Unpredictable Environments
Have you ever considered how unpredictablity effects our horses?
Unpredictable Environments
Have you ever been somewhere where the thought of going made you feel a little anxious?
I’m sure we all have at some point; I know I certainly have!
Can you think what about that situation gave you anxiety? Maybe you were invited to a party and felt nervous because you didn’t know anyone there or have spent the past week doubting your capability at how your speech would be received at a local event.
Anxiety is a natural response of the body to perceived danger, that for most of us feels mild and dissipates once we assess and realise the situation is all in hand. Our confidence only increases with the repetitions and predictability of the environment we enter.
But what if it is unpredictable?
What if are the key words. Two harmless words when placed side by side that together invite a whole synapse overload in the brain! What if the organisers of that talk ‘might or might not be there’ change your audience? What if a person who was mean to you ‘might or might not be’ at that party, or what if what you were originally asked to do may be changed last minute?
All animals like to have an understanding of their environment that both provides them with their needs and allows for the right type of learning, allowing them to feel secure in both their management, handling and interaction.
When a person lacks consistency with a horse, for an animal that naturally wants to exit a situation they deem as worrisome.. you can see why this may cause a few issues.
Animals that feel a complete lack of control in their environment begin to exhibit progressive negative changes in their behaviour, reacting unpredictably, fearfully and shutting down as a means of coping with this lack of stability.
Consistency is the antidote, a key ingredient in horsemanship. Being consistent does not mean that nothing ever changes, change is a natural part of life; what it means is to be a recognisable presence for our horses, to allow them to be confident in those changes, and for them to be a consenting part of that change.
Involving your horse as part of the change will allow them to feel an element of control in the situation.
In a world where each of us has been living day to day with unpredictability, we can all relate to how a lack of control feels?
Let us think a little more about what we take forwards.
