Flowchart Options
Standing Still And Present Flowchart
Familiarize yourself with each of the actions in the flowchart so as your horse begins to show signs of a certain behavior you will know how to best respond in accordance to the Flowchart.
matching steps
stress indicators
scratching for connection
having their attention follow the leadrope
standing still but looking around
Today you will try the flowchart with your horse. You observed them a couple days ago, what do you notice today? It’s ok to take another day to observe and then tomorrow you can respond to what they are doing per the flowchart. Or try it today.
A reminder of how to use this course: click on Mark Complete below and tomorrow go to Step 16.
What do I do if they go down to graze?
Depending on your horse and their thoughts about you. If you have a horse that has quite a bit of obedience training and they think the human always wants something, you could match steps OR you could just stand still and allow them to graze, and if they get to the end of the lead rope just redirect them back to you.
I’ve been working on the flow chart a couple of times with one of my horses, who is from a charity and can get quite nervous and anxious about anything and when he is away from his field buddy, but not always. He has responded quite well to the connection through a change in focus with the flag, better than my other horse, but if my other horse is spooking at something this affects him too so when doing the flow chart the other day my other horse was spooking at something in the field, which set him off. He doesn’t just walk away but runs off trying to get back to his mate in the field and ignoring the flag. I think I should have just let go of the lead rope instead of letting him drag me with it. This happened a few times. He was aware when I waved the flag but did not give it much attention as he was spooking too much. I managed to bring him back but then something else would set him off and it started all over again. What should I be doing when this happens?
The key (know that you know it CAN happen) is to not put your horse in that situation until they have the tools to deal with it. So only work with your horse close to his friend for a while, until he gets the same feeling of safety from you, as he does from his friend.
Thanks for the reply Warwick but he can also get uptight and spooky even with my other horse in the stable next to him. For instance, if I have my other horse in the stable and him just outside standing with me and I’m waiting for the farrier to visit he can start to get anxious when the farrier is driving up to the stables with my other horse in them.
Then thats a good place to start.
Oh my, I didn’t think the process for Attention Follows the Lead was going to work for us when Aspen was running away from me after I took out the flag. I had to make the flag smaller by knotting it up (he’s a sensitive mustang) and thank goodness it began to work! My back up plan of tug of war wasn’t working well and definitely wasn’t teaching him to be light on the lead! Now I’m looking forward to practicing Attention Follows the Lead since we got it some today and I was able to use it to get him back in his pasture! He was very distracted with delicious grass and new distant neighbor horses he wanted to meet today and I was getting impatient because it was getting dark.