 So it's essential that we think about what are the good qualities that I see in my horse And I try to bring those out more and more and more rather than just thinking about what does my horse need to fix? And then try to make them be better That are in our connected mind program are familiar with Felix. He's a younger horse of ours he sat for much of the last five years with little bits of handling to do his feet as well as Just some bringing him out playing around with him sessions where we maybe do a little brushing and that sort of thing But overall he has not had a lot of handling The nice part is with these youngsters or with these horses that haven't had a lot done when you do good quality work and You do good Training with them they retain almost all of it so you can pick up pretty much where you left off Which is fantastic. It's and it's because they they retain it. They know it. They understand what's expected of them Now he's thinking about his buddies back here And I'm always aware with my horses of where their mind is at and it's so important to be aware of where Where my horse's mind is at what he's thinking about so that I'm able to plan my session accordingly Before I ask him to do anything here I'm just going to tip his attention towards me and get him to be aware of me and It's almost as if I were to shake his hand is he going to shake the hand back I also noticed that through our interaction together. He's lowering his head his lips look soft I can see his tail going a little bit. So he's thinking about our interaction And those are all things that I'm aware of as a horseman working with my horse It's so important that we're aware of our horses and what they're thinking about now I'm going to tip him back here And one of the things I like to put into my horses is a almost like a sit stay So I'm going to ask him to come across Anytime I move him I'm thinking about his feet So right here I want his hind feet then I'm going to bring his front feet forward And then I'm going to put my hand up and I'm going to say stay When I ask him to stay and I leave I'm sure that the belly of my rope is on the ground and you'll notice I've got quite a long rope here So I've got a lot of room to play around with and I keep my eye over my shoulder So I'm looking to be aware that he's staying focused in on me and I could see he's adjusting his focus He's dropping his head up and down. He's looking to be responsive. He's looking to stay tuned in and when he does that I'm going to go back to him And I'm going to reach and I'm just going to see if he can reach back for me And I'll give him a little rub and let him know he did a nice job Now when I go to walk away My indicator to him that he has to stay is by putting my hand up and telling him to stay If I just walk away, he's going to assume that he should come with me And as I'm looking at the camera here, I still have soft eyes so I can see that his head went up I can see that he he got a little excited there He's moving his head left and right as I'm as I'm standing here so these are all things that I'm aware of as as I'm moving away and Right now. He's looking and chewing so that looks real good. So then I'm going to come back to him And I'm going to let him know he did a good job now Next I could have him stay and I might disappear into the building here And then come back out But the same thing goes I'm disappearing into the building. He can still see me I'm not going to go around the corner and I'm just going to make sure that he can stay put I can already see he's making plans to move. We see him shifting his weight So I'm going to just back him up He's getting a little impatient with this and that's okay. That will happen But I I need to know That he's going to stay put and I'm always watching I can see him preparing I can see him thinking about doing something and I want him to understand that his job is to stay there So I'm catching him at the thought Always try to catch your horses at the thought or the idea Before they actually make a move because then it's very easy to be soft and to ask them with lightness So I'm going to tell him stay there I'm going to go into the building here, and I'm just watching I'm keeping my eyes on him and Then I'm going to come back out And I'm going to let him know he did a nice job and you'll notice the belly of my rope stays on the ground He's a little bit uncertain by you can see by his expression. He's like did I do the right thing? So I want to make sure I go up and I let him know he did the right thing When I'm working with my horses, I'm thinking about their feet all the time and When I asked him to stay put I want him to stay with his feet in one zone I also understand that this particular horse he has not done a lot and He's going to have the need to move It's a different zone than he's used used to being in out with his buddies and his friends and so therefore I'm going to change things up regularly and The whole time I'm always thinking about how can I set things up for success? How can I build the patterns and habits into our daily interactions that are going to benefit me and be useful when I? Do end up riding him Therefore when I ask him to move right now, I'm going to be very clear and very specific about how I want him to move I do want this horse to constantly have his weight coming back to his hind quarters So I'm going to ask him when I have him going on a circle I'm going to ask him to shift his weight back and then I'm going to place his feet and you'll notice I'll pick the foot that I want to have stepped over so I'm going to send him in that direction first Therefore I'm going to take that front foot in that direction initially And I'm going to see if I can have him keep his weight on the hind end If I can get him to go out and to pause That can be a fantastic tool because then I'm building some thoughtfulness in and that idea of waiting He is a bit more of an energetic type of horse So building in the idea of him stopping and waiting is going to be super helpful later on So what we'll do here is we'll shift the weight back I'm going to watch for the shift when this foot's forward I'm going to step him over and across and we'll see if we can get another step and then ask him to wait And he hasn't done a lot of this but you can see that it's all right there He really understands from our previous interactions and it's right there This is not done through drilling, this is just done through building in consistent daily habits and patterns And or on a horse like this, maybe it's not daily Maybe it's just every so often but the consistency is so important and I try myself My horses might not show up the same every day, but I myself need to show up as Close to being the same every day. So I'm a very predictable person for them to be around Now I don't want him stepping towards me here, but let's do a little something with that He sees his friends moving away over there, but I'm going to shift his weight back and we're going to say Hey, shift your weight step over here and look at your friends with your focus on them. Good Good and his eyes are over there You might not be able to see that with the camera and then I'm going to do this again I'm going to shift his weight back and I'm going to step him over across over and Then he can look this direction and now we've got some good looking and chewing We'll shake hands here And I'll give him a little reward by scratching his neck Bring my life up. I'm going to step towards him and we're going to see if he can circle around And he's a little bit skeptical about the building. I'm aware of that. I see where he's looking We'll see if you can go in a slightly bigger circle Whenever you're working with your horse, there's going to be moments where they ask you questions And when your horse asks you questions, it's going to be important that you support your idea In whatever way necessary to help them understand what it is you're looking for them to do So therefore if he looks at me and he's asking me like right here, he said should I come in I'm going to step towards him and I'm going to say stay out there And he understands because we've talked about my bubble He understands that if I move my bubble into his space like this with energy He is to move out of my space. I've built that pattern and have it in Through all of our interactions together and that will then serve me As I'm working with him and asking for various movements Now when I want him to come up to me, I'm going to bring him in To teach him how to run up to me So I might start building that sort of thing in as I'm working with him So how I might build that habit or pattern in is Let's send him off and there he asked a question and I said no, it's this direction So the way I might build that in is I might bring his life up first And now again, I'm going to turn away and I'm going to invite him in That time he was a little more ready for it. Good. Then I'll stop him And I do sometimes incorporate feed into my training sessions So then I might go ahead and I might give him feed. Now, he's He's greener. He hasn't done a lot and I really encourage people to think about using feed pans or A bucket to feed your horse out of rather than your hand because all too often I see horses that get very pushy with Food and we don't want to build patterns in where they're leaning in towards us now as I take this and I put This away. I'm going to be aware of his focus. I don't want him coming in So I'm using my peripheral vision and I'm able to notice as he's staying there Let's say as I was putting it away He did come to me then what I would do is I'd step to him I'd say get back and then if he didn't back up like I'd like if he'd back up a little quicker I can take my rope and I can really send I've got this nice long rope I can really send a wave down and encourage him to get back further And you could see that it didn't even bump him but it was enough energy and that wave was directed in a way that it was moving to him that it was the energy coming at him that he understood to move away and Like everything the consistency is so important. So I've built that in It's something I do all the time when the energy moves towards you You're going to move away from it when I bring my energy back to myself You're going to come in unless I tell you to stay so all of these little bits and pieces are things that he's very familiar with All right now I'm going to go in and I'm going to grab myself a brush The sit stay is so important We want our horses to know that when I put them in a spot they are to stay there So I'm saying stay there and then I'm going to come in with my eyes watching him and I'm going to grab myself a brush Good And this is really nice. I love his focus. I love the fact that he's really paying attention and These are things that as and I'm gonna just take it back as a trainer I'm thinking about what are the really good qualities in my horse that I like Because if I go to him with gratitude and if I'm happy that he is doing a great job Staying focused on me paying attention being for a participant in our session together well, then I Have that gratitude in my body in my in my feel and the horses They understand that and they start giving you so much more So it's essential that we think about what are the good qualities that I see in my horse And I try to bring those out more and more and more rather than just thinking about what does my horse need to fix and Then try to make them be better