![\"horses](\"http:\/\/articles.amazinghorsecountry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/comfort_in_space.jpg\")
<\/a>A little background on Chip. He had just turned four. He is playful and very curious;\u00a0<\/em>traits I encouraged because they are such an incredible asset: they produce in him<\/em> try<\/em>, recognition of success, and comfort in exploring his environment; be that a new trail or a new obstacle on my course. Does he get to do anything he wants?Absolutely not. \u00a0But there are better ways of showing him that boundary than others.<\/em><\/p>\n Anyways, \u00a0Chip walked right up to my friend, and put his nose near his jacket. \u00a0I don’t feed any of my horses treats, but my mom has taught him, on her visits, that sometimes pockets can contain goodies. \u00a0I don’t think that was his motive though. This was a jacket with lots of pockets. Pockets mean zippers and Chip prides himself on being able to open and close a zipper. He has become pretty good at it. It’s totally non-aggressive. If he is asked to stop and back off, he is fine with that. The key word here is ask.<\/em><\/p>\n Unfortunately my friend took offense and took the very un-horsemanship-like action of clocking poor Chip in the face with his elbow. Chip was surprised. And rightly so. \u00a0While my friends motive may have been correct (I\u00a0don’t want you in my space, his actions were anything but.)<\/p>\n The problem is that we don’t naturally have a handle on space<\/i> when it comes to a horse. \u00a0We are too quick to go to our hands before we try anything else. This makes sense to us – as humans we are used to manipulating our environment with our hands. Therefore, we attempt this instinctively with a horse, because we need another method of communication since the horse doesn’t have a full English vocabulary. Horses however, use a different form of communication to ask another horse to move. Thus we have a powerful tool: we can emulate the horses behavior.<\/p>\n Consider only using your hands to support and shape an action, not as a primary method to <\/em>force your intention.<\/em><\/p>\n Compare Chip’s actions to a close talker<\/i> human. We have all had those people that like to stand in your bubble<\/i> when they talk to you. I personally do not enjoy that and prefer to be at least two feet from anyone I am talking to. \u00a0If someone intrudes on my space, I will increase my back off<\/i> energy and hope that they pick up on that. \u00a0If they are too tuned out to get that, I will politely say, Do you mind stepping back a bit, please? \u00a0I say this not to offend the speaker, but to allow us to have a conversation in comfort. \u00a0And my comfort is important: if I am irritated I won’t be a good conversationalist because I will be distracted.<\/p>\n But what if, instead of asking the speaker to step back, I just hauled off and punched him in the nose the moment he got too close? \u00a0Would there be anything wrong with that? \u00a0If you think there is, then you are fairly well acquainted with social norms. \u00a0If you think that would be all right,\u00a0as tempting as it sometimes may be – you belong to a social minority and are probably reading this from your prison cell.<\/p>\n Punching the close talker<\/i> in the nose and clocking my horse in the face are the exact<\/i> same thing. The horse is further in your space than you feel is appropriate. \u00a0Or more likely, someone at one point told you that it is bad<\/i> for horses to do that and the solution is to get physical with them. This is akin to jerking on the lead rope or rein; all these actions simply tell the horse, Hey buddy, I am just confirming that I am inconsiderate and not interested in communicating with you. Perhaps you have never given a thought to learning how to communicate with the horse in his language. S<\/em>pace<\/i> is one of the most basic equine communication elements.<\/p>\n So what to do about it? Look at it from the close talker <\/i>example. \u00a0What I won’t do is back away. \u00a0This will just invite the close talker<\/i> in, back to where he was. And by doing so, I have let him know that it’s OK to be there. I have submitted to him. \u00a0Now we are playing a game.\u00a0This is not desirable. With a horse, particularly one like Chip, \u00a0it’s dangerous road to go down, because now he knows that HE can move YOU<\/i>. Effectively you have \u00a0given the horse the reins and you’re wearing the bridle.<\/p>\n This is a Kodak Moment. You know all those times you wished a camera was there? \u00a0Well this time, there was. \u00a0A friend was taking pictures of Spud when I first got him. \u00a0This intimate shot captures the moment when Spud decided that we were going to have a positive relationship. \u00a0<\/em>Previously he did not want anything to do with me, or any other human for that matter. \u00a0Spud is clearly, and voluntarily in my space. \u00a0The decision to be there was his alone. What did I do about it? Well, I totally relaxed and enjoyed every second of it. His reward for his decision to include me in his life was to enjoy peace and contentment in my space.<\/em><\/p>\n Let’s look at this in terms of pressure. We are all familiar with pressure and release<\/i> when it comes to working with a horse. \u00a0What you might not have considered is that there are many types of pressure, and many levels of pressure intensity. \u00a0Consider pressure on a scale from 1 to 10. \u00a0A 1<\/i> in pressure would be increasing my energy to show the close talker<\/i> or horse that they are in my space. If that doesn’t work, I won’t continue to repeat it, but change the type of pressure to something more obvious, like politely asking the close talker<\/i> to take a step back. With a horse this could be stepping forward into his space with more energy. \u00a0More pressure does not mean that you should get angry or be forceful.<\/p>\n Remember, you are striving to be a calm and effective leader<\/em>.<\/p>\n If there is still no response from the horse after this then you are now having a conversation about leadership via space. And you need to clean it up properly. \u00a0Going from a 1<\/em> to a 10<\/i> on the pressure scale and hitting the horse or close talker<\/i> is unreasonable at this point. \u00a0I would do this in a case where the horse ran in and tried to bite me with malice, or if the close talker<\/i> ran at me wielding a knife. \u00a0If you feel your life is being threatened, then sure, do anything you have to in order to save your own hide. But simply stepping in my space? An offensive physical move like hitting is totally uncalled for in this situation and not the mark of a horseman.<\/p>\n Instead, take this approach. \u00a0Just like asking the close talker<\/i> to step back, put your hand on the horses nose. \u00a0Apply firm pressure, but don’t push, \u00a0because then you are just inviting a challenge, and the horse pushes back with the same or more force. \u00a0Simply make it clear that there is an invisible wall there.<\/p>\n Now, just wait.<\/p>\n<\/a>