Trust

I think we all desire to be able to trust our horses.

Being able to trust them to be calm and confident when faced with adverse situations, being able to rely upon them to be consistent in their responses, and having that ‘knowing’.

It certainly makes life easy. I recently had occasion to load Cooper on a trailer when he hadn’t for a few years, and he easily loaded. Yesterday @philmonaghan loaded George onto a new trailer - it loads to the right instead of the left, and, again he loaded immediately. Trailer loading is just the start, we need to be able to rely on them in all situations like ground, ridden and citizen work.

But where is our responsibility in this ?

Does the expectation of our trust in them, begin with their expectation of of their trust in us?

When my horses look at me, they know a few things;
They know how I’m going to communicate with them.
They know I’m fair.
They know I listen.
They know there are boundaries and responsibilities (this goes both ways).
They know me. And I’m the same person every day.

Our horses struggle because we are inconsistent, some days we are happy, others we are sad, some days we are slow, other days we are busy and fast.

This translates into the boundaries - some days they are allowed to eat grass online, others we say no. Some days we allow them to pull on the rein or lead, other days we say no that’s naughty, some days we are a ‘passenger’ others we are calling the shots. These inconsistencies lead to a worried horse that doesn’t know what to expect or when.

When we build trust through consistently keeping everything ‘the same’ the horse feels comfortable with us.
Train with us

September 22 & 23 Cowboy Dressage Masterclass with Phil Monaghan and Ken Faulkner - Esk, Qld.
Sept 30 Oct 1 & 2 Cowgirls Gathering

October - USA -
8 & 9 Watsonville CA
22 Auditors Masterclass with 8, Deb, Lisa, Phil and Tanja
October 27 - 30 inc Valmont Farms Tasmania

November - Merton Park Clinics, Victoria