Liberty work takes on a life of its own. Even when I know the horses involved, they do not always do what I expect.

Liberty work takes on a life of its own. Even when I know the horses involved, they do not always do what I expect.

After I had some time to think about it, I think the theme of this past Saturday’s Liberty Foundation Workshop was “horse listening.”
Horses are capable of great caretaking.
The mare saw the setup – one horse was going to move another horse into another horse and on it would go, a domino effect of movement, right into the little girl standing there watching.
The good boy horse is one who continually does what is asked. For some trainers and owners, this is exactly what they want, a horse that does not offer any challenges. For some good boy or girl horses, life is good enough that there is no need to question too much. For others, they have had their wishes trained out of them.

Horses generally love an open gate. An open gate even if it’s one they’ve been through before, signifies something different, something to be curious about. Going places. Perhaps the grass tastes different there, or there will be an adventure.
The Liberty Foundations are a forever thing with horses. Just because a horse has been taught them by other horses, for example, it doesn’t mean he or she stops doing them.
Ultimately we all want horses to do something specific with us. In order for that to come about, the horse will do the something best if first brought into relationship.

Continue reading The difference between “doing” and “being” with horses
When there is trouble in the herd – one horse picking on another, or a horse or horses continually picked on by the others, the Liberty Foundations can help.