Horse Whisperer 1 - Understanding Horses

[Scoutsbiggestfan]

I really like your ranch it seems like your horses love it there.

[mysticpasos]

@Scoutsbiggestfan Thanks. You know, horses do love living at our ranch. Not just our horses either. We bring in horses for training and boarding and it is interesting to watch horses change. Uptight horses relax and become more trusting. Aloof and shut down horses open up and trust us with their opinions. Rude, pushy horses learn to respect a soft request, rather than barging through people. Every one responds to living in a safe place with love, language and leadership.

[Scoutsbiggestfan]

@mysticpasos I would love to go to your ranch and see your horses but I live to far away. :(

[mysticpasos]

@Scoutsbiggestfan Ah yes, just checked your channel. Canada is a long way from us - whatever part of Canada you live in. Hope you have horses in your life and that they bring you joy.

[Scoutsbiggestfan]

@mysticpasos yeah i have 2 minis and 2 ponies.

[MickeyLove01]

surely it should be "understanding a horse" as they are all different?

[mysticpasos]

@MickeyLove01 Every horse is different, but they share similar traits and body language because they are horses and prey animals. Some are more up front and easy to read. Others more reserved and harder to read. The degree to which a particular trait may manifest also differs from individual to individual. Once you learn to read the body language, it becomes easier to read the differences between them. The more you see, the more there is to learn.

[asleeperj]

@mysticpasos Well Put....

[naturelover222]

i adore the vid tho :)

[mysticpasos]

@naturelover222 Glad you enjoyed the video. I never tire of watching horses being horses, interacting, playing, relaxing, quarreling. Love them. They are so beautiful, so real, authentic, I guess I mean. They are what they are in the moment and they want us to be equally true, equally real.

[naturelover222]

cats eat all meat a dogs diet is 3 quarters meat and 1 quarter veg :P

[mysticpasos]

@naturelover222 True. Smelling like what we eat is part of being a predator. Eye placement is another difference. Predators' eys are on the front of our faces so we have binocular vision unlike prey animals who have their eyes on the side of their heads with great peripheral vision. Intention is so important in predator - prey relations. If your intention is benign, you are safe. If you are angry, you might intend to eat them. How you think and feel is important when around horses.

[z4funner]

I liked this video...nice graphics and it was very insightful into the the mind of a horse. The music was excellent and went well with the video.

Since I have been involved with horses for over fifty years I found this a very basic explanation of horses behavior but it was a refreshing approach.

Kudos for a job well done!

Nancy P. Julian

Pennsylvania

[mysticpasos]

@z4funner Thanks Nancy. Glad you enjoyed the video.

[snarkey5]

if you want to see an insightful look into the mind of a REAL horse whisperer then copy and paste this in youtube: Posh Horse Whisperer snarkey5

[chatdragon12]

not all humans are preditors! IM A VEGERTARIAN!

[mysticpasos]

@chatdragon12 Good for you. Even though you won't smell of meat, all humans have their eyes on the front of their face (instead of the side as horses do), and have predatorial instincts, which are different from prey instincts. We can't change the placement of our eyes, but we can learn not to behave in a predatorial manner. When you understand how the horse looks at the world it is easier to fit into his world.

[adrainseyes]

@chatdragon12 like it or not. the placement of your eyes makes you a natural born predator and that is how the horse initially sees you. You must use positive energy to change their minds about you, otherwise their instinct is to avoid or even flee from you. We are discussing behaviors, no one is discussing diner here.

Congrats on your choice to not eat meat, esp. horses.

[Polux1998]

true,true

[HorsezRock1000]

we humans don't just eat meat we also eat veg

we are omnivores

[mysticpasos]

@HorsezRock1000 True. Some are even vegetarians. The thing is we smell like what we eat. Horses smell of grass. If you do eat meat, your smell is that of a meat eater, which causes horses, as prey animals, to be concerned about our intentions. Are we intending to put them on the dinner menu or are we trustworthy enough to be their leader and partner, making decisions that are good ones from the horse's point of view?

[Lauragwebb]

Fantastic loved this. Well done. I love my neddys just as much as you clearly do. X

[mysticpasos]

@Lauragwebb Glad you enjoyed it. The more time I spend with horses, the more they teach me. I think they are God's most beautiful creature - all life, harmony, movement and spirit. Your Neddy is lucky to have you as his human.

[NorwayHorses]

@mysticpasos I agree. Really do.

[tristaotezoira]

Wonderfull achievements! Congratulations!

[AquaAngel374]

This is a great video :) It really opened my eyes to understand why my horse was doing things i may not want her to do or she is doing something that may seem strange to me :) My horse bucks alot while she is in the arena,but she has never bucked outside of it.When ever i just want to canter or gallop her down the arena she bucks and i fall :/ Why might this be?

[mysticpasos]

@AquaAngel374 Tough question without seeing you and the horse in action. As a guess, I'd suggest that past experience of her bucking inside the arena has you tightening up and your apprehension scares her she gets tight, which leads you to squeeze with your legs to hold on, and tighten the reins, sending her conflicting signals and triggering the buck. Also, horses learn from release of pressure so if you fall off, that is a major release - eg. bucking ends my concern. How to fix it?

[mysticpasos]

@AquaAngel374 The fix requires that you build a new pattern with your mare based on understanding and confidence. I'd recommend doing lots and lots of walk - trot - walk - trot - walk transitions, using your body language, energy and relaxation to communicate with your mare, not kicking to go or pulling on the reins to slow. Only when she will accelerate and slow and stop without you touching the reins at the trot would I even consider asking her for a canter in the arena. Good luck!

[AquaAngel374]

@mysticpasos Ok thanks for your help i will try this!! :D

[23dewart]

Thank you so much for uploading this video! I have been riding for six years and my realationship with my horse has never been better because of you!

[mysticpasos]

@23dewart Wow, thanks for an amazing compliment. If I may ask, what did you find helpful from the videos? What issues puzzle you? Knowing what helped you can help me provide more information that can help others.

[PikminGhost]

beautiful horses =) excelent video! I don't know much about horse handling or managemen but I'm learning, in 1:21-26, why did they cover the mare's eyes?

[PikminGhost]

awesome video :) all of your horses are very beautiful, I'm new at horse handling, in 1:24 why did they cover the mare's eyes?

[mysticpasos]

@PikminGhost Thanks for the compliments on our horses. They are beautiful, aren't they? The horses are wearing fly masks - a plastic screen like mesh that protects their eyes from being bothered by the flies. They don't need them in cool or windy weather, but when it is hot and still they don't have hands to chase away the flies.

[PikminGhost]

@mysticpasos VERY beautiful =) ooh I see, I didn't knew about them, thank you for explaining it to me =)

[mysticpasos]

@shyPiseag Glad you enjoyed it. The more I learn about horses, the more they fascinate me. If you come through southern Oregon, stop by and meet us.

[horshooer]

What little training I've had training horses, Was natural horsemanship... the 7 games... it works!! I'm an old man. For the last 3 years I've been learning to work on outboard motors and boats... I'd rather muck stalls and groom horses..

[mysticpasos]

@horshooer You've got it! Just came in from playing with horses after doing morning feed and muck. Boots and pants were covered with mud, but my face was wreathed in smiles. Prince had so much fun sticking to me at liberty, going sideways over a log and barrel, pushing the barrel and a ball with his nose, always asking "what's next?" Did some bareback and bridleless riding with spins and disengagements. Love that enthusiasm and play drive.  No machine can compete.

[SablePhoenixBlu1]

LEARN horse language. Bravo very nice video

[mysticpasos]

@SablePhoenixBlu1 Thanks for the nice comment. Glad you enjoyed the video.

[SablePhoenixBlu1]

BRAVO 

[omgitzislay]

wat do you think is better? a stalion, or a mustang?

[mysticpasos]

@omgitzislay Stallions are magnificant; so are mustangs. Have to love them both.

[caitywood386]

@mysticpasos Geldings of any breed are sent from heaven though =D

[akanewe]

Yeah, I'm with Dr Gomez NZ, I've been around horses all my life and enjoy seeing differences between individuals. This stuff is indeed very beautiful and interesting. I'll tell you I have only seen Camargue horses in S. France and Doñana Spanish horses in the S. of Spain cooling of in salt water (marshy coasts). I have never seen a horse in a pond like that, just goes to show. Some evolve from learning or copying and others just stay cos they havn't seen anything new or never needed to change.

[mysticpasos]

@akanewe We have 18 horses on the ranch. Some were drawn to the pond from birth; others had to be coaxed to enter it at first and for some it took over a year before they would go into the pond on their own. All of them now go into the pond to drink rather than leave the pasture to come in to drink at the water trough. Most will splash themselves to play or cool off in hot weather. About 4 of them like to lie down in the water in the hot weather. They don't want their ears under it though.

[akanewe]

@mysticpasos Well this must be quite unique, have you heard of any others doing this?I can't think of any wild equines doing this anyway so you must have a rare pattern of behavior there. In my village in Spain we've got ponds, streams, rivers lagoons and yes horses, but no horses inside any of these. There's a nutty dog that jumps into all of these all the time, but no horses. This has to be unique! I'm gonna ask around from the Basque Country down to Andalucía and see if anyone knows anything.

[mysticpasos]

@akanewe Oh, not unique. I have known a lot of horses that like to play in water, even the ocean though my horses are still trying to get used to the waves, salt and under tow action of the waves. Not any where near comfortable enough with that environment to start playing in it. One of the other horses on the ride to the ocean two weeks ago did drop into the waves on the beach though - rolled in the sand with the water coming over him.

[akanewe]

@mysticpasos Yeah, but those"lot of horses", are they yours or other people's?Interesting to know. Then I would say that salt water is less strange to me cos we have the Doñana semi-wild horses in coastal marshlands of Andalucía and in S.France the Camargue horses in the same environment. These both feed, cool off and play around in the water cos it's their natural space. Yet you have horses inland doing something exceptional, really it's very interesting. I'll check your page and read around.

[mysticpasos]

@akanewe The horses I've seen playing in ponds, lakes, streams, creeks have it in their environment. Mine all do.Tori discovered she liked water at 3 weeks. We had a big rain storm and the round pen was 1/3 flooded - about 5 inches at the deep end. She ran until sweaty on the dry sand, pawed the water, took a drink, then dropped and rolled in it. Same is true of other people's horses. If they live with it, they drink and splash in it. The Aug Play Date video has every horse playing. Enjoy.

[luigia989]

so becacly ur only teching us about hores not hores wispering

[mysticpasos]

@luigia989 Understanding how the horse thinks, what is important to him and how to read his body language are the first steps to learning how to whisper to horses.

[adrainseyes]

This is a great explanation of natural horsemanship or horse whispering. It was called "gentling a horse" when I was young. Now we work with horses to facilitate equine assisted psychotherapy.....would the horse call this natural humanship?

[mysticpasos]

@adrainseyes Good question.  I think horses are natural healers and psychotherapists. Humans lie - to each other and to ourselves. How are you? "I'm fine" we respond though it isn't true. "I'm not afraid" or "I'm not aggressive" say people. If not true, the horse will call them on it every time. Because the horse isn't a human, it is easier to believe the horse, than another human. Change inside and the horse changes his response. Very powerful. Good luck with your work.

[yoshettie]

I LOVE NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP! (you have beautifull pictures..)

[Horsegirl94JC]

1:12 ??? whats that horse about? am i missing something is this normal?

[mysticpasos]

@Horsegirl94JC Maia (the filly) is meeting Mocha (the dog). Prey, being curious, meets predator. Perfectly normal because the dog is acting friendly and not predatorial.

[BarrelRacer955]

Mystic is a very very pretty horse :) All of your horses are!! :) Thanks for taking the time to post something like this. I really enjoy watching things like this. :)

[ThexMinE]

2:23 is so beautiful...i`d wish EVERY horse has a pond

[mysticpasos]

@ThexMinE Thanks for commenting. The horses do love the ponds. They prefer it to the water troughs in the summer and, of course, they love to splash themselves and each other and even lie down to cool off.

[DrGomezNZ]

Great videos! I've been around horses since I was born really and I absolutely love them. They all have personalities and traits, and that makes it all the more enjoyable. Fantastic advice and wonderful photographs.

[mysticpasos]

Glad you enjoyed the video. I love horses and I love taking their photographs. It has been fun sharing my ideas about horses using photographs I've taken of them at our ranch.

[MizzBizz49]

Very good video! I wish I knew how to put something together in a video format!

[barrelracer10000]

I wish I could have more of a bond with my horses...We ride well together but I feel like somethin is missing.

[mysticpasos]

If you always tell you horse what to do, the horse may not feel there is much in it for him. A good exercise to help you develop your bond with your horse is to take a chair and a book and spend some undemanding time with him . Just hang out, but don't touch your horse until he approaches and touches you with his nose. Feeding time is good. Then just gently scratch his itchy spots, give a sigh and walk away. You will blow his mind. Do that a few times and you will start to interest him.

[vivaloriflamme]

That's great advice. Often people just have info going human-to-horse but are oblivious to all of the info coming back--- --communication="together with". Community, communion.

We had a camp-out in the pasture with dogs and horses. It was a revelation for all of us, how much every creature enjoyed the moment.

[mysticpasos]

Horses give us so much when we open up and listen.... as do all animals.  I'll never be done learning from them. They teach me as much or more than I teach them.

[AkitoHayato]

I just wanted to add (hopefully I don't sound witty or anything) ; try to find moments to spend on the ground, like mystic says, touch him. Pass your time sometimes just looking at your horses, how they communicate with eachother, how they play. I think it might take some time, but that mostly depends on your horses characters. My horse was maltreated so it took a long time to really create a bond. But as long as you are willing to create that bond, you will get there!

[jbellinger]

Wow...I am at a loss for words...Ive never been so educated in my life...I work on a ranch and I think I finally understand horses...I ride everyday but always felt a ...gap or seperation. Thanks to you, that is no more. Happy trails!

[mysticpasos]

I'm so glad that you enjoyed my video. Learning to look at the world from the horse's point of view changed my relationship with my horses dramatically. There are no bad horses. Just horses that need help understanding what you want them to do, that need to be convinced that you won't hurt them, and that you are a leader worthy of following. The journey is to become that leader for my horses.

[ilovecola17]

thanks for uploading this it helps alot i love paso finos they are amazing and i love you photos. ive always known this kind of info but i sort of ignored it. thanks you really helped me listen to my thorts!

[mysticpasos]

Glad you enjoyed my video. Paso Finos are amazing horses. Smooth, of course, but mostly it is their desire to be with and please their humans that wins my heart. Mystic is an amazing teacher of natural horsemanship. He is so responsive to human energy and focus that people can easily learn to communicate primarily through their energy and focus. I love the look on the students' face when they realize that reins aren't needed to slow, stop or turn. It blows their mind.

[tinkamyra]

I love horses but got nearly bitten by one it scared me alot sadly. i backed away in fear didn't repromand him at all. 3 sec rule went out the window.

[mysticpasos]

Horses often test for leadership. The one that backs away is acknowledging that the other is the leader. It wasn't what you intended to teach, but that was the lesson. Learning to read the horse and keep yourself safe without aggression is a journey, but well worth while. Don't give up.

[SunnyIsMyLife]

whats the music called

i ove this video its amazing

[manawee89]

love horses so much

hope i can have one someday :(

thanks so much for this video =)

[louisalorainekelly]

this is so true its just some horse people i no are so hard faced and dont give them a second chance or even understand how they are feeling you are great i will always have faith in them no matter what happens from horse lover xxxxx

[mysticpasos]

Glad that you enjoyed the video and share my love for these amazing animals. They teach us so much when we open our hearts to listen to them.

[mysticpasos]

Horses love to be scratched so use the halter as a big brush and scratch your filly all over with it until she is relaxed, then hold the long strap in your right hand over her neck, with the short strap in your left hand and invite her to drop her head into the nose of the halter. Don't force it, just wait for her to do it, then give her a piece of carrot or cookie as a reward. If you do this the first several times you halter her, you won't have any problem with haltering her.

[Agelesslegend23]

I Have a Filly I Will be getting Hopefully and am wondering If You can Give me some Pointers on how to introduce the Halter...?

[gmwwc]

google Parelli, Dennis Reis, Chris Cox, Richard Winters, John Lyons. Can not reply properly in so small a space.

[myfatproductions]

in holland u can buy horsemeat in the markets can u also buy it in america?

[mysticpasos]

No, horse meat isn't eaten in the United States

[happyhorserdr]

I love it,it really hits the spot, What a gorgeous property and happy well looked sfter horses.

[rinin2]

Thanks for the video very helpful!

[LunaLemuria]

wonderfull animals,I must say there is nothing I love more than horses, now I'm not an expert ^^U living on a big citty I have no money or space to be with them, but I'm about to go to a trip to see an uncle's ranch and he'll introduce me to his horse, he is a bit nervous, could you give me some tips on how to maproach him? ^^U I want to be friends wit him

[stinahumana]

very nice!

[RawlFran]

What a delightful video and so informative. I wish I had known this knowledge about these beautiful animals before. This will certainly enhance any future experiences I might have with horses. Thanks

[BlackHatWrangler]

Terrific Video. A perfect Primer for anyone wanting to know how horses think and react. Cowgirl Up

[sammey1006]

Visionary! Really captures equine energy and, also their peacefulness.