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Re: [RC] spooking + screaming//The Principle of 10 - Beverley H. Kane, MDTitle: Re: [RC] spooking + screaming//The Principle of 10 Mark Rashid is a wonderful horse trainer. In his latest book, Whole Heart, Whole Horse, he takes a page from aikido, of which he also a high level practitioner.The principles really helped my a lot w/ my E-ticket horse. A central principle of aikido is the blending of energies between the attacker and the receiver of the attack. You have the uke (attacker/student) and the nage (receiver of the attack/sensei/teacher) who must balance eachother’s energies. The uke must supply enough energy for the nage to use for the throw or other technique. Mark Rashid’s aikido sensei says that ideally both uke and nage bring a 5 to the blend and so find the balance point. Mark analogizes that when horses spike emotionally, they nearly almost spike physically—hence a spook. So if the horse is offering an 8-10, the human in charge must offer a 2 to a 0. (With mine I have to get to –1 sometimes.) The idea is to find the balance point with a spooky horse, also with a horse that has too little go. We have to practice breathing, centering, and bringing our own energy level down for at least 5’/day under calm circumstances so that when the horse is freaking out, we stay cool. I used to yell at Codigh when he spooked, especially from the ground, especially w/ pulling back. Now I stay calm and talk soothingly. (It’s not a good idea to pet them when they spook, either.) I also try to get more relaxed in the saddle when I feel him getting wound up—if I have that much warning. Today we did some despooking at the big old horse-eating hay barn that makes rumbling noises in the warped aluminum siding circa 1920. Codigh always has issues w/ that barn. It never looks or sounds the same twice. Walked around it about 8 times til he was licking and chewing and carrying his head low. Then rode by w/o a blink. (Til tom’w when it becomes horrific again...) Beverley On 9/2/09 5:06 PM, "Val Nicoson" <vnicoson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: SO any ideas on how I can prevent myself from screaming or yelling?????
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