The Tough Love of Leadership: Teaching a Reactive Horse, Part Two

My trainee a little further on in his training--a good boy.

by Mary Gallagher

Continuing the story of “Teaching the Reactive Horse to Think..”, posted June 5, 2024. I described
helping a young, adrenaline-fueled gelding to find his feet and settle down enough to solve problems. He had spent his early years in an institutional environment with no way to learn about being a horse in a world he found confusing and scary. His new owners had sent him to me for some basic reorientation and connection training. -MG

My reactive young trainee had been lunged a lot but not taught to think. In his previous situation, his turn out privileges had been taken away because of his incessant running, which left lunging as his only other option for exercise.  For him, the round pen, too, was just another place to run away while checked out.  This disconnected behavior was not solving his problems, gave him little or no relief, and left his humans feeling beyond frustrated.  As I saw it, it was time to give this oblivious, hyper energy some purpose.  

The Ins and Outs of Trailer Loading

by Mary Gallagher

Trailer loading—a task that needs a lot of practice—was the theme of last Friday’s Ground Work class. Getting a horse to be okay at loading into  a scary cave on wheels is a challenge for the horse and handler. We warmed up using our foundational skills to establish communication cooperation and confidence in our horse partner. We did this through exercises like front end and hindquarter yields as well as stepping over and stopping over a pole going forwards and backwards.

Teaching a Reactive Horse to Think Through Problems on His Way to a Safer Life, Part One

By Mary Gallagher

Does your horse look to you for leadership?

The reactive horse generally does not, and that’s why we can learn a lot on the subject from teaching a reactive horse to respond in situations with confidence rather than react in fear.

Recently I had the opportunity to work with a horse that did not look to the human for leadership—not his owners, and certainly not me, when we first met. He was what you would call ‘over the top’—scared of just about everything, scared of his environment, and prone to avoiding any connection with humans—to the point of developing some truly dangerous behaviors. He would easily get out of control, spooking and bolting while being handled, snorting and acting totally checked out. His head carriage tended to be extremely high, and he’d be focusing and fully absorbed far out into the distance, ready to bolt (again) at any moment. Not a safe horse to handle.

So here he was, and I needed a plan. I returned to a diagram I have developed over the years (some of you may remember it from earlier blog posts), The Optimal Teaching Gauge. (I used to call it The Leadership Gauge.) It lays out where the sweet spot can be found between the human and the horse, with a range of behaviors to either side. It’s an assessment tool and a sort of compass for planning how to work with a particular horse, while developing your own leadership.

Stories I Tell Myself About My Horse: A Conversation

by Mary Tulin and Mary Gallagher

Mary Tulin: So the other day I was riding my Morgan mare Era through shoulder ins down the fence, wondering why she kept drifting off the track. As far as I could tell, I was doing all the things—opening inside rein, supporting outside rein, inside leg back and asking for the hind foot to step, etc. I was thinking things like, “Gosh, she’s a little low energy today.” “Hm, I guess she’s forgotten all the practice we did with this last fall.” “Wow, she must be a bit burned out on this; I should have taken her out for some non-arena time yesterday.”

Take your pick. Commiserating with myself in this way, I continued through a frustrating repetition of tight, unsuccessful attempts.

Mary Gallagher: Excuse me, Mary T… as you know, the stories we tell about our horses are really about ourselves.

Gratitude for a Very Busy 2023

by Mary Gallagher

A very full year. Somehow I feel like we started this year busy and never stopped! I am going to share some highlights…

Early spring cleanup. As I sat down to write this year’s notes of gratitude, I let my mind wander back
to late winter 2023. The extensive winter clean up from last year featured the expert pruning and cleaning of the flower beds by Gerardo Vidal and crew. I was so very grateful for Gerardo blessing our gardens and fruit trees—our spring and summer foliage and fruits reflected your expertise. Thank you Gerardo!

Many colts to start..! Jerry Schmidt connected us again this year with clinician Martin Black for

Jerry and Jackson, first saddling.

another fabulous clinic, which included a pretty amazing colt starting series, pushing us to acquire more skills again this spring. After the clinic Jerry was so generous with his time, helping me and training assistant Elise Dean with what seemed like a constant string of talented babies to start. Thank you Jerry and Elise! Also thanks to fellow trainer Brad Varner who joined us for some great early sessions. Most of all—speaking of the colts—special, deep thanks to their owners Amy Johnson, Wendy Comstock, and Melene Bourm for sending so many lovely, special horses this year. We honor and value your trust in our work.

Building Emotional Fitness in Yourself and Your Horse

Wendy Comstock on 3-year old Marcus for the first time.

by Mary Gallagher

It seems like this year we started more horses than ever. They just kept coming every month and we (Jerry Schmidt and I, with our special student Elise Dean) got into the flow of playing with young, promising horses every day. Pretty fun work, when you understand it! Anyway, with the days getting shorter, and knowing that soon the last of the babies will go home, I’ve been reflecting on what really stood out for me over this time with them. Overwhelmingly, the piece that means so much to me and connects our work with each of the horses is building their emotional fitness.

Lessons in Tuning Your Horse—and Yourself! (Growing our Horsemanship With Martin Black, Part Two)

By Mary Gallagher

I am still learning from our recent, fabulous clinic with Martin Black. I'd like to share what I've been doing lately with some of what I learned, though I'd recommend hearing it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak, if you can. I can’t recommend Martin highly enough, and you can join us for his next clinic with us in March 2024 to experience much more, first hand!

I’ve been walking my students through a basic pattern of foot placement exercises learned from Martin, relating it to what I’ve been teaching for years. One of the students, a musician, commented that taking time to learn and refine these exercises was a lot like practicing scales. Musicians want to play songs and do the cool things they are inspired by in other musicians, but without developing dexterity and musical sense through patient practice of scales, the goal remains far away. I thought it was a great analogy. We tend to want to jump in and ‘make music’—get our horse ‘in frame’ by various means, trot, canter, and go right to the things we ride horses for. To get there, too often we solve issues with specialized tack, firmer aids, stronger grip…the list goes on.

Growing Our Horsemanship with Martin Black

By Mary Gallagher

We had been looking forward to our clinic with Martin Black for months, and Martin did not disappoint! He is definitely a special horseman, bringing to us 6 generations of ranching wisdom, including the mentorship of many top horsemen. In his own career he has started tens of thousands of colts, ready within weeks to help managing cattle on the open range. Martin has also trained thousands of eager clinic participants, ready to absorb the horsemanship he has so finely distilled. Those of us fortunate to spend last week with Martin are the richer for the experience.

Foundations for Becoming the Leader Your Horse Needs (Part Three of ‘The Horse, The Environment, and You’)

By Mary Gallagher

Starting a 2-year old with the Boundary Box

In my last two posts, I discussed you and your horse in relation to the environment (‘out there’),
boundaries (between you and your horse), and most importantly, your ability to ‘observe, observe, observe’ and see your horse experiencing you in the environment, and respecting your boundaries (or not).

With a level of safety established by our increased awareness, we can start talking about communication. Your body language is a big part of setting healthy boundaries, being safe, and becoming the leader your horse needs.

If you have read my previous posts, you already know that I like to start with a boundary box. It’s a simple concept, but deep in terms of how much you can accomplish, and how challenging it really is to do well and grow your practice.

The Leadership Gauge (Part Two of "The Horse, The Environment, and You")

by Mary Gallagher

Building a language of leadership is our best tool in developing a confident horse.

In last month’s blog post, I introduced a diagram that helps us understand the importance of using boundaries in the proper environment to build a language of leadership. When we are in the ‘sweet spot’—good observation, strong boundaries, balanced emotions—our horse’s confidence enables connection, communication, and cooperation between us.

This month I am taking the diagram further, drawing our attention to how crucial awareness of the horse’s emotions is in keeping us in that sweet spot where optimal learning occurs. Because the diagram helps us see where we are with the horse at any given moment, I am calling it the Leadership Gauge.

Inspired by Beach Camp!

 by Mary Gallagher and Kathy Schmidt

For the last 17 years we have had the good fortune to visit the farm of Cindy and Gary Flood, in Long Beach, Washington, for our annual beach camp. They have graciously hosted our campers and horses, giving us use of their excellent covered arena and paddocks, with easy access to the legendary beach nearby. Our camps have taken many forms and included campers of all ages at one time or another. We are so grateful for the ongoing opportunity to be at such a beautiful facility!

This year’s camp was, in a word, outstanding. As many of you know, recent beach camps have been exclusively for our Hoof Beats riders. Well, the small but enthusiastic crew that came with us this year really excelled at making this camp about horsemanship, pitching in to help, being there for each other, and having loads of fun in the process! Together we set a new standard for the future.

Kathy Schmidt, who has partnered with me the last few years, bringing many years as a grade school teacher as well as a high level of horsemanship to the occasion, agreed that this camp was special. The question is, how to make it a success every year?

Here’s what we think:

Giving the Horse a Pathway to Solve Problems, Part 2

by Mary Gallagher

I’ve been continuing to experiment with finding fun ways to help my horses in training solve their own problems and change habits.

First off, variety in your training keeps the horse engaged and learning on multiple levels. Even better, using real world exercises on the ground that set up the horse to deal with their own issues gets positive results far faster than schooling from the saddle. In this video, I help a green mare with the habit of ‘swapping her leads behind’ find a better way, with minimal input from me. Were I to correct the same issue through riding….let’s just say we’d be at it a while.

Giving the Horse a Pathway to Solve Problems, From the Ground

By Mary Gallagher 

Very often, the mistakes the horse makes under saddle are mistakes by the rider in terms of balance, connection and lack of lightness in communication. Horses want to move rhythmically and efficiently, and too often it’s we that get in the way. Like other trainers, I am good at working through issues from the saddle, but I’ve been practicing new ways to reduce training time and get even better results from the ground. 

Trees Can Help Your Horse Find the Feel

By Mary Gallagher

Tree as helpful obstacle

Here at Freedom Farm we are blessed with a wooded playground we call the Emerald Forest. It has provided everyone here with the added benefit of exposing their horses to natural obstacles as well as a quiet retreat to strengthen their relationship with their horses. So with improved weather this month, it was a pleasure to get back out into this beautiful training area. Trees are wonderful obstacles: you can go around or between them, under their branches, over their exposed roots or fallen branches. Today I will share with you one of my favorite ways of using going around a tree to help the horse develop a softer feel.

Train While You Play—Lessons Learned from Baby Horses

By Mary Gallagher

Baby horses are four-legged balls of fun, interested in everything, playful and curious. We have been blessed with a number of bright young colts to start and develop, over the past few years at Freedom Farm, and I’ve been taking notes on our progress. I’ve realized how much power and potential there is in recognizing the energy of play as a resource in training, not only with babies but horses in general. Without overthinking things (a good first rule of thumb with baby horses), I wanted to share some insights and ideas to consider while playing with your horse of any age:

My Appreciations for 2021, and Prayers for 2022

By Mary Gallagher

Keeping Freedom Farm running takes the combined efforts of a lot of wonderful people—which many of you can appreciate after these last two weeks of below freezing weather. 

My Appreciations for 2021...

Honoring the Horse’s Learning Process: reflections on a clinic with Martin Black

by Mary Gallagher

We were privileged to host Martin Black for a great clinic last week, in which he stressed his approach to “evidence-based horsemanship” —recognizing the results of our communication in the horse’s immediate response. The participants came with a good foundation in connecting to their horses’ feet, so Martin was able to further refine our understanding and inspire us with his unique insights. He got us out of our comfort zones, challenging what we thought we knew, while giving us tools to communicate more effectively.

 

Readable Neutral: the art of slowing ourselves down and allowing our horse to communicate

By Mary Gallagher

Getting in sync, around the box slowly...

In our horsemanship ground class last week, we were debriefing after an exercise emphasizing real connection with our horses—literally getting in sync with their energy, rather than insisting they get in sync with ours. We had been working with this idea in earlier classes, and this week, we all seemed to get to the next level. Each student had their own insights, and as we reflected on our progress one commented, “Gosh, you can do everything ‘right’ and still not connect!”

Keeping Cool While You Ride (Connecting to the Feet Series)

By Mary Gallagher 

No, this article has nothing to do with that incredible hot weather we had last week. But wasn’t that something? At Freedom Farm, we survived by starting our day much earlier and getting our riding done before the heat of the day—something that folks in southern climates know a lot about! -MG 

Today I’d like to talk about keeping our cool while riding—maintaining that conscious patience so crucial to building and maintaining relationship. Losing that balanced attitude can jeopardize our connection with the horse, and if we don’t find and restore it, there goes our whole training program. I know this sounds extreme, but there can be a domino effect that takes us right back to square one. It starts with me. If I can just stay cool—keep emotions in check, stay patient and quiet—when my horse gets distracted, it will save time and frustration in the long run. 

Riding in Sync with the Feet, Part 2

by Mary Gallagher

I have been having so much fun continuing to develop the ‘riding in sync’ exercises I introduced in my last video. It’s basically a flexible warm up program that gets you and your horse moving and feeling together. How we warm up and the attitude we express in our hands travels down to the horse—who feels everything. Sure, he feels our body move, and our hands move through the reins, but even more importantly, he can feel our intentions and attitude. So it’s as much about managing ourselves as anything. Horses pick up on everything!