Balance in Motion - Pferdephysiotherapie Hartmann

16/03/2025

If you have a horse you are called to be horseman. Yet many make excuses for not stepping up…

Everyone wants the companionship, the partnership, the abilities, the feeling, the freedom... that comes with being a horseman.

But horsemanship isn’t a feeling. It’s a responsibility.

A responsibility to put the horse’s needs first. To show up, every day, with the discipline to improve yourself so you can be better for your horse. To lead with clarity. To do what’s right and needed, not just what feels good.

Most people ‘just’ want to have fun with their horse doing what they enjoy. Most don’t want that kind of responsibility. Yet when you have horses, it is your responsibility regardless if you want to or not.

And I do believe horses are here for us to enjoy, yet the fact is, with horses and in life the way we get to enjoy things we want and desire is by first serving others.

Those who actually step up and take responsibility for the role they have taken on… Those are the real horsemen.

As a horseman…
1. The needs of the horse comes first. Always.

Not your wants, desires, goals, or timeline. Not what makes you feel comfortable or cozy. The horse’s needs dictate what needs to be done. You serve the horse first, and when you do the results, your goals, your dreams are able to follow in abundance and quality.

2. You fix yourself before you try to fix the horse.

The horse is NOT a mirror to your soul. Your horse responds to who you are- physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. If there’s a problem, the first place you look is within yourself and then to your horse.

3. You don’t avoid challenges—you welcome them.

Growth and comfort dont live in the same arena or barn. Growth only happens when there’s pressure, challenges, and sometimes even struggle. That doesn’t mean we go out creating more trouble- absolutely not- yet when it arises in the learning process a real horseman does not shy away those challenges with their horse. Instead, they guide them through it building deeper partnerships and skills.

4. Your emotions don’t run the show.

Your horse doesn’t need your frustration. They don’t need your fear, your self-doubt, or your ego. They need leadership. They need presence, clarity, vision, patience, consistency. You stay present on your horses needs and you feel whatever you need to feel after the session.

5. Pressure is not the enemy. Confusion is.

Pressure is part of learning. Nothing creates a more frustrated horse than a human driven by emotion with a lack of decisiveness, consistency and awareness of the horse. A horseman knows it’s not the amount of pressure but rather the timing and significance of the release that makes the biggest difference.

6. Boundaries create confidence.

A horse that knows the boundaries are consistent and supportive feels safe and can fully submit. Leadership means serving them, giving them structure, clarity, and trust.

7. You let the horse think.

Micromanaging creates robotic, neurotic and anxious horses. You present the question, give them the time and ability to make their own decision, let them figure it out then guide and support them as necessary.

8. You learn from every horse.

A true horseman never stops being a student. Every horse has something to teach you—if you’re humble enough to listen. When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

9. The goal is not short term gratification. The goal is setting that horse up for a lifetime of success.

What we do with our horse develops their skills. How we do it develops the partnership. A horse that is forced to perform is not the same as a horse that chooses to.

10. You reflect, you refine, you return.

After every ride, you analyze what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve. You don’t just do more, you do better.

11. You lead by example.

You don’t demand respect, you earn it. You don’t just teach the horse discipline, you live it. Your horse is always responding to who you are. The question is: are you someone worth following?

We are all called to be horsemen but many will never step up because they are too focused on themselves. For those who choose this path to do what is best for the horse, there is no deeper reward.

The world needs more real horsemen.

The world needs more real leaders.

“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”

The same goes for our horses.

-Colton Woods

05/05/2024

08/04/2024

Your horse needs a minute.

Before you start out into the field or the stall to get your horse, stand still and take a couple of breaths. Slow down. Then slow down some more. Be there, be present, be in your body to the best of your ability. How do you feel?

Before you start on your grooming regimen, put your hand on your horse’s neck or flank or back or wherever draws you and just be. How does he/she look, seem, feel today? Once you start grooming, how does he react? Sensitive in spots? Enjoying others? Checked out? Antsy? Take a pause. Step back if necessary to let your hose know that you are listening.

Before you tack up, take a moment to actually see how your horse reacts to the process. Does she step away? Freeze up? Swish her tail? Stand calmly with a gentle eye?

Before you swing a leg over, observe your breath. Then observe your horse’s breath. Are you both breathing? If not, take a moment to relax and breathe in and out. See what happens with your horse. Consider not getting on until you can actually see your horse breathing regularly. This will require you to breathe regularly.

Before you start your ride/lesson/warm up routine, consider asking what your horse wants or needs before you get to work - does he need to stand still for a moment? Does she want to wander around a bit, stretching out her neck or looking off into the distance? Does he seem checked out and unresponsive? Take a moment to connect with how your horse is feeling without direction from you.

Before you ask for the movement or the exercise or the pattern again, take a breath and try to feel in your own body what you are asking for in your horse’s body. See it in your minds eye. If your horse gets it, stop, reward, be done for the day instead of trying to get it again. And again.

Before I move on to the next place the horse guides me in a bodywork session, I am likely to step back, to give the horse time to process, to give me the time to process, for both of us to feel, release, adjust, acknowledge.

Your horse needs a minute. And so do you. Take it. Revel in it. It is often the soft spaces in between where we feel, connect, understand. 

15/02/2024

An Alle, die ihr Pferd bei jeder Gelegenheit zutexten ! Shut up !!!

Most people who get into horses have had prior experience with dogs. As a result, they tend to speak to horses as they have with dogs. This is a common mistake that confuses horses. There is a great deal of research on animals' understanding of human language, and the studies agree that a horse can understand between 8 and 15 words. Dogs can understand 165 to 250 words.

What we can learn from this is to be quieter when communicating with horses. For example, it is important to speak to horses without sentences. I teach young horses the words - walk, trot, canter, back, whoa and stand, only 6 words. This leaves space for the next owner to teach a few more words to the horse.

Voice commands are very useful in early training. It is important that each word that we speak to a horse sound unique and distinct. Do not mumble your words. When your words sound similar it makes it difficult for a horse to connect the word with a desired action. Words are particularly practical when we make the transition from groundwork to training from the saddle. Words like walk, stand and back are useful forever in the barn or in a trailer.

Clucking and the kissing sounds are the equivalent of words to a horse. Remember to include them in your word count when training. I do not teach a horse these or other sounds as cues because in a hunt, polo game or other group activity, another horse might hear them and respond to my sounds, thus taking control of the horse away from their rider.

It is very important to understand that horses respond to tone and inflection of command words. I believe that tone and inflection is equally important as the word used with a horse. There is "Stand." and there is "STAND!". When training a horse, it is useful to vary your tone and inflection in order to access and understand the perceptive sensitivity and skill in a horse. Horse trainers must learn each horse's individual reactions and thresholds to each word they speak with their tone and inflection.

I regularly write about the balance of leadership and domination in the horse training process. Many people get confused about using domination in training. I think this is because they do not understand the difference between compassionate domination and abusive domination. Using words can be either leadership or domination as in the example of "Stand." versus "STAND!". With a child chasing a ball into the street, there is Stop. and there is "STOP!", the latter being compassionate domination.

Remember to be quiet when training a horse except for the words that you wish to teach the horse. Running your mouth at a horse during training is just you trying to feel humanly comfortable, but it confuses the horse and makes them uncomfortable. So, stop running your mouth while training. Be aware of your tone and inflection when using the words you wish to teach a horse. Lastly, use touch, when possible, along with words. For example, when teaching a horse from the ground to back, only say "back", nothing else, and use your hand on the horse's chest to direct them, and when the horse acts correctly reassure the horse with your kind hand.

10/12/2023

We have to do the work.

There is no getting around it if we really want to try to understand, connect with and care for our horses in the best possible way.

We need to do our own work. Whatever that means for each of us. But we need to figure out how to find a level of peace with ourselves, acceptance and calm.

Why?

Because our well-being directly impacts their well-being.

Horses are uber sensitive to our energy. If we are not breathing, neither are they. If we are not honest and congruent, we are confusing and dangerous to them. This is not about flipping a switch when you get to the barn - we can’t just instantly drop into a place of calm and non-reactivity at the drop of a hat.

Our stress shows up in how we are with our horse - blaming, reactive, angry, impatient, needing to show them who’s boss, chasing perfection, etc. This, in turn, stresses your horse out. Prolonged stress leads to other issues that can show up in so many ways, from digestive issues to lameness. Yes, lameness - because prolonged stress creates tension and tension pulls body parts out of alignment. Patterns develop. Vets can’t find anything. But it’s there.

Yes there are a thousand reasons that horses become ill, lame - and we need to more fully realize that we can be part of that mix. I am not here to lay a guilt trip on anyone. But I do want us to understand the direct effect we can have - and use that understanding as motivation for change.

Stress is at the heart of so much dis-ease for us. Why would we imagine it would be any different for the horses?

When I started down this road of working with horses, it changed my life in ways I could not have anticipated. One of my teachers at the time said that in order to be better horsemen, we need to practice being better humans in all aspects of our lives, not just at the barn. We need to commit to helping ourselves find peace and self-acceptance. That realization significantly changed things for me. I started standing up for what I really wanted, needed, in order to be able to help horses. Relationships faded/shifted. I had to start to let go of anger and resentment I’d carried for a long time. I am still very much a work in progress, and the road is long. Some days, some moments, are clearly better than others. But I’ve seen the results of this change over time, and it has been profound in my practice, my life, my relationship with my own horse.

So, if you won’t do it for yourself, do it for your horse. Begin to find your way to greater ease in your life, take one step. Start to let go of some of the anger, grief, disappointment, guilt. Find the courage to make some changes. Know that you are not alone.

Yes, it’s damn hard work, and it’s a life-long commitment requiring a lot of kindness with ourselves along the way.

Is your horse worth it? Are you?

20/07/2023

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE A TRAINER?

What does a horse trainer or coach need in order to be worthy of your admiration and money?

For me, these are my 5 ‘must have’ characteristics they have to possess (i) love and care about horses, (ii) follow the principles and philosophies I believe in, (iii) be talented with horses, (iv) be honest and have integrity, and (v) have empathy for the struggles of the horse and the human. For me, those are not negotiable. If any of those traits are missing they are not people I want to spend a lot of time and money learning from.

I doubt too many people have a problem with that list. But perhaps you would add an item or two of your own that is important to you.

There are many other features of a trainer or coach that a person might consider when shopping around for help, but they are mostly irrational and based on a personal preference that tells you very little about a person’s qualification to be the best trainer for you.

That being said, I find many people cloud the irrational with the rationale for liking or not liking a horse professional. Very many times the irrational has a stronger sway over our opinion of another horse person than the rational.

Allow me to offer an example of this. Let's say ‘Alex Wannakickahorse’ is a trainer and ticks all the boxes of empathy, talent, integrity, etc. If you know nothing else about Alex except that you watched their horse work and talked to them and discovered they were very talented, honest, and caring and held all the right principles, you might consider Alex as someone to follow and learn from.

But what if you could only afford to go to one trainer and you were told about another professional nearby? What if you were told Alex had never worked with anybody else and was totally self-taught, and the trainer down the road had been mentored by Tom Dorrance, Xenophon, and Buddha? What if Alex was a woman and the trainer down the road was a man? What if Alex was in his/her early 20s and the fellow down the road had decades of experience? What if Alex had never competed and the fellow down the road had a wall of belt buckles and ribbons in his home? What if Alex had only 2 followers on Facebook (his mum and his mum’s Chihuahua) and the fellow down the road had 100,000 followers on FB and 100 YouTube videos? What if all your friends told you that everybody goes to the fellow down the road, but nobody had heard of Alex? What if Alex had lived and worked in the same small town all his/her life, but the fellow down the road was from Europe and had taught and trained all over the world?

Now, how do Alex’s credentials stack up?

These are all reasons why you might be swayed to spend your money on help from the fellow down the road. But they are all the wrong reasons. If Alex is still the trainer whose work you most admire, if Alex is still the person who seems to care about offering the best possible help for the horses and their owners, if Alex is still the trainer whose principles you want to study and learn, why would you not choose to be mentored by Alex?

The role of gender, experience, competition success, number of followers and size of their business, past teachers, etc, may be a consideration when investigating a trainer’s credentials. But for me, those things have so little bearing on my opinion of a person’s ability as a trainer. Some of those details might give me cause to check them out to see if they were the trainer I was looking for, but they are superficial considerations that don’t even come close to influencing who I want to follow and work with.

I know of trainers who rode and studied with Tom Dorrance, who don’t meet my 5 ‘must have’ criteria. I know dozens of trainers with ribbons and belt buckles and decades of experience, who don’t meet my 5 criteria. I know lots of trainers with a huge following and who are in demand all over the world, who fall short of the 5 criteria.

I received an email from somebody who felt the need to correct something I had discussed in a post. They explained that their favourite guru had a very different view on the subject. I tried to explain my argument logically, but it was clear I was not making headway. When I asked what were they having trouble understanding, the response was that their favourite trainer had taught them something very different and the trainer had won several national competitions compared to my puny competition record and therefore I had no credentials to back up my opinion. The emailer simply chose not to consider my points because the other trainer said differently and he had more competition medals.

Every trainer has a hook of some kind. They have something that draws a following to them that is other than just their talent with horses or their ability to teach. My hook seems to be that I write a lot on Facebook and when I travel to teach overseas I carry the allure of being a foreigner. Others have the gift of the gab and are excellent talkers. Some wear the right clothing or use a certain type of gear or teach a specific style of horsemanship. Some people offer a certification program and others make their teaching easily available through a massive collection of videos and promotional material. It’s what I view as the business part of being in the business of horsemanship.

None of those ‘hooks’ precludes somebody from being a brilliant horse person and having bucketloads of empathy, integrity, and teaching skill. But likewise, the ‘hooks’ have nothing to do with a person’s qualifications to be the right trainer for you or me or your friends. Those qualifications should come down to care and love for the horse, talent, the right principles and philosophy, integrity, and empathy. I have sometimes said there are probably horse trainers living on a small farm in Zimbabwe or Latvia or New Guinea that nobody has ever heard about but who would blow the rest of us out of the water with what they have to teach us about horses.

So my advice is not to let the irrational unduly influence the rational reasons for choosing a mentor. The marketing of a business exists because it works and it works because we are human and susceptible to being swayed by it. For the sake of your horse and yourself, always remember to make what are the really important reasons for choosing a trainer or teacher as the primary factors, and don’t be overly swayed by the others.

Photo: Would you trust this man to train your horse? c1983 (?)

25/03/2023

Your horse is not giving you a hard time, he is having a hard time.

When we shift our mindset about the behavior of our horses from that of negativity (he's being bad, being ignorant, being stupid) to difficulty (he doesn't understand, he's physically unable, he's anxious, he's confused), we're able to break the cycle of punishing the behavior and instead start helping our horses overcome their struggle.
This can, and should be applied to even the smallest of tasks such as:
Standing square - physical discomfort and/or imbalance, regardless of whether it stems from the body or feet, could make this seemingly simple task impossible for the horse.
Haltering - Pain in the poll, dental issues, tension, pinched nerves or discomfort anywhere around the head/neck could make even wearing a halter painful.
Picking up feet - Again, any imbalances or dysfunction in the body could make it seem like your horse "doesn't like" having their feet picked up/held up, but in reality the horse either physically can't offer you the foot at all, or for more than a few seconds.
Grooming - Biting, shying, pinning ears while grooming are clear indications of discomfort in the body, and can even be warning signs for ulcers.

We've said it before and we will say it again, regardless of how simple of an ask you believe it to be, every answer your horse gives you is the right one. That doesn't mean it's the answer that you want, but it's the answer you need in order to help your horse, and most of the time it's a pain issue, not a training issue.

Not to mention, letting a horse "buck it out/sacking out" is in no way a form of training. It is dangerous, it is abusive, it is as far from training as bicycles are to F1 racing. With social media full of abusers "training" horses by flooding them and calling it desensitizing, to jumping on a horse nowhere near ready for a rider and causing the horse to panic and risk injuring itself and the rider, we as an industry need to call out the BS.

15/03/2023