Imagine a world where teenagers responded with, "Sure thing, with pleasure!" to the requests you made of them. Or better yet, what if they not only willingly acted upon your request, but also offered to go above and beyond with additional efforts. "Hey Mom, the kitchen is clean, would you like me to take out the trash as well?"
While I don't claim to have the solution to handling unwilling teenagers, I can teach you to develop a horse that readily offers this above and beyond attitude.
The horse is one of the most sensitive and perceptive creatures. When our horses act dull or unengaged around us, it suggests a lack of respect and interest and is not a reflection on their mental acuity or physical capabilities.
When attention, respect, and understanding come together, the result can be a horse that offers more physical softness and mental responsiveness than you could have ever imagined.
We will continue to strive toward having this kind of willing, attentive partner in this week's sensitization exercises.
To stay in balance between sensitization and desensitization, I suggest you review last week's article on stage 2 desensitization. Click Here to read Controlling Movement (Part III). I encourage you to intersperse these desensitization exercise as you do this week's sensitization exercises.
This week's exercises are similar to the last set of sensitization exercise from Part II of this series, but they involve teaching our horse to respond to steady, physical pressure rather than the rhythmic, energetic pressure. I teach the concepts in this order because a horse is more apt to lean against and ignore a steady physical pressure than they are a rhythmic energetic pressure. Therefore, by teaching my horse to move away from the energetic pressure first, he is able to apply the concept to the steady physical pressure and is better prepared to respond with lightness. This is not about using physical force to get our horse's to do things, but about gaining mental acuteness and understanding.
Even though the type of pressure we are using has changed, the quality of our stages of pressure should be the same. The first stage of your physical touch should be like you are trying to just touch the hair of your horse. Keep in mind that your horse will never get any lighter than your lightest offering.
Also, when you do touch your horse with your fingers, do so in a steady and clear way, but not in a predatory way. Horses perceive us as predatory when we get tense, emotional, and reactive.
When you touch your horse, be sure that the rest of your body reinforces the desired motion in a supportive, but calm manner. Practicing the Four C's (clear, committed, consistent, congruent) in all your communications will help your horse see your intentions as trustworthy.
It is also important in the following exercises that you rub your horse on both sides of the physical pressure. Let the first contact you make with your horse be a reassuring rub. Rub until your horse accepts the touch and can read it as a friendly gesture (desensitize). Then work through your stages of pressure asking the horse to move off the pressure (sensitize). Once the horse has responded to your request, rub the horse again in the same location you put the pressure. Starting and ending with a rub ensures that your horse responds out of trust and confidence, rather than fretful anticipation.
Although this week's exercises will be done with pressure from our hand, keep your training stick with you, as we will use it to support our horse's learning if they get confused in the following lessons.
