Whole Heart, Whole Horse

A few years ago I found a book in the library called Whole Heart, Whole Horse by Mark Rashid. I read it. It was quite enlightening. I honestly can't remember most of what was in there.
Well once again I was at the library and saw this book. I decided to read it again.
The stories in there, and the concepts really make me look at what I do, and what my horses do.
Like the other day I went out to say hello to the horses, and when the four youngest saw me they all came up and said hello and the bigger horses followed. Why? One of the four youngest, Dash, followed me around while I went around and said hello to the other horses. Why? I can look at it how most people would look at it which is; she enjoys my company, or she likes being petted. The other way I could look at it is a way Mark Rashid presents in this book. "Everything a horse does is information." Horses don't have the same level of feelings that humans do so I can't label it as Dash just loving my company. One reason I could come up with for her following me is because she perceives me as leader. In her mind I am the horse who is like the lead mare. When I go left she goes left, when I go right she goes right, when I stop she stops. The moment I decide to go back to the barn she stops following.
Another thought that just occurred to me is that in a herd horses have buddies. I'm not really sure what the role of a buddy is, but from what I have seen it's sorta like how Dash reacts to me.

I was on a trail ride with a friend on a horse I have probably ridden twice sense last year. First trail ride of the year. She was all over the place. She turned around a couple times on me, she picked her own speed, she wasn't listening. I did one rein stops like we normally do, and she would stop and stand, but when we got going again she would go back to her normal antics. It took an hour to get a mile. She wouldn't walk. We got on a dirt road and eventually ran into a small hill of dirt with grass growing on it because it hadn't been disturbed in quite some time. I made her go up and down that, but that still didn't help. When we reached a little area of grass I let her go any speed she wanted, I just chose direction. She cantered for a little bit, trotted for a little bit more, then walked. It helped a little bit, but when we got back on that dirt road she was still a little ansy so I let her gallop. When I slowed her down I kept contact with her mouth. I don't know why. I just did. The whole way home I kept contact with her mouth. She tucked her head, jogged really, really slowly, flicked her ears back at me, went straight, and didn't spook at the water or the man hole. Why?
I have thought for years that she hated contact. She doesn't. She's more comfortable with it. She was trained in the English style of riding, and we have been riding her in the western style way.
That's about as far as I got in my thinking about it. Then I picked up "Whole Heart, Whole Horse" and started reading it. Mark Rashid was telling a story about a horse that walked like a drunken sailor. Basically the rider didn't include himself in the riding, so the horse made his own decisions and was lost.
I think about that and I go "huh, maybe Ana has a similar problem. Maybe she doesn't feel like I'm giving her enough direction." Maybe I'm not being as much as a leader as she needs me to be.
On the way back from that trail ride it took only a thought to get her to trot faster and catch up. Only a thought to get her to slow down. I even asked for a sidepass just to she what she would do, and she took four neat little steps to the other side of the trail. She never did walk, but her trot was slow and fancy. That horse amazes me sometimes.
What that means for future reference, I couldn't really say. She still needs to learn to walk, and stop. She still needs to be able to go nicely without contact. I think that instead of using your hands to make contact with her bit you could use your legs to make direct her and give her something to rely on. It's something that needs to be explored. I need to be more of an active leader with her. It should prove interesting.

Be Involved and Stay Involved,
Lydia Johnson