(This blog was
originally posted on February 15, 2016)
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My horse, Avalon's Galahad (front) and his brother,
the
Lipizzan stallion Favory Alisa II (Amadeus)
Photo by
Sara Fogan
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Earlier this afternoon one of my good friends described how and why she
has slightly different training approaches for each of her three horses. One of
them responds well to body language, vocal and clicker instructions. He is a
“thinker,” she said, and he will work to figure out what she wants and complete
his “task” before he gets his reward. The other two, she said, would crash into
themselves and her to get a treat, so she must adjust how she asks and make
sure they understand what is expected of them and when. This makes complete
sense to me.
Although my gelding, Avalon’s Galahad, receives the same training and
handling as the other horses at the barn, he is definitely his “own horse.” Like
them, he understands the aids for walking forward, stopping, transitioning up
and down between gaits, backing up, standing still, etc. Like them, he also
knows when I am on him and when our trainer is riding him, and what he can,
cannot and will try to get away with depending who is on board. Galahad likes
to really understand what he is being asked to do and why. If he thinks human
error/confusion is going on, he tries his best to do what is being asked. If
that still doesn’t make sense, he responds how he thinks the human up there on
his back intended. To his credit, he understands the subconscious intent of his
rider in terms of her body language. How she sits in the saddle or shifts her
weight is one of the aids he correctly interpreted, based on his training.
However, at that moment his rider’s conscious mind hadn’t caught up with her
body (subconscious mind) and she didn’t actually ask for the movement she intended.
So horse and rider try again: the rider asks the question more clearly and/or a
little differently and checks how Galahad responds. Sometimes he is genuinely
confused when he is learning a new movement; sometimes I give mixed signals when I ask for that transition down to a walk
but my body keeps moving along with the rhythm of his very comfortable trot. He
is probably thinking: What do you want,
lady?
For example, before she ever put me on Galahad for a trial ride, my
trainer had me ride her hunter (and Galahad’s brother), Ban. I knew the gelding
understood what I was asking him to do, but he would not budge no matter how
many clucks or squeezes I gave him. Ban knew his owner/trainer was not on him,
and he was not going to move a hoof until she said to do so, at which point he
became a (fairly) willing equine partner for an hour or so.
Granted, my horse is much more fluent speaking and understanding “Human”
and body language than I am speaking Equus (horse). We share a mutual
vocabulary in terms of the aids we use during ground-work and training in the
saddle. Unlike his brother, Galahad is my
horse; when I ask him to do something he will make a great effort to do answer
my question as he understands it. We also enjoy a good rapport: mutual respect,
trust, improving communication and to like and even enjoy each other’s company.
I know and understand from working with my hypnotherapy clients that these
factors are imperative to understanding their individual therapeutic goals, as
is being able to effect the specific desired behavior changes through hypnosis.
I believe the same is true when we are riding and interacting with horses. With
rapport and good communication skills, it is possible to have a great, mutually
rewarding and even enlightening conversation.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based
in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an
appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2017
