Is your horse meeting it's KPI's?

How do we measure how well our horse is going?

What are our key performance metrics?

A lot of us rely on the feedback from our coaches, trainers or judges. But how do we know they value the same things in our horse we do?

Coaches, trainers and judges often don’t know the journey we’ve been through to get to where we are. And they can often be rewarding for things we don’t like in horses like a deep frame where the horse is behind the bit or high, explosive energy because it looks pretty and flamboyant. They often grade us on what we can make our horse do, but your horse will only do what they can within the parameters of how much pain it causes them, how much stress it causes them and how much confidence and trust they have in us as their humans to support them through the challenge.

Our horses aren’t naïve to what we are thinking and feeling. If anything, they are more tuned in to what we are feeling than we are. So if we are asking something of our horse and we are unsure of ourselves, or scared of what our horse will do our horse sees that in our body language and so they lose confidence in us.

This is where the resistance or “the no” starts.

If we are told to push them through it, be the boss, make them do it, while at the same time being worried, anxious or scared that we aren’t good enough or of what our horse is going to do then we escalate that resistance, that response of NO, in to a full blown argument.

How each horse responds to the push and pressure for more can be dependent on their breed, personality and previous experiences.

Horses that tend to be confident in themselves, self assured will push back. They’ll drop the shoulder in to us, go over the top of us and drag us around the paddock. They may start stomping and flicking their tail at us, pin their ears and escalate to biting, kicking or striking.

Horses that lack confidence in themselves might internalise and just do as their told until they can’t control their behaviour anymore and explode, seemingly out of nowhere. Or they might be super spooky and anxious around us, unable to stand still and relax. Just being the boss and getting stronger and more powerful with our horse, trying to be the boss and push them through it doesn’t set us up as a leader our horse seeks direction and support from.

So how do we show up for our horses as a leader?

• Do you feel comfortable giving your horse direction?

• How calm are you when you give your horse direction? Are you anticipating an argument or your horse to do something scary?

• How well does your horse take direction from you?

• Does your horse seek direction and support from you and how well do see the ask for support and interpret it so that your horse feels heard?

You will hear good trainers, riders and breakers talk about the horse being ready. When you ask something of your horse, is your horse not only staying under stress threshold, but also keeping them calm and relaxed? This is compassionate leadership. I see and hear your needs, how can I support you so that we can reach MY goal together. Acknowledge that your horse has no desire to meet your goals, you have to intentionally create that desire in your shaping plan by building steps on top of each other so that your horse feel an immense sense of accomplishment and task achievement. This builds their eagerness to please you because you are the source of that feeling.

If work is stressful, they can never get the answer right, when they try they aren’t rewarded - or even constantly getting punished (whether on purpose or by accident) - there is no motivation to work with you as a team towards your goals.

It is your responsibility to motivate your horse to work towards your goal.

And this is what our Powerfully Connected Equestrian Students are learning in our Holistic Horse Handling Program. How to work together as a team towards their big, audacious goals and recognise what their horse is communicating in the process.

If this feels like something you’re struggling with make sure you register for the waitlist for the holistic horse handling programs next round of enrolments