Re-set a horse’s nervous system in one wonderful moment with Release Re-learn and Re-Program.

The little black horse was shaking with terror as his owner approached with the saddle, but he didn’t move his feet – just bent his whole body away from the saddle as far as he could – and shook.

I saw the first case of a pretty much instant re-set of a horse’s nervous system happen – gosh it must have been more than twenty years ago. We had a little black horse come into a clinic shaking with terror. We were on day two of the clinic when his owner showed me what was happening when she approached him with the saddle. The trainer had taught him to keep his feet still even when he was afraid, so the fear had escalated and now he was shaking with terror at the saddle.

I like people to work on their own issues and priorities, rather than all doing the same thing, so after lunch on that second day, we went around the table helping each participant get clear on their next step before they all went out to their horses.

We were working in a three acre paddock and for Little Black I suggested she might like to throw her saddle on the ground in the middle of that paddock and do her liberty work, approaching and retreating until he’d found a Comfort Zone with it.

I can so vividly remember her pushing back from the table, leaning over her belly and gagging. She couldn’t even THINK about working at liberty with the saddle in the middle of a three acre paddock without feeling like she was going to throw up.

Well that made things difficult! How else could we help him? I don’t remember exactly but the idea that came to me was bound to be Bobby in my head, by then it was happening so naturally. “Ahhh we’ll saddle another horse and show him there’s nothing to be afraid of” I said. That idea didn’t make her throw up, so I went out to get Bobby to do a saddling demonstration.

I go to get Bobby out and young Boots muscled his way in, very clearly saying “pick me”. “Sure” I thought, his saddling had been picture perfect in his colt start and he was VERY comfortable with it. By this time, we’ve got 8 riders have drifted over to watch how I might do things differently and are standing in a semi-circle with their horses on one side of the fence and my herd on the other.

I went to put the halter on and Boots said “no I don’t need that” and of course I knew he didn’t, so I did the saddling demonstration at liberty. I’d just positioned the saddle on his back when Sunny came up and bit him on the bum. He jumped sideways a little and the saddle fell off beside him. No big deal, we’d done what I call extreme saddling when we started him. (Another Fast Track lesson, we like to have horse’s comfortable and happy with high energy unexpected things happening around them. 🙂 ) We could slide the saddle off him in every direction dropping it on the ground (no not the good saddle!) and he would still be totally comfortable about that.

But this time he wasn’t OK and I had to take steps to re-establish his Comfort Zone. I’m standing there, waiting and waiting for him to lick and chew before moving on to the next step. But he was clearly deep in processing that just kept going on and on. More waiting… more waiting… until I got to the point where I was beginning to feel a bit impatient. “What the heck’s going on here, why’s he doing this? That wasn’t a big deal!”

Then I looked around and noticed that EVERY horse in the clinic was processing – sleepy eyed, heads low’ish and jerking a little every now and again. I had a blast of the bleedin’ obvious – that not one single horse in this clinic was in a Comfort Zone with their saddle and that Boots, bless him was waiting – not for himself to find a Comfort Zone with it, but for them, for all of them – to release their old stresses of saddling.

One by one they all came out of their processing, licking and chewing, yawning and stretching and releasing – until last of all, Little Black came out of his trance. THEN Boots opened his eyes and came out licked and chewed, already totally relaxed. Gosh it brings tears to my eyes even all these years later. The thoughtful, caring, sentience of it. THAT folks is real leadership material and it’s not surprising that later on he became one of our herd leaders.

Little Black released ALL his stresses and tensions in one glorious moment and went back to being a happy, curious baby horse who literally didn’t know anything – a total re-set of his nervous system in one glorious moment.

See… his original saddling had been done in what I call “the Oh Shit I’m Dead Zone” a place where they’re so scared – often beyond scared – and can’t actually learn anything. They can only react.

Everything he learned from then on, every bit of riding, every bit of handling was with the foundation of that stress and tension and possibly trauma of that Oh Shit I’m Dead Zone. His whole colt start – all his training to be with a human and to be ridden took place with fear anxiety and terror as the foundation – not actually learning ANYthing. In the moment that he released the saddling terror, there was a cascading release of all his other stresses. Then she was able to teach him about the saddle in the thoughtful confidence building way it could have been done.

How do I know he re-set his nervous system? Signs of that transformation are various – their body changes, they react quite differently to what’s happening around them. They can lift up their sternum and open their chest, their withers can pop open, their ribs can come out from the spine at a different angle as they lift and open. They often breathe differently. They can sit back more into the power of their hind end. They start moving rhythmically, with their backs lifted. If you’re riding them their spines can feel like a string of pearls underneath you. They can have a whole different persona. You can feel them release into a peaceful centre and you’ll often share their joy.

In Little Black’s case he went back to being a baby horse who didn’t know anything. I’ve seen that happen so often that there’s even a lesson in Fast Track about what to do if the baby horse appears. He was calm and curious for the rest of the clinic as his owner step by gentle step systematically went about introducing him to all kinds of things – including the saddle – with a sense of calm confidence from the beginning. That old terror was released so thoroughly that it was as if he’d never seen a saddle before.

She checked in with me some months later, all excited because they’d just had their first ride out in the bush, with that same lovely calmness and curiosity and enjoyment. Her keys to success? A commitment to each step happening with that lovely energy he stepped into that day around the saddle.

With Fast Track’s Release Re-Learn and Re-Program techniques you have a simple, step by step way to re-set your horse’s nervous system and maybe even your own while you’re at it.

Release Re-Learn and Re-Program is a life transforming innovation that we’ve been teaching here – on-line – for 15 years. It’s just one of the reasons we can call Fast Track to Brilliant Riding a fast track. You can read all about its results here.

The Fast Track to Brilliant Riding

Does every horse release their stress and tension and re-set their nervous system so fast? No.

We’ve had many horses (and humans too) who have re-set their nervous systems that quickly. Just as often, a horse needs to develop a deep sense of confidence in us and how we use our Feel before they can can let go of the old stresses and tensions that are playing havoc with their nervous system. Comfort and confidence in the horse human relationship flows into the often extraordinary healing that takes place with a nervous system re-set.

And the joy… the joy can come into the relationship so quickly.

There’s a number of ways around here to find that joy with your horse and make it routine. Fast Track on the link above, combined with the extraordinary once in a life time bonus that you’ll read about at the end of the page, is the fastest way to get there. If you get my emails you’ll be hearing about some other exciting stuff we’re doing too.

Today’s photo isn’t a picture of the Little Black I’ve been talking about, I don’t think I have one. But it is another little black horse named Random from around the same time. Random was featured in Bobby’s Diaries.

I took this photo through the front window of our house when daughter Mel was doing some saddling Comfort Zone work with Boots in his colt start.

And if you haven’t met him before, this is Bobby the Master Teacher, the horse who woke me up – who started all of this wonderful work. I feel a flush of gratitude and love just thinking about him.