A Horse's Cup of Worry 

I've watched a lot of horse training videos and am so glad I stumbled across yours. I love your philosophy and quiet calmness. I've been binge watching your videos and have learned a lot, but especially loved this idea of the "cup of worry" and took it into my work with my horse yesterday and could definitely see a difference. I'm also a mental health counselor and used the concept with a client, suggesting ways she can empty her "cup of worry" throughout the day, and she found that quite helpful. So thank you from me, my horse, my client - and all the horses and clients who will benefit from it in the future!

This was so very good . I see why you use it each time . I see the worry in my Baby Horses eye and stop what I may be doing that caused it . I feel this message is priceless for the rest of my life. I want my Horse to always feel safe and calm when I am around. Every day I spend a few hours rubbing and petting Him . I watch His ears and try to sense if He doesn’t like something. I stop and try Later . Even putting the Rope Halter on. Letting Bear look at it , sniff it , lip it seems to really take the worried eyes away. Thank you Ross ! Good video Good illustration! 🥛 💜🐴💜 Laura and Little Bear

Another great video Ross.

How true. Some days my horse's cup is a teaspoon; even birds in his paddock cause an extreme over reaction and nothing I do seems to help him empty it on these days. I am still trying hard to get him to focus, relax, empty that teaspoon when I am with him on these days but I don't appear to be making much headway. Other days I swear he has swapped his teaspoon for a 20L bucket and nothing seems to phase him. He is an interesting horse and has made me look, reconsider and question everything I have done with horses and do. However, I think I have now become an 'over thinker'.

What a wonderful object lesson. Thank you

who are the 10 people that disliked this??? I don't have horses, but work with cattle, and the same general idea is still useful... When I'm halter training calves, I lead them where they want to go to start with.. They live in the pen with their mates, but they want fresh grass, so I lead them to the grass, Some of them can stay for an hour or more before they get lonely, some only 10 minutes, but then I bring them back.. After they've chewed cud and retasted all that grass, they seem to ponder what it took to get it.. Next time they'll lead easier, and will be comfortable out there for longer. I've had a few cows I could ride.. I found the critical thing there is the FIRST time you try and get on one, if you make any sort of jumping motion, you're in for getting bucked off, and they'll keep doing it... Stand on a bale, put some weight on, scratch their back.. after a bunch of times swing a leg over slowly, keep scratching, they'll be OK Same again with "bulls are all dangerous"... well, they might just have smaller cups by default.. I could ride mine, stand on his back, and fire off my .22 rifle without him showing much concern

Thank you! It’s so easy to get frustrated, but this goes a long way toward building empathy and speaking horse. It’s a language, I think, and you’re fluent!

I love the common sense of these videos. My eyes are being opened after a lifetime of riding and working horses. Actually, that's what I love about horses. You never stop learning. The trick is to find accurate information! I'm a new fan of Ross. Thank you.

Thanks Ross. I needed to see this today. This analogy is so helpful. We must attend to the very first worry in the cup, not wait until the level in the cup is enough to cause us worry!

Wow, this is probably in my all-time, top five horse wisdom gems!

I have used your concept from day one with my youngster, with every little thing, every moment I'm with him through handling, backing, riding and I have never had a moment's trouble with him, great channel ❤️

Thank you for that right cup of wisdom.

So I have been paying attention to her cup and I know that when she gives me a big sigh, she has emptied her cup. I actually don't even feel like I'm doing things right if I don't get the sigh! It's all about them and we want it to be all about us. Thanks for the great explanation, it will be put to use from now on.

This is a GREAT video, thank you! Warwick Schiller talks about the cup of worry as well, but instead of worry building up over the course of successive steps in working with your horse, he uses the example of the same thing happening over and over and the horse SEEMING to be fine with it until all of a sudden his isn't fine with it and he blows. His point is the horse didn't suddenly blow; he had been building up to it for a good while. The example he uses is a trail ride where rabbits keep jumping in front of the horse and the horse keeps it together until maybe the 10th time it happens and the horse finally loses it. I would never have taken that concept and applied it to what Ross is talking about, so this is a big deal. Thanks so much!!

a great way of explaining this, had this last weekend, and used bending (emptying the cup) with great effect and had a great ride 😊

This is a great way to explain this concept ! Thank you !

This is great advise! I love your explanation with the visual supports. It just makes so much sense. Thank you

Good advice

Thank you! You’ve helped me help my horse

Thank you so much for this inspirational speech! I deal a lot with classic dressage riders in Germany resisting to understand the horses needs about safety and comfort around people. This is a very easy-to-understand-for everyone(!)-way explaining trouble with their horses ;)

Wow Ross. Love your cup of wisdom. Taking care of each stage of a journey with animals is very interesting. Love the attention to tensions and a quest for our mindfullness to find time to release those tensions. Just love the process to reach a goal. Whatever the goal its the small steps in between which so equally rewarding. Love to you Ross and family🌹👍💕🌠☺

I'm another happy fan. Thank you for your videos!

Amazing, how it's the accumulation of the many "little foxes" that can spoil the outcome. Addressing each of them in the moment they arise, is such beautiful simplicity and common sense, which tends to escape us with all our "knowledge!" I like that each horse has it's own sized cup...some horses being more tender than others, but all of them sensitive.This is very insightful and refreshing. "...it's the little foxes that spoil the vine; for our vines have tender grapes." ~ Song of Solomon 2:15

Ross thank you for your very wise and down to earth advice. I find your videos mindful and always a timely self check. Its far too easy to get caught up in our own agenda even if only for a moment and our horse is stuck with us! Cheers

Wow, I wish I had seen this BEFORE I tried to take my horse to the park this week....I cannot wait to change my thinking and revise my interaction.

Gee you are awesome. I used to watch horse videos but have not had an interest in horse videos for a long by time. But I stumbled on yours and want to watch them all!

AMAZING TY ANOTHER GREAT WATCH

GREAT INFORMATION!

That's such a great video. So true. I heard of the worry cup the first time from Warwick Schiller and it made so much sense to me. I am working on emptying the cup of my horse all the time I feel it is filling up. That is by far the safest way to ride a horse. I like all of your videos. Hope you get more attention soon. I will share this video to some of the horse people I know, that do not take care of their horses worry cup. They really need to see this. Thank you so much for taking the time to make such good videos.

loved this.. defiantly helped me figure out why my baby blew up on Sunday at a show.

Thank you very much for that excellent explanation with demo. It made more sense to me spelled out. Often I know I can ride a certain amount of anxiety so I'm not thinking about emptying it but waiting until it's a little more full until I tip some anxiety out. This will make me be more considerate for my horse. Thanks for making me more accountable with every video.

Good one Ross! Sharing! ..... BTW - Hi from Arizona!!, ( Harry's ranch caretaker 2015/2016)

top. No horsewisper-magic can make this info better. Many thanks an bless your kind horsemansoul*

If you ride outside the arena, you will encounter things that quickly overfill whatever worry cup you've been working on with your horse. At that point you learn whether you've built a trusting relationship with your horse or not. In his book True Unity, Tom Dorrance said the following. "Some people will ride a horse as long as the horse lives and they will never get what I try to get as early as I can, for a foundation. I don’t mean that I’m trying to get everything completed, but to get enough there to where if the horse gets troubled he will come to me; or to where I can get to him to come to me for security and cover. Without that foundation I feel very insecure with a horse." Two instances I can think of with my horses were a bear crossing the trail in front of us and a train blasting past when I was 12 and riding along some railroad tracks. Is the worry cup a useful concept in working with your horse? Absolutely. But if you ride outside the arena, that trusting relationship will save your bacon when unexpected things happen.

a good explanation

This is hilarious! and a great description! ... Yet, I see many people who really don't know HOW to empty the cup, at different stages...

I am trying to figure out where the cup of worry came from. My mustang mare and I have been together 8 years and have a great relationship. Never, ever an issue with leaving the herd or the barn alone. I moved her to a wonderful new barn close to home in April. She was so unhappy with the old barn's environment and herd that she developed an ulcer. I got her on meds and started chiropractic therapy. She progressed well. At the new barn she super glued herself to another mare the first week. Craziest thing I have ever seen. She will do anything including hurting herself or me to get back to this other mare if out of sight. I have become invisable to my horse. My mare is showing behaviors of an insecure, anxious, unsafe and unbalanced mind never displayed before. The other horse is the dominate mare of the herd. She has a take it or leave it kind of mindset with other members. Her owner has no issues. The mare developed a neurological system disorder that caused early retirement from a very successful jumping career.

This made me think a bit more, usually when I lead my horse away she will often walk halfway or the entire way up to me, often she'll come right up to the gate and stick her nose through the headcollar, when we go down I usually let her have a few nibbles or a scratch with the other horse across from her that otherwise gets no contact, I don't usually pull her away until she's finished though I have a couple of times recently and noticed that pissed off her friend. Now that I'm thinking about all these little things and how you explain it, I'm thinking and connecting the more subtle dots, usually I pick up on my horses little tells, at the moment it doesn't take much to throw her out of whack but give her time to adjust and she'll usually come around, or if you occupy her mind with something else, I rarely let her get to a stage of frustration- that did happen today unfortunately.

Brilliant demonstration of stress and its the same with humans although I find it difficult to understand why humans fail to understand the needs of animals.

Great analogy… but please explain HOW to empty the worry cup, my horse cannot stay “focused” on me as soon as I open that gate to the woods, moving his feet only makes him MORE worried… so please share HOW to help him focus on me rather than everything else he’s looking at ! Thanks so much …

Watched this video again . Our little Colt stops while leading . He is so excited to leave his corral when we halter him . Stands calmly . But after the first few steps out of the gate , he always nips and seems to cut in front of my husband. Gary never hits him. He says no and circles him . This happens a few times during our walk to the pasture. He then stops a few times . Stands looking concerned . Same road every day. I walk in front further away up the road . When Bear does his stopping, I turn around and encourage him to keep coming . He looks at me and starts to walk again. I love your teaching in this video. I just don’t know what else to do to have a calmer walk for Bear to the pasture. He is 10 months . He has horses around him but not in the same pasture. He has been Newley Gelded . Around 6 wks ago . Any suggestions in leading him or so he isn’t so nippy . We rub his mouth and let him lick our hands when he wnats to engage with his mouth . He can bite too hard and we say No ! He backs away. Thank you Ross for your gentle way with horses . I love it 💜🐴💜

Wow.. 😃

so how to empty the cup?

Simple example of a horses mind and reactions.

How do you empty the cup?

I got a bit of a start at the end of this video, my name is Alice. How did he do that?!lol

do u train horses with bits then i cant be or around or ride horses im out

who is alice ?

That's not quite how my arabians cup fills. He goes from an empty cup to overflow in a split second. It can be most anything, like his herd went under the trees and something might eat them. The instant he sees this he flips out.

Good horse insight, but not much human insight as to how to empty the cup.

"good horsemanship" and he uses a martingale? hmmm..