First Do No Harm

In this episode we are taking our connection work from the ground and transferring it to the saddle. There are 2 big foundational skills that I work on with my students that are often skipped, especially in the riding school environment, that could be holding you back. If you started at a riding school you might need to revisit your foundations and see if these are gaps in your training

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When we give the horses the power of consent and choice we unlock their true nature. This is what psychological safety is. We're not seeing the version of the horse that is scared and fears humans, fears for its life and fears threats in its environment.  We're not seeing the version of the horse that is tense and braced because it lacks faith, trust and confidence in us. We're seeing the version of the horse that feels so safe around us they are prepared to bring down their boundaries, walls and armour and be vulnerable with us. 

What could your horses potential have been before life and humans happened to them? How can we unpack that armour and rewire psychological safety and vulnerability in to their learnt behaviours?

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Episode 5 of the connection series, togetherness. When it comes to working with horses we often have to leave our agenda at the gate and not be emotionally attached to the outcome, just working with the horse we have on the day. In this episode we talk about what it looks like to do our training session together and that sometimes it means doing what the horse wants to do. And if you don't know what your horse wants to do, here's a little hint. They want to hang out in the paddock with their herd and eat!

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Thanks for joining us for our connection series. Today we are talking about being a leader worth following. Does your horse look to you to take the lead? Do they have faith, trust and confidence in you and your skills to follow your lead? This has a lot to do with how we can strategically and intentionally structure our training sessions so that the horses build more confidence in us and themselves by creating small achievable challenges with an immense sense of satisfaction and reward on completion. 

If you feel like your training sessions are lacking organisation and purpose. If you go in to your training session asking what are we going to do today? If you're feeling lost in what you are trying to achieve in your training environment with your horse check out our membership where we help you strategically plan your training out with your horse in small bite size pieces to work towards your big goal. You can find the membership here

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In this episode we are learning about building relationships and communication with communication buttons. The two buttons in use are hugs and scratches and there are a couple of skill sets required.   

Do you know where your horse likes to be scratched?

We are in to week 3 of our connection series on the first do no harm podcast in which we are learning about what I call "the softening". Does your horse melt in to your touch or do they stand with tension and brace against it? If you have a horse that holds tension against your touch on the ground they will inevitably brace against you in the saddle.   

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Join us for episode 2 of our connection series where we share our second top tip for discovering how with you your horse is! Part of having a safe horse that wants to look after you is relaxation and our horses are super good at show us active signs of relaxation and tension. When working with our horses we want our horses to feel safe to relax and have a sleep with us. That means not only do they trust us and not see us as a threat but they also trust us to stand guard while we sleep. 

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Join us over the next 8 episodes of our connection based training series as we become powerfully connected equestrians that don't feel conflicted about the tools that we us because we understand what our horses are trying to communicate when they don't respond to our aids the way we asked.

The number 1 way to recognise if your horse is with you and connected and consenting or if they're starting to feel uncomfortable with what you're asking them to do is their eye contact. This is one of the first places you are going to see your horse showing discomfort about the way you are trying to communicate with them and what you're trying to ask of them.

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The term connection is fast becoming a trending word within the industry but have you truly experienced it? Experiencing a word gives you a deeper meaning and understanding of what is trying to be communicated. In this episode I'm going to share with you some experiences that you may have had this quality of connection and what we are looking for in our horse to see if that connection is thriving or if there is a disconnect. 

Join us over the next 8 weeks for 8 exercises to implement to start building a deeper connection with your horse. 

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This is one from the archives in our stronger bond facebook community and we have a bunch more there!!! Join the group here

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Join us in this discussion as we break down the elements of riding well and not just creating an aesthetically pleasing picture. We discuss all types of topics like breaking through training blocks, how to use your body when your horse bolts or bucks and how to be less of a burden on your horses back in general.

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