By Mary Gallagher
Third in a series about noticing your horse's body language.
When you first look at the photos in this article, you might think 'gosh, Mary wants that horse to step on the tarp', and you would be partly right. I do want him to step on it--eventually. More important are all the wonderful things that develop while he avoids the tarp. So many times we get the end result fixed in our minds and we think we should achieve it right away. However, if we slow down and allow the horse to work at finding comfort, we achieve so much more.
Here I have my rope just long enough that this horse has to work at going around the tarp. As he avoids the tarp, he has to bend his head and neck around. He is also picking
up his shoulder and reaching underneath himself with his inside hind leg stretching and loosening the hips, ribs, and back.
The less I pressure him, the more relaxed he will stay. With each pass of the tarp he uses more of his body, testing his range of motion without tension. Eventually he will begin to hunt for comfort and a resting spot, this is when the tarp starts to look inviting.
There is plenty of benefit and no harm in allowing the horse to work at finding comfort in this type of relaxed work on the ground. As you play with this exercise, you are developing greater sensitivity to your horse's body language, while encouraging your horse's attention and response to your leadership. In short, this kind of ground work is a wonderful warm up for riding.
To experience learning to read your horse's body language first hand, join us on Fridays at 10:30 am. Lesson horses available, or bring your own! Email to let me know you are coming.
Do you have a photo of your horse behaving in a way you'd like to understand better? If you'd be willing for me to share it here, I'd be glad to have a look! Email me.
(Originally published April 2014)
