Intention

There are two intentions, the horses and ours. If we are sensitive to a horse, we can read her intention before she moves because we are reading where her mind intends to go. Catching this moment and making our move is a mutual dance. Even if we miss the exact moment of intention, we can yield to the horse’s movement and then redirect the mind and body. Try communicating with the horse on an emotional level. Horses are very emotional and immediately let you know if they are getting your intention.

Horses can more easily pick up on our intention if we go from a calm state to one of wanting something. Starting from zero like this helps the horse see the difference and be prompted for something is about to be asked, so pay attention. Horses are always reacting to us emotionally, so if our intention is not consistent with our emotions the horse is confused.

One way we can telegraph our intention to the horse is to put our minds directly on the end state and not freeze it halfway. Think and point to where you want to horse to end up and not the starting position.

Intention to Yielding: The easiest way to get our horses to yield is to align both of our intentions by being focused and sensitive to the horse’s intention on an emotional level and shifting our focus from one of no focus and calmness to one of willing, pointing, and expecting yielding.