| One day I was teaching Sharkie, a Percheron | | | | warm breath and share some quiet time together. |
| Appaloosa cross mare, how to drop her head on | | | | Remembering the problem with head dropping, I figured |
| command. If a horse mistrusts you, she will keep her | | | | I would make a game with it. I applied the lightest |
| head high. As you develop more trust, she will relax | | | | possible pressure between her ears. When she |
| and drop her head more readily. While I was trying to | | | | moved down, I rubbed her and tried again. |
| teach Sharkie this task, she taught me an important | | | | Sharkie was suddenly into the game. Her demeanor |
| lesson about asking quietly and politely. | | | | changed from "Yeah? Whaddaya want?" to "This is |
| My goal that day was actually to prepare Sharkie for | | | | interesting. What are we doing?" She changed |
| the farrier. She needs to be able to lift her feet and | | | | because I changed from telling her to asking her. And |
| stand quietly while the farrier trims her. In between | | | | we played together to see how lightly I could ask and |
| working with her feet, I would do other tasks so that | | | | get a response. Soon, Sharkie was dropping her head |
| the whole session is not just about her feet. The | | | | to the ground and keeping it there with just a slight |
| variety help keeps her mind busy and not focusing on | | | | suggestion from me. |
| one task. | | | | I am sure that there are a lot of leaders who don't |
| I was asking Sharkie to drop her head by applying | | | | realize that they are shouting at their followers. I was |
| pressure with my thumb and forefinger on top of her | | | | asking Sharkie with what I thought were polite |
| head between her ears. When she dropped her head, | | | | requests, but she was getting defensive. By bouncing |
| even a little bit, I would release the pressure to tell her | | | | her head back up, she was telling me as much, but I |
| she made the right move. I noticed that she would | | | | wasn't listening. It may be harder to detect that |
| drop her head on command, but would bring it right | | | | reaction in people, but a good leader will know when to |
| back up. I acknowledged that, but didn't pay a lot of | | | | slow down and communicate more quietly. His |
| attention because the feet were my main point of | | | | followers will return the favor by paying more attention, |
| interest for the day. | | | | responding more quickly, and appreciating the better |
| Late that evening, I wandered out to the paddock just | | | | leadership. |
| to be with the horses. I often do that just to feel their | | | | |