Resistance vs. Relaxation

Relationship Based Horsemanship

HAAP horses are born and raised surrounded by the beauty and open spaces of the Wind River Basin in Wyoming.

I recently saw a “horse trainer” on a Facebook video refer to a horse he was “training” as an “a$$hole”. I’ll be polite by quoting Zig Ziglar: that’s just “stinkin’ thinkin’”. It’s also completely ignorant of the nature of horses. He was showing how he handles horses that pull back when tied. Pulling back when tied is a form of resistance from a horse, not some anthropomorphic character flaw.

Horses don’t resist because they are a$$holes. They don’t resist because they are stupid. They don’t resist because they are “out to get you.”

Here are the main reasons horses resist human requests/actions, not in any particular order:

1. Instinct: Untamed horses see us as predators, not a member of their herd, and respond to us from a desire to survive.

2. Fear: This is a huge issue for horses since they are prey animals and their instincts tell them that as predators, we are naturally not to be trusted. When we act like predators, they will act from fear.

3. Negative Experiences: This can be one of the more challenging forms of resistance to overcome. Horses are super learners, not super unlearners.

4. Personality: Some horses are more curious, others, more vigilant. Some are more energetic, others more reserved. When you know what a horse’s personality tendencies are, you can strategize appropriately. See my article that talks about horse personalities and how they affect our relationships/strategies/goals.

5. Boredom: You have to learn to be more interesting for your horse!

6. Lack of Understanding: Breaking down tasks into bite-sized pieces and setting things up so the horse can figure things out for himself are critical elements to gaining understanding of the horse’s mind and body.

Here are some of the behaviors horses display when resisting:

• Pulling back when tied

• Ignoring aids

• Kicking, bucking, rearing, biting, ear-pinning

• Moving away from you

• Pushiness

Electricians all know that if you can lower the resistance in a wire, more energy can flow along that wire.

In the same way, if you can lower resistance in your horse, he will be more open to a relationship, and learning is accelerated.

When I come up on resistance from my horse, I think of that list above and figure out from where it’s coming. Then I can make a plan that’s likely to solve the issue and create lasting change where resistance is reduced and eventually, rare.

When dealing with foals, we have all but past experiences to deal with. On the HAAP farm, we begin lowering the resistance of our horses on day one. As soon as we know a foal has been born, the first thing we do is begin acclimating them to our presence, our energy, our voices, and our touch.

Steve has overseen the birth and imprinting of over 350 foals. This is HAAP A CUTT ABOVE (Zazzi), several days after being born May 23, 2021.

This process is called imprinting. We know we can’t prevent all bad experiences, but IF we can get our foals to understand we would never intentionally hurt them (as in turn them into food), they become much more resilient and forgiving when they do perceive an experience as negative. We know this through repeated interactions with our young horses that proves this.

See my article about climbing the stages of learning that both horses and people have to go through to obtain competence in any discipline. Relaxation makes going through those stages easier, especially stage two.

Having dealt with so many mentally and emotionally damaged horses over the years, I can’t think of a better argument for imprinting.

Being interested in a horse’s point of view is very important in furthering a relationship. Understanding their fear, their past negative experiences (if you know what they are or can surmise what they likely are), understanding their personality, acknowledging their boredom and/or lack of understanding are all aspects to seeing things from their perspective. Once there, it’s up to us to modify our behaviors and strategies specifically for that horse, helping him find a relaxed state as he evolves into a partner.

In my training sessions, my focus starts with relaxation. Once relaxation exists, learning is accelerated. This is most important with vigilant and reserved horses. HAAP HAZARD is an energetic curious horse who is very attuned to changes in his environment who has been bred to be an endurance horse.

For more information about the amazing horses that have been and are being bred on the HAAP farm, go to www.arabpinto.com

If you have questions for me about any of my posts, please feel free to contact me at isabellefarmer@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/arabpintos