What kind of leader are you?

We all have different ways of training and raising our horses. 

I know my way of doing it, will not suite some people. I know it doesn't suite one person at least. You have earlier on the blog, heard a story time about this person before! 

But I got Miss G last year. I have known her for years before I bought her though. When she got to her new stable, from where we bought her from, she was so stressed. If I wanted to groom her, she would not stand still! She would be moving around all over the place. She did this too at the old place, where she came from. I just tried to be as calm as possible, because I knew and know, that if you start to stress, then the horse will stress and you stress and the the horse stress and then... Do you see where I'm going with this? 

In the matter of weeks, you could tell Miss G  had started to relax. slowly but safely, she would get more and more relaxed. It was like she started to enjoy life again, because I could tell she was very unhappy at her old place. Often when I want to groom her now, she starts to take a little nap. I love when she does this, because then I know she is relaxed! I know some people might not like this and will then kick the horse over the leg. To those of you who think I'm kidding about this, I'm not! I did see one do this to their horse. But I don't want to tell people how they should raise their horse, because it's really none of my business! 

I just want to talk about this, because I don't think we should shame others for treating their horse in a way, you might think is too sensitive. Each to their own and trust me, I have been shamed for "not treating my horse right" And you have to be really tough against them. But the way I treat my horse, is the way I have found out, works best for me and my horse. If other things works for you, then okay great! At the old stable, from the stable she is at now. She would always like to walk a few rounds around the stepping stool. I think it was more to see if there were any danger, people or noisy things. After that she would stand still. I do want to say that, at the old stable, there was a company were they would sell gravel, sand with a lot of other thing and people would come and go there with trailers and shovel gravel or what ever they were buying. This of course does make a lot of sound. So in reality she was just checking if there were anybody there, so she wouldn't get scared. Kind of smart if you ask me! 

But because of this, my horse got the label "does not stand still" and that meant she was a "bad horse". Again I don't tell other people how they should raise their horse, so I don't think other people should do the same and label ones horse, because they don't agree in the way you treat and raise your horse!  I remember though a day were she would not stand still at all. She was so stressed and thinking back I now know why! Anyway a person said that I should just punch in her head. Like a real punch that would really hurt. Like for real! I'm not a person who punch their horse. I can give my horse a little... I don't know the English word for it, so maybe a slap? You know not a hard one. It's more like a touch, than a punch! 

Like a said, I had a horse who were so stressed and had a very hard time relaxing. So I've spend the last year trying to get her to relax. Both in the stable, grooming and riding wise. If I started to punch or kick my horse really hard, I would not have a relaxed horse! I can deffinitely tell you that! It's not like I don't raise my horse without her knowing she did something bad. I maybe just have a way, which is more humain that others? I would like to think so. Again I'm not getting in between other peoples way of raising thier horse. I just know that being a really violent person against my horse, will not work for us!  

I'm not saying you should just let your horse do what it wants. It still needs to learn what's right and wrong. But please! Tell your horse when it does something right! Most horses will then (well I know Miss G does) try to do the thing they got praise for again. You know who doesn't like to get praised when you've done something good? I know I do! 

I feel like a lot of people think and I call these kind of people "from the old school", that you should be really dominant and punch, kick and yell at your horse, because you have to be the leader. Yes I agree with, you have to be the leader. But there is different ways of being a leader. Even in the horse world (you know an actual horse). If you look at the groups of horses in their field, there will always be a leader. Like I just said, there are different kind of leaders. There's the Lead-leader and the Dominant-leader. 

The Lead-leader: A horse who makes the disicons..  in the group. Can tell the other horses that the leader does not want that kind of behavior, but doesn't feel or have the need to be really aggresive. The Lead- leader will also show the other horses to water, feed and things that the others needs to do in their time in their field. So the Lead- leader still respects other horses, just like the horses are more likly to respect the Lead-leader. 

The Dominant-leader: A horse who's really aggresive. Will act really bad towards the other horses. If the dominant leader descide a horse should be in the corner of the field, it will make the horse stay there until it says it can move. It will kick and bit the other horses, because it wants to be the one who decides all things and feel the need to be agressive, in order for it to get what it wants. 

This is the same way it should be when its a human/horse connection. So now you can choose wich leader you want to be!? Do you want to be really aggresive and surpress other horses or people. Or do you want to be a leader who shows the way in a positive mode, but can still say no to things it does not like another horse/person doing. Just with a lot less effort, than the dominant one. 

I feel like my way is the last one. I still get a horse who acts like a horse and is trained to be kind to others. I also feel like the same way we raise our horse, is often the same way we ride our horse. But that's an entirely different post and this post would also get waaaaaay to long! So I'll have to talk about that in another post. See you later 

love Maggie ❤