“The message we hear is constant and insistent,” write Francesco De Giorgio and José De Giorgio-Schoorl. “‘Why does a horse spook? He spooks because it is the most natural thing for him to do.’ But it is not.” Challenging popular beliefs, the authors describe how those who define themselves as horse people need to be willing to change.
Source: Horse Network, March 6, 2017.
Horses become helpless and reactive animals in an interaction that does not take into account the horse. If we want to meet their needs, develop their true inner potential, and allow for quality of life, we need to change our approach by:
- Understanding the horse and his needs
- Understanding our difficulty of letting go of “to-dos”
- Understanding many horses have been trained to increase their reactive behaviors
- Understanding our expectations for short-term results