The Aggressor-Protector Personality Quadrant
If you are here for this training, it is because you have identified your horse as being in the Aggressor-Protector Quadrant.
Before we go into this behaviour quadrant, we first want to share with you why we have put these quadrants together. When Katie is first invited out to work with a horse, she needs to make a really quick assessment of that horse to determine the best way to move forward. And that is based on 2 factors – their default confidence, and their default responsiveness level.
These quadrants aren’t designed so that you can label a behaviour and just say “this is my horse”. It is also not to “fix” our horses, because we need to recognise that the behaviours they are showing are an expression of their personality and what they are feeling in that moment based on their experience and their environment.
The reason we want to know these behaviour quadrant that your horse is currently fits inside of is to know exactly how to approach their interactions, and what they need most from us in the horse-human interaction. That goes for both Katie, as the professional trainer, or yourself, as the owner and day-to-day handler.
These default quadrants, what we call the Trainability Scale, is about taking you from a place where you and your horse are working with conflict, whether that friction looks like fear, aggression, stubbornness, frustration or massive loss of trust, and to take you both to a place where you can work together as a harmonious team – to become The Powerfully Connected Equestrian Team.
Regarding the default confidence spectrum, we can have horses range from confident in their own body while insecure in their environment or interactions, to horses that are sensitive and lack confidence in their self, their environment and interactions. Then with our responsiveness level, they can default to either passive and ignorant, to hypervigilent and hyperactive.
I bet right now, just knowing those facts, you can already see where your horse has a tendency to sit. If you can’t, don’t worry. Our horses can toggle through any of these quadrants based on the stimulation they are under, historical interactions with people, unheard pain, herd dynamics, or even maturity, but by understanding how to interact with the behaviour quadrant they are displaying the most at this point in time is going to help you reduce that conflict you may be feeling at times. This is the principle behind the holistic horse handling method.
The ultimate goal the holistic horse handling method is to work with our horses not at the extreme ends of either their default confidence or responsiveness, but in the center – with calm confidence in themselves and us, and a responsiveness that is willing and engaged but not over excited. You can see by the coloured rings that we are aiming for the green zone, which is the region our horses will most comfortably flourish in their human interactions, but very often we will see behaviours more indicative or the amber or red zone – and this is where you will really find yourself in conflict with your interactions with your horse.
So with that understanding in mind, let’s discuss the quadrant you have identified your horse to fit into most:
The Aggressor-Protector Quadrant
These horses fit into this quadrant because the tend to be very confident in their body, but have insecurity driven predominantly by their interactions with people (past or present). Their environment can also be a trigger of insecurities. They also are significantly more responsive - so instead of ignoring the stimulus as the Steadfast horse would, they are ready to lash out and react with higher level of intensity - essentially, they are warning off or trying to take out the threat.
These horses can be difficult to work with when they have escalated to their extreme behaviours (into the red-zone), and are often classified as dangerous. It will often feel like even the simplest interactions can be fraught with danger, fear and worry. You may even be wondering if this horse if right for you.
If this is the case, I am willing to bet your horse, at some point, has shown you some extreme behaviours such as:
Kicking
Head snaking
Biting
Charging and chasing
Ear pinning
Butt presentation
These horses won’t respond well to the “because I told you so” type training and certainly not the natural horsemanship style of “pick a fight, win the fight”. In both cases, you are going to see an escalation of behaviour and you will destroy any type of trust or relationship you may have been attempting to foster between you and your horse.
But here is a bit of a caveat.
Some horses naturally fit into this quadrant because they are confident in their body, and insecure in their environment or interactions. These guys are going to make amazing protectors. Others fit into this quadrant because of the extreme behaviours they show but have been pushed into it through trauma, poor handling or feeling threatened. When we get past the aggression, we may see them flick back into another quadrant.
Regardless of how they came to be inside this quadrant, we still need to work past their survival mode of fight. We need to be able to get past the boundaries that they have set up and help them work through their emotional traumas and confidence issues.
For these horses, we need to place a stronger emphasis on relaxation, consent and choice initially – in fact, their pathway to the connection is different enough that we have a tailored segment inside our Holistic Horse Handling Program just for these horses. And once they can see that we are not posing a threat, we are listening and they have started to develop emotional agility, we really see their personality flourish and only then can we become The Powerfully Connected Equestrian Team.
When we start working with these horses as part of a Powerfully Connected Team, we begin to see some really amazing qualities flourish.
Confident and adventurous
Natural leaders
Responsive - make great horses for those inclined to exploration and competitions
Love looking after their rider and herd
This video is a snippet from the training on the Protector Personality we provide inside the Holistic Horse Handling Program.
We hope that you have enjoyed this training and learnt a little more about your horse. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to pop a comment below, or join our free Stronger Bond Facebook Community.