HORSEMANSHIP

"Understanding"...The FIRST Of 6 Keys In Building A Life Long Partnership With Your Horse!

Yesterday we talked a little about the 6 Keys for a Life Long Partnership with your horse, today I would like to visit with you about the first key, **Understanding.** I would like to start by asking you a question. Have you ever wondered why your horse acts like he does how he thinks and moves? If so, then you need to understand the prey-predator relationship, but before we start it's important that we understand, if were going to effectively communicate with horses we need to **think like horses.** We need to look at and approach everything from the **horse's point of view**.

If we understand that horses are prey animals and that **horses perceive people as predators** and realize that each thinks differently, we can begin to understand how our horses think, act and move, and why we react the way we do. Both the horse and human are simply considering all factors then adjusting to the situation.

Prey animals by nature are programmed to be cowards, they are a herd, fear-flight animal, in other words when they perceive danger they run and continue running until they feel they have escaped danger.

To horses we *humans* look and smell like *predators.* If were going to communicate with our horse in an effective manner then it's necessary to prove to our horse that we are not a predator. We need to understand what type of behavior we need to show if we are to get a certain behavior from the horse.

Once the horse accepts that we are not as bad as we seem and we are not a predator he becomes gentle, in other words he no longer perceives us to be dangerous.

In a herd of horses there is always a pecking order and once our horse decides that we are not a danger to him he will put us in a pecking order to fit into his world (remember all of this is about the horse his world and perceptions not yours) you will be placed higher or lower depending on respect and authority.

**Remember the horse is a prey animal and is supposed to act the way he does.** It's our task to help him act less like a prey animal and more like a partner. To accomplish this we need our horse to be sensitive or aware of our cues and communication rather than danger. We need to turn his flight from fear reaction into forward motion or impulsion. We have to work at getting him to want to be with us, to take the herd instinct and turn it into bonding with us.

The concepts we have discussed today are much easier said than done. Why, because horses and humans think differently and this is often a source of conflict.

Let's wrap up what we have discussed today. We will gain respect from our horse if we uphold our responsibilities which are: Not act like a predator, be where we need to be emotionally when communicating with our horse, to think like a horse and not a human and focus on where we are headed and what we want to do, if we do our horse will sense this, respect us and follow us as the leader.

Reading and studying these articles should help improve your knowledge base and hopefully horsemanship skills.

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In the next horsemanship article we will discuss Mind Set; Your attitude= How you communicate. Being assertive vs. aggressive and being evenhanded. Your mind-set (attitude) affects the mind-set (attitude) of your horse.

Copyright © Mike Gorzalka All Rights Reserved Worldwide

About The Author:

Mike Gorzalka has spent the better part of his life around horses. His dad, Mike Sr., taught him the importance of understanding the horse and how to use a firm, but kinder and gentler approach to helping horses understand what it is we humans are trying to communicate.

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*DISCLAIMER*: The information contained in this article is Of my personal opinions and beliefs and should not be taken as anything more.