Connecting with a compliant but not comfortable horse

[@IT-zx5jc]

One other amazing video! And so needed for me!! I had a session the other day and felt I could have fone more but now see that I "still" did a lot. A friend of mine needs help with her nervous and now rearing competition horse. I was like "well I am not so trained with these advanced horses but let me see it may be fun to train a really well educated horse". Took him to an oval ring and the horse had so much tension he was way worse than the horses I am riding in!! My immediate thought was "this horse is not ready for a saddle" when I was reminded of the fact he is "supposedly WELL educatef" 😂 I could not touch him without him doing a million things as if I was sending him off. Touching the lead rope was hard, scratching my own knee was hard I mean he like this one also stared at me the whole time as if saying "why arent you sending me off?". Little by little he relaxed. I did not much else then walk a head of him. Do turns and also try to stroke him and scratch him with the wrong end of thexwhio (since I made the discovery he was terrified of a simple dressage whip). I was careful not to ask him to lounge but a couple of times he did and I allowed him and everytime it was a high necked trot. Never a walk. He fid seem to relax a bit after around 20 minutes at least I could touch him more. (PS how can u compete on a horse that wont allow you to stand relaxed next to him? I hate to admit my friend lost a few "points" as to how I viewed her abilities 😅😅😅). But on the walk to the barn he reared bc of a stationary horse transport 🤯🤯🤯 next tp the stables on our 15 meyer walk. I kid you not. I was in shock how she can be riding this horse? So I spent a few minutes sending him away from the transport and allowing him.to rest next to it. He actually became quite curious of it and sniffed it an all. Which made me take him past another one until he wanted to "rest" next to it as well 😅😅😅 At least some success but even still I feel like his brain was thinkibg way too much it was no "real" relaxation.... So since I still was not happy that the horse was not relaxed, I decided to not let him go roll with the horses but did a "forbidden thing" and feed him hay and have him lose in the middle of the stable to see how he would behave with me there doing nothing. And I kid you not he cant even relax FULLY with me standing next to him even if I was looking away, if I moved a leg he had his eye on me and he was half through his hey when FINALLY I got a "brhhhhhhhh" from him. I was forced to tell her " I feel like your horse is not fit for riding he is way too tense". She was like "yeah she said thats his character he is very responsive" and I was like "no he is stressed" He keeps thinking "what does she want what does she want". My friend got him only 5 months ago and already competed twice and was disqualified second time. He reared and took off and she started telling me the techicalities about how he gets stressed in this one place. Meanwhile I am thinking how I could not touch him with the lead rope...... Its a fourgated Icelander, a beauty and the selmers have cut serious cotners on their training. Yupp why not skip teaching relaxation and go straight to collected slow tölt shall we? Good grief. Like this one the horse is or wants to be, obedient but way too nervous to take in much information. I was happy to see her sitting in the paddock next time I came. Feeding him hay and just hanging ❤❤❤

[@jayneterry8701]

I have been watching Tara videos and your video came up in the feed today. It has been fascinating the communication you have with this lovely horse. 👍💞🐴🇨🇦

[@RideLikeaViking]

Thank you so much for your kind words Jayne! So glad you liked it 💖

[@charlenestanton2237]

What a lovely beautiful horse you have :)

[@RideLikeaViking]

Thank you Charlene! Yes I think we are going to get along fine, taking the time to connect on the ground before riding solves many problems ✨

[@carlyfenton-wyrick1560]

This is very similar to my icelandic gelding. This gives me a couple more ideas to try on how to get him relaxed without being pushy. I'm curious to see more on how you work through this and towards them being forward without tension.

[@RideLikeaViking]

Thank you so much for your kind words! So glad you like it ✨✨ After groundwork I do saddling at liberty and then riding signals, teaching feel in the reins and hind leg engagement off the leg aid.

[@eirinvenas3074]

Super bra video! En av dine beste!

[@RideLikeaViking]

Tusen takk det var veldig hyggelig å høre ❤️✨

[@ingeborgrahbekpedersen6837]

What a great video. Thank you😊👍⭐️

[@RideLikeaViking]

Thank you so much for your kind words! So glad you like it ✨✨

[@LindaHofman]

Awesome summary of the training of this horse.

[@RideLikeaViking]

Thank you so much! I know you did something similar with one of your Andalusians (the wild one) and it was very inspiring

[@LindaHofman]

@@RideLikeaViking Thank you! Creating a compliant AND comfortable horse is such an awesome insight. Let's inspire the horse-world!

[@yrpopqueen]

Mesmerizing! Mange takk!

[@ryleewatsica7122]

Can I ask I do it on my horseback and if that is good

[@RideLikeaViking]

We have a members group for Q&As and more videos that also show riding, on www.ridelikeaviking.com/course

[@bradleyzimmerman1327]

Okay my horse is just angry at me I left for the beach for 3 weeks and he’s upset with me

[@RideLikeaViking]

My horses don`t get upset if I don`t see them, they have their own life going in the herd and space to roam in nature, independent of me.

[@owenbolton7514]

And if I was not that far from my horse we would never have come home

[@RideLikeaViking]

How great you are reunited with your horse ✨

[@eloisedoherty948]

horses do have emotions but i get what your saying

[@RideLikeaViking]

I am not sure what you mean, but yeah horses live in the moment and have feelings like fear or relaxation. They are herd animals and form strong bonds with others and speak through their bodies, when they feel good they move functionally, lower their necks and lift their backs✨

[@Sunitakumari-yr6ny]

ड

[@janicewebb6794]

I disagree, I believe horses can like/dislike anyone!

[@RideLikeaViking]

I am not sure they disleike certain persons or personalities, but they definitely feel more comfortable when handled by a person who gets them. Horses are flight animals and don`t like being held tight or micromanaged, they also don`t like people who are unclear. They will know if we know the moment we pick up the lead rope✨

[@RideLikeaViking]

I don`t think I was talking about horses liking ot not liking different persons, they will basically jugde us by our actions and what we notice/don`t notice. I notice him being stand offish but quite responsive and obedient, but also being the leader by taking the inside turns. We can make horses do stuff but although they do the right things it is sometimes for the wrong reasons, more like a learned behavior not coming from the horse self. A way to fix this is to be clear and then wait for the horse to take initiative form self, not make it happen. Most horses will for instance dislike being kissed on the muzzle, but it is something humans like doing to show affection. Most people will not notice the horse disliking it, cause the signs of the horse not liking it will be subtle, like slightly higher neck, tense jaws and slightly dropped back. But the person kissing and hugging the horse will think the horse likes them cause horse isn`t leaving (probably because the horse feels he is not allowed to leave). Vs allowing a horse to walk off will make people think the horse dislikes them, cause their need for being loved by the horse is not met, while a person allowing the horse to walk off meets the horses need of having a true choice and horse will feel more comfortable in their presence.