Horse Psychology

Question 1

Four Systems of the Horse

Answer 1

Rapport, Respect, Impulsion, Flexion

Question 2

What do People vs Horses Value

Answer 2

praise, recognition, and material things are important to people compared to safety, comfort, play, and incentive which are important to horses

Question 3

Predators

Answer 3

think in direct lines based only on his wants or needs of the moment, We smell like what we eat (meat). Our eyes are in the front of our heads. Our ears are back all the time, which to horses appears to be a sign of aggression. We use direct-line thinking, and often we focus on our horses like a mountain lion stalking a foal.

Question 4

Prey Animals

Answer 4

think laterally when he considers all the factors and angles before adjusting to fit the situation,

Question 5

Overcoming the predator/prey barrier

Answer 5

You’ve got to get him perceptive to your cues and communication rather than to danger. You have to turn his flight from fear into impulsion. You’ve got to get him to want to be with you rather than galloping back to the herd at the first opportunity.

Question 6

CCRSS

Answer 6

Calm Connected Responsive Supple Successful

Question 7

CCRSS as Goal for each Horsenality

Answer 7

Calm - RBE Connected - RBI Responsive - LBI Supple - LBE Success

Question 8

Horsemanship can be obtained through…

Answer 8

communication, understanding and psychology vs. mechanics, fear and intimidation.

Question 9

There are 3 Things that are Important to Horses

Answer 9

1. Safety 2. Comfort 3. Play When a horse’s safety is threatened, comfort in not important. And once the horse is comfortable he wants to play. And then what does he play? Dominance Games!

Question 10

5 Areas to Assess a horse’s confidence

Answer 10

1. Self-confidence 2. Confidence in you as his or her leader 3. Confidence as a learner 4. Confidence in new environments 5. Confidence among other horses

Question 11

Increase confidence in Self-Confidence by…

Answer 11

Don’t try to scare your horse or make him deal with the situation. Retreating and re-approaching works. Play Touch It on longer lines. Let your horse know when he’s right. Use lots of “good boy”/“good girl” when your horse is trying for you (even if they aren’t necessarily being “good”).

Question 12

Increase Confidence in you as his or her leader by…

Answer 12

Don’t push or force. Don’t punish; just repeat. Horses don’t know that they are wrong. Have a plan. Know where you’re going and what you’re going to do.

Question 13

Increase Confidence as a Learner by…

Answer 13

Teach the ingredients; introduce small components of what you want. Be gentle and patient. Reward the slightest try.

Question 14

Increase Confidence in New Environments by…

Answer 14

Introduce your horse to new environments or experiences often, such as a Parelli Games tournament or a Parelli clinic. That way, you have support if your horse has trouble. Stay on the ground until your horse is calm. Do things; be a leader. Incorporate patterns and exercises like Touch It, etc.

Question 15

Increase Confidence among other horses by…

Answer 15

Expose your horse to others. Don’t let your horse only socialize; keep him focused on you. It’s not about meeting other horses; it’s about your horse staying connected to you mentally, emotionally, and physically. Start with just one or two horses, and build from there.

Question 16

________ motivates and ________ teaches

Answer 16

Pressure Release

Question 17

Making a Game out of it involves?

Answer 17

Focus- Having a clear picture of what you want- how to win the game. Neutral, Feel and Timing- In order for it to be a game: -You need to leave your horse alone when they have it right (neutral) -Correct them when they come off the path (focus and feel) -And release when they’re back on it (focus, feel and timing) Think like a horse. Horse’s are looking for where it’s comfortable. Making a game out of something makes it very clear where the comfort lives

Question 18

Balancing the Aids

Answer 18

Pat has noticed (especially under saddle) that many of us don’t apply phases appropriately. For example when applying the phases to go: often we apply Phase 1 (focus) and then when we go to apply Phase 2 (smile with all 4 cheeks), we lose our Phase 1. When we go to Phase 3 (turn the smile into a squeeze), we lose Phase 2. The phases need to build on each other. In order to keep our aids light, we need to balance them. Like he mentions in the video, you can think of each phase holding the same amount of weight (mosquito). Each one is light but when you add 2 ounces of pressure and another 2 ounces of pressure- the pressure increases because you are adding them- but taken separately they each weigh 2 ounces.

Question 19

Focus gives you?

Answer 19

Feel

Question 20

Focus and Feel give you?

Answer 20

Timing

Question 21

Focus, Feel and Timing give you?

Answer 21

Balance

Question 22

What are the 3 major instincts of the horse?

Answer 22

1) a horse needs to be perceptive to danger, people, places, changes, and things 2) horses flee from fear 3) horses are gregarious and go to the safe spot

Question 23

gregarious

Answer 23

fond of company; sociable

Question 24

What is the 1st of 3 major instincts of the horse?

Answer 24

1) a horse needs to be perceptive to danger, people, places, changes, and things If you have ever seen a horse that the kids could catch easily but dad couldn’t, then you have seen the instinct that makes horses perceptive to danger, people, places, changes, and things.

Question 25

What is the 2nd of 3 major instincts of the horse?

Answer 25

2) horses flee from fear The second instinct is that horses go into flight from fear because they are born skeptics, cowards, claustrophobics, and panicaholics. As humans, our instinct is to be curious. In contrast, when a horse goes into a new arena, he looks around until he figures out that the environment is safe. He’s looking everywhere because he’s afraid for his safety. Humans look around everywhere because we are nosy. This is a huge difference. Horses tend to go into flight from fear rather than being curious. To be a horseman, you need to understand this perspective.

Question 26

What is the 3rd of 3 major instincts of the horse?

Answer 26

3) horses are gregarious and go to the safe spot

Question 27

However, with the proper program, we can be perceptive of danger, people, places, changes, and things; therefore, those potentially negative experiences become positive ones.

Answer 27

We cause him to be perceptive to cues and communication.

Question 28

Turning the 2nd instinct of horses fleeing from fear to a positive

Answer 28

We can take flight from fear and turn it into something called impulsion, which is controlled energy.

Question 29

Turning the 3rd instinct of horses are gregarious and go to the safe spot

Answer 29

Horses can get to the point that they realize that humans are leaders and that humans know what they are doing as long as they understand what motivates a horse, a horse’s instincts, and use quality horsemanship. Then, a horse can truly feel safe around a human.

Question 30

4 Concepts horses teach us

Answer 30

1) not to be chauvinistic (displaying excessive or prejudiced support for one’s own cause, group) 2) not to be autocratic (relating to a ruler who has absolute power, taking no account of other people’s wishes or opinions) 3) not to be anthropomorphic (an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics) 4) not to be direct-line thinkers

Question 31

4 Concepts horses teach us

Answer 31

1) not to be chauvinistic (thinking that we are better than someone or something else like another animal species) 2) not to be autocratic (relating to a ruler who has absolute power, taking no account of other people’s wishes or opinions) 3) not to be anthropomorphic (which is putting human thoughts and values into animals actions) 4) not to be direct-line thinkers

Question 32

Chauvinism is as simple as thinking that we are better than someone or something else like another animal species. Example

Answer 32

Thinking like a chauvinist means that we as humans are the masters

Question 33

Example of Autocratic

Answer 33

There’s a saying, “The more we use our reins, the less the horse will use his brains.” If we do all of the thinking for the horse, then pretty soon he will resemble a robot.

Question 34

Example of Anthropomorphic

Answer 34

Everything that we do including the way that we motivate them—or think we are motivating them—or reward them is based in anthropomorphic values that they do not share with us. You can spend thousands of dollars on a brand new barn or shed for your horse, and the horse stands outside of it while it’s snowing, raining, or windy. You might think that you’re giving him a nice little cozy warm shelter, but he doesn’t want to go inside that cave. You buy a brand new horse trailer, and your horse goes, “That’s just a metal cave on wheels. I’m not going in there.” It is so easy for us to be anthropomorphic and not understand our horses.

Question 35

Example of Direct Line Thinking

Answer 35

The opposite of a direct-line thinker is a puzzle solver. Horses were put here on the Earth for us to solve the puzzle of how to take and become ultimate partners with the ultimate prey animal while we are the ultimate predator. There are three ways to do this: mechanics, fear, and intimidation. Unfortunately, we can force our horses through subjugation to do our will, and most the time, we get some kind of a result. Some people have even reached the height of mediocrity doing that. It becomes a puzzle when a horse has a real concern and is frightened by a plastic bag, even though it seems logical to us that he shouldn’t be afraid of a little piece of plastic. For us to teach our horse the way we want him to respond to anything, we have to become a puzzle solver. One of the things that I learned from Tom Dorrance after seeing him solve puzzles and after becoming a puzzle solver myself, was that “there are a lot of horses with a few tricks, and a few horses with a lot of tricks, but I ain’t ever met one that’s got more than me.” There’s the sign of a great puzzle solver, and if we’re great puzzle solvers, then we can teach our horses to be great puzzle solvers. When our horses are great puzzle solvers, then they become exceptional partners, and then there is nothing that you can’t do because the horse becomes a part of you.

Question 36

Why does Backing cure Biting

Answer 36

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when two stallions are fighting the one that backs loses the dominance game

Question 37

One example of Overcoming Bucking

Answer 37

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Example horse Pat was working always wanted to buck a little. It didn’t go backward as well as forward according to Tom Dorrance so he sat in the chair and backed him away and brought him forward going phase 1 to 4 quickly over and over. Getting him to back better with his head not up in the air and back hollow. Pat got back on all the buck was gone.