Last weekend I went to help me back lady out with some schooling for her lovely horse Watch Me! (stable name Gary Horse). Kelly and Gary have competed in Dressage up to National level but recently Kelly has felt that they have lost a little bit of connection and that Gary hasnt been going so well especially since they qualified for the regionals but didnt make it through. They are both more than capable but something was missing. Whenever I go to see a horse I tune into them with a bit of Reiki and get a feel for their energy and what they are telling me. His energy was telling me that he felt a little bit confused. He is a very sensitive horse and is not the easiest of horses to ride he has a massive big bouncy elevated trot. I found out that Kelly has a lot going on in her life at the moment and lots of pressure in all areas. Her time is very limited and she is always rushing about. My guess was that Kelly was sending Gary mixed signals and that due to him being so sensitive he was getting a bit panicky and confused and therefore shutting down. We had a play in the arena with changing Kellys thinking and her state as well as increasing the energy so that Gary felt excited about working instead of shutting down. As you can see from the video just that slight change in energy and aids meant that Gary was more forward going. I didnt catch it on video but at one point he was so excited that he started showing off with some big extravagant extended trot. What did work for Kelly was using the visual of Carl Hester so that she had to ride like him. To her Carl Hester looks as if he isnt doing anything and this was great as it meant that Kelly automatically had to quieten her aids and use less. This had an amazing effect on Gary as he then responded with enthusiasm. Kelly and Gary compete at Medium level dressage so its all very technical and fine tuned at this level. Because Kelly puts herself under pressure to do well her thinking is perfection. When we think perfection we have a tendency to over do things. In this case Kelly was overdoing her aids instead of trusting Gary, she didnt want to let him down. But actually the reverse worked. By starting with minimal aids and then turning them up if there was no response worked much better. Some horses are that sensitive that to do too much sends them into melt down mode. Whereas in this case certainly less is more! I watched Kelly and Gary do their Dressage to Music run through on Wednesday and I must say Gary was different horse. He was full of energy and raring to go. Kelly has realised that actually doing less and giving him big energy and praise gets him excited about working again. Shes still playing with the buttons but has noticed a massive difference in the way he is more tuned into work. Sometimes something as simple as taking off the pressure and having fun is enough to get a horse motivated again. We have to remember they are not machines, they have thoughts and feelings too. I always feel that they know when something else is going on in our lives and we are just not that connected with them. They get sad, fret and worry. This is what I love about my job, going to see a client who at first feels bummed out that nothing is going right and by doing some work with the partnership you can see the massive difference by the end of the session. Client is smiling and happy and so is the horse but best of all its seeing them do it together :-) https://youtube/watch?v=ndBGEp8dSQ8&feature=youtu.be
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:37:59 +0000
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