Helping an Anxious Space Horse 

One more time, I have to say how much this clarification about 'space horse' has helped me! Part of the project to get my horse alright with trailering alone is him accepting being turned out alone. Or at least, I think they are related. The other day, I could create a situation to do this... the first few minutes he did not protest, but you can feel him winding up,, and when he laid down to take a roll, I knew what would happen right after... he took off running the perimeter of a modest turn out area, when he was galloping back with some impressive steam to the near end and straight towards me, the width of the turn out was narrow enough that I could use my flag and hold 'my space' to be the near quarter end of the paddock to the barn. When he saw this, he put the brakes on hard... nice stop by the way. I maintained that the near end to the barn where he would have preferred to be (and probably would have carried on by trotting back and forth) was mine. He lowered his head and began to graze. When he had been grazing calmly there for a few minutes, I 'opened up' the end of the paddock to him, and he continued to graze peacefully. Wow! What a nice change to see from him! This combined with what I am seeing from Mark Langley, about distracting the anxious herd bound horse with a noise and not pressure to their feet has been a real game changer to help me to help my horse to let go of his thought about not being able to see his barn mates....and most importantly for him to have the head space to begin to consider that he is alright alone.

What I think may be challenging for people who don't have a lot of experience with such things is to see the difference between what you are doing -- owning the space -- and simply turning the horse back. What I see as the difference is that you are not actually telling the horse what to do or not do, and you are not directing a lot of pressure AT the horse at all nor "sending" him or pushing him. You are not actually "making" him do anything. You are simply putting yourself in his line of movement and occupying that space with clear energy (or you could say "energetic clarity"). This allows the horse to understand that you are present, that you are someone that can be relied upon, and that you are someone who is not a threat or a liability. That, in turn, starts to put the horse at ease.

Great explained🤩admire the way you teach. Thanks for sharing, J😊

You make it sound so easy, Josh. ♥️

Wow! Excellent explaination of energy! & importance of activating ones space... Thank you, this helps me so much with all the horses i work with ❤️

Nice job, as usual Josh! Always a treat to get a new upload from you😁🙏

I like your video that's you doing on horse and I'm doing real good with my horse Nannette

Wish I had been exposed to your wisdom sooner... my guy has a hard time letting go of a thought, and trying to interfere with his thought really lights things up, especially since my perspective in the past had been to get him moving his feet to gain control.... instead of this where I am saying do whatever just not in the area that I say I need to feel safe around me... total game changer.... that said, my horse is super herd bound , not a problem at home or even when I take him to somewhere off the ranch... the problem for him is to trailer alone... trailer with another horse ...no problem ... He is obedient to load in the trailer alone, but his whole body quivers and of course once I get to where we are going he is dripping with sweat. Any advice to help him overcome this?

Such a big deal. And while some horsepeople may have an innate understanding of these concepts there is no one else out there teaching or representing these concepts with such clarity … and it’s an understanding that would literally save people and horses (save your relationship if not your life).