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Guest Writer – Lauren Woodard, Exceptional Horsemanship |
Beware the Sideways Glance or Keep and Eye on the Eye
Many people go about their business around horses, turning them out, mucking the stall, feeding, brushing, watering, cleaning this and that.
Exactly what a nanny / caretaker would be expected to do while the owner is on vacation.
But, how to do that well and safely?
While the answer seems easy, it’s not. People get stepped on. Horses rush out of the stall gate and trample the person or the person has to get out of the way (coming up in more detail in another post).
These are 1000+ pound animals. How is it possible to have all these traumas happen? The person is right there! Next to the horse. Didn’t they see it coming?
In a word ? NO!
Because they’re not paying attention to what’s really important.
There are two chunks of seven words that are probably the most helpful and important to learn to apply to every horse situation both on the ground and riding. Actually these words are true for everything including people.
The first chunk that we’re talking about is Mind-Flexion-Shift-Movement.
Let’s say you want to take a sip of your coffee. What’s the process’ Yep, think it through because you want to be able to read that in the horse you’re taking care of. A horse you may or may not know at all. You do not know what s/he’s thinking unless you’re paying attention. And the wheelbarrow is not going to tell you what the horse is thinking so if you’re just looking at that, or the fork or the pile of manure, or the rug/blanket or water hose or, well? you could be in a lot of trouble.
Back to the coffee. When the thought comes into your MIND to have a sip, you can feel it. Your eyes move to the cup. Your body prepares the necessary impulses to FLEX the appropriate muscles. And your muscles SHIFT into the proper position to begin the MOVEMENT.
When people get hurt or the horse escapes, etc. it’s because the person wasn’t paying attention or didn’t know to and missed all the first indicators and is now dealing with the repercussions of the movement. After the fact!
So, keep an Eye on the Eye and you’ll have a much safer and better idea of what’s going on and what to watch out for. What you choose to do with your newfound horse reading abilities and how to ‘Choose Wisely’, we will also be going into along with the other 3 word chunk in another post.
Best,
Lauren Woodard
www.ExceptionalHorsemanship.com
