I follow a lot of horse trainers and horse people on social media and sometimes their posts appear at the exact right moment. Some of them, like this one by Tim Anderson, are timely reminders of what I already know, but talk myself out of by saying, Maybe I’m being too picky. I get around other people who let things slide and roll their eyes when I nit pick, and I start to doubt myself.
His post was very long and detailed, but here is how it starts out, and I recommend reading all of it here.
The video above, which he linked in the comments, is an excellent example of how to bring our energy up without being aggressive. Those two things can easily get entangled, and I see it all the time, both in myself and others. I have learned to spot it in myself by the set of my jaw. I get that pissed off look like I’m ready to go to war. The good news is that I’m recognizing it faster in myself and then stepping back from aggression to increased energy. (From the link: Tim Anderson)
Increased energy is fair, not punitive. They do something dangerous, like coming too close into our space, we get them out by appropriate energy or force. It’s natural justice and they want those boundaries. It’s also in the moment and instinctual for them to challenge us like that. It’s not “bad” or “good” it’s just against the rules we have set for our relationship.
I addressed a lot of that boundary challenging with Tumbleweed in January when we started back up. He didn’t want to be away from his herd and he didn’t want to do what I asked. It was a battle over who was going to lead, him or me.
There’s not much of it left anymore.
Or, is there?
If you read the full post I linked, there is another manifestation of it, and it’s going too slow. That is why the post was timely. (More from the Tim Anderson link).
Before I ride Tumbleweed on the trail, we warm up on the lunge line and then in saddle in the arena. Last night, he was going really slow, what appeared to be “lazy.” He did the same thing with Katie the other day and she had to ride him hard to keep him going. I did the same thing, worked harder myself.
Often times, we’re glad to see “lazy,” as if it means we’re going to have a chill horse out on the trail. But it’s really another form of saying “no.”
Don’t get me wrong, we had a nice ride, and he led out and tried his heart out, but he was definitely more looky and a little more testing of the boundary to check his speed and come back into vertical flexion when things got scary. Just a little bit, but I noticed, and I’m proud to be picky.
Today I’m going to address that laziness on the ground and not just go along to get along. I want to see what he’s hiding under that seeming laziness.
Last night’s ride was pretty close to perfect, but I can see we are still after that last 5-10% where they melt into the partnership. Some of it is just being green and needing exposure, and I get that, but part of it is also his resistance to giving up that last 5-10%.
And he’s too good of a horse not to go for it all.
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