Hi. Thanks for stopping by. Come on in for some lemonade and a story.
One day, as I prepared dinner, my phone rang. It was a number I did not recognize, “Hello?”
“Hi, my name is Brianna. I got your name from a friend and would like to work with you with my horse, Skip.”
“Can you tell me a little bit about Skip,” I replied.
“Well, I’ve only had him for about a year, he’s a five year old Hanoverian. He’s HUGE and I’m a little bit afraid of him,” Brianna responded. “I’m an experienced rider but I just need some help getting over this fear. He’s never really done anything other than just be so big.”
Brianna went on to tell me that she likes to trail ride as well as do a little dressage, but she is primarily a casual rider, not a person who likes to show much.
We talked a little bit about my philosophy and what I could help her with as well as fees. We agreed on a time for her to bring Skip to Mustang Hollow so we could work together.
As the Ford F-550 pulled in with a roomy three horse gooseneck trailer with sleeping quarters, all I could think was that Skip had a great situation! Brianna arrived almost an hour early even though she had driven in from Laramie, WY which was more than an hour and a half away. She wanted time to allow Skip to relax and to get a snack before we worked together.
I did not have a client before her so this gave us a good opportunity to get to know one another better. I watched while she made up a mash filled with herbs and probiotics for Skip.
“I always like to support his gut after the stress of trailering,” she explained.
Skip dove into his snack. Yep, this horse had a great situation and Brianna and I have a lot of the same philosophies. This was going to be fun!
After Skip snacked and rested it was time to start. I took Skip into the round pen just to get to know him. I sent him around a few times at the walk and then the trot and we executed some direction changes without any drama. He was just as polite and willing as any horse could be, especially with a new person working with him. And his movement, oh his movement was so fluid and beautiful. I was impressed!
Suddenly, I noticed Skip hesitating. I changed my own body language but it didn’t seem to help. I couldn’t understand what was happening until I looked over at Brianna and noticed that she was deeply engaged and focused on Skip’s head.
When round-penning a horse it is important to stay out of their way physically as well as energetically. In other words, one must always be behind what is called the ‘drive-line’. The drive-line is that point just about where a person’s leg would fall if astride.
Remaining physically behind the drive-line makes a lot of sense to most people. Even when positioned in the center of the round-pen, one can notice if they are behind or in front of the horse, physically that is.
The trick is to be aware of how much influence we have on a horse with our eyes and our energy. Even if we are aware of our physical location we can set a horse up for failure by being in front of them energetically. A lot of energy comes out of our eyes and we can literally stop a horse in its tracks when we focus on a spot just in front of them.
It is just as important to notice where we are focused as it is to notice where we are in the physical! And to make things even more interesting we must also remember that we project energy from our entire body. Doing a little research into the chakra system could be helpful to understand a little more about our energy centers.
I teach students to ride with three sets of eyes to help them direct the horse with their bodies and their focus. The three sets of eyes are found: 1st our physical eyes; 2nd on our shoulders, right where your shoulder joint is on each side; and 3rd our hips, right in the front where you can feel that point of hip on each side. When we use our three sets of eyes in turns, forward momentum, and stops, the horse is set up to be in touch with us on a deeper level and our rides look and feel much more connected and free.
These same three sets of eyes must be remembered when we are working with a horse on the ground and especially while round-penning. Keeping all eyes behind the drive-line when we want forward momentum is key. To really free up a horse in order to gain those more fluid movements as well as a helping your horse remain light, practice keeping your three sets of eyes off the body of the horse entirely and to claim the space behind them with your energy. This frees up the horse and encourages them to keep moving off the spot you are claiming with your energy.
The distance you will need to be from the tail-end of the horse all depends upon the sensitivity of the horse and the intensity of your energy. Start with 3-4 feet off the tail-end. Claim the ground behind them energetically to encourage them to move their feet from the spot, not just their head.
Once I noticed that Brianna was focused on Skip’s head, I called him into a halt in the center of the round-pen. He was visibly relieved to not have to be concerned about the mixed messages he was getting from me (the new kid in his world) and Brianna (the woman he most wanted to please these days). I petted Skip on the forehead and released him to poke around freely in the round-pen while I went over to the side to speak to Brianna.
“Did you notice a difference in the way he was moving just then,” I asked her?
“I did and began to worry that he might be lame,” came the reply.
Aha, there in lies some of our issue. Brianna is constantly concerning herself about what might be wrong with Skip rather than checking the environment and the stimulants and the way in which they might be influencing him.
“I don’t think he was coming up lame,” I replied. “Let’s do a little experiment.”
I taught Brianna about the three sets of eyes and encouraged her to focus on the ground 3 - 4 feet behind Skip while I sent him around. This way I could come in tighter if I needed and she would have a specific job in the work.
Skip had not been worked in the round-pen long enough for him to have any lameness from this session. He also hadn’t been lame when he came off the trailer or when we had started. So I felt pretty confident that we would quickly find the source of the hesitation that we had both been seeing.
I went over and petted Skip where he was on the edge of the round-pen picking at some bits of grass. He looked at me with curiosity so I said, “Let’s do a little more work, shall we?” I finished up the petting and backed into a position behind the drive-line and sent him forward.
As he moved out, I dropped my focus further back to about that 3-4 foot mark off his tail to encourage his forward momentum.
Once he was moving freely and willingly at the walk, I asked him into a trot. He trotted right out and that big beautiful movement that had captured my senses was in front of us again. His black mane flowed while his muscles moved with ease under his red coat.
After a couple of rounds, I brought him in with a halt and released him so I could speak with Brianna again.
“Did you notice any lameness that time,” I asked?
“Not at all,” Brianna replied. “WOW! I had never thought about how my focus could be changing how he was moving, Robin. That was so cool!”
I smiled at Brianna’s amazement. Sometimes when an experienced rider comes to me I question my abilities to really help them. This reaction from Brianna reminded me that even the most experienced horse person always has something more to learn from the horses. We just have to remain open and humble. I often share that I am still a student of the horse.
I invited Brianna to put her new found awareness to practice in the round-pen. She jumped at the opportunity right away. Her muscle memory of where her focus tended to fall did hinder her desire to be more accurate, but with time and practice she got Skip to move out in that beautiful fluid trot before calling him in to soak in their success. She would need to give herself compassion as she practiced this new way of sending her horses around the round-pen. But it will be worth it in the long run.
When she halted Skip in the middle we spoke about energy and how important our projection of energy, including our thoughts, are to the horse. I told Brianna that we can lame up a horse just with our focus and our thoughts. She wasn’t quite sure that we could, so I traded her places.
“Once I get Skip going I want you to focus with a hard stare on his inside shoulder and ask yourself what is wrong with it.”
Skip was curious and willing to play with us a little longer in the round-pen since we weren’t really working him hard, just doing different things. Off he went at the trot. “OK, focus on that shoulder now,” I called out when Skip had a steady trot going.
I turned slightly towards the shoulder as well. Suddenly, Skip began to exhibit lameness. At first it was subtle, but then it became more obvious as we both focused on that shoulder and questioned what was going on there rather than seeing it as fluid, mobile and beautiful.
“OK, let’s get off that shoulder now,” I called to Brianna. I asked Skip to change directions so we could clear that energy. He moved off in the opposite direction with no residual lameness. After a couple of rounds, I then changed direction again so the shoulder we had focused on was on the inside now. No lameness. Skip was moving freely and beautifully this time!
I asked Skip for a halt and he came in licking and chewing like a champ. He was so glad to have the pressure released that he walked right up to me and dropped his head for a good forehead petting. I obliged and praised him and thanked him for his participation and clarity before engaging with Brianna.
As I disengaged from Skip and turned my attention fully to Brianna, I could see that she was mind-blown in such a way as to be putting a lot of pieces together.
“WOW! WOW! WOW!” That was all she could vocalize in that moment. I let her ‘lick and chew’ on it before speaking.
“Pretty cool, huh.” I stepped out of the round-pen so Skip would know that he was completely off the clock at this point.
Brianna shook her head and said, “I never imagined how much they respond to our energy and especially our very thoughts. Wow! I have so much to consider now. Thank you so much for this!”
We pulled a couple of chairs into a shady spot where we could talk a little more. Brianna needed to process some of her past experiences with Skip and other horses. I encouraged Brianna to not make herself wrong for not realizing how much her energy and thoughts had impacted her horses in the past. She didn’t know until now and we cannot go back, only forward.
Our scheduled time ran out and I had another lesson showing up. Brianna gave me a big hug before gathering up her things. I stood back as she loaded the willing Skip into the trailer to head back home. I watched as she pulled down the road and my next client walked over. Brianna was coming back to learn more another day, but really she got most of the information she needed on this day. Skip felt good, I felt good, and Brianna felt good. Win, win win!
Wow, indeed!
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Thanks for stopping by. I hope we connect again soon.
Nice x 10!