Intro

Welcome to this month’s blog with a topic that seems to pop up in my head more and more these days.

Living with intent, with purpose and focus is becoming one of my matras. We live in a world of distraction, interruption and information overload. Many of us also believe of having the ability to effectively multitask.  We have ‘To Do’ lists that are a mile long and seem to always add and very rarely review it with the intent to subtract and declutter. Our minds are full and we feel often overwhelmed with all the tasks we try to juggle.

I am fortunate and grateful to spend my spare time educating and exercising horses where ‘Intent’ is one of the keys to success in equitation and horsemanship.

Let’s start at the beginning and make meaning of the word ‘Intent’. The background and definition of words often give us huge insights and often answer the ‘Why’ questions we have.

• Intent is somewhat broader and more encompassing in sense. It is the complete framework of attention given in carrying out something.
• Intention is the planned actions that we carry out for the anticipated outcomes we’re hoping to obtain. (Robert Charles Lee), 2016

Both words are nouns that come from the verb intend, which means to have something in mind as a plan or purpose. … Intent is used in more formal situations, such as in legal contexts, whereas intention is used in a wide range of situations; it is a more everyday word.

When we start to unpack the word ‘Intention’ you will find lots of interesting studies and readings. Here are just a few snippets to set the scene for you:

• Folk psychology explains human behaviour on the basis of mental states, including beliefs, desires, and intentions.^[2][3]
• Astington (1993)^[2] outlined the connections between mental states (desires, beliefs, and intentions) and actions carried out by an individual in order to reach a goal; these connections are referred to as the Intentional Chain. The proposed connective chain is that desire causes intention, which causes action, which causes outcome. The Intentional Chain maps the linking of a desire to the satisfaction of a goal via the intermediary intention.^[2]
• Psychological research suggests that understanding intentions of others may be a prerequisite for a higher-level understanding of other people’s minds or theory of mind.^[11]

I like to settle on the following description for the word ‘Intention’ for the purpose of this blog:

Intention is a mental state that represents a commitment to carrying out an action or actions in the future. Intention involves mental activities such as planning and forethought.

I hope that I have not yet lost you? It would not be my intention to do so however is it your intention to learn more about it or did you become distracted already or interrupted and lost your focus?

Horsemanship with intention and focus

Let’s get back to horses…Exercising and training horses to achieve results requires attention and focus. A lack thereof can frighten or dull a horse depending on its personality which in return makes handling or riding a more lengthy and difficult task to achieve a great outcome for both.

Horses have mastered the art of being the most perceptive and observing animals on this planet. This has kept them safe for thousands of years.  Being a flight animal, they can see, feel, hear and smell predators miles away. They notice the slightest change in their environment.

Often when working with our horses our minds are not fully present. We might be thinking of work or what we are going to have for dinner. Our thoughts are everywhere but in the present. Horses feel that. They feel that our focus and our commitment is elsewhere. They observe our body language and feel our energy which sometimes are not congruent and the message received by the horse is unclear and confusing. Often voice commands or just ‘babble’ is added and it becomes really noisy for the horse and the intent gets very unclear.  Just some scenarios I have observed that seem to confuse the intent:

1. Riders that have no training program, no overarching goal posts, no routine or structure in their sessions.
2. Riders that seem to find many things to correct at one time.
3. Handlers that change their routine all the time.
4. Handlers that cheat or try to trick their horse – hide a halter when catching a horse.

There are many more examples that I could list however these seem to be common ones.  Every one of them creates a misunderstanding in communication and triggers unwanted behavior. Horses love routines as they are calming and we all know a relaxed, calm horse can think and learn better than a horse that is ‘frightened’ or ‘stubborn/lazy’.

I found some interesting research for you undertaken by Lansade and her fellow researchers, including PhD student Miléna Trösch. These researchers studied 21 privately owned riding horses as they observed an unfamiliar human armed with carrot slices in three scenarios. In all three cases, a plastic window separated the horses from the human.

Sometimes, the humans held the carrots but had no intention of giving them to the horse, moving them out of reach when the horse tried to get them. Other times, they wanted to give them but showed difficulty getting their hands past a barrier to get the carrots to the horse. And in some cases, they wanted to give the carrots but kept dropping them.

The horses showed clear behavioural differences when the handlers intended to give the carrots and when they didn’t, Lansade said. Specifically, when the humans “wanted” to give the carrot but couldn’t, the horses seemed to try to communicate with the humans, touching the plastic window, she said. But when the humans didn’t want to give the horses the carrots, the horses spent significantly less time facing the human before looking away. They gave up on the human as they understood the intent.

It’s evident whether it involves carrots or something else, horses understand our aim our intent. When you’re with your horse and like to build on your relationship and improve on your training, focus and be realistic on what you are trying to do. Be in the moment, don’t lie to yourself, don’t lie to your horse, and don’t try to trick your horse.

 Take away:

Let’s do an exercise and see how focused you can get?

• Pick your horses foot up, doing as less as possible. Start with the 1^st step and decrease your physical actions and increase your intent.
  1. Bend and pick your horses foot up as you would any other day.
  2. Bend down and hold your hand out without touching the foot.
  3. Bend down and use voice command to get the foot to lift without your hands reaching out.
  4. Bend down and wait for the horse to give you the foot – no voice, no hands.
  5. Stand upright next to the horse and focus on the horse’s foot and wait for the horse to pick up the foot.

You might find that Nr 5 won’t happen straight away. Keep trying and do as little as possible to get the result you are truly after. Your horse will tune in once you are focused in your mind on what you try to achieve.

 

Happy riding

Gaby