Sparky brought another level to his training today. I had observed him standing on his back legs with the 2 mares but never in his training lesson. While he tried out this new behaviour, his trainer did not miss a beat, she stayed calm and relaxed and continued the exercises. Sparky was able to try different approaches and work out what benefited him and what did not serve him. He was able to regulate himself to the calm trainer.
When we look only at the behaviour only we would see a naughty defiant pony, we don't see what is behind it, what is drives that behaviour. It would be easy to punish that behaviour. The way Sparky has reacted is similar to how children can sometime get out of control (out of their window of tolerance.) For children, the original reaction is under their subconscious. If you can contain yourself the child will be able to regulate to you. When the Childs needs are meet they can feel safe to explore more, learning to regulate and to become independent. Horses are great teaches on how to regulate. Children learn that they can calm a horse and also that they can elevate a horses energy through their own energy/actions. I observed this first hand with my niece while making a video for my strategy presentation. This is an important lesson that teaches them awareness about themselves and how they can influence others albeit animal or human. So the next time your child reacts not in the way you would like, you might like to ask yourself what does the child need that is causing this behaviour (while staying in your window of tolerance.)
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