Relationship Building

Relationships are built based on how we feel when we share time with someone. When we're with a friend are they demanding and needy and pushy and make us feel uncomfortable? Or are they caring, supportive, encouraging, kind and cooperative?

We spend time with our horses in a wide variety of ways, some of us balance our time differently. No matter what you're doing with your horse or how you prioritize your goals, the reality is that how the horse feels while they're with you is going to determine how they feel about your relationship. If its all training and no socializing, then is the training at least fun? Or is it work, something they want to avoid? Is seeing you the best part of their day or the worst?

Sometimes parts of our care for them is inherently unhappy for the horse, like vet care. We can use our training and our built up good relationship to soften the impact, but the uncomfortable situation is real. There will be alot of things we can't control in our horses' lives that are detrimental to our relationship. But the parts we can control, how we choose to spend time with them, how we train, how we prepare them for hard things, will all add up to determining the quality of your relationship.

Positive reinforcement is a great way to support a healthy relationship, but not the entirety of it. How is the rest of the time spent? How does the horse feel about your impact on that time. Does having you there add to or take away from their enjoyment of their time?

Relationships are a culmination of how we feel when we are together, through everything we do together. So consider how your making your horse feel in regards to every part of your time together.