This workshop will be for those that are interested in building confidence and trust with horses. You may be struggling with confidence after an incident, with a particular horse or just interested or involved in helping people with their horses.

You Got Sold a Dangerous Horse (Part 2)

Yesterday I posted Part 1 on this topic and my inbox blew up💥 with people wanting to know how they can support their new horse that obviously hasn't transition well into its new home and things have gone pear shaped.

Read Part 1 here:

They all asked...So Shelley HOW can I turn this situation around?

My answer - by LEARNING some stuff.

I worked out that if I could get people understanding the way horse's see the world better and taught them 21 simple things to effectively communicate and teach a horse (yep just 21 things)...I changed people and their ability to help and work with horses.

The 21 things are essentially the simple things that create the horse's foundation training. These include how to respond to the halter, to lead, simple groundwork, standing still for mounting and the basic foundation riding responses. Essentially the horse's operating system that everything else is built on top of. When you skill people up to be able to put an "operating system" on a horse they become effective at helping the horse understand and navigate their new world and new owner.

Understanding the way the horse perceives the world is really important. Horse's really are poorly understood and we tend to hang onto traditional beliefs about why they do things. Things like the horse is just "naughty" or it is because my mare is an "alpha" or he is just spooking to "get out of work". Instead people learn that horse's experience the world completely differently from us and at any time are just letting you know how they FEEL and what they UNDERSTAND.

The first thing I tell people at clinics is to look at the horse and understand that they are networkers. They are programmed to network and process the work, stress and their emotions collectively with other HORSES (not us!). When we isolate them, they have to do it alone and that is confronting for them. We have to coach them to use US to network and nurture their individual abilities to process and regulate stress. That horse is not naughty, not an alpha, not wanting to get out of work...it is just struggling, insecure, doesn't understand and is feeling threatened and defensive....or sore!

When people interpret how a horse is responding to a situation better, they make better decisions. When you skill them up with how to use pressure with thought and effectiveness...they can action their better informed decisions!

It works 💪and as I transform the knowledge, skills and self awareness of people, the horse transforms. The transition of the horse to the new home (even if the "new" horse arrived years before) is finally supported and conflict eliminated from the relationship and a partnership can finally be built.

But Shelley...How long does this take?

Well it is quicker than you think. It is not 5 minutes but if you can dedicate 3-4 days a week working through a process in a disciplined dedicated manner - in 4-8 weeks - things turn around and your ability to influence and help horses is changed forever.

To support my clients and clinic participants...and anyone anywhere in the world I created 4 courses:

1) Things to Know About Horses - That is the knowledge piece of the puzzle!

2) Then split the 21 things up into *3* "How to Courses" (round penning, groundwork and building a riding foundation). If you don't have access to round yard, you just start with the groundwork course.

If anyone had their confidence thrown by their experiences of a new horse doing pear shaped or just started struggling with nerves, I also wrote a book about how to build confidence and trust back.

Finally, I even wrote a book about the how buying a new horse and how to safe guard against things going pear shaped!

You can find all these resources (courses & books) described and links to purchase them here:

https://www.calmwillingconfidenthorses.com.au/courses

I hope that helps guide people to how I can help and what I can offer.

If I can help in any other way please just message or email admin@calmwillingconfidenthorses.com.au

Please...remember what I said in Part 1 - Horses that come into your life are a GIFT. They reveal the gaps in your knowledge and skill. If one reveals a gap then you have a high chance that another horse will reveal the same gap. Close your gaps...it is less difficult and more fun than you think ❤

Cheers, Shelley

You Got Sold a Dangerous Horse (PART 1)

You were so careful to buy the horse that came with all the assurances it was going to be a good fit for you and your family.

It was quiet, it was reliable and had been there and done that and had no issues.

Your test ride went great. Vet check didn't show any red flags. The horse loaded on the trailer fine to come home.

A couple of months later and now things are very different.

The horse is hard to catch, rug, lead, won't go on the trailer. It bites, threatens, keeps getting emotional and can't handling things. Feeding it is scary and handling it is a nightmare.

And don't even talk about riding it...that is even worse!

The horse is dangerous. You must have been lied to and horse probably drugged when you rode it.

You contacted the old owners and they tell you it must be something you have done to the horse as it never did any of these things to them.

You are furious as there is NOTHING you have done wrong....NOTHING.

Someone says that maybe you should get help with the horse. This is ridiculous because even your neighbour can't catch the horse and it rushed through gates with them.

It is the HORSE. It is a dud, it is dangerous.

The old owners refuse to take the horse back. You are stuck.

Someone suggest the horse might be in pain. You get the vet out. You struggle to handle the horse for the vet. The vet struggles to handle the horse but can find nothing obviously wrong, except it is hard to handle and highly emotional.

Maybe it needs drugs. A chemical restraint for its difficult behaviour? It seems like it is the only option.

Again, someone mentions getting help with the horse but that makes you angry as THIS horse is clearly dangerous. Your neighbour and the vet have basically confirmed this. Who do they think you are anyway - a beginner, stupid??

Another friend suggests that maybe the horse needs groundwork. You smile, nod and fume on the inside. The horse is SO dangerous to even lead through a gate. You have never done groundwork but you know this horse is out of the league of groundwork.....

Want to hear the truth?

This horse has just had its world turned upside down by moving home. Everything has changed. Every reliable thing it could understand and navigate has changed. Your routine, the way you do everything with it is different.

This change is stressful. The horse will experience stress in this transition and stress makes horses more reactive and more emotional. This is NORMAL and managing the horse through this change is something we have to LEARN how to do.

Is your horse dangerous. Currently, yes. But most likely NOT because there is something pathologically wrong with it. It is because you are not being able to recognise this and support the horse through this change. Being able to handle them in a way that provides the sense of clarity that allows them to feel they can successfully predict and navigate this new world.

You are lacking the insights and skills to support a horse through this transition.

Instead the horse is stressed, you have got stressed. The horse feels threatened, you feel defensive and threatened and everything has gone pear shaped.

That is the truth. It is not the responsibility of the horse to navigate this themselves. While some are less impacted than others, it is our role in the partnership to understand their needs and how to help them.

Just because the neighbour, vet, your friend or even riding instructor cannot help the horse does not mean the horse cannot be helped. These handful of people are not necessarily experts in handling horses that have become distressed and difficult to handle. Also, the horse is not going to be "fixed" in 5 minutes once it has been stressed for a period of time.

You need to learn 3 things: 1) Insights into horses and their behaviour 2) Skills in how to influence horses both for handling on the ground and in the saddle; and 3) Self awareness of what you might be doing that is contributing to the horse being stressed by your presence and interactions with them!

Each horse that comes into your life is a gift. They reveal gaps in your knowledge, skills and awareness of how you negatively impact horses unconsciously.

You cannot outsource to someone else to fix this problem because your gaps will always be experienced by horses and they will react to them according to their individual tolerance.

But I know what you are thinking now....but Shelley, my horse IS different....you don't know THIS horse.

I don't know your horse but I do understand horses. I also understand deeply how people negatively impact horses without any clue they are doing so. People can make mistakes with horses while trying their hardest to do the right thing.

I know this as I have been that person. I have wasted years with a horse that I was stressing out only to discover he was the most easy going beautiful horse when I learnt how to not freak him out!

But again...I know what you are thinking...that is not me, its this horse, he has a history and I have been lied too...my neighbour, the vet etc...they all agree...

And that is ok ❤.

If one day you get curious, contact me and let me guide and support you in navigating this situation with your horse. This situation can be turned around ❤.