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Movement is the fundamental element of playing with the ball. If a horse keeps his distance from the ball, he is clearly expressing that he does not trust that object. We can show him how moving the ball has no consequences, but we must be careful not to move it towards the horse since direction is a fundamental element of the movement always meaningful for him, and could make him move away from us and from the ball. What we can use is a 55 cm diameter yoga ball, a round container with low sides and some chopped carrots. We have had this type of experience with a heterogeneous group of horses in terms of breed, size, age, attitude, and degree of training and with people with different skills and equestrian interests.
TRAINING & Showing
It is necessary to have a fenced area, large enough for the horses to be comfortable, free to move, with enough space that they can move away from the ball if they feel the need. The horse must be at ease in the area before starting the experience. The way in which we propose the game with the ball, which is in itself a meaningless action for the horse, is to prepare in his presence a situation in which he finds an interest in participating (common interest in the action). To do this, we place the ball on the container in which the carrots are located and do the action of moving it, highlighting the carrots, touching them and at the same time making sure that the horse sees everything. The method is spontaneous interaction aimed at ensuring that the horse understands that if he moves the ball, he can reach the carrots. The choice of this action is motivated by its simplicity and the horse will imitate us promptly, because he has an immediate and natural interest in carrying it out. If the horse does not move the ball, it may be that he is not paying attention to the action we are doing or that he did not see it, so we can repeat it several times trying to do it in his field of vision (situational awareness), without adding other elements, such as extra words or movements, so as not to change the conditions of the situation. All the horses involved in our experience were able to move the ball and eat the carrots in less than five minutes. The exact duration of each session was not recorded because it was not the focus of the experience, 64
which instead aimed to demonstrate how horses can solve a problem, learn by imitation and can make simple deductions, if they understand and share the reasons behind the action in question. The fact that a horse can solve a problem mainly highlights its ability to act with a purpose and to maintain attention. The more or less long time it takes him to understand that it is necessary to take an intermediate action (move the ball) to reach his interest (carrots) is a good indicator of his intelligence in terms of awareness and ability to adapt to the environment. Horses that have a strong awareness of the environment around them, and that if they were in a herd would tend to initiate group actions, are those who generally tend to move the ball immediately. The next phase where we “play soccerl” while we are on the ground or in the saddle is more relevant to the animal’s willingness to collaborate, to respond to our requests, and it is very important not only to want him to move the ball, but to always keep in consideration the horse’s response to the situation (collaboration). Horses that were able to easily see the action taking place with the ball without being directly involved because they were in their pens, when they found themselves in the same situation, they spontaneously participated in it. They probably learned from what they saw, because it was an action in which they saw an interest and understood the reasons for it. Everyone knows that being involved in a situation is very different than watching, but each role has interesting sides. Horses that watched the action from their enclosure had the advantage of knowing what to expect without the pressure of involvement, while the horses that participated physically acquired the experience and worked to solve the problem.
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