Making moves. Report on a horse assisted training.

By Michaela Schuhmacher, Germany

13 year old Peter isn’t very talkative. His most given answer is “Don’t know”. In school he’s causing trouble, because he doesn’t do his homework and often provokes his teachers by short unfriendly remarks. With teachers and parents he would question rules or simply ignore them. He’s also having problems to concentrate well. His marks are low, if he doesn’t achieve, he has to leave school in summer.

His class teacher likes him a lot and already tried a lot of things to make him feel more comfortable. His parents explained several times that it is important to get good qualifications in order to get a good job, that he has to be respectful to teachers and so on. Parents and teachers are quite desperate. They’ve tried their best, making offers, supporting him, trying to pull him in the right direction – unsuccessfully. Sometimes he’d say “I can’t do it” and doesn’t do what he’s asked to. Now they want me to “get through to him”, support him and help him to get out of his misery.

During sessions in the praxis he’d do the same to me as to every one else:
“Don’t know” and refuse to talk to me.

I suggest to consult my partner Chiara. The parents say: “We don’t think, he’d like it.”
Peter smiles and says “Yes”.

Session 1:

During the first session he makes contact very well. He’s not afraid and performes well. His first task is to walk with the horse and lead her (in the riding arena outside). The rule is: the rope has to hang loose all the time, no pulling, no forcing.

After starting successfully, Chiara would follow, so Peter doesn’t concentrate any more but starts dreaming. Chiara changes direction.
“Hey – what’s she doing?”
Chiara moves to the closest grass spot at the end of the riding arena.
“Oh no!” – He makes a noise that is between laughing and crying.
He manages to catch her attention again and starts walking again.
Chiara follows carefully observing when he’ll loose concentration again. Then – she changes direction.
“Oh no – she does it again!”
He follows her to the grass grumbling.
“Who’s leading now?”
“Well s h e is!”
“m”
He manages to get in the leading position again.
They’re walking.
Chiara’s waiting for her chance – and… changes directions.
Peter is very angry now “She’s always cuts off”
“What about leading?”
“I don’t know how to do it!”
“Be creative. She knows – long before you do where and when you’re going to loose your concentration. So first pay attention and concentrate, then find an creative solution that prevents her from walking to the grass”.
They start again. Peter is walking while concentrating very hard and paying attention to the horse. Carefully he’s observing her movements while they’re walking. The moment where she wants to go to the grass, he’d move around her quickly, so he’s in the leading position again.
Chiara is following, chewing, relaxing.
Peter smiles.

He does very well from now on, and after short time, Chiara wouldn’t even try to change directions but sticks to him.

Session 2:

I ask Peter a difficult task: to lead from behind. I explain to him that the leading stallion usually is taking care of the herd and making sure that everyone is o.k. by staying behind, overlooking the scene and leading from there, while the leading mare is in front.

Chiara is wearing a vaulting band.
The task is to move the horse within the riding arena (outside).
Peter doesn’t want to use the whip “I refuse to beat the horse”. I appreciate this and explain that the whip is not for beating but a tool to give a slight signal. He agrees to use it after I showed how it is to be used.
Everythings ready. Peter wants Chiara to move. He uses the whip, while his body is stiff and tough.
Chiara doesn’t move.
Peter’s giving me a look that says “Help me, pleeeaaase”.
I give him a smile.
He tries again.
Chiara doesn’t move.
“She doesn’t do it!” He’s giving me a desperate look.
“mm”
He tries again. Same thing. Horse falls asleep.
“Oh Mann! She doesn’t w a l k”. He’s giving up and let go off the whip.
“Try!”
He tries. No changes. No movements.
He’s desperate. “I can’t d o it.”
I tell him what I observed: “You’re using the whip with your hand, yet your body and mind say “I`ll stay here – I won’t move”. So Chiara doesn’t move. She says “I can’t do it this way, so I don’t do it. If you want her to move – you must w a n t her to move. Your mind a n d your body have to be ready for moving. Become aware and flexible.”
Peter is smart. He understands. This time he concentrates on his intention and his body is slighty moving forward while he uses the whip.
Chiara starts walking.
Peter follows slowly, hesitating.
Chiara stops.
Peter is confused. “What’s now? Why doesn’t she go on?”
“She won’t pull you.”
“Hä…?”
“She doesn’t pull you” [like all the others already tried without success] “Stay with her – keep moving”.
They start – and they walk. Slowly but steadily. Chiara would stop after a little while and they have to start again. They do that several times. It seems to be difficult for Peter to make his own steps, but he’s doing all right. He might need more practise here.

Session 3:

In session 3 I work with Peter on his attention and his creativity. He has to make contact with the horse (in the riding arena), get her attention and then lead her without the rope.
It takes all his energy to get her attention. At first she’d walk wherever she wants to. Peter – used to giving up at once is between laughing and crying.
“She’s walking away”, giving me that look again.
“Be creative, like in your first session – you can do it”.
His moves become quicker, he is focussing the horse and gets into the leading position. After a few steps, his concentration goes down. Chiara walks away.
He moans and grumbles – and follows her, focussing her, trying to find out where she is aiming at next. He makes a quick move around the horse – and gets into the leading position again. This time he keeps his attention span up longer – the horse follows.
He practises one or two more times, in the end it’s a scene of a harmonious play between the two of them.

Session 4 and 5

In Session 4 Peter’s working very well when leading Chiara over a canvas plane. Before he started, he made up his mind and focused on the task he chose (he could choose between: stopping in front of the canvas plane, making her walk over it and making her stand on it).

When beeing asked to wrap the canvas plane around the horse, Chiara went away, he couldn’t get close. This time he couldn’t fullfill his task (and making the experience of frustration. So I asked him to come back whith a workung solution. A week later he returned and explained that he first wanted to show the canvas plane to the horse, then put it on the horses back and finally unfold it. The pictures show how it worked.

We still have to work on some other things but Peter’s obviously improving. He’s built a strong relationship with the horse and behaving more self-confident. In school he’s also doing better now. Next thing will be to stabilze his new skills.

Closing sentence:

I don’t’ plan the sessions that way. I don’t know which particular task could be the perfect connection to Peter’s problem. Actually, I follow my intuition. Sometimes I decide what we would do, after he arrived. Another time I plan what task I want to give him (and might drop it, when the client arrives). Sometimes I ask a person what he or she wants to do. It always comes out right. The horse never lies.

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