Working over a Tarp
- November 3, 2014
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- Jenn Zeller
Posted in: Horse Training
One of the things I love to do with my colts, and even older horses, is challenge them to “get with me”. I want them to realize that as an effective leader for them, I’ll not “lead” them astray; that they can trust my judgement. If we do not become effective leaders for our horses, they will, more often than not, ineffectively, lead themselves. Horses are not equipped to do this, short of panic. There’s lead horses in a herd, and there’s the follower horses in a herd (to overly simplify things). As flight animals, when a horse is afraid the first thing they want to do is bolt. When we become effective leaders for our horse, they will look to us to say, “should I be afraid here?”
As mentioned in a previous post, I talk about riding aware v. riding alert. Getting our horses to trust us is one way we can know that we only need to be aware, NOT alert.
Please note in the video below, that I don’t get upset with the horses – I simply ask them to try to follow my lead, and as long as they try, I don’t make a big deal if they’re not doing exactly what I want them to do. Too often, I see people obsess about the fact that their horse is making a big deal out of something – so let’s don’t make a big deal out of their fear. The bigger deal we make it, the bigger deal they’ll think it is.
Happy Trails and Happy Riding!
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Posted in: Horse Training
About Jenn Zeller
Jenn Zeller is the creative mind and boss lady behind The South Dakota Cowgirl. She is an aspiring horsewoman, photographer, brilliant social media strategist and lover of all things western. After a brief career in the investment world to support her horse habit (and satisfy her...