barriers to learning

This is my partner Simon and Pumba.  Pumba is finely tuned in the art of groundwork.  He understands and is highly motivated to pay close attention to the feeling of the halter on this face and the person hanging onto the end or the lead rope.  He is also finely tune and is a horse that thrives on consistency but struggles with inconsistency.  So, he lets you know if you are being at all confusing or too loud with your emotional tone (i.e. “energy”).

Simon has never done this before.  He has not had a life with horses.  Therefore, he has no misconceptions, habits, hidden beliefs or bad experiences with horses that cloud his perceptions and influence his movement and thoughts.  Simon is a blank slate with a willingness to learn and highly coachable.  

This is very rare and fascinating to see in action.  There are lots of “blank state” horse’s out there that are young and had little handling or training but not many humans!

When we learn something new we use prior knowledge to help make sense of what we are learning and doing.  Most people’s prior knowledge about horses includes a lot of misinformation and gaps.  For instance, they interpret a horse’s resistance as being difficult or naughty and not confusion or concern.  They have a lack of awareness of what pressures they are applying to the horse or the impact of their emotional state or how horse’s learn.  Therefore, misconceptions and gaps in knowledge and skill create significant barriers to learning. 

So here is what learning looks like minus this baggage! Pumba lets us know that Simon is doing a very good job!