Emotional horsemanship

[Bob notacob]

My working hypothesis, absolutely unproven, is that (confident) non-horsey people are more present when around horses than most of us horsey folk. Plus they have much lower expectations of themselves/the horse than we do, and fewer past experiences to have stuffed a lot of tension and predictions in them. Hence why horses are often keener on them.

The extension of that hypothesis is that non-horsey people tend to be more respectful of horse's boundaries and don't get in their space as much, which the horse then reciprocates.

Mind you, this is based on a sample size of 1 so...

On the other hand ,there is no fun for a horse in hitting a sitting duck. Innocents and small children are off limits to all but the worst horses. All the horses I have known ,have been bang on side with smiting the unrighteous but had a healthy respect for their immortal souls by not bashing the hell out of non combatants.

 

[sbloom]

Only skimmed but people deserve to make a living, and many methods do not translate into easy soundbites that you can access without paying up in some way to see it in the round.

I do t like many online courses, I agree there is so often a lack of feedback, every horse is different so a,b,c isn't a good way to present a cou se. Yet it's what so many want.

I believe Lockie to be good via his saddle fitter who I know well.

To me BTMM.is still the ultimate, it's the opposite of a,b,c and some don't like that. However it will help improve your eye, your relationship and your understanding to help your horse do what he needs to so to achieve the postural/biomechanical goals that are more critical than most realise in order to carry us well. There is a ton of feedback and lots of support. Yet there's still a bit of a backlash....you just can't please everyone!

I always say go find podcast interviews read and listen widely. If you like what they say, and people you respect are having good results with their work, especially if other trainers are finding it valuable, then put it up top of your list of things to consider.

 

[LEC]

I can’t help but laugh at the title of it. If you want emotional horsemanship for free might I suggest half a bottle of gin, followed by an argument with friend/family/partner finished with a trip to see your horse.

 

[Caol Ila]

What is BTMM?

 

[palo1]

If you have turned a bit of a corner with Fin then you are doing the right things and he is responding to that. I think it is very easy to overthink and become insecure in our own skill and intuition. At the same time it is massively helpful to have eyes on the ground and good experienced advice. Horses are hugely individual and a horse that has learnt how to be a horse in a feral herd is likely switched on to quite different things; he knows stuff that he can't 'un-know' lol!! Sometimes it's helpful to think about what you want things to be like rather than look for direct 'riding' goals. Training in isolation is really hard going; I hear that. But having the wrong trainer, as you know, is probably worse...So, if I were you, I would not aim for any kind of 'special'/expensive or niche horsemanship but to find someone you like and trust to come to you first up. Your OH sounds like a good support and clearly Fin thinks he is safe and worth following which is great - you are setting Fin up to succeed and he is happy to go solo somewhere familiar for a short distance; that is really good news!! It might just be a case of taking time and making micro-leaps in confidence in the way that you are doing now but with some mentoring for you rather than Fin.

 

[sbloom]

What is BTMM?

Balance Through Movement Method, when I'm on my phone it gets abbreviated, I'd bet it comes up on Google though...