Science of Functional Movement

Your horse is the hero of the story.   He/She is the hero.  

Of their story.  

And still is the hero in your combined story. 

You are not rushing in as the hero 

to 'save' your horse. 

You are rushing in with a solution as the problem solver for the hero of the story. 

Your story with your horse will be stronger and more connected as soon as you realize and acknowledge your horse as the hero of your relationship. 

A horse is born with joyful, functional movement patterns. 

Those agile, forward, joyful leaps and patterns come from the brain.

Time and improper movement patterns, usually brought on by humans, can reak havoc on the horse's body AND mind.  

Years and years of improper and incorrect movement cause the patterns the horse is born with develop 'parking brakes'.  

Add to that humans training incorrect and unhealthy micromanaged movements and the parking brakes get stronger.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Which type of motivation is best?

BOTH!

The primary difference between these two types of motivation is extrinsic motivation arises from outside of the individual

while intrinsic motivation arises from within. 

While intrinsic motivation is often seen as the ideal, both extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation are important ways of driving behavior. 

The foundation of my work with training horses: 

• 'Autonomy', for me, means 'without force'.  
• 'Choice' is the ability to say 'no'.
• 'Voice' is acknowledging and accepting the horse's valuable feedback. 

When there is no choice, there is no engagement.

By engagement, I mean that the horse is really consciously trying to do what we are asking him to do. 

Without autonomy and choice, engagement is not possible  because, simply, it is a choice that that the horse makes. 

Engagement is the 'voice' communication.  You need a way to tell your horse what the exercise is, what the criteria within that exercise is and a way to give feedback when the exercise is done well.

The horse is an incredible, mobile work of art. It is capable of almost ridiculous amounts of movement patterns, at a variety of intensities. 

The horse can walk, run, jump, and  climb and each requires an amazingly sophisticated movement control system. 

The horse stands out in their sophistication of movement. 

But, and it is a big but, if they don’t use it, they lose it.

The horse must move more freely to maintain pain free healthy movement patterns. 

The trouble we have today is that our horses's don’t experience enough functional movement, which is a varied array of movement patterns at varying intensities.

The stability mat challenges the physical body in addition to the emtional and mental elements.

It challenges the horse's :

• Balance  
• Proprioception            
• Core and Ab Strength 

The emotional and mental strength comes from autonomy which balances body and mind.

Once the horse experiences the balance and proproceptive changes the stability mat provides, it can be hard to get them to not stand on it or even to leave it!