Lateral thinking & Reverse psychology
Lateral thinking means thinking around the problem or situation and not directly about it. Horses (prey animals) are not direct line thinkers, they think laterally. That’s why they out fox people all the time. People (predators) are direct line thinkers, they go for what they want in a direct line. This is what makes them so predictable to horses. They can read us like a book!
When playing with horses, if you use a direct line approach rather than approach and retreat, horses will see what you want and are more inclined to do the opposite. This is how they survive predation, by doing the opposite of what the predator expects. Take for instance wanting to put a horse in a trailer, as soon as he sees that you’re intent is to get him in that little claustrophobic space he’ll do everything to avoid it. Same thing with horses that push on you, won’t stand to be saddled, won’t stop, won’t go, are difficult to paste worm, clip, trim, etc. They will not allow themselves to be put in a threatening or vulnerable position by a predator… unless you can prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that you will not act like a predator.
Lateral Thinking
Let’s say you want your horse to step on something with one foot because you are advancing your ability to communicate with him. Or what about going over a jump, crossing a stream, getting him in the trailer, etc. etc. You have to pretend that this is the most unimportant part of the exercise! If you concentrate more on the principle and the quality of the horse’s response and respect to you, you’ll get it done a lot faster! Especially if you prepare well.
For example, if you approach a freebie on the ground that you want your horse to step on, think about spiralling in on it and them change directions with an indirect rein and do the same. It won’t be long before your horse just puts his big ol’ foot on it and then you can quit and relax. But try to ride up and stick his foot on it the very first time and nine out of ten the horse will do everything but.. especially if you get particular about which foot!
And before you try to squeeze a horse into a trailer for the first time, go lateral. Squeeze him through, over and under everything you can: jump, narrow spaces, creeks, bridges, tarps on the ground, hanging tarps, etc. He’ll start to understand the principle, get more and more confident with your funny requests and loading into a trailer will become a game instead of a threat.
Reverse Psychology
I know reverse psychology works because women have been doing it to men for thousands of years!
A friend was telling me that when he went to catch his horses they all took off to the other side of the pasture. it was a big pasture too, the kind you don’t fancy running all over to catch recalcitrant horses! So he though about the reverse psychology concept. He wanted to chase those horses and rope them, but instead , he did the opposite. He sat down in the grass. Then he laid down. it didn’t even take two minutes and those horses came galloping over to see what was going on! He laid there and let them sniff and wonder and relax, had no intention of catching them. Then he petted them, put a string around his horse neck and happily walked off! The more you try to catch those, the more they try to escape. It takes savvy of knowing when to approach and when to retreat.
Its so hard for people to do the opposite of what they feel they need to do, but when dealing with prey animals you’d better learn this because that’s what you usually need to do! Just when you feel like getting tight and mad, you should probably smile, relax and pet the horse. Just when you feel like catching that horse you should probably turn you back on him and walk away. Just when you feel like going one step further you should probably retreat and build his confidence that way.
Reverse psychology and lateral thinking help you to act more like a prey animal needs you to act, and less like a predator.
Summary
Lateral thinking means thinking around the problem or situation and not directly about it.
Horses are not direct line thinkers, people are. That’s why horses can read us like a book.
Horses survive predation by doing the opposite of what the predator expects.
When you want a horse to do something, think about simulation and preparation instead of just walking up and trying it.
Teach the principle (like the Seven Games) and give it a purpose.
Reverse psychology means doing the opposite of what you think you should do.
Prey animals need you to do the opposite of what a predator would do.
