If you don't "mind", it doesn't matter...

From Jim: Do you know your horse's mind? Not his or her mood or temperment, but the way they process information. Have you thought about your own mind's routines and habits? Have you been careful not to assign how you think and process to your horse? As we form a bond and working relationship with equines, it's really easy to slip into the unfair practice of treating them as if they're equi-people. They're not, can't be, never will be! It's on us to come to understand this and learn our differences and to behave in ways that are consistant with this knowledge. I suppose all of us think we have a pretty good handle on this and probably the truth is none of us do. Most of us probably don't even have a very clear idea about our own minds. If you're like me, I figure alot of it's missing by now. Horses not only have a mind that's very different from ours, there are big differences between individual horses. Some are smarter-learn faster, some are shaped by their experiences, both good and bad, some have been trained, while others were taught-BIG DIFFERENCE! Do you give your horse the time and patience it takes to let them learn and understand or do you settle for stimulus/response conditioning. It is naive to think horses are only capable of basic conditioned response behavior. Watching them unravel a gate latch, or play with a toy or another critter, or dream tells you this is true. Sometimes I think the best learning I've had as a horseman has occurred when I've spent time thinking about my observations of the herd and it's members. We tend to fall into the routine of being with our horses when we're going to work with them. That really changes their agenda and behavior and makes it somewhat harder to see who they are. We tend to be actively engaged with the animal and reacting to our desired outcomes and their responses to that. Again, makes it harder to think about what we're seeing of their mind's structure. I guess the lesson here is take the time to observe passively and reflect on what you've seen. Be actively inquisitive about how your horse thinks and how you think and how you think about how they think. Sounds like gibberish. It's not. It's a way to be a better horse person and to enjoy these wonderful animals on another level.