Harry Whitney Friday June 23, 2006

I took Sofia first, then Rusty to turn out, on purpose, feeling ready to deal with Rusty's emotions. (Before I had taken them both at the same time and was not as able to keep track of how they were doing with both in hand.) I let Sofia go before I got a full change of thought. Rusty did well but I'd like to get a change of thought so that his worried look is gone.

Small circles correct will help the bigger circles. Many times you have to do the extreme to get it clear for the horse.

Rusty yesterday afternoon: bringing his life up = bringing the worries to surface versus they are a bit hidden (to me!) when he's duller?

Rusty -- studdish -- would've taken Belle out if he could yesterday.

Taking Sofia's halter off -- I might do other stuff to get her mind with me and feeling better. If it's a project or argument about the halter coming off, then you've missed dealing with their feeling bad already.

Nothing runs unmingled.

When you start to see your horse feel worried, just do something about it now.

Yes, Rusty has a worried spot in him that we haven't gotten to yet, but I'm better at helping when the surface worries come up.

Time spent in round pen getting horse to make a choice to be with you is important. It helps with catching a horse.

Morning ride: "Do it now" -- my motto for taking care of getting mind with me when it shows up that horse's mind is elsewhere.

Harry says I will go back and forth between worrying Rusty and not, because what it may take to get his attention might well worry him.

Ride today: working on getting off the left shoulder at trot (and walk) and releasing for long low neck. Also went over near bicycle and helped him get more confident there, then got four feet on teeter totter.

Harry's sense of the biggest thing that happened this week was under the tent. You can talk and talk and talk, do and do and do, get good at all kinds of mechanical stuff but still don't get to the inside of a horse. How do you get someone to pick up the reins and put your leg on and get a feel? How do you teach this to someone? How to teach someone to feel the inside of the horse?

How can you put leg on and pick up on reins and get a feel for the horse and change how the horse feels? Can you change how he is feeling? How can you effect a change in how the horse is feeling?

Horse is all over the place without even going anywhere, so fix it so he feeling right inside before even walking off.

A's question: is Diva OK or is she learning to shut down and DWI (Deal With It)? Harry: Diva is OK.

R: we get so used to our horse being not OK that it feels wrong when the horse gets OK.

Is this a horse thing as well as a human thing? The good feeling when I can offer my initiative and it's valuable?

You have got to get each piece then put the pieces together. Like R working on just going forward. Then at some point R will work on using reins for softness, then they'll go together unless either piece isn't working then work on either piece. Might put them together at trot first. You can ruin your walk if you start with trying a collected walk. You don't have the impulsion. In most areas, if you don't get it good at the walk you'll not get it good at trot or canter.

Softness and forward are always separate issues. Jigsaw puzzle analogy so find the spot that is missing.

Ride a few finished horses and start a dozen colts before you own a horse.

It doesn't take a lot of strength when it's right.

Horse proves he knows what we want when they put a lot of energy into not doing it.

Difference between disobedience and what horse thinks is best for himself. It's about that horse. "Disobedience" is about human's perspective. Horse is taking care of himself. Not disobedience but instead it looks like the best deal to do that action. Example: Bo steps away when K goes to mount. Both have to make stepping away a difficult choice, but also see that the riding experience is better so he doesn't mind carrying, even so he enjoys the riding experience.

It is not "evasive" -- it's about the filly having a plan and her efforts to make that plan come through. "Evasion" is about the human.

Pretty is as pretty does.

They need to understand how to look to us, how to fit in to our world.

It's our responsibility to show them how to fit in our world.

From a Shel Silverstein poem:
Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me...
Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.

Sofia in round pen this afternoon. Does she understand intention? When I was thinking "send your thought out there" she responded better than when I thought "move!" Or was it just that I was coasting on what Harry had done with her?

Increase or decrease my foot stride as I ask and if no response, then do something now about it -- don't leave them unclear!! Sofia's thoughts are still behind her but her feet scurry forward. Harry was able to send her mind ahead effectively!

Sofia needs more exposure to strange things and movements, human and otherwise.

After dinner:
My question re intention and Sofia. I was working at getting the physical done, and not focused on getting inside the horse and changing their thoughts.

Recognizing that Harry got something different with Sofia than what I got. Harry's mental attitude that "there is no question this is going to work out."

Instead of looking for a physical shape, look for the moments of mental availability and responsiveness.
(I'm going to repeat this.) Instead of looking for a physical shape, look for the moments of mental availability and responsiveness.

He asks her to try -- she said she's worried. He said he know but try and she tries and he knows it and stops asking.

How does this mental part interface with developing a good ride?

It's an ongoing thing for Harry, being aware of how an animal feels inside.

Empathy -- my word to describe it.

How can you be around another living entity and not know how it feels inside?

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing poorly.

Harry pondering, where did this come from? His degree of fear around horses as a child developed his empathy for the amount of fear the horse has.

A: differences between shut her down and help her feel OK.

Summary: keep searching, keep floundering around and making mistakes. It's not going to come out right. Your horse is going to forgive you and hopefully you're going to remember what happened before, and learn from it.

Harry Whitney Thursday June 22, 2006

I want to ask Harry to let me pretend to be a horse so I can feel what he's doing with the reins. (I never did.)

Questions:
Whenever the reins mean pull and the horse thinks about bracing, there can be no softness or collection. With this in mind, it makes sense that we have to come through for the horse every time we ask for something. With Rusty, I need to use longer rein and off set rein (more left than right, or more right than left) so he won't tuck his head which is his form of bracing (or avoiding getting to the answer I'm looking for)... Brace in horse = not giving answer or not trying to find the answer when I ask a question.

At this point then, two most helpful things I can do are develop better habit with reins, and develop better habit with seat and legs?

Can Harry see when I ride what I'm doing ineffectively with seat and legs? I know he's mentioned a time or two when I stop using seat when I'm using legs, I go stiff. Would it be good for me to get responses from a squeeze and use bump for a back up?

What's special about earplugs? (That was a trick question though at this point, I don't recall what I was thinking. Perhaps earplugs gave respite from all the questions someone like myself is asking, asking, asking!)

R: "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing."

In response to A's questions: Harry doesn't even think about footfall. In between disengaging this way and disengaging that way, they'll find a back up. A's missing this was about not using both reins properly -- gotta keep both reins close, being ready and not let the horse fall in the hole.

Re: momentum, etc.: If horse doesn't let go through back, then it ain't gonna happen. They aren't going to give through the back. If back doesn't give, there is no place for the hind feet to go.

There's time to say "will you stay forward" with legs and ask with reins, so they might let go through their back. If they can't stay forward without brace then give up forward and get the softness in the back.

Reins: it's not static. It's a give and take like when he was getting disengagement with Bo yesterday.

Round pen: reason to use is to get some work done in a more controlled setting -- getting clarity, responsiveness, developing good habits -- then go out into a larger area where there will be bigger distractions.

A: little tape recorder in her mind: 'where's your horse? where's your horse?' Her efforts to pay attention to what the horse is thinking about and feeling.

Question: Better to pony Sofia off Sandy first so she gets it, then add me and Rusty to the equation?

Morning ride:

I asked a lot of Rusty. Harry told me some times when I was late, need to be proactive, confirmed that with Rusty I often will need to ride him a LOT closer than I have in the past.

Worked on shoulder bulging to the left on a left turn. It happens when his mind is to the right and his front feet are heading to the right. Today's fix was to use left rein to invite the front feet to the left on a left circle.

Also: focus -- I need to focus bigtime like when riding through other horses -- me keep on a line and keep Rusty on a line. This will help with shoulder because it's about his mind in either case.

Getting to the inside is different from the mechanical stuff. Getting rid of resistances is not the same as getting OK inside.

Is this connected to how good we feel inside? If I don't have it, I can't offer it?

Rusty letting go, learning to let go of his thoughts = less troubled in human world and with other horses, too?

Intention and ability to allow -- when seeking to bring out trouble and help a horse to settle. Others who can get to inside of horse according to Harry: Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance.

Is getting a mental change the same as getting to the inside of a horse?

Ray Hunt has the ability to see and feel deep on the inside of the horse, and he takes care of it even before it becomes an action.

The horse has to feel good inside.

There is a mechanical component, got to do something in physical realm to get a change of thought and change of emotion.

Harry was asking yesterday for Sofia to change how she was feeling.

Harry tries to help us recognize real correctness, that's what we need to strive for. If it's not correct, the horse doesn't feel right.

My comments about what I bring to the horse and stillness; how Harry on Belle working ChaCha are a threesome.

Harry does get worried but doesn't get thinking about himself but thinks about the horse he's riding and figuring a way to help the horse feel better.

We often want to leave a horse soft and light but we are afraid to do enough, are acting unclear to the horse and that in itself are troubling.

Harry's definition of abuse: Every time you leave a horse mentally confused, he feels abused.

So if you aren't firm enough when needed, and it's not clear, you might just as well whack on the horse. Physically there will be bruises but mentally no different.

Herd doesn't allow poor behavior, so we can think that way and let a horse know they got to feel better before they can get close.

You can't make someone think anything. You can discourage a horse from thinking to the outsie, but just blocking isn't the same as having some reason to think in the circle.

It's OK to say "let go of that thought" especially with a greener horse. We might say "This is the line, let's go" with a more experienced horse.

The day Sofia lets go of her thought, I have to be there and show her where to go. There will be a pause in their thought when they wonder "what do you want?". I have to be there saying, 'let's go here, thank you' and take her someplace.

Major insight which Harry supported enthusiastically: I need to wean myself from riding Rusty like he's green!!

When we don't give a horse direction when they are ready, the horse will take over, will be the one to make decisions about what we're doing.

Let go, let go, let go, then here, show them where to go once they let go.

The sooner and the softer a horse can let go of a thought, the more the horse is available for my thoughts to direct. Like in round pen if horse checks in easily versus horse who thinks about other stuff very strongly and doesn't check in easily.

Slow thinkers don't come up with other options very quickly or easily. Like a horse who wants to go to the gate and might come off rein a little but won't think of other things to do other than the gate.

Every horse: their biggest asset is their biggest detriment.

Afternoon ride in arena with bull/flag on bike pulley.

Rusty needed closeness -- slack but very ready to ask for his thought. Harry coached me about really getting his hindquarters. Rusty got lighter to reins and over time, more relaxed about approaching the flag. Though Rusty was on edge more and startled at the teeter tooter and where the bike was set up, but I helped him like I was doing around the bull/flag.

Did some riding on Heyson. Nice! Then rode Rusty again with expectation that he feel like Heyson. Then Harry worked Sofia off Belle and that went well. Rusty got very excited when Sofia was approaching the gate afterwards, and Harry coached me through getting his mind back to his body. Asking him to left, to right, back up, a lot of little things. He started to respond and attend. Harry later commented that Rusty wanted to kill Belle at the start for having his Sofia. It was intense but I was able to follow Harry's directions well enough to get a change in Rusty's feelings.

Harry told story later with pictures drawn on dry erase board. About riding a mare out from home and up to the rail road tracks. The mare chose where to go instead of going over the tracks, and then Harry asked for circles but without hurry or worry. Eventually the mare ran through all her options, several times, and chose to go over the tracks.

At the flag -- ask them to move, and let them be successful at whatever they tried, could be off to the left or off to the right.

Later thoughts about Rusty excited: It was like: come back here into your body! My timing could have been better but basically I'm asking him to be with me and responsive just like he is in more quiet situations. As Harry said, "don't let him take over." Don't let his thought rule what is happening between us. Keep seeing if he's present and has given up his overpowering thoughts yet. Be ready to do what you need to to help him let go of the thought and be here again.

I'm amazed that my shame/guilt stuff is gone, that I've grown so much this year emotionally. Thank you, RNB and all the guidance from Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt.

Side pull.

Not just "block that thought" but also bring your thought here, here, here... (Rusty yesterday.)

Harry Whitney Wednesday June 21, 2006

Group ride, everyone in the ring. Great ride.

Me: getting a nice back up from one rein and wait until hindquarters give and back. Then other rein then pretty soon horse gets to the back up without the bending and stepping over, which is what you want.

A's question regarding stopping on front end. Harry will ride Diva this afternoon.

Question about ears pinned around other horses. When a horse is timid enough, they have to protect themselves like Sidney. If you have a horse with you mentally, it doesn't have to happen. A horse that is responsive won't pin ears. They are busy and involved with their job.

Biggest thing is to fix it every time you ride by, getting him listening and responsive to your aids.

Black Morgan: remember his pinned ears in round pen yesterday. Don't be critical of pinned ears, instead give him a place to go.

To have horse feeling best can be when you direct and say when, where, and what.

Can horse get into habit or does it always mean something? It becomes a habit to feel bad inside, like Rusty pins ears when I'm leading him. But when you get them to feel better on the inside, these behaviors won't show up so much.

Judgment calls cannot be taught.

If you have to get into an argument with a horse about something, it's probably a big enough worry that you need to let them deal with it rather than push them through or beyond it, rather than apply more pressure.

A: story of stopping her thoughts 'oh silly, it's nothing' and starting 'you're right, that could be dangerous -- let's check it out.'

Keep them focussed all the time you ride, but don't get in an argument if they really need to look.

A horse either has a pattern in life of hanging on to a thought, or of letting go of a thought. It needs to become a way of life -- letting go of a thought.

Mistaken application of patience... referring to times when I ask for something then wait... and wait... and wait... Harry has spoken in the past about teaching a horse to be wait.

Harry's ride on K's Bo (gaited horse): I'm gonna ask him to relax into these reins, not to rush. When a horse is worried, he gets tight. And when he gets tight, all four corners don't work as well and he gets pacey.

The magic is not in the feet. The feet are just a barometer for where the mind is. The feet are a manifestation of the mind.

When we wait after asking for 'go', the horse doesn't know how much effort they have to put into not going.

How many times? Every time.

Harry on Diva: He'll not let her fall into hole (stop on front end). He's letting her lose it but not as big as others might let her lose it. He is not preventing her, but is helping her find it again.

Hands don't move back for back don't move ahead for forward.

Use reins to say get round and soft.
Use seat and legs to stop and back up.

Ray Hunt: make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult, but never impossible.

Get the collection before the transition.

Harry and Sofia: Help them get into a little panic and see it through with them. Sofia was dragging on the lead rope.

Harry rode in bridle then I rode a little.

The better use of my hands I was developing or perhaps finding this morning with Rusty helped what I was doing with reins on Sofia. (Stop pulling!)

A and Harry's mule.

A's questions:
How did Harry keep the momentum of collected trot?
What is the footfall especially with hinds doing the left/right deal that leads to light back up?

My ride today: focus, creating a purpose with fixing the fence at lots of spots.

Question: Is Rusty's back ok? Is he carrying himself in a way that is healthy?

Harry Whitney Tuesday June 20, 2006

When it's over, it's over. Horse gets over it, so can I. So do I.

Being particular when leading. Asked Rusty to wait without eating when I got to turn out area.

Being creative. Bridled Rusty in pen before leading him to turn out.

Being particular. Asking for horses to turn to me in pen when I went in.

Needs work: getting attention without touching.

Focus all the time. Be present. That's the hardest part.

AD raised issue: leader horses do not walk around other horses -- should we never walk around a horse? Harry: No. If you ask, horse should move or if horse is coming down fence where you're standing, horse should walk around your space.

Ego: it's safer not to ask horse so no chance he'll fail us.

Can you see where it started? The stuff that today you feel "I've had enough"?

RR: I'm about tired of it.

Round pen: C and Sidney:

Timing of whacking ground = when horse is commited to leaving her.

When you ask for something, get a change. Backing up, stopping, moving head out of my space. Get a change of thought, not just a body change.

Effectiveness of what you're getting done more than how you go about it.

Stepping toward hindquarters, NOT to drive it away but to bring thought around with you and meanwhile his body will shape up.

To a sensitive horse, even a little ask will be too much pressure. So they're always trying to get ahead of the pressure. Instead help him slow down, stop, wait to find out what you are going to ask.

Being the Knight in Shining Armor doesn't help horse be confident. Like standing out at the end of the lead rope, see if horse can make it there. Don't leave him too long without a pet but don't stay too long petting him.

"Every time you ask, you have to stick with it until it comes through."

"You get what you settle for." From the movie, Thelma and Louise.


K and Bo:

Where is horse's attention? In circle, left/inside ear is with her.

Eyes are more indicative of where their primary thoughts are than their ears.

Longer reins let Bo relax neck.

Circle: keep walk at same speed and look for head to drop.

Sets it up so horse has to use hind end better in order to keep moving through the circle.

Break up pacing: lateral work, bending to release topline, cavalettis.

What's wrong with just going out for a fun ride and not being so particular about all this stuff? Every time you settle for less, your horse will give you less. Like pick up a rein and not getting a change in thought.

RR and Brighid:

Can really firm up to block a thought, but not to make a horse do something.

Can start with lots of transitions and direction changes, etc. RR's habit is to get those at the end.

"If my horse is tight, not listening, I'm going to be doing frequent, frequent, frequent transitions."

Work on bump with leg more effectively then leave her alone. Nagging is asking every step before she quits. Instead, let her quit and ask her forward again.

Set up for right lead by getting her balanced over her shoulders at trot before asking for canter.

Sofia and LJB:

Send and allow her to find me, wait for her to come without my drawing her! Then send more and go with her, walk trot then lots of trot canter transitions.

Sending her off from in front of her. Using my energy -- speed and energy of my body regulating her gait.

When changing direction on leadline, me keep facing her and let her/help her back and yield to my space in order to negotiate the turn.

Don't worry too much right now about her crankiness when I ask for more life.

One time when she had some bouncey head shaking reaction to my asking for up transition, Harry told me to drive her forward when she does that, don't let that work out, which I did.

AD and Rusty:

Gets his life up easily! Harry helped with getting change of directions on lead line.

Under saddle: backing: don't pull or shorten reins so much that he tucks his head.

It was a gift to watch AD ride Rusty!

Harry Whitney Monday June 19, 2006

Harry started the first week demonstrating with his horse, Sandy, at our request. The following are my notes from that session. I have edited them in many places to make understandable phrases and sentences. Direct quotes from Harry will be in parenthases in "bold".


Sandy is overconfident -- he has ideas how to run things. He has strong thoughts and struggles with giving them up when Harry has an idea that differs from Sandy's. Then when it's over, it's over, like after a tantrum. Sandy has let go of his ideas and holds no lingering bad feelings, no resentment, no caution, nothing.

These things are not personal but we take them personal. It's about whether he got his thought to come through. The more times he lets go of his thought, the easier it is. People don't see the things horses do and see how often horses keep their thoughts, then letting go becomes harder for those horses.

Decision whether to block a horse's hurrying off or not or go with him? If really worried, might go with him for awhile. If just feeling good and blowing off energy, might block horse.

"Always start with what you're going to end up with."

Harry uses his energy up and down to guide what he wants from Sandy. Very little hand action.

He didn't attack the problem of Sandy's attention with other horses outside the pen, but got Sandy working with him.

Beneficial to get the horse with you first, before saddling if horse is upset about something.

Pre-saddling groundwork can be invisible to someone else but he's assessing horse's readiness -- to be caught, to come through the gate, to stand for saddling, etc. May result in spending more time in round pen or such.

Being particular all the time -- consistent from start to finish all the time he's with a horse.

Online - circle - correct circle:
Horse being ready, ready to get prepared to go any moment you ask. Prepared to use his hindquarters to support his front end, instead of horse getting ready to come forward and person moves out of his way. That first step from halt, you can be asking the horse to step to the side... shift weight back then step front end around to the side.

Mentally on a circle versus walking in a circle around someone even if the horse's mind is outside the circle.

Fix: when horse gets straight, ready to go out, have him give his hindquarters; do this a few times until horse gives up thought to head out and is ready to come back mentally. Get that thought to come back in here, eventually get thought back to circle for a step or two. "Take your feet out there, but don't leave me."

Can work on leading and getting shoulder over.

What does Harry do to get ready? The same thing you'd do to get ready to get up out of a chair.

Reins are here for a reason: to direct a horse's thought. Take your thought to the right then get ready and then horse moves his body to the right.

Demonstration of using the reins for turns on hindquarters and turns on frontquarters using a stick or whip in hands, representing the bit which is there to influence the horse's thought. Use the bit to influence the horses head, and the horse will shape his body. You can do this with legs, too. Learn to do it with reins alone so you're effectively using reins as best as they can be used.

Nagging = repeatedly asking and nothing changes. Getting a change is not nagging.

Are they thinking? Trying? Getting ready to do something? Wait, it's a good thing when they're searching.

If you know they know and you feel them sucking back, then you might come in with your leg.

Trouble getting a lead:
a. Is horse crooked and can't get lead? or
b. Is horse worried abouat transition and tenses up then gets crooked and can't get lead?

Fix:
a. Balance trot better if it's a physical thing.
b. Get confident about transition then address straightness.

Rounding up and coming together is not a high degree of collection but it's in the right direction.

If horse is resistant to bit, no need to drive a horse gorward. Let him stop and work it out. When he's correct, encourage him forward with leg as collect up a bit but not if he starts resisting the bit. Keep using whole body for forward.

Might encourage forward but not drive forward. Try staying forward when I pick up the reins... Give to bit and step under stronger.

If horse is going to push or lean on reins, don't give until they give, right from the first ride.

We set a horse up to be resistant: pull on rin, horse pulling on rein, but release because a horse headed to the direction youwant. We overlook all those little spots.

"I question how good it can feel to a horse to give you less than their best, so I ask for their best."

Round pen with Sofia: online first because she gets so lost away from me. Circle, getting her 'straight' on the circle'. Sometimes asking hind away and sometimes asking head toward me.

Me standing in front of her, sending her mind to left or right without feet. Sending mind then feet a step or a few steps. More circling then offline, sending and drawing or allowing her back.

She got more lost so Harry coached me to wait for her to make the decision to be with me. It felt much better when she came to me secondary to her choice rather than compliance with my asking. Harry urged me NOT to use my body language to influence her movement.

A little startlement factor can help a horse settle -- it gets his mind here.

Muscles of topline get hard and flat when used (not desirable!). Developing a look to topline but not developing the muscles of the topline.

Don't step toward horse with intention of doing something to the horse. Instead step away and make a commotion and see if you can draw his attention.

If you are going to buy a horse, present something that they've not known before and see if they panic or try to think their way through it.

Horse can get confused and think he's being chased unless you're clear about transitions up and down and releasing and lots of transition changes. He'll gain confidence and feel better.

Don't criticize the horse for looking around but do give the horse a line to ride.

Helping horse lift back: horse may get short strided as he's getting ready to lift back. Follow through until he raises back even if stride shortens, and even if horse stops and backs.