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Ever experience this scenario: You have a specific goal you are trying to achieve with your horse. You are excited and feel prepared to lead your horse to this new achievement. As you begin to play with your horse, you become frustrated because your horse just doesn't seem to get it!
Well...this just happened to us at Horses Just Wanna Have Fun. We are planning on completing our Level 2 Assessments in the Parelli Natural Horsemanship program before the end of the year. There were a few tasks that we were stuck on, so we decided to get together and see what the problem was and video some of the tasks.
I wanted Joe to change directions and at the same time maintain his gait - specifically the trot (he paces so I had a big challenge to begin with).  However, everytime I asked for a change in direction, Joe would stop and turn to face me. Frustrated? Oh my, was I ever. As Cindy watched me,
she quickly realized that my body language was telling
Joe to do EXACTLY what he was doing, turn and face me. As soon as she pointed this out and I made a simple change in communication - lo and behold Joe had no
trouble changing directions while maintaining this gait.
Cindy's turn (she loves it when its her turn!). She was having trouble with the side pass while mounted. I observed that her hand position was confusing Lucy and suggested she try it differently. That was all it took, as soon as she changed something as simple as her hand position, Lucy sidepassed beautifully!
So before you get frustrated with your horse (or yourself), perhaps all you need is another set of eyes to help you with some communication corrections.
If you don't have someone you feel comfortable enough to ask you can also video tape your sessions. This is a great way for you to know how you are truly communicating with your horse and to observe your horses "feedback".
Reflect, Correct and never stop learning!
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