As a protective and great leader, it is also your job to provide a focus to your partnership. Everything you do should be because you provided that focus or goal. Your focus can be as simple as ‘lets graze’ or
more complex like ‘lets perform alternating flying lead changes.’

No matter what you choose for your focus, you need to know what you are doing, and your horse needs to know what is expected of him.

For example, if you are standing in the barn grooming you can provide the focus that the horse is to stand still. If the horse starts to move about then you continue to provide the same focus by correcting your horse
back into the same spot for grooming – and then trust your horse again to stand
still (don’t stay tight on the lead rope).

Another example, if you are riding and you want the horse to follow a circle pattern. You can start riding the circle pattern and try to ride using your body, if your horse isn’t following the circle pattern then
correct with the rein until the horse is back on the circle and then allow the
horse to follow the circle pattern without micromanaging with the reins.

You provide the focus, trust your horse to follow your focus, and you correct your horse politely if you need to. You are patiently persistent at correcting your horse until they understand and follow your
focus.

Remember to keep your focus reasonable – if your horse doesn’t usually come in to be handled it might be unfair to ask the horse to stand for an hour while you pull the mane. Instead ask for 10 minutes of
standing, then have a break, and then ask for 15 minutes and then have a break,
etc. Or if your horse is only just learning flying lead changes then just ask
for one lead change and then a walking reward break.

Set yourself up for success by having a focus that is fair and achievable.

You can also have a focus that allows your horse to offer ideas. For example you may be riding a pokey horse and your focus is to get the trot moving forward, but if your horse gets confused and offer canter, you
could accept the canter for a few strides (because the horse still responded
positively by moving forward) and then correct the horse by breaking to trot –
that way the horse won’t feel afraid of offering ideas to you – because you
will stay polite and recognize when your horse is trying, but just misunderstood
you.

A common example of how horse’s change their rider’s focus: A rider may start to ask a horse to turn, but the horse resists and pulls against the rider, so instead of
insisting the horse turn in the direction the leader first suggested, the leader
lets the horse change their focus and instead switches reins and starts asking
the horse to go the other way.

Be careful! Have a focus, communicate your focus to your horse, and don’t allow your horse to change your focus.

Being able to provide a focus to your horse, and being able to stick with a focus will help build trust in your horse. This is because your horse will believe you when you try to tell your horse that something isn’t
scary… because you don’t change your mind, the horse knows that in 5 minutes
you will still be saying the object isn’t scary.

If you allow your horse to change your focus, your horse learns that you change your mind and you aren’t really sure about what to do, what not to do, etc, so when you approach something scary and try to tell the
horse it isn’t scary, the horse may not believe you.