Tool #1 to help redirect and check in with your horse's mind while riding.

This is part #1 of a 2 part video set about how to redirect and check in with your horse's mind. When riding you can see if your horse is holding some stress by doing this exercise. You bring the horse's head around laterally and then switch hands on the rein on that side and pet the horse over the eye softly, if the horse is stressed he will tighten his muscles and fight the pet, they will move around in a circle. Let me say that you are not trying by any means to obstruct the horse's view. Your hand holding the lateral bend should have a soft playfulness to it. If you hold their head with a hard grabby hand then even a chilled out horse will have stress. So in either case, you calmly sit there and help the horse to find his internal center or self carriage by playing with your weight wherever it seems to help the horse. After you have gone back to holding the lateral bend with the same hand you started with and the horse is not moving, you push your hand foreword about 1/4 inch, what I call a "half release". If the horse whips its head straight or starts to circle again take back the 1/4 inch contact and wait till it stops and is not pulling on you, then you give the " half release" again. What you are looking for is that the horse keeps its head where you had it for a few seconds and dwells or waits on you, when it does wait on you, then you give it a full release and praise the horse for its attention with a kind word or a pet.
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[@lesliemoiseauthor]

Such a useful exercise. Thank you!