Sweet Spots

EMPOWER YOUR HORSE THROUGH

“I believe horses naturally have tremendous faith in the Human Being. It is their natural instinct of self-preservation that the person needs to understand in order to gain the confidence of the horse.” - Tom Dorrance

As prey animals horses see things differently than we do. For example, let’s say you and your horse ride by the same mailbox four times without issue, but on the fifth time she spooks. Being a skeptical sort, she had been watching the mailbox each time she passed but suddenly saw it in a different light, on the fifth time around; her natural instinct of self -preservation kicked in. Horses are genetically programmed to go on alert, and it’s at this moment we need to support them through knowledge and strategies, proving to her, she is not going to be eaten.

Equines would never have survived these thousands of years if they weren’t skeptical of everything. It doesn’t make sense to us, but for a horse skepticism is necessary, perhaps life-saving. Skepticism can lead to fear which is real in a horse's mind, and the sooner we accept it and work with the way a horse thinks, the better. But, how do we address this?

Let’s visit the self-preservation factor and a strategy for helping a skeptic. It doesn’t matter where the skepticism or fear originated from, but it does matter how you react to it.

At some point in our relationship with our horse, whether intended or not, we have all applied extra pressure during a training session or lesson. This extra pressure is called, ‘pushing a horse through a threshold.’ I see it often, and most riders don’t realize the negative impact this has on the performance and wellbeing of their horse. A horse can, at best, tolerate pressure but never totally accept it, and at worst the fear and anxiety associated with the pressure escalates to where they develop opposition reflex. Opposition reflex refers to your horse’s instinctive reaction to any physical pressure. This pressure causes them to automatically do the opposite of what you want.

Alternatively, they may perform an action like rearing, or head tossing. These could be mild reflexes or they could grow into an ugly monster, spreading to other parts of a horse's life where they evolve into a nervous wreck over the littlest things. Not only is this horse now worried, all the time, because she’s naturally skeptical but she knows there’s a good chance she’s going to be forced through a threshold every time her leader is with her; a recipe for disaster. We learn new skills when there’s healthy pressure on us. However, pressure with little to no release can lead to serious emotional struggle. This is true of humans, and is certainly true for our horses. It’s easy to fall into the trap of pushing through thresholds. We are, by nature, goal orientated, and we sometimes come to believe that our horses will get over it eventually, or that we can hang in

“What exactly is a sweet there, or we listen to our coach when they ask spot? To frame it succinctly, us to keep up the pressure, even though they a sweet spot provides a do not understand our horse. I too have been in this situation. I have horse with a feeling of allowed myself to listen and follow a coach's safety and comfort. suggestion, and it was not what my horse needed. She got worse instead of better, and it took time, patience and understanding to get her back to where she was emotionally and mentally fit enough to respond in a left brain thinking mode rather than right brain reactive. We're human. We make mistakes. We grow from those mistakes and our horse benefits from this growth. In those mistakes and growth, there is the mystery of who our horses are and what is needed to connect with them. It is that mystery that we are working to uncover. As Neil Armstrong is quoted as saying, “Mystery creates wonder

‘Sweet Spots’

and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand.” The mystery is our horse and the wonder is striving to understand and learn how best to serve her.

SWEET SPOTS

“What exactly is a sweet spot? To frame it succinctly, a sweet spot provides a horse with a feeling of safety and comfort. It encourages curiosity and invites pleasure. It’s in the sweet spots of how we come to understand our horses that can change their behaviour for the better. This requires a balance of patience and knowing. Knowing when to ask, when to back off and when to wait. Sweet spots create a safe haven where a horse begins to understand they won’t be pushed too far, where their fears, anxieties and apprehension are respected. People hope for this kind of empathy, why should our horses hope for anything different. Having success with sweet spots soon leads to braver moments, more curiosity and try.

There are a few things that go into creating a ‘sweet spot’.

SAFETY

What is the first thing a horse needs in life? It's not a cookie, it’s feeling safe. All prey animals need to feel safe first, then comes comfort. If this is true then our main concern and goal with our horse should be to make sure they are feeling safe. Then, and only then, do we ask if she is comfortable. Once there, she can easily move into a learning frame of mind. At this point, we will teach something new too. This is a horse who wants to be present. This is a horse who will do more for us tomorrow than she could today.

REPETITION

Horses that are learning something new, and are worried or skeptical, need repetition. The more right brain a horse is, the more repetition she likes. When a horse is struggling emotionally, repetition works well. Doing too much repetition, on the other hand, and thinking this is the key to a happy jolly horse, is a sure way to put too much pressure on your horse. Balance is the key, and there is still another piece to the puzzle.

IS SHE BEING HEARD?

A horse needs to feel that she is being heard and understood, that her fear and anxiety are real, and we are there to help her work through the bad feelings. You can ask your horse to do a thousand repetitions, however, if there is even a little fear associated with what they are doing, and they feel forced, there’s a high probability that the trust doesn’t exist, and they will remain in their right brain (RB) fearful mode. This is where the psychology of creating sweet spots comes in.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MAKE AND A WANT

Every time we push too hard, get angry, frustrated, force or expect too much from our horse, we are employing a ‘make’ attitude and the Continued on page 18

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Continued from page 17 horse will more often than not, either shut down or explode. A ‘want,’ on the other hand, is when the horse wants to or, at the very least, tries to do it, or is brave just a little more than they were before. Actions like, asking and waiting for a response, or advancing to what is scary and then retreating, give a horse time to think and digest what was asked of her. These are a few examples of offering a horse time to think and regroup her emotions, and are an incredibly important element that can’t be ignored.

Horses want to get along. Offer them a safe and comfortable way to be with you, and they will follow. Let them know you are not going to push them through thresholds, and they will be glad to give you their heart.

TURNING FEAR INTO CURIOSITY

‘Curiosity’ is an important word. One of Tom Dorrance’s and Pat Parelli’s favourite sayings is, “Never knock the curiosity out of a horse.” Like having their natural instinct for self-preservation, horses have an inner curiosity that has the power to override skepticism and fear, replacing them with confidence and bravery.

When I was training down in Colorado at the Parelli ranch years ago, I learned firsthand how a horse’s fear can move into curiosity which then swings into confidence. Pat has a very large outdoor arena where, one afternoon, I took my mare, Moon, to work on a lesson. There was one other rider at the far end of the arena working with his horse who was dragging a mechanical bull behind him. Seeing the bull moving in strange jerky moves, my mare stopped in her tracks. She had a complete meltdown. Knowing if I didn’t act fast she would be headed for the hills, I interrupted her thoughts and asked her to retreat even further than the fifty metres we were at from the bull, to where she was able to stand and stare from a distance and not feel the need to take off. This was a great opportunity to see if this fear of hers could turn into curiosity. It did. Calling over to the other rider, I asked if Moon and I could follow behind his mechanical bull. To my surprise and delight, it took less than twenty minutes to see a positive change. Moon and I ended up not only close to the bull but she wanted to touch and push it with her nose. This was all her idea. All I did was facilitate and give her the option to retreat whenever she needed to feel safe and think about the situation. In the end it was her curiosity that continued to drive her to the bull.

ADVANCE AND RETREAT

This is how sweet spots work. If the horse is scared, nervous or has some anxiety, we move to the edge of her bubble, where she feels safe. I then ask for her to be a little bit brave and move closer to the scary obstacle. Before she feels the pressure, we turn away and retreat. This gives her the opportunity to regroup her emotions before I ask again. of the process, their emotions should matter. To ensure we are accounting for their emotions, as the leader we must do what is necessary to ensure that emotional support. To support our horse we need to take the time it takes to nurture their emotions, allowing them time to think and sort out what was just asked. If we take this approach the horse will figure out there is no need to be skeptical or fearful. Once there, a horse owns their own victory. Moving slowly by virtue of retreat and waiting, empowered my horse Moon to where she felt confident and brave and it’s at this stage I can move along faster in her education. She has been emotionally and mentally prepared to handle the next uncertain instinctual feeling that comes her way.

A LOVE AFFAIR WITH A SWEET SPOT

Horses can get to a point where they receive so much joy out of the game of sweet spots, they start to seek sweet spots out. Remember, sweet spots can be anything from obstacles like bridges, gates, and creeks. Maybe even a scary corner can turn into a sweet spot. Many years ago I had a lovely little quarter horse named Wyatt, who had a love affair with pedestals. One day, I was riding in my arena, when my husband Rick called me to the fence. I casually cantered Wyatt to where Rick stood. I was focusing on him, and didn't realize Wyatt was focused on something else. There was a cheap plastic table I had tucked in the corner by where Rick was standing and as we approached the fence, I felt Wyatt rear up and before I knew what had happened, the table was crushed beneath us. Still standing on the flattened table, he turned to look at me as if to say, “this is exactly what you wanted, right?”

Realizing I created a pedestal monster, I learned to be more careful around obstacles. In spite of this, I was thrilled that he had this love affair with learning, experimenting, and thinking obstacles are fun.

Sweet spots help our horses move over to their left brain thought processes to where they learn to sort out their emotions. Eventually, the fear and anxiety dissolves, bringing a braver and more curious horse into being. This brings joy and a feeling of success to horse and human. Who wouldn’t want a horse who, given the opportunity, can sort out their own emotions?

If horses have faith in human beings, and we understand their natural self-preservation, it seems to me we have an opportunity to be with a horse that can excel at her job and enjoy every moment we share with them.

About Sandy Lang: I’m a foundation specialist with focus on Working Equitation (WE), a new and exhilarating equine sport. I live in the lush Fraser Valley of BC with my husband, and a small herd of exceptional horses. My goal is to help horse and human realize how a solid foundation is the key to a successful WE journey. I teach Foundation and WE lessons and clinics at my facility in Abbotsford BC.

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