A Horse's Cup of Worry

[@shaneymccoymusic]

I've watched a lot of horse training videos and am so glad I stumbled across yours. I love your philosophy and quiet calmness. I've been binge watching your videos and have learned a lot, but especially loved this idea of the "cup of worry" and took it into my work with my horse yesterday and could definitely see a difference. I'm also a mental health counselor and used the concept with a client, suggesting ways she can empty her "cup of worry" throughout the day, and she found that quite helpful. So thank you from me, my horse, my client - and all the horses and clients who will benefit from it in the future!

[@warmbloodsx2129]

I have used your concept from day one with my youngster, with every little thing, every moment I'm with him through handling, backing, riding and I have never had a moment's trouble with him, great channel ❤️

[@RossJacobs]

Thank you and great job with your young one.

[@VikiMQ]

I love the common sense of these videos. My eyes are being opened after a lifetime of riding and working horses. Actually, that's what I love about horses. You never stop learning. The trick is to find accurate information! I'm a new fan of Ross. Thank you.

[@dariaharruff7025]

Horses are a hassle to ride I don't like it have at it I rather be a dental hygienist more freedom and money

[@SteffieB]

Thank you! It’s so easy to get frustrated, but this goes a long way toward building empathy and speaking horse. It’s a language, I think, and you’re fluent!

[@meg5122]

What a wonderful object lesson. Thank you

[@lauraalbertson7821]

This was so very good . I see why you use it each time . I see the worry in my Baby Horses eye and stop what I may be doing that caused it . I feel this message is priceless for the rest of my life. I want my Horse to always feel safe and calm when I am around. Every day I spend a few hours rubbing and petting Him . I watch His ears and try to sense if He doesn’t like something. I stop and try Later . Even putting the Rope Halter on. Letting Bear look at it , sniff it , lip it seems to really take the worried eyes away. Thank you Ross ! Good video Good illustration! 🥛 💜🐴💜 Laura and Little Bear

[@RossJacobs]

I'm glad to know you got something out of the video. Best of luck with your young horse.

[@JackOllie4]

Wow, this is probably in my all-time, top five horse wisdom gems!

[@epona9166]

This is a GREAT video, thank you! Warwick Schiller talks about the cup of worry as well, but instead of worry building up over the course of successive steps in working with your horse, he uses the example of the same thing happening over and over and the horse SEEMING to be fine with it until all of a sudden his isn't fine with it and he blows. His point is the horse didn't suddenly blow; he had been building up to it for a good while. The example he uses is a trail ride where rabbits keep jumping in front of the horse and the horse keeps it together until maybe the 10th time it happens and the horse finally loses it. I would never have taken that concept and applied it to what Ross is talking about, so this is a big deal. Thanks so much!!

[@RossJacobs]

The concept of the Cup of Worry is older than Warwick or myself put together. Warwick first heard it from me (but he chose to use bunnies instead of a cup). I first heard it from Harry Whitney. Harry first heard it from Deb Bennett. I don't know where Deb first heard it - maybe Tom Dorrance. We all stand on the shoulders of others. And it doesn't matter who heard it from whom, as long as it helps people gain a better understanding of the inside of a horse.

[@jeanettewhite4557]

Thanks Ross. I needed to see this today. This analogy is so helpful. We must attend to the very first worry in the cup, not wait until the level in the cup is enough to cause us worry!

[@kathleen0954]

Amazing, how it's the accumulation of the many "little foxes" that can spoil the outcome. Addressing each of them in the moment they arise, is such beautiful simplicity and common sense, which tends to escape us with all our "knowledge!" I like that each horse has it's own sized cup...some horses being more tender than others, but all of them sensitive.This is very insightful and refreshing. "...it's the little foxes that spoil the vine; for our vines have tender grapes." ~ Song of Solomon 2:15

[@WarwickSchiller]

Another great video Ross.

[@DARKhorses73]

WarwickSchiller Warwick ! Your the best 😃

[@alicecohen4726]

Wow Ross. Love your cup of wisdom. Taking care of each stage of a journey with animals is very interesting. Love the attention to tensions and a quest for our mindfullness to find time to release those tensions. Just love the process to reach a goal. Whatever the goal its the small steps in between which so equally rewarding. Love to you Ross and family🌹👍💕🌠☺

[@hoppiification5678]

How true. Some days my horse's cup is a teaspoon; even birds in his paddock cause an extreme over reaction and nothing I do seems to help him empty it on these days. I am still trying hard to get him to focus, relax, empty that teaspoon when I am with him on these days but I don't appear to be making much headway. Other days I swear he has swapped his teaspoon for a 20L bucket and nothing seems to phase him. He is an interesting horse and has made me look, reconsider and question everything I have done with horses and do. However, I think I have now become an 'over thinker'.

[@annemcknight9315]

Ross thank you for your very wise and down to earth advice. I find your videos mindful and always a timely self check. Its far too easy to get caught up in our own agenda even if only for a moment and our horse is stuck with us! Cheers

[@zacotial]

This is great advise! I love your explanation with the visual supports. It just makes so much sense. Thank you

[@AyeZimbra]

I'm another happy fan. Thank you for your videos!

[@axiomarabians]

Gee you are awesome. I used to watch horse videos but have not had an interest in horse videos for a long by time. But I stumbled on yours and want to watch them all!

[@suzannestoddard9072]

Thank you! You’ve helped me help my horse

[@lorenzowilliams1184]

Thank you for that right cup of wisdom.

[@twade909]

a great way of explaining this, had this last weekend, and used bending (emptying the cup) with great effect and had a great ride 😊

[@ThereIsProbablyNoGod]

That's such a great video. So true. I heard of the worry cup the first time from Warwick Schiller and it made so much sense to me. I am working on emptying the cup of my horse all the time I feel it is filling up. That is by far the safest way to ride a horse. I like all of your videos. Hope you get more attention soon. I will share this video to some of the horse people I know, that do not take care of their horses worry cup. They really need to see this. Thank you so much for taking the time to make such good videos.

[@RossJacobs]

Thank you for your kind words.

[@Zana_Boni]

Thank you so much for this inspirational speech! I deal a lot with classic dressage riders in Germany resisting to understand the horses needs about safety and comfort around people. This is a very easy-to-understand-for everyone(!)-way explaining trouble with their horses ;)

[@brookshorse1896]

Thank you very much for that excellent explanation with demo. It made more sense to me spelled out. Often I know I can ride a certain amount of anxiety so I'm not thinking about emptying it but waiting until it's a little more full until I tip some anxiety out. This will make me be more considerate for my horse. Thanks for making me more accountable with every video.

[@RossJacobs]

I'm glad the clip added something to your thinking about your horse.

[@moniquelitalien8635]

Wow, I wish I had seen this BEFORE I tried to take my horse to the park this week....I cannot wait to change my thinking and revise my interaction.

[@docride2705]

This is a great way to explain this concept ! Thank you !

[@Rx7man]

who are the 10 people that disliked this??? I don't have horses, but work with cattle, and the same general idea is still useful... When I'm halter training calves, I lead them where they want to go to start with.. They live in the pen with their mates, but they want fresh grass, so I lead them to the grass, Some of them can stay for an hour or more before they get lonely, some only 10 minutes, but then I bring them back.. After they've chewed cud and retasted all that grass, they seem to ponder what it took to get it.. Next time they'll lead easier, and will be comfortable out there for longer. I've had a few cows I could ride.. I found the critical thing there is the FIRST time you try and get on one, if you make any sort of jumping motion, you're in for getting bucked off, and they'll keep doing it... Stand on a bale, put some weight on, scratch their back.. after a bunch of times swing a leg over slowly, keep scratching, they'll be OK Same again with "bulls are all dangerous"... well, they might just have smaller cups by default.. I could ride mine, stand on his back, and fire off my .22 rifle without him showing much concern

[@mollybailes5161]

Good advice

[@robbydarin1052]

AMAZING TY ANOTHER GREAT WATCH

[@kelimusil1551]

So I have been paying attention to her cup and I know that when she gives me a big sigh, she has emptied her cup. I actually don't even feel like I'm doing things right if I don't get the sigh! It's all about them and we want it to be all about us. Thanks for the great explanation, it will be put to use from now on.

[@seeamerica1]

GREAT INFORMATION!

[@FancySassy80]

loved this.. defiantly helped me figure out why my baby blew up on Sunday at a show.

[@NorthtoHopeDesert_Hues]

Good one Ross! Sharing! ..... BTW - Hi from Arizona!!, ( Harry's ranch caretaker 2015/2016)

[@JustASleepySloth]

This made me think a bit more, usually when I lead my horse away she will often walk halfway or the entire way up to me, often she'll come right up to the gate and stick her nose through the headcollar, when we go down I usually let her have a few nibbles or a scratch with the other horse across from her that otherwise gets no contact, I don't usually pull her away until she's finished though I have a couple of times recently and noticed that pissed off her friend. Now that I'm thinking about all these little things and how you explain it, I'm thinking and connecting the more subtle dots, usually I pick up on my horses little tells, at the moment it doesn't take much to throw her out of whack but give her time to adjust and she'll usually come around, or if you occupy her mind with something else, I rarely let her get to a stage of frustration- that did happen today unfortunately.

[@barbarab9548]

Great analogy… but please explain HOW to empty the worry cup, my horse cannot stay “focused” on me as soon as I open that gate to the woods, moving his feet only makes him MORE worried… so please share HOW to help him focus on me rather than everything else he’s looking at ! Thanks so much …

[@RossJacobs]

Sorry, but getting and keeping a horse's focus is a big picture program. It's not a matter of a couple of exercises and you now have their focus and the calmness. Plus it involves a good degree of feel that changes from moment to moment, as their thoughts and emotions change moment to moment. My best advice it to find a really good horse person who can help you learn this. Go to clinics, read, experiment. I don't know where you live, but if you are in N. America try to attend clinics with Harry Whtiney, Ellen Kealey, or I go to the US 2x a year. If you are in Australia, come to my clinics. Other countries will have good horse people too. I know this is not a huge help to you, but if you search hard enough there are people who can assist.

[@johannesalphonsiuswilhelmi9121]

top. No horsewisper-magic can make this info better. Many thanks an bless your kind horsemansoul*

[@lauraalbertson7821]

Watched this video again . Our little Colt stops while leading . He is so excited to leave his corral when we halter him . Stands calmly . But after the first few steps out of the gate , he always nips and seems to cut in front of my husband. Gary never hits him. He says no and circles him . This happens a few times during our walk to the pasture. He then stops a few times . Stands looking concerned . Same road every day. I walk in front further away up the road . When Bear does his stopping, I turn around and encourage him to keep coming . He looks at me and starts to walk again. I love your teaching in this video. I just don’t know what else to do to have a calmer walk for Bear to the pasture. He is 10 months . He has horses around him but not in the same pasture. He has been Newley Gelded . Around 6 wks ago . Any suggestions in leading him or so he isn’t so nippy . We rub his mouth and let him lick our hands when he wnats to engage with his mouth . He can bite too hard and we say No ! He backs away. Thank you Ross for your gentle way with horses . I love it 💜🐴💜

[@RossJacobs]

I don't know specifically what I would do without seeing your horse for myself. But I am pretty sure the problem begins before he goes out the gate and starts to nip and cut in front. His thoughts leave you and head away and then the handler tries to control his feet from leaving without getting his thought to not leave. So there is conflict between what the horse's mind wants to do (rush and leave you) and what you and the lead rope want him to do. This argument leads to your horse becoming stressed and frustrated and he expresses it by nipping and rushing in front. The solution is to have your horse mentally "with you" before you lead him through the gate, when you lead him through the gate and after you have led him through the gate. But as I said, I can't give you specific exercises without knowing a bit more about your horse and yourself. You may need somebody with a little more skill at this issue to give you some hands-on help. Cheers

[@dariaharruff7025]

Why did your colt get gelded it's not right

[@MorganJServices]

I am trying to figure out where the cup of worry came from. My mustang mare and I have been together 8 years and have a great relationship. Never, ever an issue with leaving the herd or the barn alone. I moved her to a wonderful new barn close to home in April. She was so unhappy with the old barn's environment and herd that she developed an ulcer. I got her on meds and started chiropractic therapy. She progressed well. At the new barn she super glued herself to another mare the first week. Craziest thing I have ever seen. She will do anything including hurting herself or me to get back to this other mare if out of sight. I have become invisable to my horse. My mare is showing behaviors of an insecure, anxious, unsafe and unbalanced mind never displayed before. The other horse is the dominate mare of the herd. She has a take it or leave it kind of mindset with other members. Her owner has no issues. The mare developed a neurological system disorder that caused early retirement from a very successful jumping career.

[@seniorswithhorses]

If you ride outside the arena, you will encounter things that quickly overfill whatever worry cup you've been working on with your horse. At that point you learn whether you've built a trusting relationship with your horse or not. In his book True Unity, Tom Dorrance said the following. "Some people will ride a horse as long as the horse lives and they will never get what I try to get as early as I can, for a foundation. I don’t mean that I’m trying to get everything completed, but to get enough there to where if the horse gets troubled he will come to me; or to where I can get to him to come to me for security and cover. Without that foundation I feel very insecure with a horse." Two instances I can think of with my horses were a bear crossing the trail in front of us and a train blasting past when I was 12 and riding along some railroad tracks. Is the worry cup a useful concept in working with your horse? Absolutely. But if you ride outside the arena, that trusting relationship will save your bacon when unexpected things happen.

[@regfrost7676]

This is hilarious! and a great description! ... Yet, I see many people who really don't know HOW to empty the cup, at different stages...

[@justme9359]

a good explanation

[@saraswatkin9226]

Brilliant demonstration of stress and its the same with humans although I find it difficult to understand why humans fail to understand the needs of animals.

[@janholland8866]

How do you empty the cup?

[@RossJacobs]

In every thing you do with a horse (1) you improve focus, (2) be absolutely clear in the way you ask, and (3) don't stop asking without achieving some degree of softness. Focus, clarity and softness are the three pillars on which everything else should be built.

[@RossJacobs]

This video may help you with how a person could go about emptying the cup of worry kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHacmXmnhJ6qe7c

[@lorenzowilliams1184]

I would just drink it all.

[@wms72]

Lorenzo Williams Lorenzo

[@cintiamarcos1003]

Wow.. 😃

[@sweetalices]

I got a bit of a start at the end of this video, my name is Alice. How did he do that?!lol

[@RossJacobs]

I've been waiting patiently for 3 years for you to discover the shout out to you :)

[@sweetalices]

@@RossJacobs lol, thanks Ross. You made me smile.

[@sarahthomson8183]

so how to empty the cup?

[@dariaharruff7025]

do u train horses with bits then i cant be or around or ride horses im out

[@RossJacobs]

Every horse should be comfortable being ridden in a bit and without a bit. My horses are almost exclusively worked in a sidepull (no bit), but if I choose to ride in a bit that are equally comfortable. To refuse to educate a horse to a snaffle on the basis of some principle a person holds is both a disservice to the horse and negligent. You fail the horse. You never know that somebody will one day want to ride that horse in a snaffle if the horse outlives you or needs to go to a new home.

[@dariaharruff7025]

@@RossJacobs fine I'm not riding horses until next month for riding lessons I might drop out of the stupid bitted horse riding lessons I'm tired being forced to ride a horses with bits

[@dariaharruff7025]

@@RossJacobs fine then I won't get or ride a horse than I'm out

[@abc123gpl]

who is alice ?

[@RossJacobs]

Sorry, but I don't talk about Alice. It's personal. I hope you understand.

[@leealexander3507]

That's not quite how my arabians cup fills. He goes from an empty cup to overflow in a split second. It can be most anything, like his herd went under the trees and something might eat them. The instant he sees this he flips out.

[@leealexander3507]

@Rob Lahar His attention is easy to get back if I lose it. The specific event I mentioned happened when he was out and I was watching from the barn. He looked up from grazing and his mares were being ridden under the very dangerous trees. The ones he was next to when he got bitten on the butt. He felt that he needed to go protect them and became extremely agitated. In a split second he goes from sleepy eyed contentment to having a huge panic attack.

[@zebradun7407]

Simple example of a horses mind and reactions.

[@Learningthetruth7]

Good horse insight, but not much human insight as to how to empty the cup.

[@RossJacobs]

Horses don't follow a list of instructions. What to do and when to do it constantly changes. In order to be a good horse person requires listening to the horse in front of you and adjusting to what they need to empty their cup from moment to moment. If you are looking for recipes you are severely limiting any success you might have. It's like parenting - sticking to a formula will never work but following principles and adapting the methods to suit the individual and be consistent to those principles ensures long term success.

[@TaiMizuki]

"good horsemanship" and he uses a martingale? hmmm..

[@RossJacobs]

"He uses a martingale"? The only horse in the video is a brief clip from a lady who is riding a horse that is bucking on her. The only "he" in the video is me and there is no horse. So who is this "he" that is using a martingale?