How you talk about your horse matters, because it reflects how you think about your horse.
How you think about your horse matters because it is the starting place from how you see your horse's behaviors, responses and needs...
... and this will influence how you engage and work with your horse.
"He's just spooking to get out of work."
"She's just a snarky mare."
"He's just lazy and doesn't want to respond to my aids."
"She hates the whip."
"He just doesn't want to do it."
How do you relate to a horse if you're coming from that perspective?
Those are all negative words that come from a negative bias, and they make it seem as if the horse is plotting against us or unwilling to work towards a productive relationship.
Their brain simply isn't capable of working that way because of its construction and function.
It's in the horse's very nature to synchrinize and work together as a unit/group/herd/partnership for safety.
How about throwing away those limiting thoughts and replacing them with thoughts that reflect awareness, and offer actual insight to show our understanding of the situation and needs of our partner, the horse.
Replacing those thoughts above with more appropriate thoughts might look like this:
"He's tense or worried about something and it's distracting him from the work."
"She's sensitive and I offer my aids or requests in ways she thinks are offensive."
"He doesn't understand my aids clearly, or is maybe weak and unable to properly respond."
"She was never properly introduced to the whip, so I need to help her to reduce her anxiety."
"He just doesn't understand yet."
How do you relate to a horse if you're coming from that perspective?
The whole idea I'm trying to get at is that we need to drop our defensive negativity bias. Even in our basic thoughts towards and about our horses, because they have a tremendous influence on how we relate to them. This influences the success or failure of our partnership.
It up to you... and your thoughts.
