Strong Spirit Stables LLC

08/31/2025

IMPROVING FOCUS

Focus is an essential ingredient of good horsemanship.

Recently, I explored how, as horse trainers, we constantly compete for our horses' attention.

Focus can be soft or hard. Hard focus is where a horse is attentive because it fears not being attentive. For example, a horse with separation anxiety will have a hard focus (anxiety-driven focus) directed towards the herd. On the other hand, soft focus (focus with calm emotions) is where a horse has minimal stress directed towards whatever is the source of its primary focus. For example, a horse’s soft focus might be fixed on the horse it is sharing a grooming session with.

If we are not our horse’s primary soft focus, then any conversation we attempt to have will be muffled and lack clarity. It guarantees our training and our relationship will be more of the master/slave variety than a willing friendship.

Horses are very aware of the world around them. A horse’s innate sense of survival means its focus and attention to its surroundings is constantly vigilant. Their focus easily swaps from primary to secondary and then secondary to primary with the sight of a bird, the feel of gravel under their feet, the sound of wind, or the smell of another horse.

The challenge of any training is to maintain the training and the trainer as the horse’s primary focus. Without the human as the horse’s primary focus, the struggle to achieve clarity and softness is elusive. As I explained in my book, The Essence of Good Horsemanship, good training entails strong focus, a high degree of clarity, and the resulting mental and physical softness. But notice, focus comes first. This is important to understand because without a strong focus, clarity, and softness are just a wishful dream.

How can we achieve better focus?

Firstly, however you approach changing a horse’s focus, it must involve changing a pattern. If a horse is asked to repeat a habit it knows very well, there is no requirement for the horse to alter its focus. For example, lunging a horse at a walk, trot, and canter in mindless circles is one of the fastest ways I know to teach a horse to ignore us and not focus. There is no need to focus on us or the circle or the gait because it can do them in its sleep. So the first thing to consider when altering focus is to ensure the work requires a horse to mentally engage in the exercises and not repeat a well-known pattern that it can do in its sleep while playing Monopoly.

Now that we've established the need to avoid predictable patterns to improve focus, the next step is determining how, specifically, to foster stronger focus in our horses.

I tend to recommend two slightly different options.

The first approach is to work with a horse on something new. By asking a question that is totally unfamiliar, it helps a horse to focus on the conversation with us and the task we present. They don’t know the answer, so they either choose to ignore us or they focus on the problem. If we handle it correctly (with feel and clarity), we will improve focus. But, for a lot of people, I don’t recommend this approach as a first choice because they often struggle to introduce a totally new task without creating a fair amount of anxiety in their horse.

The second approach is my preferred approach and what I mainly want to discuss. It involves doing exercises that a horse has been taught and knows, but to perform them in a way that is unfamiliar.

Let me give you an example, going back to the lunging exercise I described earlier. Many people lunge horses in a pattern of circles. The exercise discourages focus because it is just repeating circles over and over. But what if we changed the pattern?

Walk your horse in a circle to the right.

* After 5 steps stop.

* Back up 3 steps while still on the lunge

* Trot 10 steps

* Slow walk for 8 steps (slow walk is 1 step = 2 seconds)

* Stop.

* Hindquarter disengagement - 1 step

* Forehand yield - 2 steps

* Trot medium for 1/2 lap

* Slow jog for 1/4 lap

* Stop.

* Walk a triangle instead of a circle

* Trot circle for 1/4 a lap and stop

* One foot forward. Stop. Another foot forward. Stop. One foot back. Stop

The list goes on and on. As the focus improves and your horse listens intently, the work will flow more smoothly, and there is less need to interrupt your horse so often.

It is important that your horse knows how to do all those exercises individually before asking for them on a circle or a triangle, or whatever pattern you choose. If it doesn’t know how to leg yield on a longe line, don’t include it in the circle work until it does. Only ask your horse to perform tasks it already knows and understands.

I might begin with a simple walk, stop, back, and walk again, every few steps, while circling. As my horse understands how to yield the hindquarters, leg yield, and canter transitions, I will add them to the circle work. Putting them in a dance (like a circle) is where the power of this work helps to improve focus because every transition from one movement to the next requires focus.

In time, your horse’s primary focus will remain with you because it will learn that at any moment you could ask another question. This creates a conversation where you ask a question, your horse replies, and then it asks, “What will we do next? When will we do it? What comes after?”

I have used the example of a lunging a horse on a circle as a means of improving focus. But the principle applies to almost any exercise. Leading, trailer loading, riding on a trail or in an arena, grooming, saddling, blanketing, etc, are all areas I use this principle. I can’t think of anything we do with our horses that it could not be applied.

It is my experience that if we devote a lot of time gaining our horse’s focus in the early training, keeping their focus is easy. A horse will mentally engage with us automatically in a calm and relaxed manner. It becomes like two mates hanging out together and both working on the same idea.

Photo: My mare, Six, has a soft focus as I teach her to circle following a feel of the lariat.

08/30/2025

I had someone ask me this week why attendance is one of the factors that affects scheduling.

I thought it was an odd question, because it has a pretty simple answer...open lesson times don't pay bills. So scheduling someone who isn't going to show up regularly isn't a good business decision.

But it really goes deeper than that.

One of the most profound lessons that horses teach us is commitment. Commitment to caring for them, commitment to bettering ourselves, and commitment to setting goals and achieving them.

If you aren't attending the lessons you scheduled (horseback riding or any other sport) regularly, you're missing this point. Your progress will be minimal and you'll end up frustrated.

Holding space for someone who isn't committed to that space will suck the life right out of you. (Read that twice, because it applies every single day of your life). It isn't just a financial drain. It's tough to get excited to teach someone who isn't committed to learning.

So yes, I'm going to schedule riders who are committed to learning and who attend regularly first. Their enthusiasm keeps me going when the day is kicking my butt. They remind me that this purpose is far bigger than just what is happening in the arena.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. 🤣

08/29/2025

Monica shows another perfect example of her waiting on Jackson’s thoughts to change. Getting the movement we wanted was the result of directing the horse’s thoughts first.
Can you pickup a light feel and direct her mind to the right, before asking her feet to follow?

"A horse is always trying to do what it is thinking. So when a horse thinks to do something you want, it looks like you did nothing. There is no more important principle in good horsemanship."

08/29/2025

What a perfect example of asking a horse to direct his thoughts and the moment that he does, his feet then get ready to follow. Getting the movement we wanted (turn to the left) was the result of directing the horse’s thoughts first. Way to go Kim, for being able to direct Prince’s mind before driving his feet.

“Directing a horses’ thoughts wins over driving their feet every time.”

08/29/2025

HOW DID YOU DO THAT?

At a recent clinic in Perth, Western Australia, I worked with a student’s horse to demonstrate a principle in answer to a question. All went according to plan. But then somebody in the crowd asked, “What did you do? I saw what the horse did, but I didn’t see what you did to get him to do that.”

I was a little surprised. I thought what I did was obvious, and the horse thought it was super obvious, so I did it again. Nope. Nobody detected what I had done. The only ones who saw what I did were me and the horse.

Many years ago I was in Arizona hanging out with my friend, Harry Whitney. I remember how impressed I was that Harry could get any horse to walk relaxed but with a tremendous forward. There was no rushing or anxiety. The horses would walk comfortably forward as if they had a need to go somewhere. I watched carefully every horse rode over many weeks. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing to get such a brilliant walk from every horse.

“Harry, what the hell are you doing with your seat to get a walk from a horse? I don’t see you doing anything,” I said.

“I don’t know. I just ask for some life,” was the answer.

At the time, his answer frustrated me because I would ask for some life in my horse but never got the change in the walk that Harry could get. And then I figured it out.

Most people teach a horse to do something. There are billions of words written instructing people how to teach a horse to do something. There are millions of hours of videos on the internet explaining how to teach a horse to do something. Almost every blue ribbon, gold medal, and monetary reward is granted to people who can get their horse to do something better than the other competitors who have taught their horse to do something.

What confused the people in Perth about what I did in the demonstration and what confused me about the quality of walk Harry could get out of a horse, is that in neither case was the focus on teaching a horse to do something.

In both cases, Harry and I were focused on getting the horses to think something.

A horse is always trying to do what it is thinking. So when a horse thinks to do something you want, it looks like you did nothing. There is no more important principle in good horsemanship.

When your object is to drive a horse into doing something, there will always be a barrier to how good it could be. This is because it’s not the horse’s idea. While a horse is thinking about doing one thing and you drive it to do something else there can be no harmony and no partnership. There will always be some degree of resistance - even if barely detectable to anybody watching.

In contrast, when what you are thinking and the horse is thinking are the same jobs it can be beautiful. Directing a horse’s thoughts wins over driving their feet every time.

The reason Harry can entice horses to walk like he does is because he can direct their thought forward as if there was the best hay waiting for them just ahead. The reason people were unable to see me direct the horse at the clinic was that the horse and I were in a highly focused conversation where there was an exchange of ideas. In both cases, getting the movement we wanted was the result of directing the horse’s thoughts first.

I know many of you will feel frustrated because this post does not tell you HOW to first direct a horse’s mind before driving their feet. I won’t explain the process because I believe that would be irresponsible. It’s not something you can learn from reading about it or watching videos. If these ideas are important to you, find the best hands-on help you can and have lessons or attend clinics with like-minded professionals.

Photo: Directing a horse to think forward.

08/29/2025

08/29/2025

ASAP…
As slow as possible.
As soft as possible.

08/29/2025

You’re allowed to outgrow barns, people, and even habits that no longer feel right. Trust yourself to make choices that support the equestrian you’re becoming. 🖤🐴

08/28/2025

HOW DOES FOCUS WORK?

Multitasking is not a real thing.

In theory, we have the potential to devote 100% focus to a task. But that’s just a single task. We can’t give 100% to more than a single task. We might be able to allocate 70% to one task, 20% to a second task, and 10% to a third task. But never 100% to more than one task.

I have met many people who believe they are exceptionally good at multitasking. They believe they can perform two or more jobs with equal attention.

Of course, it’s not true. But people believe it is true.

There is only so much conscious focus our brains can commit to. If you are doing a single task, you could argue that it has 100% of your attention. But nobody does a single task and nobody commits 100%. We all think we focus 100% on the primary task. But we don’t. We leave some focus for other, less important tasks like being aware of our hunger or how hot it is, or what the time is. Nobody gives all their attention to only one thing. When we say we are good at multitasking, we really mean we are good at allocating the majority of our concentration to the most important task and dividing smaller amounts of concentration to the lesser tasks.

The same is true of horses. They never give 100% of their attention to just one thing. They divide and allocate their attention to tasks according to their priority. It’s a pyramid of attentiveness with the primary focus being on the most important job and the one a horse is putting the most effort into achieving. But it also gives some focus to secondary and tertiary tasks. The amount of focus it commits will depend on where those jobs sit in the order of priority. That requires that a horse’s focus on one thing can never be 100%.

I want you to remember the word “priority”. It’s very important.

You’ll often see someone standing around with their horse and telling their horse not to look over there or to not sniff the ground or not shift its feet, while the handler is talking to somebody or fiddling with gear, etc. They are not asking their horse to do anything; they are just asking their horse NOT to do anything.

The internet is chock full of videos of professional and non-professional trainers describing with boastful pride how to train a horse, while at the same time incessantly picking on their horse for every little infraction of not looking like an equine mannequin in a shop window. I sometimes see it with first-time clinic goers while they tell me about their horse. The horse looks away - they pull with the lead rope to stop them. The horse puts its nose on the ground - another pull. The horse takes a step - yet another pull. This is perhaps one of the most effective ways to teach a horse to disconnect from and avoid their human.

When I ask people who come to my clinics why they pick on their horse, they almost always say it is to get its attention back to them. They assume that because their horse is giving some attention to something else and not 100% to them, their horse is not paying any attention. However, they can’t know that without asking their horse a question.

Let’s go back to the idea of priority.

If I am standing around talking to a camera or a friend and not asking anything of my horse except not to wander away, there is no reason for a horse to devote a huge amount of focus to me. It can do that simple task with maybe 20% of its concentration. I’m giving my horse 20% of my attention, and it is giving me 20% of its attention. I’m a secondary thought to my horse, and my horse is a secondary thought to me. That gives it 80% to think about other things. I don’t yet need it to stand perfectly still and stare intensely at me, not sniff the ground, and not look at the other horses. I don’t need it to stand at attention, not blinking or looking at anything else, because I don’t have a question for it yet. I just need enough focus that it does not wander away and is available to switch to, giving me 80% of its focus when I present a question or job. I do want my horse ready when I ask it a question, but I don’t need it shutting out the rest of the world when I am asking nothing of it. That would be crazy and a quick way to get my horse to dread being around me.

Telling a horse what it can’t do creates deep anxiety because there is no clarity explaining what it can do. This is so important to understand.

We say, “Don’t sniff the ground”, but we don’t say what it can do. We leave the horse still with 80% of its focus looking for something to do or think about that won’t incur a jab with the lead rope.

A better alternative would be to either leave the horse alone while we only require 20% of its attention. And then transition to being the primary focus by directing its thought to perform a job. In that way, we give meaning and clarity to the pressure and feel we apply when we do something with the lead rope. Instead of just saying “Don’t do that”, we shift priority to being the primary focus by saying “Can you please do this instead?”

For me, when my horse sniffs the ground while standing next to me, I just leave it alone.

But if I don’t want my horse to sniff the ground, instead of pulling its head up, I’ll ask it to walk with me a few steps or take a few steps back, or I might ask it to pick up a foot or to direct its attention to another horse or give it a scratch in its favourite itchy spot. I’ll do something to redirect its focus. I won’t just block the focus it had. I will give it a reason to have a new focus. In that way, we are still working together and connecting.

I could fill a book with examples of how we misunderstand how focus works and how we misuse it. But the two important points I want to make are: multitasking, in the sense of giving equal attention to more than one task, is not a real thing; and we need to learn how to help a horse prioritise what it focuses on.

I will talk about how to gain better focus from your horse in an upcoming post.

Photo: I’m riding Six while teaching. I’m focused on teaching Des and Pru and Six is focused on her thing. But Six is ready and waiting for when I ask a question of her. She has not forgotten about me.

08/25/2025

Ivy enjoyed her Hyoid Release using Red Light Therapy!

The hyoid apparatus is crucial to the overall health, performance and well-being of the horse. It is a set of free-floating bones that are only connected by muscle, tendons and ligaments. A few of its functions in addition to proprioception, are to keep the head centered, swallowing and chewing. When it is off-center, the horse may wring its neck, be "ear shy", favor going better one way versus another, issues with lead changes, etc. If you do not have time to do any other work on your horse, this release is one of the most impactful areas that can improve virtually any performance issue.

Protocol
RED: Illuminate points (both sides of the body), for 30-60 seconds per point.

08/25/2025

Relationships with a horse are not transferable. What one person can do with a horse isn't always the same with another. Even with a great foundation.

Horses are always reading the room, reading your energy, and reading what is happening around them. It's their nature and their instinct as prey animals. The really good ones forgive and tolerate as we learn.

This is why horses sometimes fall apart or come together with different riders. It's a part of the process! But how the horse responds to you has a lot to do with how you present yourself. It is your responsibility to be aware of what skills you have or don't have.

My husband is a beginner but he rides with a "trainer" mind and understands horses (from years of talking with me). He's low energy and soft in what he does. Some days he gets along better than most!

He can ride Smoke, who is very responsive to the leg, but can observe when he did too much or not enough. And then make adjustments. He knows just because Smoke is trained and has experience doesn't mean he will be the exact same for him as me.

The mindset of the rider will determine how a partnership grows with a new horse. The observational skills and manner in which a rider adjusts will grow confidence. A horse that is listened to and asked will begin to trust. A new beautiful partnership then forms.