Stress = No Success

Life is burdened with many stresses.
We do our very best to not let things stress us out, but when they do, we try to relax and especially not take out our stress on others. This should go for working with horses.

When some aspect of our life is stressful, whether it is work, family, or anything else, we have to remember that if we are trying to accomplish something with our horse, we will never be successful unless we take a positive approach. Stress equals no success.
When working with horses, if due to the stress factors in our life we end up being abrupt, impatient or more forceful with the horse, he will not understand what we want him to do, as we might be disciplining him for something that he is, or isn't, doing even though he doesn't understand what we want.

Horses are herd animals and feed off the emotions of other herd members, it goes the same for humans, when a human is stressed and tense about something, the horse doesn't read that as, 'oh she just had a bad day at work' his instincts will read it as 'oh, my human is tense, there must be a scary monster in the bushes' and as a result, he will be more reactive. When working with such a sensitive creature, it is important to be sensitive as well.

When stress is a burden in life, we have to use horses to our advantage. When having a stressful day, do something relaxing with your horse, like simply brushing him, or work on something that you know he is good at, so you can praise him and feel good about it. Once you are in a positive state of mind, it will be easier to move forward.

If you find yourself being stressed or abrupt around your horse, slow down, take some deep breaths and remember what you are actually trying to accomplish. Give your horse a gentle rub and try to relax, do something that will reinforce a positive state of mind for both of you, and then move forward, or maybe just call it a day on a positive note.

Most importantly, when working with your horse, try to forget life’s stresses, it's just you and your horse, and nothing else matters for the moment.