonderful reading your information. And I love reading everybody’s reactions.
I was wondering if the horse expressions has something to do as well with the reflection. The reflection of the inner human. In my ‘humanimal’ work I come across that phenomena regularly. I would love to hear from you what your experience is in that field. I find it fascinating. It also very often is the solution of horse problems. I mean mentioning these reflections to the person involved. The other day the horse of one of my students almost fell asleep standing next to me when I explained to the young lady what the reason could be of his being out of breath. The WHR help me in that respect as well. I do not know how to explain that precisely. It is a feeling. Perhaps a feeling of understanding. The horse ‘knowing/sensing’ that he/she is being understood. Talking about any particular challenge solves already half the challenge…don’t you think?!
Dear Carolyn, something different…well also kind of horse expressions. Or maybe a twin-horse sighting? It was VERY funny. Perhaps you could let me now if this was just fun in a nice compassionate way or a horse sighting.
The 2 horses that are together in the field on a daily basis love eating leaves from a particular tree. The tree does not stand in their field though. So when the wind is blowing hard and the thinner branches fall off they have a party. One of the geldings is ‘mine’ (4 yrs old) the other gelding is his buddy (7 yrs old). The 4 yr old is a little higher in rank. Anyway, there was no wind so I tore off a branch with a lot of leaves and went into the field. Dragging it behind me. It made a nice rustling sound and their attention was drawn quickly.
Both geldings approached me to find out what I was dragging and what was making that noise. In the process we went from sharing territory to saying hello to leading to companion leading to playing games. At one point I stopped and turned around. Both horses stopped and started eating the leaves. The 4 yr old thought his buddy was picking the more juicy ones so he told him to back off a little. When doing so the leaves made a loud rustling noise. That scared the hell out of the 4 yr old. His jaws clammed shut but he forgot he had the thinner end of the branch still between his teeth. So in the scare he jumped away and started gallopping to the other end of the field. The leaves were having lots of fun as you can imagine. They were jumping up and down in the gallopping rythm making even more noise. The 4 yr old obviously thinking he was being ‘attacked’.
The 7 yr old stood next to me. Looked at me as to say. “What is he doing?”
The fence at the other end stopped the 4 yr old dead in his tracks, his jaw relaxed and the branch fell to the ground. You could almost hear him swallow. He made a pirouette and came gallopping back at lightning speed. Was back with me and his buddy again almost wiping the sweat off his forehead saying “Phew…did you see that?” “Yeah……we saw that..” me and the 7 yr old said, trying not to laugh.
Wishing you a nice weekend. Geerteke
Dear Carolyn!
Nice blog today about expressions. It was usefull. I have at 3 yers old shetlænderstallion living in my garden these days an he put hes ears back when I feed him, but I do not see his as agressive and now I feel that I’m right.
Something else I want to shae with you. I now do understand why you are wild about wild horses.
Yesterday I went to visit a couple who are breeding Mustangs here in Denmark. They have got their mares and Stallion from USA. They are BLM mustangs. They have been trained over there to manage the flight to Denmark. I think the first they got have been here about 2 years now. They have godt 1 foal 2 years ago, 4 last year and 1 this year.
They are really beautifully animals. So freindly, calm and intelligent. And beautifully too. They are easy to work with. I tried agillity with yearlings and I’m going back soon to try to give a mare “the last finity”by sharing territory with her. Now she is difficult to catch in the fence, but when you do she works really nice, doing what you ask her to do. She does it becauce she is polite and know how to behave, but she doesn’t do it because she likes me and like to work with me. That is what I want to change by sharing territory with her.
Take care of you. Have a nice weekend.
Helle
thanks Carolyn. I have reread your boulder rituals chapter. I can’t wait to put your insights into practice. My mare Kate has gotten very demanding about ‘grooming’ and I have been trying to figure out how to have a more reciprical relationship. refusing to give into her demands every time has helped alot. now i have to figure out how to use grooming as a reward for a desired behavior. the hard part for me is knowing what to ask.
I’ve been able to ask Tahintate and Levi to ‘smile’ with pretty ears when feeding or saying hello. At first it was a softening of expression, then one ear and now sometimes two. Levi, who was a nipper, will now almost comically soften his face, sigh, and yawn and lower his head for me to rub his forehead, wipe his eyes or even give him a kiss!
Tahintate (stud) was always on guard and alert to any outside danger when entering his shed for me to feed him. Outside the shed, it was easy to ask him to stop and back up until his expression and ears changed. Inside the shed I could wait forever just to get one ear. so I looked for the softening of expression, which had been there all along and thanked him for that. Then I noticed when his boundaries were and wouldn’t step into that area to feed him until he invited me in with one ear. Now he is usually very fast to give me an ear and it is very rewarding on the days when he gives both.
The stable where my daughter rides has acquired a herd of little ponies. Some mini’s, some rescue cases, some very skittish and one new mom. I was excited to try sharing territory with them. I went into their pasture. no one came to say hello, even my friend tinkerbell, so I sat down. In no time I was checked out by all but one pony. the new colt who had never been handled, let me touch him. Oh it was such a joyful experience!
the ponies run up to say hello now whenever I get a chance to visit and are learning boundaries and how to nicely ask for grooming. the one holdout at least comes and stands nearby instead of running off in a panic.
thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and allowing me this wonderful interaction.
Laurinda
checking in
Oh, this is so fascinating! What beautiful timing — I have wanted to ask you those exact questions lately!
Ever since you suggested on my video to work on Maia’s expression, I have been doing that. It was really hard, though, and I started realizing how “stuck” in a crabby expression she was. I soon started seeing other troubling signs as well — things like counterbending into me, tail swishing, a stiff neck, head slinging when I asked for speed, etc. It seemed she was being quite passive dominant/aggressive.
I have been working intensely on this the past few days, using lots of Eye Contact, Taking Territory, and Leading From Behind. What has seemed to work well is to drive her away insistently when she puts her ears back, then let her come back and give her a treat when she has a good expression. (Before, I would not drive her away.)
It definitely took some time, but she has made such progress! By simply addressing her expression, so many other things have gotten better. She is volunteering to work, starting to play, and getting much more forward and energetic.
It all came from a good balance of assertiveness and reward. I appreciate that so much about your method/advice — there is always that balance. Maia appreciates it and so do I!
Blessings,
Hannah
Hi Carolyn,
My horse is one who always comes to the food bowl with ears back. I wouldn’t call them pinned, just back. I never considered it as even being bad until I read somewhere that you shouldn’t allow it. This has never been an act of aggression or dominance. There is not a mean bone in his body. It’s just the way he is. Nevertheless, I continue each time to back him up a couple of steps, say “Ears” and wait for a quiet mouth as he normally stands with ears back and squishes his mouth all around like he’s working up his salivary glands. He does that with treats too. I don’t recall ever seeing another horse do exactly that. It’s almost comical.
Dear Pat,
If I said never that it is not what I meant to say. I would rather say it is a opportunity for you to create a better connection by developing polite behavior and a better attitude toward your presents and the gifts you bring to him. If your horse is everything you want him to be you can certainly allow this behavior. I do not allow it in my horses. From sticking to my guns my horses are over all happier, more trusting and like me better. AT first a horse will not like your insistence for a better attitude. It might even get worse but when he final excepts that you need him to have a better attitude it creates a deeper connection.
Dear Carolyn,
The Waterhole Rituals led to a shift in my thinking about what kind of relationship I wanted with my horse.
I began to see my horse as a complete being, perfect as she is. I wanted to know who she was, and I wanted her to know me.
Before the WHR, she would not even look up when I came into her pasture. She stood alone, her head low, her eyes veiled by her heavy forelock, not looking at anything.
Those days are gone. When I walk into her paddock, I wait until she sees me, and in the moment that she does, she looks at me with both eyes, and both ears straight up. And so they stay until we meet halfway.
Those two straight ears focused right at me—that just makes my day!
In joy,
Bonnie
Carolyn,
So grateful for your reply. I read it previously on the WRIC site and am glad to see others found it helpful,too. Very interesting timing since you and I were working with horses together in my dream just last night.
I’m also curious about yawning. An equine bodyworker shared that when she’s working on a horse yawning is a sign the horse is processing changes in their body and can also be a sign of release. Will you share your experience and insight on equine yawning?
Thank You!
Steph Camfield
I find my horses ears wonderful to watch and especially nice to touch. One of our most delightful summer rituals is when, during our daily pre-dinner showers, I am hosing my horses faces and they lower their heads so I can let the cool water stream down from their polls around their ears as I massage away the day’s sweat and let the running water cool their foreheads and faces.
I don’t know if others have noted the same connection, but in my little herd, I’ve observed that when a horse has enough trust and confidence in me to relax and enjoy letting me pet and rub his ears, which is signaled by lowering their head way down to give me greater access and indicating enjoyment by half-closing their eyes (both when I am grooming or petting them and when I am showering them), I notice far fewer issues with them pinning their ears when we play together.
This was especially apparent recently as I began sharing territory with my extremely sceptical mule, Col. Mosby, whose ears are both more substantial and more expressive than most. For years Mosby has come pretty reliably when I call him, but often with his ears pinned. And he never wanted me to touch them. I did not know how to effectively change that behavior without stressing him, so I just ignored it. But there was definitely a low threshold of what he would accept from me. Riding, very clearly, was out.
Recently, as I began to share territory with him for a short while each morning, he reacted with curiosity and enthusiasm, quickly moving our relationship from the mostly-cordial tolerance of the past years to overt friendship. For the first time ever, he began to let me pet his ears. This quickly advanced to putting his head in my lap, closing his eyes and inviting me to rub them. And the behavior carried over to shower-time the very same day. The interesting thing is that when I call him now, he pricks his ears as he approaches and keeps them pricked. The power of the sharing sharing territory ritual is truly amazing. It may not cure everything, but it surely gets things going in the right direction.
carolyn, horses are so expressive w/their ears. it is so interesting to watch my herd and their ears. i generally send them away if the ears are pinned at me, but usually they are pinned at another horse. i have 1 mare that puts her ears back sometimes when she gets close to me, i think they are more defensive, but i do play pretty ears w/her which works great. today, i did lots of LFB and experimented w/slow walk and fast walk. i didn’t know how it was going to work, but i went out and tried and shaz and barbie did GREAT with it. very fun. i wish i could put you in my pocket and bring you out when needed, but the more i study your method, the more i figure it out my self.
Hi Carolyn,
Another great discussion topic, thank you. I spend 6 years insisting/trying to get my now 30 year old German warmblood Prefect to put his ears forward at EVERY meal without exception no matter how busy or rushed or tired I was. He is really no better now than he was back then, but I laugh more about it and no longer consider myself a complete faliure around that matter. He will put them up for a nano second flash which we require at both feedings every single day and for treats. However when he had colic the baseline from the DVM was no pinned ears, he was sick. He went inside himself feeling ill. A previous owner visited him and asked if he still pinned his little ears (big horse, little ears) at mealtime, she attributed it to his sharing meals with company way back when? It really has nothing to do with hurting anyone but I like to think of Henry Blake and he quote of “Where is my bloody dinner?”
With regard to the head swish I am with Christian on that subject since True’s mom Ama was so very stoic when she came to live with us. Now she uses that movement with “tude” around Pref.(and his pinned little ears) who is her pasture partner and ranks over her. This behavior also shows up when she is really determined about something. She used to use it to tell True to come along as a baby, that is when I first saw it. But again I smile since she is expressing herself and finally displaying emotion when I touch or scratch her, it took a long time. Sometimes that emotion is as simple as touching me gently after getting her dinner.
My morning with True was spending time with her lying down, I did use scratches since that means more to her than food and was able to be all around her body touching and scratching. She did however pin her ears briefly after she finally did rise of her own timing, not in my opinion from crowding or stress. But I held my reasonable distance( I thought reasonable, also giving respect to her space) and used my hands to block the potential from the pinned response and asked for good ears, she changed them. This happened fairly frequently before as the wonderful sharing territory ritual was building the bridge to cause her to accept and even desire our presence. The ear reaction behavior is almost like flash backs of concern or vulnuralibility. I’m not sure what it is but just blocking the action towards me and asking for good ears appears to have been effective to extinguish the behavior and I rarely if ever see it in the stall anymore, outside in the paddock or in the field(I am grateful for that.) Each new zone of sharing territory (she could always leave entirely) was followed by this pattern and appears to be at the point of just before or around a new breakthrough in trust and acceptance.
Thank you for the tips on the scratching since I have been using that to “gain points of value” with her. But I determine when and make a point to always leave her wanting more and walk out or off and away. John and I have done this in concert as well, working on the two people issue that seemed to have developed around uncomfortable medical procedures. We do a count down to leaving together with her still into receiving scratches. It has seemed to improve her willingness and we get beautiful ears/pretty face when we look back across the barn. I have already made the mistake of letting her dictate the terms and she did get grumpy and demanding so I ended that behavior on my part quickly.
We also have a procedure for less-desirable actions, she is asked to leave the location going outside or inside some fence boundry(she almost does this on her own now if something isn’t right and it isn’t happening much.) Then she meets me at the gate, her offer(usually quick, but that was not always the case, once it was half the night in a tantrum-before the Carolyn Rituals) I then ask for a gentle hello touch and forward ears. If she will not be polite when she comes up then she is sent off with more vigor. I will state that she doesn’t beg, for example when I get her toy ready I say go before entering the stall and she will go off and appear to be “busy” eating or looking at something intently(she doen’t even need a reminder much now) and then I call her softly and take a step back when I am ready and she will come up, having kept an eye on me waiting/busy and report in with the good ears. I choose the place she will stop advancing. It is almost like she goes to be “busy” to stay out of trouble in advance. At that point if I choose I may have her stand in place while I move around a little, or not and just thank her for being wonderful and leave after the hello touch. It is a long way from when she always had to get into what I was doing or earlier yet try and move me with a butt swing. I didn’t know better and made a lot of laps around the wheel barrel before I figured out the game. She had no other babies for playmates so we were the made up entertainment being really ignorant while being distracted with a lot of serious personal issues going on in our lives at the same time.
Sorry this was so long but I hope someone sees a progression, laughs or gets another mare and foal as company for their baby. The mares can I hope then correct each other’s foals, instill a few manners and the babies can have appropriate play. I see how that isolation led to problems and wasn’t fair to her or her mom as well. I was also unsure of how or when to introduce her to the other horses other than over the fence and waited until she was being weaned. This was unfair as well because she didn’t know what to expect from the other horses(they are kind) and didn’t have mom to run right back to in between the challenges of the new experiences. Not a natural herd upbringing. But today she is part of the little herd, respects and loves them all differently.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I had an example of the ear pinning around food, too. My now 2 y/o colt Destry pinned his ear around grain from little on, probably picked it up from his mom, who also did, without it seeming to mean anything in particular. Back when he came to me, I thought that this was terrible. I was very Parelli influenced, and with their method, you are supposed to drive the horse off until they put their ears forward, but it actually seemed to become worse with that. When he was weaned and I was learning the Waterhole Rituals, I decided to give him a task. I would lead him from behind to the food trough, and say “go to your trough.” When he did, no matter what the ear expression, I would praise him greatly, and tell him what a great colt he was. That made him so happy that he promptly put his ears forward, and now I just send him to his trough saying “go to your trough”, and he waits there for me for grain and praise with his ears forward. I suppose it’s a story about “change the subject”…..
Hello,
About a month ago, I adopted a very expressive wild Mustang I call Falcon. We have spent the last month Sharing Territory, with spurts of Leading from Behind and most recently, Hello. At first, he was highly reactive to the reed during LFB. He would pin his ears, swish his tail, swing his neck back to look at me, and toss his head. (This is a horse that would charge at the last trainer with his ears pinned, so I consider that mild). In other words, he has not picked a fight with me, but gives me a warning in his strong, expressive wild horse language, that my request is too much at that moment, and he might object stronger next time. I stopped using the reed for now, however, by just carrying it behind my back, and using it in the beginning to walk around and establish space, I believe he learned to respect my space. I tune and tone my energy a lot to suit his, so as not to be a threat, but rather a calm presence.
With him, I keep in mind always what Carolyn said about working towards shaping a dominant horse into a lead horse and to only make a request when you think the horse will perform. Yesterday, I learned very clearly why we must not to make that request if we don’t think a horse is willing. Unknowingly, I changed the pattern of a game (similar to the carrot game) we were playing where I ask him to come towards me, halt, wait and I’d go get him a treat. He liked the result and it was working beautifully until I asked twice in a row, without a treat. When I failed to deliver, he left for the treat, which was on the other side of the fence. He looked at me, looked at the bucket, and waited patiently. As he waited there, I made the mistake of gently insisting (too much control and ignoring his body language!). In a flash, he turned, hurled his body towards me, head up and ears pinned. Before he even reached me, I stepped back and with my arms quickly sent him away with a “no thank you!” He stood and waited about 20 ft away, ears perked watching me. It was enough space for me to realize my mistake and after a pause, I started talking to him gently to re-establish a connection. I invited him back. He was happy about that, but slow and cautious. I went and got him his treat, which he respectfully stood and reached with his neck for. After I could get a pulse on his mood and energy, I felt it was safe to share territory for a while as he ate the rest of the grass in the bucket. We called it a day on a good note. Looking back, I remember Carolyn saying that one way horses will come to know us is through our patterns. We were trying something new, he got the pattern, and I suddenly changed it.
Hope I handled that okay! I’m banking on our “no fault insurance” and vow to not repeat that mistake!
My mustang, was crazy, playful, and aggressive. he was never afraid; just wild. He would snort at me and I would do the same. He always came back to me, when I said “good boy” he stops whatever we’re doing and says I’m good. I would play and play with him. He learned so quick. He was very spooky. And afraid of a bath. He was afraid to go anywhere. I learned alot from Parelli, but my horse, has learned how to trust me through carolyns pause, and wait. I walk with him and tell him to put his head down, when he is looking everywhere. lowers his head for me all the time now. I’m just beginning to ride him now. He is getting so much better. I rode him today. when he gets tired he puts his head down, and goes to the center of the round pen. I gave him one last ride, and said good boy and got off. He rubbed his face all,over me. Then I gave him a bath? He trys to back away from a bath, but I gave a strong voice as he tried to back away ,and said be a good boy, instead of trying to rip my arm off , he trusts me . I hold the hose, without a nozzle onit out in front of him, And say, ” good water” he drinks fom it , and I say good boy. Then the bath begins. I water his front feet , then he backs away again when I water his back feet. Any way we take our time and today was a good bath time. Dakota backs up next to me so great. That was one of his hardest things to do.” he is the greatest”. thanks to carolyn’s understanding.
HI Carolyn
great post as usual
My older gelding of 17 years which I have had since birth does pin his ears when coming toward food however, he has never shown agression to me in any way. Over the years I have tried to correct it off and on. Since starting the WHR and reading your different comments, I now ask him for two eyes and one ear forward which he will always do for me. It’s always the right ear, never the left ear. If I push it long enough, I can get two ears, but it’s doesnt seem all that important to me. He is good at one ear. I’m satisifed with his effort. I wonder what the Right Ear signifies Any thoughts?
Peace and Blessings
Regina
Great subtle hints about the grooming, thanks again and again, Carolyn.
The wild stallion, Chief, I’m gentling is very good with the rituals, and his ground training is advancing quickly as he’s very savvy about reading my cues and for the past couple of months has been quite willing. However, he won’t accept my grooming unless it’s his own idea first (he adores being brushed and massaged, he goes so soft and his eyelids half closed, with wonderfully odd head positions and neck stretching involved), so now I understand that he’s still trying to stay in the driver’s seat by refusing my grooming advances.
Although he’s very good with responding as expected to the Rituals, he still avoids any kind of tack like the plague (seems due to being severely cowboyed and abused in his early life). He can get rather pushy if he wants more grain or cookies for his good work – he’s clearly got his own value system for our work together.
Everything we do is at liberty, and I don’t mind, I enjoy it, and I’m sure the total trust will come once he’s well and truly put his horrible past behind him. I have a lot of patience; we sometimes just hang out sharing territory, sometimes I feel he wants to do certain things, or wants me to try something new like when I picked up his feet for the first time. We often go to that special place of subtle connection together where we feel truly as one entity – it’s magical, and he enjoys it too – one day my thoughts drifted to a bad argument I had with my daughter while Chief and I were experiencing this blissful meditation together, and he looked at me immediately I had the thought and pinned his ears.
What seems to be effective when he’s being inexplicably obstinate in getting him to shift to a better attitude is if I go to the stallion in the next pen, or the gelding on the other side (recently gelded), who are both very approachable and gentlemanly. I don’t do this to instill jealousy in Chief, and I’m very aware that he does get jealous because I’ve seen him dash to protect me from a bite or a perceived slight against me by one of them. I explain to Chief exactly why I’m leaving his pen and what I’m about to do, and why and that he’s not to get upset, just to pay attention.
Then I do with one of the neighbouring boys what I wanted Chief to do with me, and they usually comply and cooperate brilliantly, I praise them galore and give them crunchies as reward, and all the while Chief is watching like a hawk. The neighbouring boys seem to understand exactly what I’m trying to accomplish and usually cooperate perfectly (as though they’re sticking it to the man, the big Chief, I imagine). Then I go back in to Chief’s pen and he’ll usually do everything wonderfully and perfectly the first time I ask him.
I know he is often perfectly aware of what I’m asking of him, and that he knows perfectly well how to do whatever it is – as a wild stallion he is just trying to keep control of the situation. Therefore, I need to change the subject often at those times, move his attention to different activities or if he’s being a real stinker, simply ignore him and fill his water trough or shovel some manure for a while.
All this seems to work fine, but I hope I’m not crossing any horse boundaries in the wrong ways or giving him the wrong signals.
Dear Carolyn,
very instructive and, as always, refreshing.
One little note on head-tossing when sending the horse. My mare, who used to behave like a mild version of Marilynne, used to be very fearful, stiff, and expressionless when I would send her out. This frozen-ness started melting off of her when she began to toss her head. Clearly it’s a sign of dominance, but I welcome it as her expression, as her becoming involved with the ritual, and enjoying it, and biomechanically it actually makes her stretch her top line, release tension in the neck, and round up, which is invaluable in the case of a horse like her…..
With the spirit of the bond,
Christian
Great information about leadership.
My young one will follow my lead to a point, then he needs to go off & blow some energy. He will buck, kick up his heels, & race around. Then, he will come back to
me—sometimes—as if he just had to let off steam.
Is this OK?
Dear Carolyn
Thanks for your explanation, learning so much, especially on grooming, I dit not know that it is a part of leadership, and i often accept that the horses grooming me. That makes me more aware with the stallions have a problem with mine leadership, since they often groom me and that allows. I shall have to find a balance, but am not sure how.
Thank you Carolyn
Lots of love
Monique