Creating Connection Through Change In Focus
Creating Connection Through Change In Focus
There is no use training your horse with something (flag, stick, leadrope) unless they are connected to it. This exercise will help you connect your horse to you and your tool. They do not have to follow you, the goal is to see how easily you can get them to connect with you. Following you is a by-product but not the objective of this exercise.
This exercise is the most basic step in getting a horse to realize that you are aware of how they are feeling inside and where their attention is. Even if you think your horse is at a more advanced level than this, try it out anyway and just begin to notice where your horse’s attention goes. Practicing this skill will make everything later on much easier for you and your horse.
- Turn them loose in a big area (or maybe they are already loose in a big area). Let them wander away as far as possible.
- If their ears are fixated on something, work on getting an ear with the flag. Do this from a long way away, as subtle as possible (so no pressure, you want to attract their attention, not force it). Start by moving your feet, then slowing moving the flag.
- If their ears are not fixated on something, do the same thing but work on the eye turning toward you.
- As soon as you get the ear or the eye, stop and turn away.
- Wait a minute or so then start again. It’s a slow process at first. Just reward the change in focus. That’s where the connection starts. You are letting them know how aware you are of that change in focus without asking for it.
- Repeat over and over, waiting in between each one. At some point in time, your horse will become more and more interested in you. They may even come over and engage with you.
- If they leave, let them get all the way away before attempting to get their attention again.
Success Tips:
– Start as far away as possible.
– If their ears are not fixated on something, do the same thing but work on the eye turning toward you.
– As soon as you get the ear or the eye, turn and walk away.
– Wait a minute or so then start again.
– If they leave, let them get all the way away before attempting to get their attention again.
– Take your time
– No expectations
– Do not wave the flag fast. Do not force anything or it will turn into obedience and you won’t get anywhere.
Common Problems/Mistakes:
– Having an agenda or expectation. This is a relationship-building exercise. That is your only goal. Build a relationship.
– If their ears are fixated on something, work on getting an ear with the flag. Do this from a long way away, as subtle as possible
(so no pressure, you want to attract their attention, not force it). Start by moving your feet, then slowing moving the flag.
So, on this first day that you are going to go out and try the exercise, it’s more important that you practice getting the changes of focus than it is that they follow you around. They will learn more in the process of repetition than they will in the following you around. So, the more times that you can get their attention with the flag and then show them that you saw their change in focus, that is the goal for today. Not following you around.
Remember, this is just the “next thing” in the process, don’t worry about the “Days” anymore. You are on your timeline…not ours.
A reminder of how to use this course: click on Mark Complete below and tomorrow you will move on to Day 10.
I really appreciate how you care to shift the human focus on calling it a day and not packing too much in a single day/session
The illustrations really helped clear some things up for me, thanks!
That seems pretty clear (I’ve been following you for a while, so it was a refresher of stuff I’ve heard before); what my brain struggles with is the end point when I have to gather the horse to put him back away. What point do you need to reach using this exercise where it becomes okay to halter them (and does it cause a setback to not reach that point but have to halter them – say someone else needs the space)? Do you have to get to the point where they are coming up to you? Come up to you and not walk away? Willing to follow you?
Hi Megan
Usually in a session they will at least get to where they come up and hand with you, BUT, its not about the end result, its about the number of times you communicate your awareness of their changein focus. So Id say any time is good to finish up.
Hi Warwick!
Thanks for the clarification. I am doing the change an focus with a few horses now and it works really well. My question is: Would you do this with a 9 month old foal? I have her at my own place since birth so she is very relaxed with me and a bit lazy. And when I go into the arena with her she would eat gras on the edge of the fence – I tried it once when her mom was in the arena with her but she would ignore everything – even the flag under her belly – what would you do?
Thanks and a Marry Christmas.
Michelle
Id be effective. So once you start, you need a change in focus.
Hi,
I am new to the program and am currently on Step 9 of the 30 Day Jump Start [which I am loving !!]. Having watched this video yesterday and the other two recommended videos I gave it a go with our 14 year old broodmare. It worked just as you said and although I only set out to get her attention and make her aware that I was aware of her, just as I was about to leave she surprised me and started to follow me. She was already wearing a headcollar so I could not use that suggestions as a way to finish the session. Instead I stood with her hoping for a lick a chew but nothing happened. How else can I bring the session to a close or do I just break the connection and walk away.
Finally, you are so right. I rewatched this video again this morning and realised that I missed some of the detail !! Just about to look at the other two videos again so apologies if the answer is in them! Looking forward to giving it another go today
Thanking you in advance
Hi Warwick
I’m just starting (watching all the videos first) but I have a question about this exercise if you have a horse that has more draw than drive how would you approach it?
How much draw does your horse have? Do they want to come up and hang out? Or do they want to come up and push into you?
I have tried this before; but I made the mistake of doing it in a round pen. My horse didn’t run around though. I also made the mistake of walking across behind him, rather than doing an arc on one side only. I am loving this 30 day jump start course! I have made mistakes with my foundational exercises in the past so I am now starting over, once again. I understand how if these exercises are not working very well, it will lead to more problems down the road. I am willing to take the time required to get these things “rock solid” with my horse.
He’s the type of horse that would push into you. He often cuts me off to stop me so I will give him attention if I go into his paddock. But in saying that he also would have the odd day that he would acknowledge that he has seen me but continue to graze.
Id resolve the pushy first, even if that causes him to not be interested in you. Then you can start the relationship over anmd build it without that in there.
I did this one day and didn’t feel like it was very successful: but I know that is not the way I should look at this. I went back on day 2 to try it again and my horse was actually looking towards me more easily and he came over and engaged a few times. He walked away and went to the far end of the arena. I slowly made my arcs closer to him to see if that would make a difference in getting him to look at me. He started looking towards me more often and each time I would quickly turn away and drop the flag. I was going back and forth in arcs on one side of him, maybe 30-40 ft away from him. He started doing a lot of licking and chewing, started snorting at the ground and then started to paw like he was going to roll. He dropped to the ground and just stretched out and stayed there. I slowly walked over to him and sat beside him. He stayed down for about 10 minutes. He lifted his head a couple of times when he heard noises; looked at me and put his head back down. I just rubbed his head very gently as he layed there.
Great work.
Thanks for these explanations, they are great to follow. I had an interesting experience with my horse doing this. I can’t let him loose in our school so I went in his field. He came straight up to me being all in my space and a bit bitey. He didn’t want to follow though so I focused on the noticing when his awareness changed to me. As soon as I did this he would come into my space. He didn’t follow at all and eventually he decided to trot off into his second field. I felt he was telling me he didn’t want to interact and so I left him to it. Thoughts?
The purpose of this exercise is NOT to get them to follow you. In the videos the horses come up to me, and leave, and come up to me and leave, many many times before I ever try to get them to follow me.
Thats a common mistake, trying to get to the end, without focusing on the beginning
Hi Warwick,
Im doing this excersice with my horse Winston. I have had him for 4 months. Today was the second attempt with this. First day went great. When i set him lose in the arena we was visably stressed troting and cantering around and hanging out by the gate where he could see his friends. I implemented the things i have learned from your videos. Winston came to visit me 5 times ( we did this for about 40 min) after each visit when he would wander away he seemed more and more relaxed. On his fourth visit to me he actually laid down for a milisecond then got up and wondered away. By the end he was tanding at the opposite end of the ring with a hind led cocked and was pretty relaxed.
Today i went out for attempt number two.
When set free in the arena he walked around and hung out mostly by the gate. We worked on this for about half hour and he did come to visit me about 4 times. I just stood still and let him hang out with me.
My question to you is, when i notice him noticing me and i turn away, put my flag away and relax. How long do i keep my back to him? What do i do, if im standing with my back to him
( maybe 10 -20 seconds) turn around and he is still looking at me?
I noticed he would approach me if i was facing as well as if my back was to him?
Also, what is the next step??
Thanks in advance for your time to respond to me :)
Hi Tui
Only turn around long enough to show him you saw his change in focus. Could be 10 seconds, or 30, it doesnt really matter. The next step if he starts hanging out is to see if you can arc around him and have him start to follow you.
I started on this exercise today and my gelding came straight up to me as soon as he saw the flag (he’s a friendly and very inquisitive horse so I thought that might happen). He wanted to chew the flag, then started licking my hands and teeth scraping. The longer it went on the harder he pushed into my hands. He eventually stopped, lots of yawning, licking and chewing. We hung out for a bit longer then I turned to leave. He followed me closely, diving for my hands, so I stopped and engaged again. This happened several times before I got to the gate. Does this mean we are missing something in the connection?
No not at all.
One hint is tip always keep the flag behind you.
I have a 6 yr old Molly Mule who has reportedly been broke to ride and to drive.. but… that was as a 2-3 yr old, before she ended up at auction. When her brain gets full, she is all ‘flee’. When she’s done, she’s done… and if I do too much I have to let her percolate and ‘consider’ and steep, left alone for a day.
Considering the differences (in general) in mindset of mule vs horse… will this work be as effective with a mule brain as with a horse brain.
Yes, possibly even more so.
Q1: When you were standing still and your horse turned to look at you, you turned your body away to show him that you saw his awareness of you. Got it. But how do you know that he didn’t interpret that as a “Turning Away” from a bid to connection?
Q2: Do you incorporate this exercise into daily life with your horses, or do you keep it as a structured exercise? For example, my horses are actually looking at me when I approach their pasture from a long way away, which is new (I haven’t done the exercise yet, only matching steps). When they look at me coming towards their pasture, would I acknowledge that somehow?
Q1- Im communicating awareness of their change in focus by changing what I am doing. If I had eyes in the back of my head, I could start looking away and as they look at me I could turn towrd them, but I dont have eyes in the back of my head so I have top start facing them. Im not “taking away” something, just changing it to show I noticed the change.
Q@- If you are walking toard them, and they look at you, pause to let them know you noticed the change. Then start to arc so you draw them to you.
I have been doing this exercise for a couple of weeks now, the only result I have achieved is that as soon as he sees I am aware of his changes in focus he lays down and goes to sleep. I did manage to get his head and he turned towards me and then layed down and went to sleep. Should I continue doing this exercise?
Does he lay down any other time?
What would you do for a horse that strictly wants to engage? He is not a pushy or disrespectful horse, but he’ll lick my hands for quite a long time. On another note, sometimes when I’m waiting for him to relax again (and I still haven’t seen him release) he will come up to lick my hands. Would that be considered him releasing or is that just a quirk? I’ve never met a horse that wants to lick as much as he does. It makes me question what he’s saying by doing so because it’s so consistent.
The release is about them relaxing their tongue and jaw. If he’s licking, he’s doing that.
Hi Warwick, where on your website can I find the two videos you referenced in this lesson?
In the Creating Connection Through Change In Focus playlist
I’m having trouble with the green grass along the way. I can get her focus in the dry lot pen but nothing else exists but the opportunity to catch a bite and she’s stepping into me, trying to drag me and having trouble focusing on anything else outside the pen. I’m disengaging her hind quarters to get her attention back, but it’s on short lead most of the time to keep her from eating the whole time. Just keep practicing or any other suggestions?
Id just stay i the dry lot, and teach her everything she needs to know, in there, before taking her anywhere.
If I turn away when a horse looks at me, and then after 30 seconds I look back and he is still staring at me, should I turn back again or should I turn around to look at him?
No, just wait. The turning away is just to communicate that you noticed their change, not because looking at them is a bad thing.
Where can I find the two videos Warwick is recommending we watch in the video. Thank you!
hey are both in the creating connection through change in focus playlist
Hi, this is very very helpful. I posted earlier in a different section regarding my 4.5 year old draft quarter horse cross regarding his giving me two eyes but not moving anywhere-just stuck and watching me with two eyes as I walked an arc around him both ways. I am somewhat concerned this is an obedience stance and not exactly what we want at this stage. I have a logistical problem in that my built in sand arena is two steps down from the surrounding landscape and is 3/4 surrounded by grass that grows right up to and under the fence line. The other 1/4 of the perimeter is shrubs, one of which is apparently delicious. So, my horse, when he realizes I am setting him loose in the arena makes a beeline to the far end where the grass is like a lawn. He is aware I and the flag are there but he simply can not stuff his face fast enough. To make a long story short I have put way more energy into waving the flag and this does make him leave at a canter to go to the other end where there is grass also.(He is smart, he knows it will take me awhile to get closer to him by going to the opposite end rather than stopping along the side and during that time he is vigorously grazing). Eventually he does get tired of running from one end to the other and faces me, turns his head and neck to follow me with his eyes, licks and chews, cocks a hind leg or steps slightly to side. Yesterday for the first time he came to me and we walked together to the opposite end of arena with him following. I am concerned that I may be teaching him something I don’t want necessarily since I have used much more energy that could be construed by him as a dominance. I also wonder if a prior trainer had used a somewhat different method to gain his two eyes. Sometimes if I walk too firmly directly towards him when he is on a lead in the arena he may lower his head and back a few steps, keeping distance between us the same(This horse has been saddled and ridden with snaffle and knows leg and seat cues for halt, sidepass, turn on the haunches, etc) Today I will see how long it takes him to give me an ear or two eyes without any majorly energetic waving of flag. I don’t have any access to an area without candy shop temptation short of putting a round pen inside my 60 by 100- 120 arena. He is relatively spooky to tarps and notices new things immediately so I don’t want to sensitize him to the flag in a bad way.
“So, my horse, when he realizes I am setting him loose in the arena makes a beeline to the far end where the grass is like a lawn. ”
Turn him loose in there, and dont do anything. Let him eat.Wait quite a while and then start the exercise.
Thanks. I now know you have had to answer working on grass questions frequently and I apologize. New to this course. I can’t seem to find the specific connection on grass videos being referred to in the online video library but I will modify my search words and try again. Your response makes sense. He gets plenty of high quality hay in his small pasture which has grass but much more sparse than the lawn which is lush and 5 inches tall this time of year in MI. He is out eating ad lib 12 hrs per day. It is so true that each time one reviews a video some subtle but important detail not noticed before comes to light. Thank you.
I notice in the success tips above it says turn and walk away when you get the ear or eye but you say not to do that in the video because you will lose the draw? It also says at number 4 in the explanation you just turn away.
Just turn away.
Hi Warwick, just wondering if I should continue with what we’re doing or change something. The only space where I can let my horse loose is on pasture, and she’s a very dedicated grazer. When we do this exercise, I never get any cruriosity about me or the flag from her. As I arc closer, she just keeps grazing without acknowledging either me or the flag until I wave the flag under her belly. Then she lifts her head briefly (without flicking an ear towards me or looking at me) so I mark that change of focus by stopping with the flag and turning away. After a few repetitions of this, she lifts her head sooner as I arc closer, but for a shorter time (and still without flicking an ear towards me or looking at me). So is it getting better or worse? Do we just keep doing this?
I’m afraid that if I put more energy into the flag, it will turn into a drive rather than connection.
Does your horse live on grass?
Hi Warwick, yes, she’s on pasture 24/7. So to have her loose, I have to do the exercise either in her paddock or in the one next door, which has the same grass underfoot.
If she’s on pasture 24/7, then its not the grass thats the problem. Horses who live on grass graze for a while, rest for a while, graze, rest. It sounds like your horse is stress eating or blocking you out, not because shes hungry, but to avoid you. Id really work on being effective with the flag and making sure theres a change each tiome
Hmmm, yes, ok. I’ll need to think this one through carefully. By “more effective,” I want to get her interest, not obedience, right?
I think if I try to force a change, she’s going to block me out even more?
No, I think if you are effective, meaning you make sure you get a change, and ackowledge that change every time, you should be ok. At least in my experience that has been the case
I tried this exercise tonight for the first time, with my horse, Flynn Rider. He often gets worried easily outside of the pasture, has trouble standing still, and doesn’t like to get too far away from his herd.
Tonight, I had my choice between a round pen, the arena being used for training, or his pasture with other horses. I decided to stay at home base in the pasture, so I could try the exercise without a lot of drama. He was at the hay feeder, and I realized I had less than ideal conditions for this exercise. I made large arcs around the pasture, and he would regularly pop his head up to check and see where I was at. Each time, I would stop and turn away. Some of the other horses came up to say hello while I was making my arcs, And some followed me. I said hello to them, but kept my eyes and my attention on him. After quite some time, maybe an hour, It didn’t seem as though he was going to leave the hay feeder. So, I approached him and he turned to say hello and stepped towards me. He lowered his head soft for me to put the halter on, and follow me out of the pasture without any worry. I was able to brush him without a lot of feet movement, and practice 50’ walks away from the pasture in different directions. Everything was very smooth and quiet, so we called it a day.
Even though we had to make the best of the situation there, it still made a huge difference in our time outside of the pasture, even in just leaving the pasture. I am going to try to find times when we can have the arena to ourselves and continue working on this. Thank you!
Hi Warwick, I’ve been working with my young horse for a while on this exercise and he has been progressing well. I can get his head and he would come over sometimes. However I notice that when he approaches, initially he has both ears forward but as he gets closer his ears go back, not pinned but more like driving ears. What should I do in this case? Create some energy to change his thoughts? How important is it having their ears towards the flag and not just their head?
To add, when he comes up to me in the paddock in general most of the time he would have driving ears as well. I’m trying to be aware of my energy; relaxed when not asking him or anything.
Thank you.
Just stand still.
Ok so I should just ignore his ears?
We have started on the standing still and being present flowchart, and I’m having trouble getting his ears to prick/focus on me. He follows the flag well enough when i use it to get his thoughts back, but I notice his ears are usually backward facing. Advice please? Thank you.
How were his ears in the creating connection through change in focus
Hello Warwick
I recently joined the subscription after having some good results with finally being able to approach and catch my horse in een open space after watching some of your connection and matching steps videos on youtube. So now I started the 30 jumpstart and I’m wondering where it would be best to work with him: in his paddock (8 by 25 meters) or in the arena (18 by 40 meters). In the arena is some grass, so I’m sure he will be very interested in grazing. Is this a problem for this exercise? It will make it a bit harder I guess. I might have the opportunity to go work in another arena close by. This one is smaller and there is no grass in it. I think he will be more worried in there as I have to take him away from his barn mates to go there. Any suggestions? Thank you very much.
I’d go with the 18×40.
Hello, I have a 7 year old mare I’ve started working with and the first time I put her in the round pen with me standing outside, she ran around and ran straight for the door and almost broke her shoulder. She is a very insecure mare so I did some work with her on the lunge line having her just walk around, now I can turn her loose and she stays calm. My issue is can I do this exercise in my 60’ round pen? I am worried about turning her out in my 100X200 outdoor riding ring.
Where does she live? It sounds like she feels the need to run around.
She lives outdoors 24/7 with her two herd mates, she is 7 and unstarted, I have started doing work with her as she was excessively herd bound at the beginning, it has gotten better. They are 3 mares but last year they lost two herd mates(old age). I’ve seen a difference with their behavior. I have been working her in the round pen. I will try and get a video out. A side note, since her accident when we go around and I am close to her she remains calm but when I send her away to go around on her own there’s an awful lot of head twisting action, and she seems worried.
All went well – walked towards the horse in an arc, she looked at me. I stopped and she started yawning. Not sure what to think about that. Maybe it was her nap time. She then walked up to me and wanted to check out the flag. She is very curious so I let her. Any ideas on the yawning?
Its just release of tension.
Put the flag away before she gets to you.
I was finally able to try this in the outdoor arena by ourselves. He went straight to the far end towards his pasture as expected when I took him off-line. I started my arc, brought out the flag, but didn’t get any ear or eye response towards me. He was fixated towards his pasture buddies, agitated, pacing and then started to run around the arena. He did a couple laps at a gallop and then ended up skidding to a stop at the far end. Then he ran up and down one long side of the arena. He finely slowed to pacing at the end, so I tried matching steps, but then he would start to run. The flag wasn’t getting his attention at all, so I put it away. Once he slowed to walking the far short end, I was able to keep steps. When I approached him, he looked at me, but then started to turn away. So I quickly turned away first and walked directly towards the gate. I stopped there and waited to see what he would do. He trotted over to see if I was going to let him out so he could run “home”. Instead I held up his rope halter like I normally would to put it on him and said, “you’ll need this”, and then he turned and trotted off again. So we did that same thing four more times. I matched steps, he quieted, I approached him, he looked at me and then started to turn away, I turned first and walked to the gate, he followed, I showed him the halter, he trotted off…until the last time, he just followed me to the gate, stuck his nose in the halter and waited for me to tie it on and open the gate. I’m not sure what we accomplished there, but he got a lot of exercise and nobody got hurt.
I would like to try again to get this connection piece right. I am not sure how to help him with such high anxiety. He has had a lot of horsemanship flag work, so maybe that’s a deterrent for him. He has definitely been desensitized to it. However, when we were walking away from his pasture, as he started to look back and become afraid, I was able to slide the flag out to the side and draw his attention back to me, and we kept walking, doing that several times…so the flag did work well while walking to draw his attention back around.
In this arena scenario, what can I try differently next time? Thanks for helping.
Turn him loose and wait until he settles down befoe you start
I started the change in focus exercise for the first time today, my horses stall lead directly into his dry lot, and normally he has 24 access to his dry lot, but he doesn’t spend much time out there. Tonight I shut him out of his stall and then walked around the fence to the far side of his dry lot. When he saw me walking to the far end, He started galloping around and bucking and farting so I stayed outside of the fence. He’s normally not a pushy horse but he usually won’t come greet me either. He lets me approach him in his dry lot to halter him no issues. But any change in routine seems to make him edgy. I waited for him to settle down and he went back up to the barn and was looking out the other side of his pen so I started the arc outside of his pen. As soon as I took a step he looked at me so I turned around, he started running and bucking and racing around so I waited again until he settled down. I was still outside the fence. We did this multiple times. Eventually he stopped racing around and would come up to the fence close by where I was. My question is, is it ok to do this exercise when I’m outside the fence? I don’t want to get kicked when he’s running around and bucking.
It fine to start outside the fence, especially till the running around is gone, but if the area is large enough you shouldnt have to worry about being kicked.
Hello, I’d just like to offer a suggestion to include links to any other videos you are suggesting that we watch in with the steps as it’d be so helpful. Thank you.
I’m trying to stick in my brain “it’s about how many times I communicate my awareness.” My horse is brand new to me so I started this subscription when I got him. Day 1 he didn’t want to be closer than 12 feet. I just hung out in the pasture. Day 2 he was standing next to me and day 3 he was seeking my attention with his muzzle and following me to and from the gate as I came and went. He’s in a huge quarantine pasture and when I walk past the first quarter section he stops. He doesn’t want to go farther away from the gate. (The back of this pasture is surrounded by woods on 3 sides and we do have coyotes.) I wasn’t trying to get him to follow me, he just chose to. I’ve spent probably 15 hours hanging out with him and it’s me or no one I guess. So everywhere I go, he goes unless I stay in one spot long enough and he gets bored and walks away. He does have some grazing and I put piles of hay around so he goes to those.
My questions are, #1 am I right that I have good connection with him or is it only because he’s alone with few distractions? I did have a couple family members come see him and stand at the gate. He let them pet him over the gate and when I walked back into the pasture he still followed me, away from them. When people ride by on their horses he goes as close as he can get to them but still returns to me after they pass. #2 Could I be creating separation anxiety in him? #3 To get him to now engage with the flag, when he’s already focused on me, do I wait to show it until he’s eating or walking away or should I move back into the “scary zone” surrounded by woods so he’s not already so easily coming to me? It’s important that he focuses on the flag in order for the next steps to be successful, correct?
Wait until hes walked away.
Hi Warwick,
Question regarding preferred location for this exercise- paddock/pasture, indoor arena, or outdoor arena?
I am working with an OTTB Gelding who is turned out 24/7 in a nice paddock/pasture with shelter and slow feeder haybox. His area is quite large and open. While he is in his “home” he is mellow, confident and will gladly interact and greet individuals entering his paddock. As soon as he departs from his “home” via halter and lead rope, he becomes quite anxious and his thoughts are no longer with me for the duration of his time out of his paddock. It appears he stays in a sympathetic state.
Should I start doing this exercise while he is in his paddock and time it for when I observe him to not be in his shelter and/or eating out of the slow feeder? Or depart from his paddock and lead him to the outdoor or indoor arena (approximately a football field away)?
Thank you for your time,
Ben
If he doesnt usually approach you in his paddock, you could do it there, or if he does usuaslly, then taker him elsewhere
Thanks for the quick response Warwick!
Hi Warwick,
I have a 7 month foal at livery. The rule at the stable is that we are allowed to turn horses free only in a round pen or when they go to the pasture with other horses.
In the video it is mentioned that this type of exercise is not recommended in the round pen. Should I still attempt to do it in the round pen or should I perhaps do another exercise? :)
I am not sure if it would work on the pasture considering other horses and as he doesn’t have access to fresh grass everyday (or hay 24/7), I think this would be intruding on his eating time (He does come to say hi if I sit in the pasture tho).
Many thanks in advance!
Id say that if the round pen is the only place you have to do this, then start there. You can create distance by doing this with him in the round pen and you outside. Remember, this exercise is more about you communicating your awareness of his change in focus than it is about him following you around.
Hello Warwick. I acquired a 8 yr old Arab mare in the Pau region of France last summer as an endurance prospect. She was very calm when I tried her on a trail ride through the countryside and nearby village. She had a very good vet check with as sole comment that she had a slight milky veil in one eye but that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her vision.
She arrived in Belgium where I live 2 weeks later and I discovered another horse. She was absolutely frantic if I separated her from other horses and very anxious in the sand school where I work the horse on the flat. I have spent many years training dressage horses.
After many months trying to understand what was the issue with my mare, I finally discovered that she actually had leptospirosis and that the veiling of the eye was in fact a uvéite (inflammation of the eye) which was the consequence of an autoimmune reaction caused by the leptospirosis. She has since gone blind in her right eye.
On trail rides she was very much relaxed and so I ended up doing all my training with her on the trail, although we had to understand her adjustments to seeing differently. She competed in 4 endurance races but I had serious behavioural issues at the vet gates. She completely loses it during the vet examination.
During the first winter I had her I discovered Tristan Tucker’s methods and I worked with her primarily on the ground. It did help quite a lot.
Then I came across your quote about the horse that changed your life and it resonated so much as I have had the exact same feeling with my mare, Gazelle, despite everyone telling me to get rid of her.
So I have subscribed to your courses/videos and I am completely immersed in it all. I’m just getting to the exercise on creating connection through change in focus. My question is, do I only stay on her left side?
Many many thanks for your help,
Ateshé
No, you will do everything on bothe sides
Hello everyone 🙂
Warwick I have acquired a 9 yo mustang that went through the initial “gentling requirements” at the adoption program I got her from.
She is super sweet, has a gentle curiosity, low on the fear / suspicion reactivity scale with her environment and with people. However,she is clingy. She wants to be so close that your touching. Never with pinned ears energy or what most people would label aggressive dominant behavior.
I didn’t do the flag connection work with her because she usually will find the human and seek them out. But a comment you said about this being unhealthy resonated with me.
I’m working through the 30 day program now. But previously I worked through the standing still and present flow chart (with a different horse) and I remember the scratching for connection work. Would that be a good alternative for horses like this? Or do the flag work outside of the fence?
Kaye, everything ios about balancing the horse. If a horse was shut down and wanted to not mentally engage with humans, scractching for connection would be great. But this horse is not.
I think the walking away past her rump when she gets too close would be the best option
Hi Warwick. I love the idea of this approach to connection. My horse is 15 (going on 6) and I have had him for about a year. Now that I have him I have found several gaps in his training and also found out there was past trauma (abuse), so I am wanting to go back to the beginning with him. He has a tendency to stay near me. Not right on top of me, but near enough that there’s not enough space to do the arcs. He isn’t pushy, licks and chews, has radar ears with one towards me and seems very relaxed. My question is, what approach should I take in order to do this exercise properly when he doesn’t go very far from me when I’m with him?
I’m asking this question because I am not sure if he stays in my vicinity because of connection (I have put months into trying to build a trusting relationship with him before relocating him), clinginess, or some other reason.
Start outside the fence of the arena he is in
Update: It took 20 minutes before Gunnar decided to wander around the arena rather than hanging out by me. Once he did that I was able to have him far enough away to do the arcs. I did not need to use the flag as he was very aware of me being aware of him and would turn his head towards me and his legs followed. At one point he did something he has never done before in the arena – he got down, rolled, then just laid there for a good while.
When he was ready to get up he came over to me to say hello. He had left ‘horse apples’ so I got the rake to clean up and he walked next to me while I did that and put the rake and some other items in the arena away. Something else I noticed, and maybe it’s pure coincidence, but when I was doing breathing exercises to stay in a relaxed state (he was facing me), he let out a sigh. This happened two different times.
Thank you for this course and the videos!
Unfortunately the only place I have available to do this exercise is a round pen, but at least that is available. In doing this exercise in the round pen, my horse has stayed at the gate end (starts out walking around a bit or standing at the gate looking outside of the round pen), and I go to the opposite side. When his attention was drawn away to look outside the pen at some activity on the farm, I would ask for his attention, first by wiggling the toes of one foot slightly in the footing, and then if necessary, sequentially increasing the amplitude by wiggling my whole foot, walking in an arch, “dribbling the flag”, etc. After doing this for awhile, he moved his body around to face me, and when his attention left the round pen and his alertness increased due to some outside activity, when I asked for his attention, his attention would come back to me and he would pretty quickly go into standing snooze mode. This cycle repeated itself multiple times – distraction, me drawing his attention, him going into snooze mode, wash, rinse, repeat. My energy stayed low as the exercise was almost meditative, and I was spontaneously yawning frequently. We finished the session with a nice standing snooze, despite all the activity going on at the farm (which at the start session was a distraction for him). And he was in a much more relaxed state relative to when we started.
In the hanging out in the field exercise, often times he snoozes after awhile, even this past weekend when he (and the other horses in the field) started out quite alert and focused on the hunting with hounds that was going on in the woods close by. I placed myself between him and where all the activity was going on and kept a relaxed body and mental posture (took a bit of focus on my part, and I know that was not completely relaxed). Eventually my horse ended up snoozing through it (hounds baying and all) despite the other horses still being somewhat distracted by it but a bit less by this point.
My horse’s baseline is to get frequently distracted (more so than a lot of other horses I am around), so him becoming easier to reach through the distractions and become relaxed with them to me is a good thing. But I am not sure that we are actually achieving the point of this exercise.
If you have any thoughts or feedback, I would really appreciate it. And again, thank you!
I usually dont try to attract their attention in this exercise if they are worried about something that might be scary. When I do this, usually they are mentally elsewhere thinking about getting back to somewhere (like their friends), but not worried about something
Thank you for your feedback! It’s very helpful.
I repeated the exercise paying attention to asking my horse to change his focus only when he was mentally elsewhere, but not worried. When I asked for his attention to come back, he would typically lick and chew, cock a leg, and then snooze. As he snoozed, I took a relaxed posture leaning against the fence of the round pen across from him and practiced my box breathing. Eventually he walked over to where I was, stood by me, and snoozed. I put out my hand to let him smell it (which I typically do), but I did not reach out to touch him. He was yawning, I was yawning, lots of licking and chewing, and we snoozed together. If his attention went elsewhere, I would be slightly more deliberate with my box breathing, and that alone drew his focus back and then back to snoozing. Eventually after all this snoozing and yawning, I turned him out into his field. All very relaxed on his part and on my part. I felt like I had just had a mental health spa day. And from all the licking and chewing and yawning, I think my horse might have felt the same!
I am not sure if this is a “passing grade” for this particular exercise. Only having access to a round pen might be limiting. But it really informed me of the mental state I should strive for each time when interacting with my or any other horse. And I am now very intentional about bringing this mental state (or close to it) each time. Thank you!
It sounds like it could be a passing grade if its repeatab;e a few days in a row
I have been working on Creating connection through change of focus is a somewhat interesting way. Since our riding arenas are not secure to let a horse loose I was not able to work on this but alas winter has provided the solution. The mares as a whole are being turned out in the pasture area allowing them to roam and act as a herd. Ok scenario set…I went out yesterday to get Sadie and she was definitely not interested in coming in. I do not want to chase or pin down a horse so I thought using creating connection through change of focus may work here. I spent today just in the pasture with her walking on a curve to her if she made a change I acknowledged it. I must say it went well. I spent 45 minutes with her. She would retreat then approach and asked to connect which was very nice to put my hand out while she licked it and then she walked away. I decided that was a great and was going to call it a day when I noticed the barn owner bringing in the stallions. I went back to the barn put a few things away and returned to pasture to bring Sadie in for the night. I was concerned that she would turn and walk away but I brought the halter to her at first she walked away I acknowledged and I walked away to let her know I acknowledge her change in focus. I decided to halter another mare and then come back to her. I put the halter out and asked her to put her head in like I always do and she stepped up put her muzzle in and off we went. I will continue this again the rest of this week hoping that it will set us up for the future when she needs to leave the pasture. Just thought I’d share.
I moved my OTTT from a rescue to a stable last October and started your program mid-October. Prior to the move, we did a lot of groundwork and had a good connection. However, understandably, the move was hard on him and brought back a lot of his anxiety (and mine). He was unrecognizable for almost 8 weeks (anxious, nipping, kicking) but by early December, he began to settle in with the herd and in his surroundings, and I began to see the horse I knew he was. Although the move was tough, it provided the opportunity for me to just “be” with him and create connection again. Which I’ve been working on for the past 2 1/2 months.
Four days ago, I began to work on creating connection through change and focus. He has been responsive, and in the last to days, more often than not, looks at me or flicks an ear as soon as I begin to walk (prior to getting the flag out) and keeps his focus on me.
There were a couple times today, when he’d flick an ear or look at me, and I turned and face away, that he’d walk up to me from across the pasture. While doing so, he’d nicker softy and reach his neck out. One of the times that he walked to up to me he sniffed my hands, I engaged his muzzle and he walked in a small circle around me (twice) then stopped with his butt next to my shoulder for me to itch. I didn’t know if I should, but figured it be a form of connection, so I did. After about 5 minutes he walked away and I started the process over again. Was this the right choice or should I have walked away as soon as he stopped and asked for the itch?
Also, at what point do I end the session? Do I end it once I’m able to get his head to turn and feet to follow (which I haven’t been able to do) or should I end the session once he’s walked up to me?
Also, do you think the soft nickering is a sign of affection or am I just wishful thinking?
Thanks in Advance!
This is less about doing, and more about being.
“then stopped with his butt next to my shoulder for me to itch”
Thats one way to look at it. What if he was just guarding you. Try not to get the “must pet the pretty horse” in this exercise, horses dont constantly mutually groom, but they do hang out a lot. So if he attempts to engage with you with his mouth, do so, but apart from that, dont touch him.
A session is good to end any time he gets better than he was moments beforer