17/06/2022
“Don’t get sucked into their drama! “
This is something that my first mentor in training horses told me. It’s something that has stuck with me while training horses and runs through my head with I get frustrated with a horse.
One of the main things to remember that there is no emotions in training a horse. Frustration with a horse is normal, you’ve ran out of knowledge and don’t understand why your horse is acting like that. But we should never lose our temper and get angry while training. We begin to act like a predator and try to force a horse to do something because we’re acting on emotion.
If I have a horse that starts acting silly like trying to spook or get pushy and disrespectful I just tell myself “don’t get sucked into their drama, focus on the task at hand.” This means they can act up how they want, they can act all dramatic and throw a fit, but I need to focus on what I’m trying to accomplish. You want to spook? Okay, let’s move your feet around and change directions to keep your attention on me. You want to kick out when I ask you canter? Okay, but I’m going light a fire under your butt and get you moving.
Just remember the second you start losing your cool, things are probably going to go down hill. Take a second, take a deep breath and access the situation.
