Being with our animals is a perfect time to be creative, if we open our minds to the opportunities. I used to skip rope with my horse, like Jonathan does in this video. Maybe this video will inspire you to give it a shot! Skipping rope like this with our horses, increases their confidence with the motion. Plus, we can …
Lead The Way!
“The horse seems to wanna please the human and so many times if the human isn’t much of a leader well then the horse has gotta do it’s own thinking. The horse isn’t really designed very well to be the leader but just because the horse is responding to ya, I don’t really think of it as it succumbing to …
Olympic Dressage
When it’s time for Olympic Dressage… I’m glued to the screen. There is schwung in every step, graceful forward movement and prompt, smooth transitions. It takes my breath away. But the truth always comes out behind the scenes… It’s often obvious which rider truly has a connection and good communication with their horse. The audience explodes with cheers and banners …
Fixing
“It’s not just the [animal] that needs fixing. It’s the human that needs fixing and it’s the human that created that in the first place.” – Buck Brannaman
Living Authentically Through Music & Animals
Listening to music before or while playing with animals is guaranteed to bring overwhelming joy into any day. It causes you to feel empowered and brings on the urge to dance – I often do! The animals feel the music, too. Since I have never been a dog or a horse or a penguin, I can’t say if it is …
Establishing Leadership
People tend to reward their dogs for bad behaviors by giving them attention. Then, they tend to ignore them when the dog is calm, happy and respectful. This teaches your dog that they have to act in a negative way to get your attention. Even if it’s bad attention from you, and you’re yelling at them, they’re glad to get …
Electric Car + Horse = Questions
When we play with a horse, walking towards them puts pressure on them. Walking away, or turning around, takes pressure off. I’ve always wondered if the same result could come from something non-human or non-animal. Of course, if an object frightens our horse we introduce them to it and move it away when they relax or show a sign of …
Mistakes
“If I heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times from Ray Hunt he said make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy. Then he said but don’t make the wrong thing impossible. Well you learn from making mistakes. It’s that simple.” Buck Brannaman
Gentle Heart
“Solvitur en modo, Firmitur en rey Gentle in what you do, Firm in how you do it.” – Latin quote Here’s a saying I could muse about all day long… do a gentle thing, firmly? Not quite. Perhaps we should always be gentle. Gentle in our hands and our heart. Somehow, when I read this quote, the importance of following …
Respect or Fear?
“The [animal or human] needs to respect you, but sometimes people confuse respect & fear. And they’re not the same at all.” – Buck Brannaman For most people “respect” –> dominance –> submission –> intimidation. If they feel threatened because someone (or animal) doesn’t “respect” them, they lash out. Start yelling at their dog, turning a shoulder to a friend, …