Can spooky horses be calmed?

Note: The following excerpt is the transcript from a question I answered from my Facebook Live made in the Steady Horse Facebook Group on 6/5/19. Watch the video or read the text below to learn the answer to the question.

The answer to that is your horse can always make progress. Always. I don’t care what anybody tells you. Some people you hear them saying that your horse is always going to be hyperactive, this horse will always be like that. No. Not at all. Your horses can always make progress if you’re willing to be patient and willing to put the time.

It doesn’t mean that that horse will make progress from zero to 60 overnight, but what it means is that you have to put a little bit more time and effort into them. The most important thing is to be gradual. I know I must sound like a broken record because I talk about being gradual with your horses all the time.

I cannot impress upon you how important that is and how that changes your relationship with your horse because that’s what it all comes down to. Your relationship.

When you have a good relationship with your horse, when your horse trusts you and trusts your lead, then they’re more likely to listen to what you’re asking them to do when you’re communicating it clearly.

So, if you have a hot horse, make sure you work on some of the transitions that we do when we’re sending our horse and doing the Unbreakable Bond exercises, doing those transitions from the walk, to the trot, to the canter. Go through that. Say I’m in a round pen and I ask my horse to trot in that round pen. I want to be able to get my horse to transition from a trot to a walk by simply just taking a deep breath, drawing down the pressure. There are some people that look at certain horses and say, “No. You can’t do that with my horse. My horse is just too hot. But you put that horse in the round pen with me, I’ll start working that horse.

Remember, it’s not on your time frame. I’m going to let that horse work itself and let them move around until they begin to become comfortable with me until they begin to believe that I really have their interest at heart. Once they get to that point, once I take that deep breath and give them the opportunity to slow down to a walk, their ready and willing to take it because they know that I’m going to be fair and good with them.

So, I just want to encourage you with the horses who are a little bit harder. That can sometimes be a little discouraging. Just keep at it, slow down, take your time, and look at things through your horse’s perspective and you’ll get there with that horse. Just look for a little bit of progress each time. Work with them. I promise you that you’re going to, eventually, make leaps and bounds.