Being this is a Blog about Communication. I thought it would be wise to write about this topic. After all, any good journalist who is writing about something will ask and answer all of these questions in order to communicate their understanding to the best of their ability. So I started pondering on the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of Horsemanship. All simple questions we need to ask and have the answer to before moving on to the next part. Its also important for us…

Respect is a much needed component of communication. If you have ever had a conversation with someone who doesn't have any respect for you, or you may not have had much respect for them. You can compare this to a conversation you had with someone where both parties respect each other greatly and you can clearly see the point I'm trying to make. But the line for respect and disrespect is one that is not very clear.



What exactly is respect or to be…

This topic is something I feel needs to be talked about more often. It is very possible to do the right thing but at the wrong time. Which would make it wrong in most cases. There is also another side to that. In some cases it is possible to do the wrong thing at the right time. There will be times this could turn out to be the right thing. This in part is why I try to look at right and wrong in a way so that its not absolute, but in a way that I see variable extremes. Some simple math…

Building a solid foundation is key in your relationship with your horse. A relationship is built on communication and trust. I believe that communication builds trust. The better you can communicate, the better you will understand each other. Notice I said each other. We need to understand them just as much as they need to understand us. I like to think of communication as send and receive and not a one sided tell all. I feel we need to spend more time listening to what our horse is…

One of the more important things people ask me is, How do you communicate to your horse that you want them to stand still?" This is something everyone would like their horse to do at some time or another. Its nice if a horse will stand quietly when you are working around them, while grooming, saddling, or mounting. It also can help for when you tie your horse for any reason. If they understand that you want them to stand still, then they don't fuss and get all anxious when…

Hopefully you have read the first 3 parts to this topic and it all makes sense to you. We Talked about expectation most of all. What we expect from our horse and what they expect from us. We also talked about how if we want them to act in a certain way, we must act in a certain way in order to communicate to them what it is we expect. Here I will give a few examples of how I work with them and a few techniques I use to communicate my expectations to them. We must always remember…

In Part 1 we discussed expectation. How do we want our horses to behave? In Part 2 we discussed their expectations of us. What do they need from us? In Part 3 we will put it all together.



We have to remember that behavior is learned. It is learned through trial and error. One party tries to exhibit some form of behavior. Whether it's a reaction to something someone else has done, or an attempt to initiate something. If the other party excepts this behavior then…

In Part 1 of this topic we talked about expectations. How do we want our horse to behave? What do you expect? I also mentioned in brief some of the more important things I expect from my horses and how I would like them to behave. These things may not be things you would expect. That's fine, find what works for you and your horse. We also mentioned about the Demonstrations we have scheduled on this topic for March 30th, and April 27th here at R Jay's Farm.



In Part…

What should we expect?



The title of this, How A Horse Should Behave, sounds like a statement of fact. The truth is, the out come is whatever the expectation is. It is true to my findings that a horse will do exactly whats expected of them. So if we expect them to behave in a certain way, we must behave in a certain way in order to communicate our expectations. The reason a horse misbehaves or doesn't respond the way we would like, is do to us not having a clear…