Day 1 - Horse/Handler #2 and #3

Horse and Handler #2

The second pair I will call the horse, A. and the handler S. A and S had been at the Harry Whitney camp during the previous week, so I guess a lot had happened then. Apparently, A. has a history of running away and/or rearing as well. The mare requires that S. do a lot to get very little response...A. tends to be "dull."

A. has trouble with a rider on her trotting a circle to the right. She won't look to the right, but retains the brace. Brace causes the horse to use muscles and joints in a way that are counter-productive.

I have to say, during the entire week, I had the most difficulty following what this pair were working on and what was changing. My first exposure to them had been at a Ross Jacobs clinic a few months prior. This handler is a trainer in her own right and has quite advanced knowledge that goes far beyond my ability to even evaluate...I can't even pretend to!

Harry got on this mare during this first session and wanted A. to be with him...her *thought*, not just her body.

Trying to make the feet do what we want without the mind saying "Let's do it!" is setting the horse up for an argument all the time....

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Horse and Handler #3

JM had a yearling warmblood, called S., with her this week. S. had just recovered from a broken coffin bone and had been on stall rest for much of his young life, followed by being turned out. JM was just beginning to re-establish a relationship with the yearling and was concerned about his pawing (which I guess was how he broke his coffin bone).

S. is at liberty in the round pen and Harry is in the center, waiting on the horse for his attention to be drawn to him. Harry has a flag that he uses to get the attention of the horse. Again, Harry reiterates that this is not doing things TO the horse, but FOR the horse.

In a short time, the colt begins to hang out with Harry in the center of the round pen. There hasn't been much dust flying in this case. JM said that she has been concerned that S would kick when she handles his feet.

"We have part of his thoughts, but we haven't taken all of the thoughts captive. Until he gets these thoughts captive (which is S's responsibility), we can't do my will."

When curiosity about a prop moves S. not to care about the humans space, he is corrected.

The whack of the flag, when it happens, is to remind S that Harry is there, not to run S. around. This is a common assumption among people who think all round pen work is brutality...chasing a horse until he is exhausted. That is NOT the way Harry uses a round pen at all or a flag. In fact, Harry made a reference that some folks feel that if they make life out on the edge of the round pen rough enough, the horse will want to come in. This is NOT the way Harry works. He wants the horse to *want* to be here. He wants not just to have the horse's feet near him, but he wants his thought...his "heart" in effect.

So too does the Lord with us. God wants not just our feet in "religious duty." In fact, he doesn't want the mechanics...he wants our hearts...he wants my heart...not just my feet.

Harry shared something that was, for me, a theme of the week and affected me even yesterday as I worked with Harley at home...Harry often waits on a horse and then reaches out to stroke the horse's face...the center of his nose. He pointed out that if a horse isn't ready to let you touch the center of his face (or pet it from what I can tell :-)), things aren't right between the two of you...They can't have their thoughts elsewhere and let you touch the center of their face. Harry waited for S. to be willing and receptive by not feeling a need to look away. Harry wants the horse to feel good enough to make it happen.

Harry pointed out that WE want to love and kiss on the horse, but if the horse doesn't *like* it and isn't ready for it, we shouldn't do it. We want the centeredness that comes with being receptive to the human's touch.

"Give the horse choices."

"Don't beg him not to leave."

Harry pointed out that this colt hasn't really developed a use for humans just yet...or even a real meaning attributed to humans. The colt didn't want to search for what the human wanted. He was putting out effort to search *elsewhere* for a distraction, in fact.

How often do I act like this with God? How often do I have a sense that there is something He is drawing me to do, be, think, feel, release, surrender...but I earnestly look everywhere I possibly can for a distraction...some way to avoid what I know is calling to the deeper places in me?

Harry never chased the hindquarters, though the more focused the hrose is on Harry, the more the hindquarters step away automatically. He never needed to ask the horse to move the HQs away...Other clinicians and programs teach a chasing of the HQs away, but there is a lack of quality in it. With this horse now in the round pen, as he moves his HQs away, he isn't just escaping...not like those that teach the horse to jump the HQs away "snappy like."

When it is time to ask S. to move a bit, just do enough with the flag to ask him to not be stopped any more instead of asking him to leave. Set things up so the horse has choices.

This reminds me of the way that God gives us free will. He sets things up so we have choices...and beckons...calls...directs...asks for my thoughts....

Within 20 minutes, what Harry is doing hasn't changed, but S.'s response to it has. He feels different about it. His knowledge has changed.