Category Archives: liberty rein

The Horse Who Stopped Eating

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Horse health is such a broad topic, it cannot be limited to what we do in terms of providing hands-on bodywork, or diet or exercise. It also includes emotional, psychological and psychic health, activities to create communication and increase curiosity  and the way we ride.

In February, I conducted a Q&A session where one of the questions was about a horse who had stopped eating, and discussing what to do to get the horse eating again. The practitioner with the issue said the horse had just lost his owner and regular stablemates due to death. He had been moved to a new barn with new horses and people.

We were dealing with more than simple refusal to eat, though that can become complex in itself. We were dealing with a grief process. The answer to the question – what to do about a horse who stopped eating – took on another dimension, as the horse would need more emotional and psychic support in addition to basic dietary needs and bodywork to get the gut functioning properly.

The horse needed a bridge to his new life, where there are very good things available. He just can’t reach for them right now. A horse in this state can go unnoticed in traditional circumstances where people will focus on the lack of appetite but not think about or know how to address the grief.

What does this horse need? I ask myself.  He may shun connection, though bodywork, a simple laying on of hands, could be very helpful and give valuable information too. Grief makes the body tight and dry, flaky, unresponsive. To loosen up those areas – particularly around the heart – would help the horse feel better in himself, and lo and behold, he may eat.

Time spent just being with the horse can be invaluable. Maybe he can’t think of anything he wants to do, but you can do things for him. Show him things, talk to him, walk with him.

When we as humans are going through a grieving process, it’s sometimes hard to put one foot in front of the other. It’s hard to talk to others. Imagine what that’s like for the horse. He doesn’t even have the distractions of bills that need paying or job concerns. If he has been left alone with no companions, it can be even more devastating.

It’s really up to us to set the tone as the horse is not very resourced at this time. If the owner is also grieving, he or she can be honest about the sadness felt, but be careful to remain soft and in memory mode of the lost loved one.

Just being, one of the hardest things for us to do, is probably the best thing you can do. Some horses really enjoy you talking to them, keeping up a conversation, perhaps recounting stories about the departed ones, if you knew the family. Some just want you there, grooming, taking care and talking about their specialness perhaps, bring them back into their bodies. Setting up situations to engage a horse’s curiosity, providing comfort, will all help that horse come around. Walks together are immensely helpful, especially if there are other animals in the neighborhood to visit.

Think in terms of what we all are as mammals – gut, brain, heart, and not necessarily in that order. There are more nerve cells in the gut than anywhere other than the brain. The nerve cells of the gut are part of the enteric nervous system, a separate nervous system that sends messages to the brain. It plays an important role in the emotional health in all of us.

Make sure the horse has companions. Not all horses grieve the same way. Some are sad but they are more able to go through their days as they have a more developed understanding of their stablemate or owners’ passing. That understanding can be supportive to the grieving horse.

This is why we look further than digestion and learn the rest of the story, or as much as we can. Sometimes the horse not eating can be a simple dietary change and sometimes it requires more research. Your ability to just be and bring out the presence in the horse will be key.

We are accustomed to extending condolences to bereaved human families. Grief is part of life, not a postscript, tacked on as “oh by the way, this person or horse lost his family.” It is the beginning, the jumping off place, for all else to happen going forward. It may feel that nothing is happening or changing for awhile, but gradually it will.

No Pain – Lots of Gain!

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We hear a lot about fear-based horse training. We don’t hear much about how bodywork can raise a horse’s fear threshold if done without regard to his/her feelings.

It’s very common for horses to be afraid of bodywork, especially if they have received fear-based training or a number of unpleasant veterinary procedures. Of course, veterinary procedures and surgeries are often non-negotiable. When I have a procedure personally, I can only imagine what that feels like to the horse who doesn’t understand why it’s being done to him or her.

The number of horses who have huge built in resistance is astronomical, and also some of those horses have shut down emotionally to be able to tolerate what has been done to them. Just look at the overflowing horse shelters. A huge number of these horses have arrived at the shelter abused, malnourished and neglected. Many come in afraid of the farrier, the vet, being caught, needles, lifting their hooves, being ridden – the list is endless. They may be in a lot of pain as well. They have an elaborate network of resistances holding them together, yet they are fragile, reactive or shut down, stuck in their flight/fright/freeze mode. In order to receive basic veterinary and farrier care, some may need to be sedated.

The inquiry phase of bodywork.

If you come to one of those horses with intrusive bodywork techniques, and that horse isn’t happy to see you, don’t take it personally. I see many of these horses who are overly cautious about what I might do to them. How do I work with them, relax them? First of all, I work on being as unthreatening as I possibly can be. And I don’t mean acting like I’m unthreatening, I mean really being unthreatening. I check in with myself – where are my resistances? Where might a horse pick up something that makes them nervous? I make sure I’m centered, that I’m not distracted, that I am just being. I have had a lot of practice doing this, but I think it’s practice worth investing in. Just be, chat with the horse a little. Lay your hand in front of the withers and talk softly. You may need to touch sore spots just to get information, but that part can wait until the horse is more relaxed.

As horse people, we can make countless decisions for our horses. One decision we can make is to hire only people who will treat our horse kindly. Of course, we need to have vets doing things that are unpleasant, as those procedures are designed to save lives. Vets are fundamentally kind, in my opinion. They are not the subject of this article.

If your horse is continually miserable or reactive during a visit from any practitioner, it may be worthwhile to re-evaluate that professional relationship.

If it takes me half a session to get a horse relaxed enough to accept and absorb the work I’m doing, I want to look at the whole picture. Is the horse in a lot of pain? What is the horse’s trauma history? Who else works with this horse and how?

Some horses have received so much abuse that they need a lot of work emotionally and psychically. They may be in their forever home, but their trauma is very deep rooted and challenging to change. Hopefully, owners will invest in this rehabilitative process. Some horses may be enduring ongoing veterinary treatments that are stressing them out.

I worked consistently with a horse who would get better after the session but the next week, would be angry and upset again. I learned later that she was being abused by a trainer in the time in between. It is similar  to when a child is being continually abused in the home, and gets better with various programs offered at school. But the child can’t move forward in development and remains in a holding pattern because the parental abuse brings the child right back to the origin of the problem, reinforcing it as other positive influences are trying to heal it. This is the agony of all child protective services as well.

I cannot move forward with the healing work if the animal is going to go back into the abusive situation.

Sometimes I find that the owner isn’t aware of what other professionals are doing with their horses.

Finding the right professionals requires moving out of our comfort zone sometimes, where we are not expecting pain to be part of the healing process unless it is a veterinary procedure. Humans are accustomed to expecting pain – even exercise programs are designed around the “no pain – no gain” principle. When bodybuilders come for a human bodywork session, very often they want to push against me with brute force when I ask for an isometric exercise. I will then ask them to just “think it.” This can be a new concept to those who are accustomed to leaving the gym like limp noodles.

There is a time and place for everything. The work at the gym is exercise. I break it down this way – bodywork, stretching and then exercise. The bodywork should prepare or rehabilitate the body without expecting anything of it and allow it to self-correct. The stretching keeps muscles and fascia supple so the body doesn’t seize up when it gets to the exercise part. The exercise keeps the body moving, encourages circulation and therefore nourishes the blood supply and all the organs, soft tissue and structure. It’s best to have all three, but if the body is injured and can’t exercise, then the other two must be employed before we can expect more from the body. We must give the body the right information to set it on its path for healing.

If the bodywork is too vigorous and sets the individual back, then it will take days to recover from it. Many people don’t know if the bodywork their animal is receiving is doing any good, but they keep paying for it because others at the barn are using the same person. It’s a routine, sort of like getting the teeth floated, vaccinations or using the same trainer. In their minds, if they continue to do it, they are doing a good thing for their horse. Or there is peer pressure and they may be afraid to change. Important information about healthy options needs to be made available.

Bodywork that causes beings to go into recoil and not want to engage is not allowing the body to find its own self-corrective response. Why is this important? Because when we engage the self-corrective response, ask the body which way it likes to go, what’s its preference, it comes forward and there is life and change in its response. Otherwise, the body is not a participant. It’s plain and simple. The body is being “done to” rather than engaged with.

A lot of people think of bodywork as a “spa” treatment only, unaware of the vast therapeutic benefits of a good session. A session should encompass mental and spirit well-being as well as deep musculoskeletal, fascia and visceral. I say “spirit” well-being instead of spiritual because I don’t mean it to be a religious experience, I mean that we are working with the very unique, individual spirit of the animal, on a level it can absorb and embrace.

Fortunately, awareness of animals’ voices is increasing. There are fewer people thumping on horses without regard to how they are receiving therapeutic work and more people eager to take the time to really be with the horse for however short time they have to make a difference. Without burning bridges, it’s up to us to build a team of worthwhile professionals who reflect the goals we have for our equines.

What changes should you look for in your horse during or after a bodywork session?

Certified Equine Body Balance Practitioner Kelly Reed works intuitively and gently to achieve full relaxation and engagement.

• In most cases, the horse should have better flexibility after the session, the tissue moving under the skin fluidly, topline relaxed.
• The limbs and joints should move better, and in cases of lameness, the horse should stride better if not be free of signs of lameness. These are individual cases.
• The horse should have improved respiration.
• Any horse should have a softer or brighter look in his/her eye and be less worried, if he/she was a worried one before. The horse should be more engaged.
• A horse who is immobile due to stall rest or laminitis will have some tissue changes and perhaps improvement in small movement.
• Organic changes will also result in relaxation, dropping of tension, better overall movement; in some cases, better digestion, greater energy.

Rehabbing and Getting Ready for Spring

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Years ago, when I was riding endurance, many rider/horse teams would head to El Paso during the winter months to ride. Horses had not had much riding time in the colder climates so one had to be careful as they traveled in the deep desert sand. Often the injuries that went unnoticed from the winter riding would appear in the spring.

Horses not working can also have injuries during the spring. Perhaps over the winter the horse has had a pasture injury or slipped in the mud, or been started back to work too vigorously.

In the wild it is said that horses will travel about 20-25 miles per day, seeking forage and water. It’s hard for us to duplicate that for the domestic horse unless we have a very large pasture. Even so, domestic horses are provided with food and water, so they may have space but not the motivation of a wild horse. In the Southwest U.S., while we have a lot of open land, very little of that space is large pasture for horses. Mostly they live in dirt lots or stalls.

It’s important to choose a regimen that will work well for the horse you’re working with, taking into account his/her abilities and the amount of time off the horse has had. Since I work with rehabilitating horses, I am gauging what they are physically and emotionally capable of doing and choosing activities accordingly.

The exercise of being able to move around freely is different than the measured, focused exercise we ask of a horse in daily work. Both are very important.

Here are some tips:

Walking on different types of terrain for horses who can manage it is vital.

Evaluate that the horse is okay with the level of movement we are asking of them. I recommend supporting them with bodywork where needed. If they have trouble lifting their legs or have sore feet, we begin with walks on soft flat ground, then add thin ground poles as they get stronger. We can also use a row of traffic cones and weave in and out of them.

The other day I was working with a non-ridden mare who has been really fussy about being touched. I know she has arthritis and is sometimes uncomfortable in her body. I tried some Ortho-Bionomy “post-techniques” with her – techniques where I engage her in an activity that also helps her posture and loosening her spine. She began to move with more purpose. Then we walked and found an area with railroad ties for her to step over. She became very animated and enjoyed the whole idea of stepping over something in a rhythmic fashion. I was able to touch and work with her everywhere I needed to in this session because of this approach.

I retired my current senior Patches at age 23 from riding, as he showed he wasn’t

comfortable being ridden anymore. He’s now 26. He enjoys walks and arena activities. He is also teaching our young mare Red to be more curious than she already is. I think this is an excellent way for him to spend his golden years.

The types of exercises and techniques I use with him are useful for all aged horses but especially those with arthritis, in rehab or even young horses starting out. You don’t need a bunch of expensive machines or a swimming pool to do this, though of course those items would be nice. All you really need is a nice area to take walks, and a space to set up some cones and ground poles. A big inflatable ball interests some horses as well. Patches enjoys pushing plastic barrels around.

It’s important to remember that a little bit goes a long way. These are not “strength exercises.” These are “toning” and “stretching exercises” that support the natural rhythm and movement of the body. The horse gains strength from them without the lifting weights approach. If the stretching leads to more aerobic and anaerobic activities naturally, without strain or injury, then it will be the right way to go for that animal.

In rehab, sometimes there is a great move forward, then a few steps backward, sometimes a plateau, just like when we humans are recovering from an injury. It’s impossible to keep pushing forward at one steady pace when the body is changing, readjusting, becoming stronger in some areas more quickly while other areas may lag behind or may appear as not on board with the program.

For horses getting back to work after a lay-off or hard winter, ride at the walk and gradually move up to a trot or canter. Lunging is also useful and can show you if the horse has any unevenness of stride that you need to be aware of for ridden work.

Ground poles and cones also lighten up arena work for these horses and allow some variety.

When working with a young performance gelding lately, while he has been ridden and cross-trained all winter, still, the shifting cold-to-warm weather ups and downs can cause muscles to tighten after his workouts. Since he’s very supple otherwise, he doesn’t need the slow spring start but rather, bodywork to maintain suppleness as he continues to train and meet new challenges.

An obstacle course is another fun thing to do with horses at all levels. You can take each horse through it, tailoring the obstacles to their individual abilities.

Liberty work is excellent for engaging with horses so they can be exercised without tack and build a stronger bond.

Above all, provide variety.  Some horses require more variety than others.

A horse who comes to the gate with anticipation is a lot more fun than one who runs away and doesn’t want to be caught. I want to see that cute face looking at me with curiosity, “Hi, so what are we doing today?”

 

Winter Walking with Sabio

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We walk down the road, vehicle tracks as rigid deep veins in the frozen mud, sheets of ice glistening in the pale winter sun. It’s treacherous footing but we have to get out.

Our usual stop is to visit two young mares in a pasture, who are always excited to see another horse coming down the road. Today, Sabio stops and looks at them, but he doesn’t ask to go over and visit. Often he has gone over and sniffed noses and taken in their muzzles exploring his face and neck as though it was a special treat. But today, he looked and he decided he wanted to continue walking with me and didn’t give them a backward glance.

This demonstrated to me that he had gotten accustomed to their presence and that he was perfectly happy walking with me. At that point he made that decision not to visit with them, I felt a deep connection come from him, him matching my stride, us walking together. I often feel this with him while in the saddle too, but when I am on the ground next to him, I’m then like another horse. Horses walk side by side, they walk one behind the other. There is a rhythm to this, different from the rhythm of us being on their backs. I want all those rhythms. I want to feel all of it.

The other part of the walk is observing together. If he takes an interest in the mares, so do I. If he takes interest in some far off call of a coyote, I turn my head in the same direction. I often can’t hear and see what he has going on in his world, but it doesn’t matter. I want to know. I want to be more horse than I am. I want the senses he was born with, the broader knowledge of his world. He is my entry into that world, whether I will ever hear or see what he can or not.

Winter can be bleak here in the Southwest, with snow blowing across frozen stalks of wild grasses, tree trunks gone rigid and cracking from the cold. Once when it was warmer, a dust devil lifted dried horse poop into a swirl and hit me full in the face. It is not a romantic setting, yet there is something wild and beautiful about it all. It is a time for hibernation and yet I’m out here in the muck and cold walking a horse before the sun disappears.

We share this with the crows cawing, lighting on clawlike branches and taking flight when we come near. We share it with the coyotes who are the same color as the land and sunlight, fleets of yellow-brown fur hunkering low to the ground at a trot in hopes of not being noticed, stealthy, cunning.

On the way back, I tossed the leadrope over his back to see what he would do. He grazed on what was available, finds something tasty hidden under the snow; sticks with me. At times I led the way, other times he moved ahead, just as though we were two horses exploring. The only difference is I’m a human. He has the ability to move away and come back but I don’t really feel him leave. He looks at me, wants to know which direction at times, or even suggest a direction. Occasionally, I point or lead the way.

I feel his connection without the leadrope, with only his attention moving between his curiosity and staying close, a leadrope tethered to my heart, not my hand.

 

 

Healing Herds, Movement and Community

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The two horses rub each other’s necks, ferreting out the itchy or sore spots in each other. How do they know to do this? Is their mutual grooming actually bodywork?

Continue reading Healing Herds, Movement and Community →

What we want from the horse

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In Buddhism there is the Tibetan word “Shenpa,” that can be translated “something that hooks us,” according to Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron. It is also “the urge.”

Shenpa is what drives habitual patterns, motives and addictions. It comes in two parts: the reaction to pain and the escaping of pain. And the reaction to an insult, or something you don’t like that someone has said or done.

While it can be easily seen in overeating, binge drinking and attachment to anger, it can also be seen in overdoing and attachment to good things, like meditation or doing good for the world.

As people, we want things to remain the same. We live in a changing world that fills us with insecurity. If we experience one wonderful experience, we want all experiences with that one person or animal to continue to be that wonderful.

This is where horses come in. Horses don’t come to us seeking for us to do trot circles or train them to become Grand Prix competitors. They would be perfectly happy with space, grass, shelter, water and friends. As long as they have these things, their needs are met. They don’t generally think the way we do in this way.

So, when we come in with an agenda, we override their natural flow. But what if we drop that agenda and just hang out for a while, as though we are visiting herd members, and see what happens?

We worked with this concept in the Florida workshop this past weekend. A wide variety of equines made it possible to see how they interacted with people.

Cocoa the pony has been to the workshops before, and generally, he is a self-confident, proud pony who does his job pulling a cart very well. He doesn’t interact much with the people because he likes things the way they are. I noticed he was very good at doing what I asked, but that there wasn’t any engagement between us. Over the years of working with Cocoa, he has become more personable with his owner.

So, I stopped doing anything and I turned away from him. Within minutes he came over to me to visit and breathe with me.

Another time I was just walking behind him and I felt him moving far ahead of me, and sensed that he thought I was chasing him, even though I did not feel I was at all. It was his perception. I stopped again. Other people also had that experience with him. (The pony mare Amber demonstrated how to move Cocoa very effectively).

In Liberty Foundations, we want to be accepted by the herd but change our position in the herd organically. But sometimes our Shenpa gets in the way and we keep on asking, seeking a particular outcome.

Another gelding, Jack, didn’t want to be separated from his mares who were in heat in the next pasture. There were other visiting geldings so he needed to ensure his herd was safe. So we worked around that, and actually he began to enjoy dancing and running with his owner Anne, even taking her cue to go into the beginnings of a Spanish walk, which he’d never done before. She was naturally very excited by this.

The next day Jack simply wouldn’t leave the fence, and got frustrated with anyone trying to engage with him. He had a few brief moments of going over cavaletti and engaging, but it was clear that he didn’t want to be with people. So we let him back in with his mares.

He was a different horse the second day. It was a big lesson for all of us – we had our hopes high, we had seen Jack’s performance the day before and wondered what he could achieve the second day. He was full of such animation and joy that day, and the next, nada. We were hooked.

It was as Pema Chodron said, we want all experiences with that one person or animal to continue to be that wonderful.

We are attached. At that point it was important to check our personal energy and drop it. I noticed when I worked with Jack that when I dropped my energy and with it, my desire to move him, have him begin elevating his feet in that dancy step, he could give more attention to me. If I offered him something, companionship at the gate, a tuft of hay, he had more interest. His attention was divided at best, because of the mares, but there was a glimpse of attention to me.

While the work is simple, we also encountered the edge of the horse’s tolerance. I like to stop working before we come to that, but sometimes the horse gets there first. Prince was excellent at working with numerous people and softening in his demeanor, coming away from food and into relationship. He wanted private time in the form of frequent pauses, and he feared being crowded. We could see that when our own urge to have him do more got in the way, he didn’t want to participate further. Shenpa.

Cherokee is an older mare I have always felt was angry. She had a hard life before Anne took her in, and has also suffered a lot in her body. With a horse with this kind of anger, you want to stay clear of what she is carrying. Drop your energy into your feet, keep it light. She has her own Shenpa, a negative expectation. At the same time, she wants human attention.

We chose an exercise that would engage her and please her at the same time. She became light and curious in her being, and the anger she arrived with dissipated.

It has taken awhile for Penny to come around to separating from her herd, but last year she made some big strides. This year, she was in heat and wasn’t happy leaving her herd. She could work well with her owner Gabi, and did quiet down with others also. When she engages, she is very soft and willing, but when she gets anxious, sometimes she doesn’t know you’re there.

We worked with separating horses who spend all their days together and reuniting them. We worked in short segments, extending their attention span, and coming up against a wall of resistance in others.

Not only do we have a different horse on a different day, we are also different. On some days, the horses graze close to one another, on other days they are far apart. The heart of the horse beats with the rhythm of the herd, a group heartbeat. Our challenge is to get our hearts to beat with it, dropping expectations, reshaping what we want from the horse. If we become a valid herd member, then the horse will be able to separate out from the herd more easily, and attention to us will increase.

(c) Susan Smith, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, Equine Body Balance (TM)

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When should I ride my horse?

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This question comes to me often: When can I ride my horse? How much can I ride my horse?

Jazzie_trail

In our society, there is a strong push to get horses back to work after an injury or illness, just as there is with people. If you have a surgery, you can be back to work pretty quickly these days after some procedures. The problem with this is that the body may need longer to recover and may be playing catch-up.

At the same time, movement is essential to the health of the body. The horse may need a gradual curve of gentle techniques and movement exercise before actual work. Surgery interrupts the regular function of  the body. Any injury or surgery affects the entire organism.

The liver controls tendons and ligaments, for example, so when tIMG_0324hose areas are affected, the liver is deficient in fluids and therefore the tendons and ligaments are also not getting vital fluids and don’t move as efficiently.

I use the example of a horse hitting its head really hard and getting stitches. Just because the vet has deemed him “fine” and patched him up, doesn’t mean he is ready to roll. The horse may exhibit strange behavior after the bump on the head, sometimes neurological symptoms such as wobbliness. Or sometimes symptoms take years to manifest.

I’ve often asked clients if their horse has had a head injury at any time, because of something I’ve seen happening (or not happening) in the body. “Oh, yes, ten years ago he hit his head on the trailer but it healed up just fine.”

As we know, our bodies hold a road map of everything that has happened in our lives, and horses’ too. Everything – physical, emotional, you name it, it’s in there. That’s why every injury or illness needs support from within, not just from without.

Usually the vet will have a timeline for when to begin hand-walking, or lunging your horse after an injury. The timelines after specific injuries, such as ligament and tendon injuries, falls, illness, etc. will help you understand how many weeks of one activity you may have and how long to engage in it. You will have to depend on your knowledge of your horse and how he is feeling to know whether the vet’s expectations meet what your observations bear out.

Z_cavalettiWhen I was endurance riding, our ride vets would remind us that we knew more about our horses than they did, in one way. We were around our horses all the time. We knew their habits, and we knew when they were doing fine and when they were not.

My gelding Khami was a funny example of that. He used to like to sleep flat out on the ground, while tied to the trailer, with his eyes wide open, when at an hour-long vet check. The local New Mexico ride vets knew this habit of his and didn’t worry. When we rode in Paonia, Colorado once, he did this and the vet was frantic. He said I must get my horse up, he was worried and couldn’t find any vital signs. Khami got up to see what all the commotion was about, but he was very well rested. His vital signs were fine and he went on to finish a 2-day 100.

The question of when to ride your horse is going to vary with some horses a great deal. It depends on whether they are fit to be ridden, and for how long they can be ridden. It depends on their age, and their temperament and training. The saddle and bridle. The person who is riding them. The owner may have to modify his/her expectations of what the horse can accomplish for awhile.

I look at a lot of factors:

  • What is his facial expression?
  • Can the horse cross over behind?
  • Is he shrinking from touch anywhere on the body?
  • Can he lift his legs?
  • Can he stride forward on all four legs?
  • Any swellings or inflammation, stiff places or obvious injuries?
  • Does the horse hop like a bunny, lope like a giraffe?

Since I have a roller coaster experience with one of my horses — sometimes he’s sound and sometimes he’s not — I’m really tuned into this question. People may say, well, he’ll warm out of it. Maybe yes, maybe no. I want to understand the problem and help him with it, before I ask more of him. I want to ride in such a way, if I’m riding, so that the horse does not become more stiff afterwards. The exercise, whether riding or ground, needs to support and heal rather than set him back.

And when I do ride him, I ride him gently, and therapeutically, going over cavalettis, gentle trots, sometimes on uneven terrain, exercises designed to strengthen his muscles, tendons and ligaments. I must check in with my own body and do a Mounted Body Balance session on myself to make sure my body is not restricting him in any way. I try to focus on the things that feel so good about riding him – he’s so peaceful to ride, I love the way my legs drape down his sides. I love that I can sit his trot, he feels like an ocean liner. I continue to ride and mix it up, doing some Equine Body Balance on him before or after each ride, or in between, which supports the exercise we’re doing.

With the horse who may not want to lift a hind leg but is otherwise sound, yes, you can generally ride the horse, but we need to continue to work on why it’s hard for her to lift that leg. With the horse who can’t disengage behind, there is something more complicated going on that needs to be addressed. Some suppling exercises added to the program of bodywork will help with that in a lot of cases. You can possibly ride that horse in a straight line but not do any lateral work. I may need to look at how the rider’s position may be impinging on the horse’s movement. We may add some gentle suppling ground exercises to increase lateral flexibility. If the horse is having trouble raising a foreleg or striding forward, I want to flex the forelimb to find out where restriction is without causing pain. Sometimes the problem is at the far end of the horse from what appears obvious.

While the body is complicated, with its elegant and efficient network of nerves, blood, bones, lymph, muscles, nerves, tissues, organs, etc., it is possible to support the health in the horse with non-force techniques specific to certain conditions. When we are mounted, we can increase our knowledge of how our bodies affect our horses and how they might also help us so we can be more comfortable and efficient in the saddle. This work plus self-care can do wonders for horses and their owners, making it easier to develop a treatment/ rehab program that best suits their needs.

(c) Susan Smith, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, Equine Body Balance (TM)

Related link:  What? No more riding?

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Leadership revisited – both horse and human

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JazziefaceIn horse training, leadership is discussed a lot. If the person doesn’t have leadership, the horse will not be as responsive to them. There are people who are born with innate leadership. In horses, leadership potential can be recognized the moment the foal drops to the earth.

A breeder friend of mine once said, of certain foals, they recognized it in themselves and you as a person could immediately recognize this presence, this ability to be a leader. It wasn’t necessarily attached to physical attraction or size. It generally has to do with the presence of the individual and their awareness and caretaking ability, of other members of the herd.

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Horse-olutions for 2017

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I am not one to make a lot of New Year’s resolutions, because I don’t want to get upset with myself for not keeping them. So my “horse-olutions” are ones that can be easily be accomplished and kept in mind during the year.

herd_grooming

Personally, this year, my holiday was wonderful in that our two older grandsons came to visit. What was not so great was that throughout their visit I had very painful sciatica. While I work with people and horses on painful physical conditions, it’s another thing when it’s happening to me and others need to make room for my disability in their life.

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Be in the moment with horses

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One reason I like to teach Liberty Foundations is because it offers a true reading of the horse, but it also gives a true reading of the person working with the horse.

hello_hand

When people work with the horses that come to the clinics, they are often working with horses who don’t know the Liberty Foundations at all, and start from scratch. We begin with some dimensional exercises, to be sure we are not carrying unwanted baggage into the workspace with the horse, that may influence how she is responding. This also shows what we need to do to adjust our energy.

Once we are with the horse, we can see what further adjustments need to be made with energy.

I start the horse, then the owner or attendee will work with the horse, and start building the foundations, and in turn, the relationship. What is beautiful is that we work toward the horse being able to transfer her knowledge of one relationship to the next student, and refine that knowledge and connection with each student.

Often people work with horses who are not their own, and this is sometimes freeing in terms of not dealing with an ongoing relationship. It allows students to also experience a number of different horse personalities and energies.

Anne with Cherokee, photo courtesy of Rene Trebling
Anne with Cherokee, photo courtesy of Rene Trebling

If the person has brought their own horse, sometimes the person’s relationship with their own horse is one where the horse takes advantage of some aspect of the person. Or the person is so accustomed to their own horse, that they don’t correct their horse with any show of leadership. Or their energy is too strong for that particular horse.

There is what I call a “tipping point,” where the owner or handler can become uncentered in trying to get their horse to do something. Once they are uncentered, their influence over the horse diminishes. I have had this happen to me, and it’s important to recognize it as it comes out of our desire to effect a change. It also comes out of our desire to have the horse love us and want what we want.

Consider asking these questions:

1. Does your horse step into your space when you are working with her?

2. Does your horse ignore you a large amount of the time?

3. Is your horse agreeable but seems to have no real life in her for the work you’re doing together, or tries to hurry through it?

4. Do you feel yourself tumbling toward your horse, in your eagerness to have her like you and do things with you?

Jazzie_PatOne of the important things about Liberty Foundations is there is essentially no agenda. The steps are sitting with the horse, greeting the horse, moving with the horse, in ways that are common and familiar to the horse. If the horse chooses not to engage, it’s not a big deal.

If the horse continually chooses not to engage, then we aren’t being engaging enough! We can read the intention of the horse and read our own intentions. What do we want? What do we want the horse to do? He refuses to connect!

We are looking for willing participation. In other forms of horsemanship, people can have great results with a lot of horses, but the horses are not always willing participants.

The way we work in Liberty Foundations is in a larger space, a small arena, with corners or even a paddock, where the horse has the freedom to leave any time he or she wants.

Through our sitting with and greeting the horse, the horse learns to accept our presence in the herd. Through our walking behind her, she learns that we can have the same influence as other horses, and can come into rhythm with her. Changing that up to walk beside her, and we are companions, taking a stroll together, looking at the horizon, grazing, spending time like a horse. Moving the horse away and inviting her back, she learns that the relationship has a flow, that some space is necessary in the relationship, but that we will come back to each other with a stronger bond.

Andy mirroring Sam's stride.
Andy mirroring Sam’s stride.

Out of this quiet, focused effort, our horses will want to engage. Their interest in activities we introduce will increase. We’ll learn what their preferences are and be able to make modifications and bring joy. Other training methods will grow organically from these Liberty Foundations as we continue to move along the pathway to introducing what we need in our training programs.

I have included some videos of the work, with myself and students, with horses who are both ridable and not, with horses who have had a lot of Liberty Foundations and those who have had none.

We are seeking a change, a shift in relationship, by allowing it to emerge. We want eyes, ears, gestures, to all point to a soft, willing horse, not one who is just going through the motions.

To get this, we need to be specific in our directions, and not be tipped over into wanting certain responses, seeking love or understanding, seeking a bond that will come if the person just stays centered, breathing, in the moment.

It’s important for the person to increase the amount of time they can stay in the moment, which will naturally increase as they practice this work. The horse always lives in the moment, so she can guide us on this journey.

If you’ve answered “yes,” to any of the questions posed above, see if you can change that around as you work with Liberty Foundations.

Videos:

The Shaping of a Liberty Horse

Prairie Flower with Jazzmine and Lorrin

Transitioning to Riding from Liberty Foundations Groundwork, September 2013 Clinic

(c) Susan Smith, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, Equine Body Balance (TM)

Please see my

Events for information on upcoming clinics and workshops.