Den här artikeln tycker jag är ett bra exempel på vad PNH handlar om. Kan överföras på mycket i vår relation med hästarna.



EAR SHY?

By Pat Parelli


Can you touch your husband's ears? What about your best friend's, your child's or your mother's?
If you couldn't then there's probably something wrong with the relationship! This is how I want you to think of your horse's so-called 'problem'. If he doesn't like his ears to be touched its because deep down inside, he does not trust you. There is a flaw in your relationship.
When I talk about the solution here I am going to give you the natural approach, the one that consider's the horse's point of view. To effect a 'cure' you have to gain his trust and permission. The normal way is often to force the horse to accept it, twitch him, tie him, throw him…. In my mind (and in the horse's I'm sure) this is akin to rape and I won't use it.
So to do it with the horse's permission may seem to take a little time, technique and knowledge, but if you do it right you won't have to do it over!
The horse's point of view:
As I said in my last column, horses are prey animals and humans are predators. This is a biological fact. No matter how much your horse seems to like you, deep inside him is this wariness which creates defensive behaviour. In your horse it is around his ears where this surfaces.
Every horse knows that predators know where his vital spots are. When you read this list, you'll also realise that these are the known 'touchy spots' on horses: below the knees, the back of the hind legs, under the belly, the flanks, under the tail, behind the ears and on the poll. One swipe of a lion's claws in any of these areas is enough to mortally wound a horse, so his instincts are protective ones.
You have acknowledged that in some way you are still viewed as a predator by your horse and you are going to have to prove to him that you aren't going to kill him before he will relax around the ears.
Improving your relationship.
Some horses can appear to be friendly enough, or gentle enough as long as you are quiet and don't ask for much. This kind of conditional relationship is typical between horse and human, but as soon as you start scratching the surface you quickly find these 'can't, won't, don't spots' that could be anything from an ear shyness to fairly serious resistances or even aggressive behaviour. So what I do is start digging! I want to expose these relationship problems so that I can solve them.
I use a system of seven 'games' that I play with a horse that will expose every problem but will also help solve them. The first game is to prove I am friendly and the other six are yielding games to establish in the horse's language that I am dominant.
People often ask me how I get such extraordinary results with horses. Its because I do the opposite of what everyone else does! I think laterally, and I try to think like a horse.
Then I have the knowledge of prey animal behaviour, some creative techniques and a lot of imagination. I also have a sense of play rather than work, and you'll find that this really works with horses. The more serious you are, the more horses hate it! Horses are playful creatures so always keep this in mind.
The last thing is that there is nothing more persistent than a Pat Parelli. Most people try something for 3 - 5 minutes and think they've done what it takes! Take the attitude of "it shouldn't take longer than two days", and anything less than that will seem quick! This is a perspective on patience that is a valuable key in getting results with horses.

Hämtat från Cynthia Coopers utmärkta sida.