Sensitive faces?

Have you dealt with face sensitivity before? Suli has always (since I brought her home at 8 months old) been extremely sensitive about applying pressure to her face. She responds appropriately to very light, steady pressure on her nose, cheek, chin, and poll. Her sensitivity is expressed when putting on the halter. No matter how soft I tried to be with her halter she would pull and dive her nose and fidget while putting it on and taking it off. All these behaviors seem specific to the halter pressure. On-line she is usually light but when she does hit the end of the line she expresses her displeasure with the halter pressure. She will yank and rear and fling her head. It took time and patience to help her get comfortable with the haltering and unhaltering process. A lot of holding softly and waiting for her to soften. Now she halters calmly and knows if she's soft then she won't have to deal with extra halter pressure.

A few things come to mind - teeth, extrovert, zone 1 confident, and inappropriate response to pressure.

She could be a sensitive teether. A lot is happening inside that long jaw of hers and it's bound to cause discomfort when extra pressure is applied.

She's an extrovert and doesn't hide her feedback. It may feel like extreme behavior but she's simply being obvious about how she feels. She feels blocked, uncomfortable, and frustrated. She doesn't understand why she suddenly runs into all that pressure and responds accordingly to the shock.

She's a confident horse and zone 1 is more challenging for her to share in harmony...

Could it also be the halter? I tried out Kalley's new hybrid halter and saw am immediate and substantial difference when she felt the halter pressure. It was less offensive to her and she made that very clear to me.

I'm mulling over ideas to help her become softer on the line without putting her young body in a round pen and forcing her to do a thousand circles. She hits the end of the line because I have lost connection, so breaking down my send to maintain connection may be a good place to start...

How have you handled a horse with facial sensitivities?

Leadership Journey, the shepherd

When we play with our horses, especially those whose main purpose in life is to have fun, we try to keep our time together playful. We become the 'Ambassador of Yes' instead of the 'Minister of No'. With horses that tend to be more fearful, we help them feel safe and focus their scattered emotions, we go as slow as they need with a gentle hand, and we often have to wait longer for them. We give incentives to unmotivated horses and get their busy brains thinking positive things. In order to accomplish this we have to become puzzle-solvers, think outside the box, establish feel and timing, and become balanced.

We use all these phrases and terms to get ourselves in the better (I like the use of 'better' here rather than 'right') frame of mind. It really comes down to being the best leader we can be in that given moment.  

Leader is such a loaded word. It describes someone who rewards and does not punish, someone who has a plan and knows how to get there, someone with perspective, understanding, and can and will flex to fit the horse and the situation. A leader is someone that others look up to and want to follow. Others are attracted to and drawn to follow balance, harmony, kindness, genuineness, humility, and wisdom.
That's a lot to pack into one little word!

The truth is the horsemanship journey is a leadership journey. Horses require of us all these qualities in order to establish and maintain a partnership. They will reflect us with their feedback and let us know exactly where we stand on the leadership scale. It's our responsibility to see and hear this feedback and do something about it in ourselves.

My passion turned into a career, which I named Shepherd's Way Horsemanship. There are many biblical scriptures that describe a shepherd. One that resonates with me and that I keep in the forefront of my mind when I am with my horses is John 10:11,

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.

All of us read that and immediately think it means 'to die for' his sheep -- this is true. But I also look at it as setting aside my life -- my past, my future, my lofty goals and expectations, my stresses and worries, my life outside of this very moment -- and being fully present. I 'give up' my life and all the bustle to be in the moment. This is a big sacrifice on our parts because it takes practice - a time investment - and is often uncomfortable and challenging to accomplish. It requires us to set aside our emotions and sometimes immature and selfish wants to become a leader. In the end it's good for us, but the process takes sacrifice. A shepherd (leader) will give his life for his sheep (followers). 

A shepherd is a leader, but how does he become one? What is at his core that drives him to embrace these leadership qualities? The answer is Love.... and I will discuss in my next blog!