Lessons from the Herd

Lessons from the Herd: Disrupting the Rhythm

Story & Photos By Christa Miremadi

Watching my herd moving around their “territory,” an area that in winter is as small as 50 acres and in summer can be as large as 300 acres, I’ve witnessed how predictable their migration routes can be.

They travel around the allotted area two to three times per day, stopping by the various water sources and shade trees at regular intervals and resting with the rhythms of nature. It’s not always at exactly the same time each day but you can bet the farm that if you wait in the upper meadow long enough, they’ll make an appearance and that if you watch the lower bench for a while, eventually they’ll show up. These rhythms are important to the herd and they’re driven by the horse’s needs and experiences.

You can tap into these natural rhythms if you’re paying

attention. And if you’re mindful, you can use their natural predisposition toward predictable patterns to add in your own desired habitual behaviours. For example, in the early hours of the day, around dawn, the herd likes to make the rounds past our winter feeding area, close to our catch pen. If I tap into this rhythm regularly and add some predictable cues and reliable rewards (such as calling the herd and providing oats for coming when I’ve called), I can add coming into our catch pen on call to their regular rhythm.

This routine makes catching the horses in training, or catching my own horses much easier, much less stressful and much more enjoyable, for both the herd and for us humans. The whole herd is on board and happy to oblige and if I don’t call them in, it doesn’t upset their day. They just make their regular round past the back gate of the catch pen and carry on. However, now that they’ve learned this routine, if I need the horses in, even if it’s not during their regular “pass by” time, having developed this predictable pattern and establishing the regular, reliable reward, I can call them and they’ll come from anywhere (so long as they can hear me) at any time.

Make no mistake. They come because they’ve been patterned

to do so. Sure, most of them like me well enough but they don’t come because they love me. They come because I’ve tapped into their natural rhythms and created a predictable pattern that’s become part of their regular routine. As long as I’m fully aware of this and understand what’s happening, as long as I’m under no illusion that this is anything other than what it is, then we can all stay safe and happy. It’s when I let myself believe that something is happening that isn’t, that I could get myself or my horses into trouble.

For example, I could tell myself the horses are so obedient (as proven by their willingness to come when I call them) and I could get them to do anything! But if I decide to disrupt their rhythm, to stand in the middle of the run (our narrow fenced area that works as a chute, funneling the horses safely into the catch pen without getting them too bunched up at the gate) and try doing my best Cavalia impersonation, asking them to do something other than what I’ve trained them to do (like stop or turn around and go back out), I’ll find out pretty quickly that they’re not in fact listening to my command of “COOOOOOOOME BOYS!!!” but rather, they’re performing a predictable pattern and a trained habituated response. I would in fact, create quite a disaster! There would be a pile up, horses would kick each other, I would get

Making the rounds past the east pasture water hole/lake The herd coming when called

Coming down the run towards the catch pen's gate

run over and it’s quite possible that (if I was still standing) I’d be fixing fences for the rest of the day.

Another example. Have you ever tried to ride a trail horse in the arena or relocated one from the back country to an urban

area? The horse who safely and so steadily packed you up mountains, through rivers and over all kinds of terrain may start head tossing, walking sideways or refusing to move forward at all in the arena. And in most situations, the rider is quite surprised to discover this lack of cooperation coming from the horse they thought was so well trained. That same reliable, confident, solid horse who marched past bears, never batted an eye at the fleeing white tail deer and could stand tied to a tree for 3 hours while you had lunch might shy at recycling bins or garbage cans, balk at baby strollers or bicycles or even jump the painted lines on the road when they’re taken out of the back country and introduced to an urban area that’s unfamiliar to them.

Is this a bad thing? No. Not necessarily. If what you need that horse for is climbing mountain trails, crossing rivers and packing gear, I’d say you’ve got the right horse for that job. But if you decide you’d like to move to town, join a drill team or try your hand at competitive western performance you may find that your solid back country mount is seriously un-prepared.

What is the point of all this? Well, put simply, the learning that this lesson from the herd reinforced for me is as follows: All can be running quite smoothly and the relationship can appear to be quite solid, until you disrupt the rhythm and attempt to do something out of the ordinary. When this happens, you may be forced to confront the reality that the relationship you thought you had is actually based on patterns and routines and not on connection, communication or trust. If this is the case, it’s time to do some work on developing applicable language skills that can be used to support, guide and direct your horse through uncertain or unpracticed experiences.

Christa and Pinto Miremadi own and manage The Rock'n Star Ranch in Pritchard BC. They offer Natural Care Boarding, horsemanship lessons, training and clinics focused on building relationships, strengthening partnerships and developing confidence between horses and humans. Through compassionate communication and sharing the horse's point of view, Christa shares her passion for horsemanship, hackamore/bridle horse development and the art of developing a working equine partner. www.therocknstarranch.com

(See their listing in our Business Services section under TRAINERS)