Responsiveness

From my notes taken during clinic time with Harry Whitney...

All the asking things of an unresponsive horse build up and make him cranky, and he'll take it out on others by kicking or biting -- venting his frustrations, a displacement of his anxiety.

A horse that is not responsive is holding back what he has to offer. You see people do the same thing. He is not giving his best. The people who feel the best about doing their job are the ones who are doing their best. With a horse, if he's not doing his best, he's holding some back for himself. He does not want to be that way. It doesn't feel good being that way. He hasn't been shown how good it feels to break through that. He feels better when he gives 100%. He has to feel better than when he's holding back. It's an anxiety thing. He's asking how much he has to do before they give up. There are so many symptoms people want to work on, but they are just symptoms. You get the horse responsive and the symptoms go away.