Cause vs. Make: Rapport, Respect, Impulsion, and Flexion

When you hear the word respect, what do you feel right off the bat? Do you have a feeling of authority? Maybe you feel a little direct-line and goal-oriented?

You have heard this before, but it is true: humans are predators. Sure, your horse probably knows you're not going to eat him, but being a predator means we are wired completely differently from our horses at our core. Our horses are designed to flee from fear: to run far away from anything threatening at the drop of a hat. When we get involved, our nature is to control this instinct, get the horse to "respect" us, and submit to our ideas because we own them, right? 


Natural Horsemanship is an interesting phenomenon because it is natural to horses, but it is not necessarily natural to us. To get the formula for the perfect partnership correct, we need to change how we perceive our horse's world. At our core, we tend to have an approach where we need the horse to respect us, almost like the "sir yes sir" approach in the military. Earning respect tends to focus on dominance and submission. But, we need to take a different perspective regarding respect. 

Respect can be defined as the appropriate response to pressure. This means teaching our horses to yield appropriately to pressure but not doing so in a forceful way. I suggest you remove the words "make" and "let" from your vocabulary and replace them with "cause" and "allow." Think about those words: make and let, versus cause, and allow. The words make and let imply that you're either in total control through force or not present and letting anything happen. The words cause and allow imply that you're present and engaged because you've set up the outcome. 


Now, let's back this up with these new respect filters: cause and allow. How would your life look if you were earning respect from your horse by causing him to respond appropriately to pressure by causing the opposition reflex (resistance) to be a game rather than muscling through the problem? 


You're reading this article now because you desire a partnership with your horse built on love, language, and leadership. I know you wish to understand your horse's behavior truly, and you want to connect with your horse in a non-threatening manner.

 Hardly anyone starts with horses with the wrong intent—we intend to be the best we can for our horses. But we sometimes fall short in being understood by our horses because of our instincts and making them do something when they react in a way that we think they shouldn't.

Here are a few things to consider when you're feeling the "make" come up.

 • Understand the cause of the resistance: is your horse afraid, or is he more confident/dominant?

 • Cause your horse to release their brace by holding and not pulling more. Don't release when your horse is bracing, but instead match the energy. Be careful not to add to the energy by engaging on the brace; just hold and be prepared to retreat.

 • Change your internal dialogue from "make and let" to "cause and allow." 

For example, if your horse won't maintain gait on the circle, don't "make" him by smacking the ground stronger and stronger with the stick. Instead, find a different motivation for him to maintain the gait. Perhaps you're going to use more transitions, maybe you need to adjust your approach and direct the energy to a different spot, or perhaps you reward your horse when he is doing the right thing versus just becoming active when he's doing something wrong. 


Here is another example of cause and allow versus make and let: Your horse is spooking at the tarp while you're on line and wants to turn and run the other way. Choose a boundary instead of shaking the rope violently and moving the stick at their face to stop them from going too far. If you focus on them, you're making them stop and not allowing them to flee from the tarp. Instead, cause them to stop by focusing on a spot away from the tarp that you lift the stick into. 

The difference here is that when you attempt to stop the horse from fleeing, you're making him stand still and putting pressure on him. Instead, when you hold a boundary, you allow the horse to step into the pressure and retreat when he yields. I know this is easier said than done, but it is important to make this shift when holding boundaries with your horses and teaching them to yield appropriately to pressure.

I hope this makes sense because it is not a big difference; a slight shift in your approach will make all the difference. It is essential to understand your horse's needs and why the behavior is happening. Be sure you don't revert to fix-it mode and get direct-line and strong—cause your horse to yield by using psychology and catering to their specific Horsenality type.