Observe, Observe, Observe! (2026) A working session with a 4-year old mare

by Mary Gallagher

I recently had an opportunity to video for students how I observe a horse in my ground work before I start a teaching session. A promising young mare had arrived at Freedom Farm in need of attention to her behavioral habits. I’ve been taking time here and there to get to know her better. The video captures 9 minutes or so of an early session with her, in which she revealed quite a bit about herself. 

Flight or fight / friend or foe.  It’s key to remember with every horse, that they are prey animals evolved to scan for predators, every waking moment. At this point, to her, I’m the predator in the room and she needs to know if I’m friend or foe. My focus is on how she checks me out—responding to what little pressure I’m giving, testing whether I mean what I say, and finding where safety lies. 

Observation is my key, here. Many of us were taught to go straight to forward movement—running the horse, lunging, sending them in circles to burn off excess energy so we can deal with them. That’s one of our tools, of course, but if it’s our first (or only) go-to, we miss an opportunity to observe, to learn, to set the stage for productive work.

Once she becomes comfortable with this environment and me, the game will change to establishing dominance by who controls movement and direction. My aim will be to establish leadership in a way that makes sense to her.

I hope you’ll enjoy ‘observing’ this work, and I hope to share more of our progress soon! 

In the mean time, after the video I have included several links to a sampling of related blog posts I've written over the years. 

Observe, Observe, Observe (2026)...the movie!

Related blog posts: 

"Observe, Observe, Observe..." (2021) I'd been musing on watching horses spook.

Teaching a Reactive Horse to Think Through Problems on the Way to a Safer Life (Part One)

 Foundations for Becoming the Leader Your Horse Needs (Part 3 of Observe series) 

These are a sampling and are connected to other blog posts on this fascinating and crucial topic for those seeking to truly understand and connect with their horses as part of effective partnership. Enjoy! -MG