20 CUMBRIA FARMER May 2009CumbriaHorse
Horse TalkHorse TalkWith Alex Jakob-Whitworth
Alex Jakob-Whitworth specialises in behaviour/handling and is an
equine masseur. Phone 017683 62664 or 07891 921416 or email
alex@equine-awareness.co.uk (www.equine-awareness.co.uk)
ALEX JAKOB-WHITWORTH
Want your horses to behave?
Take a long look in the mirror
Horses are quick at reading
other beings � they have to be;
their survival may depend on it
Y
ou've had a bad day at
work, the car has broken
down, you seem to have
been late for everything
and you cannot believe how you
forgot to send that birthday
card. Then you go to the yard
and your horse is being such a
pain, doing everything wrong
and seemingly trying to give
you as much stress as possible.
He is just no pleasure any
more, as if you didn't have
enough on your plate...
Sound familiar?
We have all been there � our
days goes badly, everything seems
to go wrong and even your horse
isn't the fun he should be. It's as
if there is a conspiracy against
you.
In fact � if we look at it the
other way round, then perhaps we
can see where our part in this is.
We cannot change external
forces or behaviour � although
some may argue that perhaps we
possibly can, but that is beyond
the scope of this article! But we
can change our part in events � in
how we react and behave.
Our horses are incredibly clever
� at being horses. They are super-
sensitive to mood, emotion and
body language � especially those
that we are not aware we are
using.
I have often talked about how
we use our body language, the
shapes that we make and how the
energy that we project can influ-
ence a horse, but it can go further
than that. The highly effective
horseman or woman always seems
to be quiet, they don't shout or
swear, they don't use physical
force, they seem actually to do
very little at all � they just seem to
`be' in a certain way.
Their horses are picking up on
this, just as our horses who `act
up' are picking up on our stress.
If we think back to the days of
our learning to ride in our youth �
dating myself here! � many of us
remember being told that "fear
runs down the reins". In other
words, horses feel how you are
feeling and react to it.
It was a sound observation.
Horses are quick at reading other
beings � they have to be; their
very survival may depend on it.
They need to know, firstly, is
there danger about? Can they be
safe where they are? And with
this other herd person?
Horses are great mirrors. They
mirror us and our behaviour.
The `difficult' horse may well be
simply mirroring his owner's
stress.
I'm sure everyone can think
back to a time when they were in
a hurry and that was the night
when Rufus refused to be caught
or wouldn't stand for the farrier.
Think carefully about how you
approach your horse when you
are having a bad time yourself �
or maybe if your horse is a kind of
`stress head'. Have a good, hard
look at yourself � it takes a bit of
courage I know, but looking in
your own `personality mirror' is a
great step to self-awareness. See if
you are a `stressy' person or a
calm one.
None of the following observa-
tions shows perfection or the way
we should be, but they are ques-
tions you could ask yourself:
What speed do you walk around
the yard? Do you rush from one
part to another or do you dawdle
and talk to everyone. Are you pur-
poseful or do you get confused and
forget what you are doing? Do you
forget things or are you organised
down to tiny details?
It may be that the person who is
always in a rush doesn't devote
enough time to listening and look-
ing at their horse � they demand a
certain behaviour and are sur-
prised one day when it doesn't
happen. That might be the day
they need to sit back and think
about how they are around their
horse � this may also be the per-
son whose horse never stands still
to be mounted or bridled.
Obviously, there may well be
physical issues to consider � and I
would always consider them first
� but psychological issues can be
as strong a motivator towards cer-
tain behaviour.
Horses are generally peaceful
animals. Although some breeds do
have personality traits that others
might not � compare a thorough-
bred to a Romany cob for example,
or a Spanish horse to an Irish �
most of the time they want to be at
peace, even in their work.
The effective horseman or
woman tends to have well-bal-
anced and well-behaved horses �
irrespective of their breeding.
This is due to the handling and
the understanding of their horses.
It doesn't mean their horses
might be switched off � I can think
of top-performance horses who
can throw a wobbly, but will have
impeccable manners and perform
at top levels � but it means they all
understand and trust each other.
We would do well to remember
that when we are with our horses
we have to put our egos to one
side, and be the leader and friend
that our horses want � and expect.
Horses � like other animals �
don't have hidden agendas; they
don't plan and they are not `dif-
ficult' on purpose. They are sim-
ply being horses and reacting as
horses do. We need to exhibit the
behaviour we would like our
horses to show.
Psychological issues: The effective horseman or woman tends to have well-balanced and well-behaved horses irrespective of breeding

Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15Page 16Page 17Page 18Page 19Page 20Page 21Page 22Page 23Page 24 Produced by PageSuite