Heart and Desire

This Week with Your Horse

"Communication is two or more individuals sharing and understanding an idea.  If I pat my leg and the dog comes, we've communicated.  But I can talk to a post until I'm blue in the face, and I'm just talking.  Communication is a mutual affair between two or more individuals." - Pat Parelli from his book "Natural Horse.Man.Ship."

Rate yourself on your Communication and keep track of it for one week.

Remember that Communication hasn't completed the circle until there is understanding. 

Are you doing a lot of talking and very little listening?  Are you "shouting" with your body language when you could "suggest"?  Is your horse asking questions and responding or is he just reacting? 

How about what your horse is trying to communicate to you?  Are you listening? 

Or is he talking to a post?

This Week With Your Horse

If you or someone you know doesn’t think you have time to try Parelli techniques, or if you think all that groundwork takes too much time, here is a no-excuses approach. We'll be posting a tip every week or so.  Each tip requires as little as 10 minutes a day. Even if you board your horse and can only get out a few times a week, you can still use that time to radically improve the relationship you have with your horse.  We’ll be adding tips regularly, so be sure to check back or SUBSCRIBE.

Before you start, get a little spiral notebook and write notes on your horse’s reactions to each tip. It will be easier to see where you started and track your results.

TIP #1 – A Good Scratch - I think we can all agree that a good scratch is worth its weight in gold. It also proves to your horse that your focus is on the relationship, instead of treating him like a motorcycl.  Notice if your horse tightens his tail and muscles against your touch – can you get him to relax and let you move the dock from side to side?  Can you find the “lift-your-tail button”?  A 10-minute scratching session with no strings attached will win your horse’s heart!  Write about the results in your log.

Photo by Coco