Trailering Home, Some Extra Tidbits of Insight, and, Of Course, Whats New!

Well I believe I stopped my running dialogue of my sessions with Harry at Saturday before we headed home. Lets continue, shall we...

After the great session on Saturday afternoon, Mom and I began to pack up Woody's things and prepare the trailer. Then, I retrieved the black and white pony and began to trailer load. He did pretty well at first, offering to go all the way in after I insisted he focus in the trailer, but he couldn't stay in very long. I would ask him as soon as he was out of the trailer to go back in, and here is where the trouble started. He was resisting going back in after he had listened a couple of times, and he decided the best thing to do was run through the pressure on the halter and blindly trot away. He did this twice. I then called down to Harry asking for some help, and a few minutes later he appeared to be of service.
I explained to him the problem was not going in the trailer but rather him staying in the trailer. He asked to see the "go in," which I did, but immediately Woody backed out. I asked him back in, and he, again, went running off. I physically couldn't hold him there.
Harry went to get him and began playing with him. Woody tried the same tactic of running into and through the pressure (and Harry himself), but Harry was prepared for it, and had a slight height advantage (darn tall people. lol). He kept being faced with Woody unwilling to change his thought of don't go in the trailer, and Woody showed his resistance by going right, left, up, and down, and sometimes all four at once. At one point Harry turned to look at me and said, "You feel better now?" because he was doing the exact same thing to him as to me (goes to show that it is NOT personal).
Eventually Harry got Woody to the point that he tried everything he knew in efforts to resist, but he learned it was much easier, and he didn't have to exert much energy, if he just went in the trailer. Harry worked with him from both sides, and he got Woody to the point that he realized, "accepting this man's idea isn't so bad!" Whenever he felt like he had to come down, Harry would let him come a little bit, then asked him back into the trailer. Woody marched right back in and hung out. He showed that once you work through his tantrum, his thought really can be easy to change. 
Harry, and several others, pointed out that all of Woody's little "spots" he shows occasionally showed up magnified in trailer loading. Woody tried to push through the pressure (his signature pony move) repeatedly and with a lot of determination. His tendency to push his shoulder into me when we work appeared as well, along with his stickiness in going forward. Harry said the more I work through those things on the ground and in the saddle, not in trailer loading, the better it will be. But, he said I would probably have to go through his tantrum a couple more times for him to realize that its much easier to submit. BUT, it would be vital that I hang on through that ugly spot to prove to him he doesn't have to go there, he can be ok. It was really neat to watch.

Here are a couple other notes I jotted down when watching others working with their horses...
*a lot of people know the phrase, "Get the smallest change and the slightest try." But, people tend to put too much emphasis on the getting the slightest try and not enough on getting a change in the horses thought.
*when working with a horse, if they are really right and ok with what is going on, they will breathe with every stride.
*there is a difference between a horse looking somewhere else and leaving mentally. We shouldn't criticize a horse looking, but we should try to prevent the horse from leaving.
*You can inspire a horse to become relaxed which triggers physical releases (i.e. head down), but you can't change the physical aspects (i.e. asking your horses head come down) and think that he is relaxed. Work from the inside out.
*If your horse can really look to you, you will become his shield.
*Isaiah 26: 3 -  You will keep in perfect peace, all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! 
This verse really can be related to the horses in that we will keep the horses in perfect peace when they trust in us and keep their thoughts on us.
*Our attitude should be "I care/love you too much to leave you in your emotional 'stuckness.'
*other methods of horsemanship (traditional or natural) focuses on the feet, but Harry focuses on the heart and mind. He doesn't want conformity, but willing submission.
*allow the horse to learn the responsibility of being here by not getting their attention before asking something.
*when a horse is rigid or braced, its because he is mentally caught between their thought and ours.
*a good leader is fair, consistent, and has the being's best interest in mind and heart.
*when your horse is rushing, slow down in energy and intent, and break down the steps.
*when disengaging the hindquarters, don't release until the front movement has STOPPED and the hind has STEPPED OVER.

I hope that these posts about the clinic have helped or raised awareness of things to people. I will update later with what I've been up to the last couple of days.
~Eden