Trisha wren ~ Connect With Your Horse

Connection: the linking or joining of two or more parts, things, or people.

Do you have a connection with your horse? A good relationship, mental rapport, harmony and unity? Call it what you will; most of us want a bond with our horses, a mutual trust and understanding, and synergy of movement. As a pre-requisite to handling a horse, whether on the ground, riding, problem solving or teaching them a new skill, establishing a connection helps to ensure that the horse can stay calm, think clearly, learn effectively, and perform well. If you just want your horse to do what he’s told, and don’t care how he feels about it as long as he gets it done, fine; I’d prefer him to do it softly and willingly, maintain a ‘connection’ with me, and understand every step. Think about it; at school, did you feel any connection with the teacher who was mean, impatient, or just didn’t like you? Could you learn effectively and understand what they were teaching, or did you just do what you knew they wanted, without fully understanding, because it was easier and they would leave you alone quicker? Didn’t you learn better from, and work harder for, the teacher you felt a connection with, the one who took the time to find a way to explain things so that you understood?

What is dis-connection??
We all have days when we don’t feel at one with our horse. Nothing is going right, he’s doing the opposite of what you asked, and you just don’t seem to understand one another – you are disconnected. Anything that results in tension, mentally or physically, is a possible cause of disconnection. Sometimes that disconnection is triggered by an external event; say a plastic bag blowing in your path. Often, we cause the disconnection, through lack of consistency, lack of attention / not being in the moment, pulling, being unbalanced in the saddle, or pushing for more than the horse is capable of. If you cause your horse to mentally shut down, he has disconnected from you. Visible signs that your horse is disconnecting might be: lack of engagement / collection; head in the air; hollow back; nose out; stiffness, tension or worry; lack of attention; breaking out in a sweat; unresponsiveness.

Achieving Connection
Our connection with our horse begins on the ground. Through everything you do, it’s important to stay soft, mentally and physically; no pulling or jerking. Remember your horse can feel a fly land on him; he can certainly feel when you tense up, and if you yank on the leadrope you are more likely to cause him to tighten and raise his head than to stay soft, willing and connected. If you push your horse too hard or too long their ability to process or understand what you are asking can be lost; better to go twice as slow, breaking any task into small steps, maintaining a connection and trust, and have a calm horse at the end, than to push for more and end up with a sweaty distressed horse that understands nothing. Connected Groundwork exercises establish a physical connection with your horse; a hands-on connection that teaches him awareness of his body and of you. If he can feel physically connected to himself, instead of uncoordinated and inattentive, it’s easier for him to stay connected to you. The exercises work with the natural movement / biomechanics of the horse, showing him easier more efficient ways of moving and carrying himself, and releasing tension and any bracing patterns.

The connection you have with your horse when riding is also important. If you aren’t sitting correctly your horse will probably not be getting the signals you think he is. For the clearest 2-way communication, you both have to be in balance – individually, and together. Here’s an easy way to check whether you are sitting correctly or not. Reach down and wrap a piece of mane around your forefinger, just in front of the saddle, then take the contact. If you are sitting in a balanced and secure way, you’ll either feel nothing or just that you are being plugged even deeper into the saddle. If you feel your body being pulled forwards, and like you are pulling your horse’s mane out by the roots, your position needs attention! Next, the way you use your body in the saddle matters. If you are pulling your right rein for your horse to turn right, but the rest of your body is rigid or unbalanced, he is getting mixed messages. Connected Riding techniques not only teach you how to maintain your balance while mounted, but constructive and easy ways to maintain your connection through clear communication with your horse.

If you can spot when your horse starts to disconnect from you, then you have an opportunity to do something different to enable him to stay with you. So, to maintain our connection we need to stay ‘in the moment’, aware of ourselves, our horse, and our surroundings; stay soft in our body and our mind, working with not against our horse; and if things aren’t going to plan, find another way to help him understand what you want. It’s much easier – and quicker in the long run – to maintain a good connection, than to lose it and have to start all over again.

Trisha