Repurposing the Waterhole Rituals
May 4th, 2010 by Carolyn Resnick Method
I am offering this blog page to a student of mine, a long time self-realization coach using horses, Talley Hutcherson. The reason this story is important for you is in the way it may improve your understanding of the need to assess a situation for yourself and teach you how to approach your horses in times of lost connection.
I want you seeing your broken connection from the horse’s point of view because from this point of view you will create a game that will bring back the connection and train the horse for new behaviors at the same time, like Talley did for her journey on her new career. I also what you to see that the exercise she chose to use is a great way to put a strong gas pedal onto a horse and to teach a horse what a good idea it is to move way from you when you ask the horse to move way. The lesson she chose teaches so many things to the horse. This is another reason why working horses separately is a good idea. Enjoy!!
Carolyn
From Talley Hutcherson:
As a student of Carolyn’s I am always concerned about being creative and using what I have learned in a way that offers the horse I am working with “a better deal.” I recently was hired to lead a program at a summer camp for youth that offers horseback riding.
As I first began sharing territory with the horses to get to know them a little before I made any big decisions or changes in their lives, I discovered many of the horses were curious about me, friendly and wanted to come up to meet me and hang out. There were several who did not approach me and that was fine. In the large pasture of 8 horses I remember 2 out of the 8 stayed away.
The next day I decided to catch up the horses and get to know them on a more personal level. When I got to one named Tiny, I found he was always avoiding me and hiding out behind other horses or not approachable at all. After about an hour of attempted approaches, I decided we had not made any progress so I quit him for the day. I had a dream about him that night and I woke up thinking I needed to use my creativity to make him want to be caught by me.
I removed the horses one by one out of the pasture until he was the only remaining horse and as I suspected…he wanted me to put a halter on his head and take him out to where his friends had gone. Once I had done that I put him into a round pen and took the horses I had placed there back into the pasture. Now we were alone and he was loose. I had a friend with me and 2 buckets of carrots. We began playing “the carrot game” and took turns calling him up. My friend called him and I gently drove him away towards my friend. When he got to my friend there was a carrot. Then I called him and my friend did the driving away. When he got to me I put his halter on took it off and then gave him the carrot. We repeated this over and over for about an hour. Each time I called Tiny over I stepped away further from where I had left my bucket of carrots. As the distance between the bucket of carrots grew greater so did the attention he gave me and I discovered many important things about him.
He was very smart. When I saw him choose to step towards the carrots and not to me, I discouraged him by saying “no” or making a loud sound that sounded like discouragement. He never took a second step toward the carrots. His sensitivity and intelligence were so appreciated by me through this interaction. I can see how years ago I might have been irritated by a horse that was challenging me. Often I was in a hurry and the horse not being easy to deal with would stress me out. Now I see it as an opportunity to be creative, intelligent, and sensitive myself.
I took the opportunity to “pause”; letting time go by gave me time to think differently. He had to make many decisions. Come to me, leave me, not go to the carrots, stand and have a halter put on his head and taken off, lower his head further and further each time I asked…all of it was done by choice. I never had to force or demand…all I did was ask and wait. That is the better deal I want to offer all the horses I meet. By offering the horse a better deal I see that I am getting a better deal too. Slowing down has made the things I care about come faster!
Thanks Carolyn for being my teacher and helping me achieve the relationship I always dreamed of with horses as my friends.
No related posts.
This is one of the things I find most appealing about this method. I enjoy trying to come up with creative games and puzzles for difficult training challenges. I am a problem solver by nature which is good for a trainer but I also want to engage the horses willingness and desire. We all have seen how to use force and coercion to get horses to do things but I have found ways to get my horses to volunteer for things and had fun doing it! I am often called upon to work with clients horses at Liberty in unique facilities and situations. I have learned to figure out something to make it possible to work with the horse and their people by creatively finding a modified way of doing the liberty to fit into their lifestyle and facility.
Thanks, Carolyn and Talley.
Talley, this is a beautiful description of the lead horse mentality. Ask, not demand. It’s amazing how such a change in attitude will eventually affect all relations in a herd. My very dominant mare is becoming more of a lead mare. She is much more polite, less aggressive, more self-assured than she used to be. I attribute it to this kind of leadership that I’ve been learning from Carolyn’s method.
Christian
Thanks for this lovely post!
Hi
i wanna share with you those who are following the WHR now. I have joined the first group.
When you are much furter and you have found your way within the WHR you can do it even after a ride such i had today…..
i went to the woods with my little shetty and our carriage, the dog was with us this time, he refused to stay home. So no problem for me but the owner have to learn him to listen but thats not mine problem
I like his company and my shetty too. So we took off for a ride.
We enjoy the surrounding eat some fresh new green leaves on our way and casing the dog so now and then. We all three had a happy time.
When we got home my shetty likes to roll in the sand. He was so much itchy this time he wanna roll on on the hard surface, so i said please…please..not now..wait one minit we go to the sand.
Quickly i took a slow run to the padock. And he followed me. No leading at all.
And he roll and roll stand up and say hello to me. Walked away and started to roll again. But then he waited, did not get up. Look at me with the eyes of, hey join me while i lay down.
The dog was barking agains him, try to play, funny dog, but i tolt him to leave the paddock and he played with the other dogs a bit furter.
i was going lay down to next to my shetty, gave him a cookie and we have sit there for about 20 minits i think, dont know exactly but it was wonderfull.
Then he roll again and stood up. Take a roll a bit furter again and then he said come on…i have enough we go back to the herd.
So we did, without any leadrope or what ever.
it was a perfect end of a horse day…..
Dear Carolyn;
I am so thankful for the way that you teach horses. I have 3 dogs and training my pony your way has also carried over to them. I don’t know if you know anything about minpins, but they look like a mini dobey and are more like a gremlin than a dog. Mine back-talks, refuses to mind because he has a strong mind of his own and will always do the opposite of what I want him to do. Well I asked him to do something this morning and he just did it, no back talk, no hesitation, he just did it. AWESOME!!! I don’t notice the changes in me but I have sure noticed the changes in them. I also have a border collie and an australian shepherd, and whatever has changed in me has been for the best for all. Thank you again.
Michele, you are right about horses getting pretty zippity when they play. Man, they still seem pretty graceful to me, they still flow like water. Maybe a class 5 rapid at times. Is it more about intent? I know I can invite the horses to play, and it they can really go bananas, snaky necking, running, bucking, and such. Fear or anger is different, and that’s a whole different energy. I’m becoming a lot more aware of the kind of energy I’m putting out there when I’m with them. I’m thinking about what kind of energy I’m putting out all the time. Where’s my mind, what’s my body doing, how is my energy level?
Thank you all for your inspiration
!
Thank you for sharing. Love your work!!
I love this post
Thank you Talley, Tiny and Carolyn.
Also Great Inspiration from Stephani !
Really nice story about Talley, and Tiny, making that connection. And I liked the one the prior week about Sebastian.
Because I was away on vacation the first week of the program, I am about 1 week behind the class. Things with Snowy are coming slowly. But I can also see how it will be important to be creative, allow for opportunities to play together, interact in new ways.
I also took special interest in Carolyn’s comment about Sebastian when he was playing “look off in the distance,” and get ready to run about, and how to handle that. I do not feel that I have enough of Snowy’s respect for boundaries yet to explore that kind of interaction, but I will be interested to hear more about that game some time in the future.
Virginia
Wonderful tale Tally – thanks for sharing that with us Carolyn!
What I’ve discovered is that amazing things can happen when I let go of agenda. Today, I was in the pasture with my 2 yr old colt Echo fixing the fence. I bought him as a weanling to raise as a stallion – a new experience for me, as is working with foundation appaloosas. He has quite the attitude which is challenging for me at times.
Today, as I walked along, he walked up beside me in a dominating way. I got curious and decided to see if we could play a game….so I stopped – and Echo stopped. I walked on, stopped again, walked on – all with him right at my side. Even more amazing was that I was able to turn into him and he moved out of my space – something that he’s not good at on the lead.
Here we were at liberty companion walking -and all just because I decided to be curious and play a game with no expectations! It was one of my most thrilling moments I’ve had with him…..I’m soooo excited.
Beautiful Talley, Tiny and Carolyn–thank you for the inspiration!
Connie Funk
Enjoyed Talley’s tale especially because the picture it paints about first steps in developing a relationship is so clear and easy to visualize. The two-person come-to-me game is particularly appealing. Thanks for sharing Talley’s delightful account.
Also really enjoyed Stephani’s video. Stephani’s energy and Unc’s are very alike; their compatibility and matching sense of fun is beautiful to watch.
I would just like to add that horses also move quick when they are playing. When I go for my afternoon walk with usually a dozen of them accompanying me, some will walk sedately with me and a few will rear and chase each other around. If I say “lets go” and start to run it is usually enough to set them all off and they will fly around in big circles bucking and kicking and chasing each other or the dogs. When I get out of breath and start to walk they generally come back and walk with me. If the weather is hot they will just trot along with me but if it’s a bit cool and breezy they will really play hard and fast for a while. Makes for great video footage! We have to be interesting for our horses, predictable in some things like rewards for trying hard but also unpredictable enough to not be boring and to keep them thinking. Imagination is everything. It requires time alone to think and we have to be open to letting the horses contribute their imagination too. They often come up with a new slant on what I had in mind or something completely different.
Michelle Dennis
Insider Circle Member. Great post and I so enjoy reading the responses. I have experienced this with Micah. We have a game we play which is put your feet on the tree stump, which we have many. I go out now and sit and he will usually go up to a stump and step up which is my cue to praise and encourage him. It’s great fun.
Regina
Dear Stephani,
Fantastic. Really wonderful. Thank you for sharing. The Black Stallion experaince. This is were the class is going. Great Job. I would now suggest that you push them more often when then do not respond. They are out of kindegarden and now in high school. They know what you want but now need more motavation by asking, pasue and they drive to a brisk canter. Keep the push. When the horses are picking up speed becase of your drive call them up. YOUr back up work is perfect. YOu can now raze their spirit to the next level and when you do you have arrived in the true experssions of liberty dancing!!
Loved the music!!
Carolyn, This is unrelated to this wonderful post but I am curious about something. I am a “Waterhole Rituals in a box” student and have been sharing territory with my horses and ponies. When I leave my chair, my gelding comes over to the chair and licks the seat (a lot). Do you have an idea what this could mean in “horse-speak? Thank You. Nan
Dear Deborah,
That is what it is all about. Assement to bring a good deal to the horse. This way you stay young and improving your brain sells.
What a wonderful post. Thanks very much.
This is a wonderful account.
The previous WHR blog collection cited variations on the carrot game, and was immeasurably helpful in initiating play. Gradually we could take ever longer between times of me retrieving the bucket of carrots, do more things in between feedings, until we got in a mode of playing without the carrots quite consistently.
A great story that synthethises so much of this way of being with horses. Thank you Carolyn and Talley!
hello carolyn
i am current in the box student…i would love for you to visit unc and me on youtube…love your program.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8n1sPauDa8
best to you today,
stephani
Thank you for that. It is wonderful to read what creative things are being done to enhance curiosity in horses. I love that Tally saw this as an opportunity to be creative and imaginative and not feel frustrated.
I think for me doing the WR has taught me to slow everything down and leave the agenda behind. There was a time when I went out to get a horse to do something with him. Maybe I was going to play or ride or both but it was my agenda and maybe the horse wasn’t interested.
Now my horses look for me when I go outside. They don’t know if I’m going to sit out and read with them, join the herd and do some reciprocal movement, say hello… whatever. My aloof horse Jeri comes to me often which is extremely rewarding to me. Two years ago he would see me and turn away hoping I wasn’t picking him. We have come so far in our relationship. Sometimes I choose to play at liberty and ride and always the next time I approach the paddock my horses are all wondering what we are doing.
I will say that I am riding far less than I ever used to though and it’s just because it is more important to me that my horses enjoy being with me. Doing the WR are really helping my connection with my horses and I love this. There is no more frustration with horses you just have to think about the situation and figure out what you need to do to change the situation and make it better. This for me is my horse show now.
Dear Tally, Carolyn and Deborah – Your story, Tally, reminds me that I do have the creative thinking I need at hand if I take it slow. Just like walking up to Commander with a “hello”, I then walk away with no expectations or when Sharing Territory I put no expectation on him. If and when he wants to come see me, fine, whatever he wants to do – I’m just there to be with him. Just like this I want to have no expectations of myself to “be creative!”. I will take it slow and trust the creative and intelligent ideas, games and inspiration to come to me just like I welcome Commander when he comes to me.
Deborah, thanks for reminding me that horses don’t move quickly unless they are responding to danger.
Take it slow, breathe and let go!
Talley, thanks for sharing this with us. It really brings out the puzzle solving skills in me. I used to think I had no imagination, but I’m finding the more I learn about how horses think, the better I’m getting at figuring out how to make things a better deal for the horse. It’s working out great with trailer loading. Having a choice to load, to back out, to rest with two feet in and know when to encourage and when to rest and let the horse soak on things, has made all the difference in the world.
Maintaining that calm, centered, present state of mind, keeping energy at idle, except in celebration in a job well done, never focusing on the task, but embracing the journey. Every time you are with your horse is another opportunity to strengthen that connection.
I’m becoming more aware of how I move with horses. I’m not only aware of where my mind is when I’m with my horses, but I’m also thinking about what my body is doing. I move in more of a mosey kind of way, easy, no jerking, no fast movements, just flowing, like a horse. Like a dance. They don’t move quickly unless they are responding to danger. If we move that way all the time, we probably aren’t that comfortable to be around, are we Carolyn? Does this makes sense?
Thanks Tally and Carolyn and Tiny!