The Ignorant-Steadfast Personality Quadrant
If you are here for this training, it is because you have identified your horse as being in the Ignorant-Steadfast 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 Ignorant-Steadfast Quadrant
If you are here at this training today, it is because you have identified your horse in the Steadfast Quadrant.
We often see particular breeds like Clydesdales, Draft horses, any of the cold blooded horses really, fitting into this quadrant, as well as some ponies. These horses have the confidence to take the lead, and that is where the pushiness you see comes from. But that confidence is really only in their body, so they are less likely to be confident with their human interactions and may be less confident in their environment. Given they also tend towards the non-reactive, this can lead to them being quite “stubborn” when they lose that confidence.
If your horse fits into this category, I’m sure you would have experienced one or more of these problems in the last 3 months:
Stubbornness, like napping or bracing against your lead
Pulling, pushing or dragging you
Breaking through fences
Grabbing anything they can with their mouth
I bet you are feeling frustrated, annoyed, and wondering if you legally rename your horse to pig-headed...
These horses really don’t respond to simple pressure and power over training – simply because why should they? Getting louder, getting heavier, continuing to use pressure until it becomes a punishment is a sure fire way to escalate them into the red zone, where shut out the aids, ignore you completely, and do whatever they feel like. What they really need to develop is boundaries, connection and willingness.
There is an amazing side to these horses. If we work them through the Holistic Horse Handling Method, and as you start to see the development of a powerfully connected equestrian team, you will start to see the Steadfast character building. These guys are confident in themselves and build great confidence in beginners. They have willingness and engagement in learning and are the ultimate trail-blazer – nothing fazes them and they aren’t likely to bolt.
Before you can begin to see that develop, you need your horse to see you as the Compassionate Leader. Your horse needs to see you as a leader they can trust, and you need to see your horse for the quiet achiever it can be. Once you work on Compassionate Leadership and Willingness, and help your horse develop attachment and confidence in you, that’s when you will see that sweet heart of a Steadfast horse emerge.
In the Powerfully Connected Equestrian Team, the Steadfast horse:
knows how to look after it’s rider - and wants to!
is confident to learn, and knows that learning isn’t a negative pressure
is responsive to our asks and respectful in their own requests
enjoys spending time with us for more than just food
This video is a snippet of the training we provide our students inside the Holistic Horse Handling Program.
I 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.
