Pressure, stress, timing...

The subject of pressure is a fascinating one. For me, discovering how to use pressure and release (it is the release that teaches) as a training method has been a revelation. Why did nobody tell me before? It simplifies - and complicates - everything. Because it goes hand in hand with timing, and phases. Good timing can be learned, some people have it and some of us have to work on it.

Understanding how to apply pressure in phases sounds simple, at first, but the more skilled and experienced you get with this technique, the more you find to it. You get into questioning the type of pressure - physical, mental, implied, direct, distance, thought... How little it takes, how much is too much. What is a try, what is a release, or a micro release... ?

While the very word "pressure" sends some horse owners into declarations of horror of the idea that they might be putting stress on our horses, it brings a smile to my face as I think of how this invaluable technique has transformed my horsemanship and taken it to new levels, and degrees of refinement I didn't know I had or desired.

Pressure can be as light as a thought or the air, or it can be heavy and dulling, or threatening, or mind blowing. It all depends how you use it, like a cudgel or like a magic wand. While horses, as humans, cannot learn while under stress, they also cannot learn without motivation. Pressure motivates. Too much pressure stresses. Everything has to be taught. Leaders teach. Mothers are leaders. Mares teach their foals, to follow, to move, to yield. Horses use pressure and release to teach and move each other.

Pressure and release is balanced, it flows back and forth, it is alive, it is communication.

If I behave like a leader with my horse, and he perceives me as a leader, he will respect and follow my ideas. This concept works for me and I believe it works for my horses too. More on that one coming soon... )

Sunny Sunday

I had a nice afternoon with the girls on Sunday. When I went down the field they were relaxing in the sunshine, Fina soon came ambling over but Lucie had a Do Not Disturb Me look. Fina is generally first to move towards me and be pleased to see me. When they walk across the field together towards me, Fina does so in a zigzag, cutting across Lucie, I guess so she can get to me first. Today as Lucie was busy with her siesta, when Fine got to me she kept looking back to see if Lucie was coming, which she did, slowly. No problem, no rush, take more time so it takes less time.

After a long grooming session, as there is a lot of loose hair especially from furry Fina, I do a bit of groundwork with each one in turn. Lucie does not think she should have to do this and I don't really spend enough time with her on this discussion, we have a clear relationship and respect, although I admit I let her get away with very subtley ignoring me occasionally until she pushes the respect issue too far and I pay attention to what's going on, and we have to have a little conversation about e.g. how quickly she needs to move when I ask, then she looks mildly surprised, but with a much nicer attitude. Even so, it is as hard as ever to get her to offer in the generous way that Fina does. So as usual I do stuff with Fina instead, it is much more rewarding and she is happy to be with me and easily gets involved in my little projects. We end up with driving from zones 3, 4 & 5 around the paddock then we all go for a walk and take it in turns who leads. Having the 3m lead ropes allows me to be behind, if they stop when I stop, and I can influence their movements and turn them, without any pull on the rope, then I know they are responsive and listening to me, bit like long reining but less micromanagement. And they do love it when it is their turn in front, ears pricked (flicking back from time to time to check on us behind); it also enables me to check how they are moving. Both are walking out well and making me puff keeping up! Time to get back in the saddle and out on the trail.

Unfortunately we find a group of fallen trees blocking one of our regular tracks, two large pines which have brought down a couple of young oak trees, so quite a job even for a chainsaw, and on a path nobody except us and the odd walkers uses so no chance of the hunt or local farmers needing to clear it, and a long way to bring OH and the chainsaw. We manage to find a way round the obstruction by going off piste into the woods. I will need to come back with secateurs at least, and clear a path.

Relationships before goals

Does having a goal with your horse put pressure on them and you to achieve it?

Clearly, the answer is maybe, sometimes. There should be a difference in our minds between meeting a deadline like going to a comp, and knowing what we would like to achieve and having a plan. Plans can be changed. A good leader or organiser will be going somewhere and have a plan, a focus. It is important to ourselves and to our horses that there is purpose in what we are doing or trying to achieve. Most of us don't drift aimlessly through life, even if we don't have big ambitions we have everyday a plan or a purpose. In horsemanship, doing something with a purpose gives meaning and focus.

If you can't visualise what your intention is, and focus on it, it will to be harder for the horse to work out what you want. Find a way to do this. In a dressage clinic, I heard the instructor suggesting to riders that they imagine a conversation bubble above their head, saying what they wanted to achieve in shape, movement, etc. With the idea that if you don't know yourself what you want, how can you expect your horse to do it. I think this is true whether you are seeking a higher level of communication and connection, or just starting out, or doing a short groundwork session.

However, having an aim, intention or purpose doesn't mean you can't change it mid session, that would be being inflexible and putting pressure on yourself or your horse. That would be putting the goal before the relationship. Start with an idea of what you would like to achieve but be prepared to adapt and follow a different route, and if what you had in mind isn't working out you may need to break it down and fix the bit that isn't happening, or the horse may be getting frustrated in which case go back to something that restores confidence and connection, then reapproach; or isolate the element he was having trouble with. Don't allow others to pressurise you into a situation or doing something you don't want to like a competition or a group ride, or simply riding when you or the horse aren't ready for it.

Aims and goals need to change, be refreshed, adapt to where you are and what your horse is offering. 

Always deal with the horse in front of you, and be prepared to adapt, don't try to make the horse fit the goal, think of it as causing him to want to go there.

Sometimes you can take what your horse offers but don't let the horse take control. Be clear in what you want, accept a try or say thanks for offering that, now could we try my idea again. If it isn't happening, are you being clear and focusing on what you want.

Remember to think about whether you are teaching, reinforcing, refining or controlling.

It is true for me that sometimes when I go get my horse I don't start out with a clear idea of what I want, but somewhere in the routine of collecting the horse from the field, there will be a clue or something in their attitude will give me an idea. Sometimes it feels better to abandon my immediate plan for a ride or groundwork, and just hang out with them in the field. I can still say that I changed my plan, because if spending undemanding time, or giving scratches if asked for, or getting in the moment with them if they are busy eating or enjoying a sunny corner of the field, feels right, then that will do more for the relationship than insisting the horses do what you tell them. Sometimes they must do what you tell them, but you don't always have to be asking or forcing the horse into a human time scale.

Pressure, stress, timing...

The subject of pressure is a fascinating one. For me, discovering how to use pressure and release (it is the release that teaches) as a training method has been a revelation. Why did nobody tell me before? It simplifies - and complicates - everything. Because it goes hand in hand with timing, and phases. Good timing can be learned, some people have it and some of us have to work on it.

Understanding how to apply pressure in phases sounds simple, at first, but the more skilled and experienced you get with this technique, the more you find to it. You get into questioning the type of pressure - physical, mental, implied, direct, distance, thought... How little it takes, how much is too much. What is a try, what is a release or a micro release...

While the very word "pressure" sends some horse owners into declarations of horror of the idea of putting stress on our poor fragile horses, it brings a smile to my face as I think of how this invaluable technique has transformed my horsemanship and taken it to new levels, and degrees of refinement I didn't know I had or desired.

Pressure can be as light as a thought or the air, or it can be heavy and dulling, or threatening, or mind blowing. It all depends how you use it, like a cudgel or like a magic wand. While horses, as humans, cannot learn while under stress, they also cannot learn without motivation. Pressure motivates. Too much pressure stresses. Everything has to be taught. Leaders teach. Mothers are leaders. Mares teach their foals, to follow, to move, to yield. Horses use pressure and release to teach and move each other.

Pressure and release is balanced, it flows back and forth, it is alive, it is communication.

If I behave like a leader with my horse, and he perceives me as a leader, he will respect and follow my ideas. This concept works for me and I believe it works for my horses too.

Year end summary 2016

It's been a good horsey year (if not so hot in many other respects...) with some great highlights - riding Lucie again after her years of lameness and being poneyed reluctantly from Seraphina; clinics, workshops and lessons with Denise O'Reilly, Susan Rainbird and Jo Bates; spectating the Pat Parelli Masterclass in the UK... Sad moments too, losing my dear friend Jakki Cunningham of the Sete-Lorient-London (White Horses) charity, to cancer in October, after staying with her in the Camargue in January for the Salon du Cheval at Avignon... where Lorenzo thrilled us with his horsemanship in the evening gala... Rides with friends - Jennie Free, Helen & Ali Barnes-Short, and getting my husband Dan back in the saddle (and a couple of times out of it)...



So as we turn our backs on 2016....

... and ride off into the sunset of another year... 

I look forward to many more happy horsey moments in 2017. 

Happy healthy positive new year 2017!

Autumn rides

We have enjoyed a fine sunny long dry spell this back end of summer into autumn, right into December, and so some glorious colours on the vines and trees and wonderful rides.
A few images here:

Glorious colours near Callassou, 22 October

With Jennie on Fina, 22 October

With Dan on Fina, 1 December

Dan on Fina, 8 December

Me on Lucie, 8 December

Grooming and trust

Using grooming to develop connection and trust

Grooming our horses is a precious and useful mutual activity to get in the moment with your horse, when you encourage the connection physical and mental. So don´t waste it, use it. 

Grooming is another example of conditioning to do something to our horses which we learn as children, and in riding schools and pony club. All too often I have seen a horse fetched in, tied up short and attacked with a brush, all the while the owner talking to her friends. I´ve done it myself in the past, when it hadn't occurred to me. If the horse is an accepting sort they will probably get along fine. But there could be so much more, and we should let go of the idea in human terms, of cleaning a horse of mud and dirt ready for saddling, and think about it from the horse's point of view.

As a mutually beneficial activity in which you and the horse have the opportunity to benefit from our fingers and tools, appropriately and sensitively used, to gently probe and remove annoying ticks or burrs, flies and dirt from ears and eyes and intimate parts, provide scratches and massage,and general health checks. Touch, offer, listen, observe. Never insist, but if you need to treat a wound, ask for permission, go slowly, give the horse time to understand your intent, and wait if they indicate you are going too fast. Wait means drop your intent, relax your breathing and negate your thoughts.

As you groom, do you think about your horse, or are you both mentally elsewhere?

With Lucie and Seraphina we are generally together, physically and mentally, and I like to take my time. The horse which is not being groomed waits quietly and asks when it is their turn. This is how I see it, maybe I am mistaken. Fina is impatient for her scratches and tries to get my attention. She likes her back scratches. Both of them like the underneck scratching, a place other horses can't reach easily. If Fina keeps offering me her chin there is usually a tick to be found there. So this is something mutual between human and horse that they cannot get from other horses. Use it! But don't let them abuse you. You are not a scratching post. I hear people say that they love it when their horse rubs their head on them. They think it is a sign of affection even love. The point here is that if you want your horse to respect you, you must have ground rules. That is how horses view the world. Lower ranking herd members would not come up to a higher ranking horse and rub on them. Not without a ritual of asking, and if the other horse says not interested right now, they will go away, and maybe ask again later.

Asking and giving permission is the key thing here.

I give scratches when asked politely. I encourage my horses to ask permission. They ask permission to graze if I am with them. It is a good leader's job to provide food, move the herd to fresh grazing. I don't try to behave like a horse, I just use some of these things to help them respect me and give us mutual understanding. I try to do the things which as a human I can offer, in a way in which should give them reasons to perceive me as a leader. (Yes, I know, the leadership in herds theory has been challenged by recent studies, I will explain my view on this and the use of the term leader elsewhere!) So if they need a scratch, they can ask and it will be given, but the decision to start or stop is mine, and if they start pushing into my space or leaning on me, I will step them back gently but firmly.

Back to the grooming. Another thing I hear is people saying they can't touch their horses ears, or medicate their eyes, the horse won't let them touch their most sensitive spots. I think this is often because they go too fast or too directly. My horses have no problem with eyes or ears but I wouldn't grab their head and go straight in with the meds. Trying to take less time usually takes more, I think we have all heard that, but humanness will still make us take short cuts even when we know it is probably a bad idea. Our natural tendency for a direct approach with a planned result, our modern impatience to get a job done without wasting time, will make us try it this way, and sometimes it works. But it won't win us points in horse world.

Some horses, like some humans, enjoy the feel of strong grooming, others have more sensitive skin. Observe as you brush, feel as you go. Try to get them in the moment with you. Encouraging your horse to participate in tasks is a great way to connect with them and develop partnership. They may want to sniff the brush you are going to use. Are their ears watching you when you are behind them? Can you find all their scratchy spots, can you touch them all over and are they aware of you and relaxed about what you are doing? These are the things I ask people who are around horses for the first time. This should be their first goal.

I am not suggesting to always take a softly softly approach, what I am saying is you should observe your horse as you groom and both of you behave accordingly. Partly this is approach and retreat, partly about being in the moment and not rushing the task but most importantly, using it to develop the connection you desire in groundwork and then riding. It is part of both and you should use it as such. Don't waste the opportunity to get intimate with your horse. Grooming and preparation is not just to get the horse clean.

The horse isn't really interested in getting the mud or straw off it. As we all know, they will roll in the dirtiest place once left to themselves. So apart from tick removal and scratches, what's in it for the horse? This article is about making sure there is something in it for both of you, and not wasting an opportunity to develop your relationship.

One racehorse trainer I worked for would never allow tails to be brushed, we would go out with bits of straw, because he said they didn't go any faster if their tails were clean. Can't argue with that. His horses didn't go very fast anyway, so nothing was proved. A natural horsemanship trainer I worked with said that cleaning out the feet was of no interest to the horse. It was something the human asked for and wanted to do. I could debate this one, as above, and on the basis that they are in our care,and no foot no horse. Picking feet is beneficial even if the horse doesn't know it, maybe they need to trust us on that one. I believe they only give their feet willingly when they trust us. The more I ask with my thought and focus, for a foot to be lifted, the more trustingly it is offered, for me to clean and check. I think that is definitely in the horse's interest, and that he is capable of understanding that. You shouldn't have to be squeezing skin or poking hock or chestnut, or pulling at the feather, just offer the thought. And never attack this sensitive member with the hoofpick and don't drop the foot afterwards!

I only have the two but the differences are interesting. Lucie is much faster to respond to my intention to clean her feet, she offers each and is light in my hand. With Fina, the wheels turn more slowly, but as long as I am not impatient, it happens, though she could take more responsibility for holding her foot up. When I'm grooming Lucie she is sceptical at first, she does like her mud and is not particularly fond of mutual grooming. When they are in the field together, I see Fina making the approach more often than it is accepted, and even when they start the wither scratching, it is Lucie that moves away after a very short session. Interestingly, I think Lucie has come to enjoy physical contact and scratches more since Fina has been with us. There are several reasons for this, and it is a good thing, I am liking it, and treating it as an honour to be invited to touch or scratch.

Seraphina is a tart, as several people have fondly said of her. She loves attention, scratches, anything physical, and will soon be on top of you asking for attention if not reminded to maintain everyone's space. Lucie is more reserved, she does love contact nevertheless, but on her own terms, and one needs to go much slower with her. When she is comfortable and safe in the moment with you, you see her head lower and lean slightly towards you, and an ear will be offered for inspection. She wants her ears scratching inside, the flies and crusts removing. Gently but then more firmly. Any deviation from the ritual and the head goes up, you are going too fast and she doesn't feel safe. When she has confidence in trusting me with her precious ears I can do anything. Same with her eyes, which often need treatment and drops in summer. You have to see it from the horse's point of view. These are their precious life-saving eyes and ears. They have to trust you to look after them. Developing this trust is an integral part of horsemanship and your relationship and connection with your horse.

Use it, in everything you do. Think about everything from the horse's point of view.

Final long ride for a queen of the road

Jakki with Princesse and Printemps in 2012

My dear friend Jakki Cunningham died of cancer this month. She was President and founder of the SLL Sete-Lorient-London charity which I have helped and supported since they came riding across France and into my life, when the 4 horses and 3 riders including Jakki stayed overnight in June 2005. We remained friends ever since.

The SLL Charity (see website www.sllassoc.com) was set up by Jakki with the idea of buying horses in the  Camargue and using them to change the lives of young disadvantaged people as well as to help people with disabilities. In the 2008 and 2012 projects, known as Caravan of Hope, the horses were ridden and cared for by disadvantaged youngsters both French and English, who rode an amazing 1,800 kms on horseback from the Camargue in the South of France, via Brittany, then on to London. The expedition took 6 months, camping all the way. At the end of the journey, the horses were donated to centres for disabled riding or carriage driving in England and France. Contact with horses improves the physical and emotional well-being of people with disabilities, as practised by the Riding for the Disabled Association and similar groups in France.

Jakki created 4 similar projects, each one became more ambitious than the previous one, with more horses and more diverse aims. She rode or drove carriage horses on each of the projects, earning the distinction of membership of the elite Long Riders Guild, as well as handling most of the administration and correspondence. Latterly she was joined by and had the help of Fred Kermel, her right hand man and French vice president, however, the charity survived and operated through Jakki's energy and enthusiasm, with the help of a small group of loyal volunteers and trustees, and some generous sponsors and supporters.

Jakki died on 22 October 2016; she was living in the Camargue, which she had made her home since 2013.

RIP Jakki Cunningham

Sunset over l'Etang de Vaccarres

Saying goodbye...

www.sllassoc.com