Lessons from the Herd:
Disrupting the R hythm Story & Photos By Christa Miremadi
Watching my herd moving around their “territory,” an area that in winter is as small as 50 acres and in summer can be as large as 300 acres, I’ve witnessed how predictable their migration routes can be.
T
hey travel around the allotted area two to three times per day, stopping by the various water sources and shade trees at regular intervals and resting with the rhythms of nature. It’s not always at exactly the same time each day but you can bet the farm that if you wait in the upper meadow long enough, they’ll make an appearance and that if you watch the lower bench for a while, eventually they’ll show up. These rhythms are important to the herd and they’re driven by the horse’s needs and experiences. You can tap into these natural rhythms if you’re paying attention. And if you’re mindful, you can use their natural predisposition toward predictable patterns to add in your own desired habitual behaviours. For example, in the early hours of the day, around dawn, the herd likes to make the rounds past our winter feeding area, close to our catch pen. If I tap into this rhythm regularly and add some predictable cues and reliable rewards (such as calling the herd and providing oats for coming when I’ve called), I can add coming into our catch pen on call to their regular rhythm. This routine makes catching the horses in training, or catching my own horses much easier, much less stressful and much more enjoyable, for both the herd and for us humans. The whole herd is on board and happy to oblige and if I don’t call them in, it doesn’t upset their day. They just make their regular round past the back gate of the catch pen and carry on. However, now that they’ve learned this routine, if I need the horses in, even if it’s not during their regular “pass by” time, having
6 • JUNE 2021
SADDLEUP.CA
developed this predictable pattern and establishing the regular, reliable reward, I can call them and they’ll come from anywhere (so long as they can hear me) at any time. Make no mistake. They come because they’ve been patterned to do so. Sure, most of them like me well enough but they don’t come because they love me. They come because I’ve tapped into their natural rhythms and created a predictable pattern that’s become part of their regular routine. As long as I’m fully aware of this and understand what’s happening, as long as I’m under no illusion that this is anything other than what it is, then we can all stay safe and happy. It’s when I let myself believe that something is happening that isn’t, that I could get myself or my horses into trouble. For example, I could tell myself the horses are so obedient (as proven by their willingness to come when I call them) and I could get them to do anything! But if I decide to disrupt their rhythm, to stand in the middle of the run (our narrow fenced area that works as a chute, funneling the horses safely into the catch pen without getting them too bunched up at the gate) and try doing my best Cavalia impersonation, asking them to do something other than what I’ve trained them to do (like stop or turn around and go back out), I’ll find out pretty quickly that they’re not in fact listening to my command of “COOOOOOOOME BOYS!!!” but rather, they’re performing a predictable pattern and a trained habituated response. I would in fact, create quite a disaster! There would be a pile up, horses would kick each other, I would get
