class 2 & 3 - by Kaitlin Medeiros

I also did not recognize that they do have that kind of reflex that allows them to "give" their hoof to you on their own. At the same time though, I usually tend to hurry when tacking up or picking a horses hooves. If I can't give a horse the time to connect with me, and I'm always hurrying, that must translate as some kind of stress to the horse.

Another amazing thing about last week was the progress with "Lantern". I had the experience of catching him, leading him out of the catch corral, and tying him up before the others started to work with him. He was fidgety, mildly excited, and just didn't seem to be the type of horse that would be willing to stand still and be useful for us. Basically, I kind of wrote him off from the start. I was surprised to see how well Mika (sorry if I didn't get the spelling right!) did with him. Her concept of letting him get away with the movements or antsy-ness that didn't really matter, that wasn't dangerous, just more annoying than anything else, was different. I'm used to telling a horse to "quit it" and giving them a slap on the shoulder if they are incessantly pawing, or tying them tighter if they continue to pull away and be fidgety at the tie rack. I've had these "horse sense" skills engrained in me for so long that it's really hard to turn that part of my brain off! So it was interesting to see how someone could do really well with a horse by being more permissive with them. The one thing that surprised me the most was at the very end, when Lantern followed his team without the use of a halter and lead rope. In my experience, it's very hard to get most horses to follow without some kind of aid, unless you've had a major connection with that horse for some time. The fact that Lantern followed showed that the use of non-verbal communication was really working and that he had in fact made a connection!

Yesterdays class continued to be really exciting for me. I met Lucia, who I've heard much about, and we got to work with Mocha (one of my favorite ponies!). The thing that was hardest for me in the class yesterday was again working against my brain, and telling it to shut up. This isn't to sound know-it-all-ish at all. When we did the exercise with the brain and the appendages, it was so HARD to be an appendage. I couldn't talk, even think, even though my brain was telling me to just do things. I had to follow the instructions of someone else. When I was "the brain" I was definitely more in my comfort zone, and felt confident that we could accomplish the task. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that in this particular surrounding, I did have a lot of knowledge. If i was in the ER assisting, I would have no clue what to do. At the same time though, I think it brought up some minor trust issues. It's hard to follow someone's direction sometimes, especially if you feel like you're the one with the right idea! It was a really good exercise to show us how we work with others and when we're more comfortable being leaders or followers.

Another cool thing about yesterday was learning about the awareness of a patients comfort level, and the surroundings. Also, I realized that one day when I am (hopefully) a psychotherapist, I need to be aware of what's going on with me when I step into the office. A lot of projections can take place in psychology, and it's not always something that the doctor is doing, or not doing, that is causing the patient discomfort.

So far I have really enjoyed this experience! It's teaching me about horses from a whole new angle. It is a bit like retraining, or untraining the way I relate to horses, and people too.