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In the dating world many men
and women put their potential partners to a "dog
test," whereby they introduce their date to their dog
and see how the dog reacts to the stranger. If the dog
reacts badly towards their date then a red flag is waved,
whereas if the dog accepts the stranger instantly the
opposite holds true. While many people look upon this test
in a tongue-in-cheek manner, many dog owners actually do
take it seriously. As they probably should!
Many animals, including
horses, possess an uncanny ability to detect emotion as
well as the inner nature of an individual. Whereas you may
be able to slap a forced smile on your face and hide
powerful negative emotions such as stress or anger from
fellow humans, you won't find it as easy to fool a horse!
In fact I consider horses to be natural truth detectors
due to their ability to read a person's emotional state as
well as their sincerity when it comes to a love for
equines.
If one of my naturally
friendly horses takes an instant dislike to someone out of
the blue, 9 times out of 10 I'm going to respect my equine
partner's instincts. Horses generally do not possess
vendettas or have reason to target anyone for no real
reason – they tend to call them as they see them. If a
horse usually takes a liking to visitors but holds a
sudden aversion to one in particular, clearly the horse
sees or detects something that I may not have initially
caught.
When a horse enjoys your
company, you'll know it. When a horse trusts you, you'll
know it. And when a horse actually dislikes you, he will
make sure you know it. I often state that the world would
be a much better place if people were as brutally honest
as horses. But I digress…
A proficient horseman at
work should be cool, calm and collected, three essential
qualities to maximize the productivity of a training
session as well as create an all-around positive aura over
human-horse interactions. Keep in mind that you are the
horse's leader, and as such the horse will take his cues
from you. If you are agitated the horse will recognize
something is wrong and either feel you are angry with him
or you are annoyed with something else he cannot detect
but probably should be also be concerned about. The horse
will not be able to focus on the lesson or your requests
well at all, nor will he be able to draw strength from you
when he becomes concerned about a foreign object or
behavioral request.
It is essential that you
try not to visit or work with your horse when you are in a
negative frame of mind since these undesirable emotions
will disturb your equine partner. Try to take a few
minutes, or even hours if necessary, to collect your
emotions and clear your mind of life's daily irritants.
When we see a loved one is
feeling down, it often puts a damper on our day too since
negativity tends to breed negativity. The same will happen
with your horse, so do not underestimate your horse's
ability to detect your feelings.
Visit http://www.alphahorse.com/horse-training.html
to view more articles about horse training.
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About
The Author
Jeffrey
Rolo, owner of AlphaHorse and an
experienced horse trainer and breeder, is
the author of the above article. You
will find many other informational
articles dealing with horse training and
care as well as games and other horse fun
on his website: http://www.alphahorse.com |
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