WHY YOUR HORSE IS DIFFERENT WHEN NOT AT HOME
WHY YOUR HORSE IS DIFFERENT WHEN NOT AT HOME
Today I am in the city. I am not a “city” person. I just don’t like the hassle and bustle of the city. I hate driving in the crazy city traffic and I get disoriented by the tall buildings. I just can’t relax when I am navigating the traffic or walking the streets....I have to keep hyper alert so I don’t miss a turn, dodge impatient city drivers or bump into the stream of people rushing about on the street. I also don’t like the smell, noise or constant go-go-go!
This morning when I was driving in I turned off my music so I could concentrate, I didn’t take the call from my partner (who I know was calling me to see if I was travelling ok❤️) and I was “on edge”. This is not normally who I am. I normally always have music or an audiobook playing and love chatting to my partner but being out of my comfort zone, I could only cope with the task of driving and navigating traffic.
Think about this.....I am sure everyone can relate to something similar although I am sure there are people out there that love the city and it’s fast pace....everyone has a “comfort zone”.
Every horse has a comfort zone too. When you take a horse “out” whether that be on a trail or a show or just out of the place you usually ride....they can be like me as they feel overwhelmed being out of the place they are confident in navigating. The place with the typical sounds, smells and level of busyness! Hence, they may struggle with stuff that at home is not a problem...they may struggle to go forward, or struggle to relax. They may be more worried about things than they usually are. They may struggle to hold their posture as their muscles are tense and everything becomes more difficult. This frustrates you or freaks you out as this is not the horse you know.
You can get angry or scared by this. Those that get angry can dig their spurs in, crank that noseband tighter, lunge the hell out of them, put that stronger bit on, pour that “calming” potion down their throats. They make going out for that horse a bad experience and shrink that horses comfort zone.
Those that get scared avoid taking their horse anywhere again! They never give the horse a chance to learn and expand their comfort zones....because they can...just like I can...or have! This has been my 6th trip into the city. As I explained before, I am still far from comfortable...but man I get better every time! I might have needed silence in the car and remained hyper alert but I didn’t panic, take a wrong turn, freak out, or need my Navman to tell me where to go! I knew which lane to make sure I was in to save myself drama. I knew how to navigate the tricky intersections and motorway exits that I made mistakes with in the past. But most importantly the history I have now of surviving my treks into city has me confidence and I no longer dread the thought!
Who knows, next trip I might be able to listen to some calming music 😆
The most beneficial skill you need to develop to work well with horses is empathy and insight into THEIR perspective. Respect that they are going to be more “on edge” and cope with less when they feel out of their comfort zone. Don’t get frustrated with them for this, give them a chance to get use to it....take them out to low key places first, with small expectations and BUILD their confidence. Don’t take them for their first outing to the biggest event of the year and enter them in multiple classes doing work they haven’t really mastered at home!! That’s setting them up to fail and have a really shit experience!
Also...if they freaked you out on the trails or the first time you took them out and are now making excuses to avoid doing it again...STOP. Just be smart and thoughtful about when you go out again, go somewhere low key, with small expectations. It might be a trip out to eat a hay bag and some carrots....or a hand lead down the drive way....start small but give them experiences so their comfort zone can expand and confidence grow!
