3 exercises to build confidence with your horse

If you’re anything like me, you got into the horse lifestyle because you love it, you love time together, and you love all the memories you make.

The relationship with your horse is important to you. But, like any relationship, it is important that it be playful, built on trust, and mutual communication – no conflict, no fear, anxiety, overwhelming, fear-based, or mistrust.000

“Building a relationship and trust with horses is the foundation of anything you want to do and achieve.” – Erica Ash

To build a foundation and gain your horse’s confidence, focus on the big things first – the basic elements that make your horse work.

When you’re building a trust-based organization, it’s almost like having a piggy bank that you can draw on all the time to come. Every time you make a “deposit”, the size of this bank increases. In training or in a difficult situation, you have this “coin” that you can go back and withdraw.

Instead of going through a list of do’s and don’ts, I’ll share the secrets behind building confidence in your horse with 3 simple and easy exercises to try today.

Use these tactics and you’ll be rewarded with the constant communication, genuine confidence, and energetic preparedness that you and your horse craves.

3 exercises to gain confidence

Now that you understand why it is important to gain your horse’s trust and respect, let’s talk about how it actually does it. Here are the three secrets that will put you on the right track.

#1: Be predictable

Horses do not automatically come into this world with the skills and abilities to understand people. Far fewer are living, surviving, and thriving in the human world. The most important factor for confidence is to be predictable through consistency.

Be in tune with your energy levels, emotions, and the way you present yourself around your horse. Stay consistent in your communications, and always send and receive messages the same way—one that you and your horse can clearly understand.

Reassuring predictability. It enhances self-confidence and enables richer learning moments.

This is all great, but how does that affect what you do with your horse each time?

The best place to start is to find clarity from within. Take a good look at your energy levels, emotions, and thoughts every day and every time you are around your horse.

Be aware of the thoughts running through your mind as you pull into the barn, pick up the halter, and open the barn door.

Do you control your thoughts and feelings?

Worried about whether or not you have to do laundry at home…or what to order from Starbucks tomorrow?🙂

Think about what you should/should do, is your timing wrong, and what’s next…? “

Too often we add other thoughts to one, which only spoils the feeling and energy levels on the other side more and more.

Your horse is trying to read (predict) our intentions, energy levels, and body language. They just want to know who we “say”.

If there is … separate ; Basically we say and do things we don’t really mean or believe. Your horse is clearly picking up the county and is confused.

Also, when your everyday feelings are unpredictable, it becomes difficult to trust you.

Let your body say and feel what we are naturally without quickly adding our judgments, doubts, or streams of thought. Your horse will thank you

“A reliable horse partner is worth more than anything words or numbers can describe.” – Erica Ashe

#2: Be a good listener in every moment

Humans are verbal communication.

The conversation is of course for us. But not so with horses. They communicate mainly through body language and eye, ear and nose expression. This is a subtle language that can be overlooked if you’re not careful.

When you slow down a conversation and let the horse “talk,” you will notice a change in its behavior. Your horse will quickly notice that you understand him, adapt to what is being said and respect established boundaries.

Just spend quality time with them…LISTENING : Free from expectations, allow choices, listen to them, take care of each other or take long walks together. Often in these moments, I develop a deeper understanding of who my horse is. Increase your awareness of your horse’s language, how it thinks, reacts, learns – and what motivates it to act.

To be clear, this is when *no* wasted an exercise. It is important to have time with our horses, free from schedules, tasks, tasks, how, when and where a horse should behave and do.

Find out what motivates them – and do more of it! If you have a horse that loves big rink ball or runs with you in little jumps and runs across the field, do this! Do this in freedom (i.e. free-wheeling where the horse is free to choose).

Start by asking the horse: How do you feel? Do you like it

The horse’s confidence and clarity in communication wakes up and the narration begins . You are more!

#3: Curiosity is key

Curiosity opens up more possibilities than anything else.

Curiosity is a vote of confidence. An inquisitive horse is looking for… answers, experimenting with the world around it or looking for new insights to learn something new.

We want to “train” our horses…that is, we want them to try things, learn and then do what they haven’t done before.

So what better way to teach them or introduce them to something new than their inner curiosity?

When a horse tries new things on his own, he searches and experiments. This results in an enthusiastic horse and an investor full of confidence!

Looks dreamy doesn’t it?

Here’s a secret on how to change low value questions to high quality ones that will help your horse build curiosity > self confidence > confidence:

Low value: why can’t I do this

addresses…

High Quality: What can I do differently to make it work?

or…

Otherwise how can I experience it?

Moreover…

What should I do differently?

Being curious about confidence means finding a balance in the messages, observing and directing the horse’s feelings and reactions so that they are enjoyable but also safe.

***

To build a trusting relationship with a horse, it takes more than just good training. No matter what level of experience you have, your horse, and your preferred riding style…

Slow down to join the horse in his world. Because there is no better life than that of a horse… Where the great relationship between a horse and a human is based on interdependence, trust and understanding.