America 2009 page 3

In all of the three photos above, I am working with Bell. In the left hand photo, I was taking the time to help Bell feel better about being saddled. She had a tendency to look away and then step away a little, so I decided to saddle her in the round pen without a halter. Without any form of restraint on a horse's head we really see what a horse is feeling towards a situation. In this case it was an example of what Harry would say "a horse can't separate what they are doing from what they are feeling". Bell's bad experience of being saddled or ridden many years ago was still present with her here as she connected the event to the same feeling.

In the middle photo I am helping Bell take one step at a time through the plastic bottles. Before this, I noticed that Bell enjoyed being itched by her hip, so to help her enjoy being in the bottles, I found that itching her there helped her to relax.

In writing about my trip, I purposely didn't write about any specific techniques to achieve things with our horses. This is because each horse and each situation is different, so I always aim to adapt my approach to fit each horse. What's suitabe to help one horse feel better about their work with us, isn't nessesarily suitable for another. I hope that what I have written here gives you some food for thought for finding ways to an even better relationship when working with your horse. Thanks for taking the time to read my article. You are always welcome to call me regarding questions or queries about your specific situation. - Anna