originally posted by: Kester
a reply to: Bluesma
Sometimes they know what you're doing when you're out of sight. Sometimes they react instantly to something you just thought. I found I had to be
careful what images I formed in my mind because the horses would see that image.
Exactly! One of the neatest thing I found about riding is how it forces you to control not only your own body, but your mind.
Stray thoughts are immediately responded to.
A few times, I spent an evening at home considering what exercises I would do with a horse the next day. I'd go over them, imagining what steps I
would cover, to eventually get to a specific manouver.
The next day, as soon as I am in the saddle, the horse would make it clear she was asking to do something- I would let her do so... and she would
immediately carry out the final manouver that I had so carefully planned out to teach, through various steps! As if her mind had been going over it
all with me in the night! I have done experiments with this and found it can be a real shortcut in training!
A strange occurence that I have had with my current horse partner is that we have synchronized physical ailments.
When I bought her, she had a large scar on her rear right leg, and some rigidness in it, from a injury in the past.
After having her one week, I had an accident, had to be operated on, and now have a scar on my right leg (in the equivalent area) and also suffer from
it being rigid if not warmed up sufficiently.
Right now, I have a sort of tendinitis in my elbow. Yesterday I found my horse also, has her fetlock inflamed and painful.
Once I suddenly had terrible stomach pains, wondering if I just caught a stomach flu or something, until the barn owner called to tell me my horse was
colicking.
It doesn't even surprise me anymore.