I’ve often been asked whether wild and domestic horses are the same or different from one another. Here’s my take on it.

Gifted animal communicators who work with wild animals are focused on making the same connection and follow the same rules of communication that my Waterhole Rituals™ are focused on. Your connection and leadership with the Waterhole Rituals™ are on the animals’ terms and not on your own because of the mood and the ability to control the relationship. One minute you can have a connection and the next you do not. In fact it is easier to read a wild animals’ shift in attitude than with a domestic horse.

The more we work with these shifts and acknowledge them and only ask for performance when a horse is willing and in the mood, the more we can create the mood that brings about a true partnership. It is very easy to read a wild animal’s response towards you. The way to handle a wild animal is very simple: If they are leaving you, leave them alone and if they are listening to you, then you can direct them. With wild animals, it is very important to gain respect regarding your personal space and never enter a wild animal’s personal space uninvited.

Using the Waterhole Rituals™ you adjust your approach to fit in with the interest of your horse and you build cooperation around food in a manner horses can understand. Your horse learns what is fair and what is not fair in social interactions with you, just like they do in a herd that has worked out a perfect ecosystem. This way you win respect.

If you have a naturally polite horse and you are polite too, you will have a great foundation for riding. The horse learns that he can work with you and you will work with him rather than him thinking he has no power and must do what he is told. Adjusting a willing attitude in a horse will become second nature if this is where you put your focus. Practicing the Waterhole Rituals™, you will acquire an ability to create an approach that will suit your horse’s personality and remove his resistance at the same time. I remove resistance under saddle in an indirect manner through the rituals rather than through riding. When the

connection is achieved with the rituals, it will remove the resistance under saddle.

As you build the connection with your horse through using the Waterhole Rituals™, you will see your horse in a new light. You will see more clarity in what would make the relationship and performance of your dreams.

Carolyn Resnick

Horsemanship from the Ground Up