You Are The Horse Herd Leader
I’ve seen lots of pony owners get into a crisis because they didn’t take the trouble of finding out just what type of relationship they should have established with their horses. You want to approach your relationship to your pony the same way you approach your relationship to your own child: the wrong approach could lead to a spoilt brat. You have to be careful about laying the right footing for a relationship that will endure all through.
Want to know how you approach the whole thing? You begin by facing up to the basics: you belong to the human species and your horse belongs to the equine one.
The most important blunder I see people committing is that they treat their horses as they might a homo sapien. That immediately starts causing issues. You can try and treat your pony as an equal to a very limited extent, because you are the more equal of the two equals. To put it bluntly, horses are herd animals, they need a ‘herd leader’ to follow and be protected by, and for your horse, you start by being the leader. When you behave otherwise, you are giving him ideas you should absolutely not be giving him. You can either claim your position as the boss, or allow it to be eroded.
What you definitely don’t wish to be doing is to give your pony the idea that he’s your equal, or maybe ‘heaven forbid’ your better!
Right from the beginning, you need to set clear boundaries, very clearly defined lines that your horse can’t cross beyond. These lines should cover every aspect of the relationship, physical and mental. Surely, you have seen horses, which can weigh something like 1200 pounds to your less than 200 pounds, pushing people around with no respect? They do that because they weren’t taught by their owners to respect the boundaries of decorum. They were allowed to get the idea that they were as good or better than their human owners.
If you happen to feel any confusion about the best way to approach your horse, take a while out to study a herd of horses. Watch the behavior patterns that prevail: the way in which the other horses are well aware of and stick to their positions vis a vis the herd leader. Then get this straight in your head: you’re the herd leader’s leader. You’re the top figure on the totem pole.
I also submit that you acquire some books and videos about horse behavior and get totally acquainted with their teachings!
You have to be in a position to think like a pony to know how best to address him.
Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers click here
