Conflict

One thing Casino is helping me learn is that you can't avoid conflict by avoiding conflict...

He's an example of what is true about any horse. If they decide you are not in charge, then they are. He's not even like some mares, who will test you, accept for a while, then test again. But if I make it clear one thing is not allowed, he moves on and looks for the next thing. Each boundary has to be tested and established separately. For example, just because he can't stop on the trail when he wants, doesn't mean he can't eat, toss his head, or run into the horse in front of him.

What seems most important though, is just the way I've learned not to give up, not to back off. The more you hold your ground with a horse, the easier the horse is to work with. This doesn't mean being abusive, but it does mean being very assertive.

What I'm really trying to say is, if I back down in an argument with a horse, and let him have his way "just this once", then he does it over and over and over, and I either have to keep yielding until he does nothing whatsoever that I say, or I have to have the conflict I was avoiding. And it's generally better to have the conflict sooner rather than later, because the horse has not yet gotten it into his head that he can push back, or that I'm not really serious.

Of course, this applies to: People. Procrastination. And just my general attitude to the universe.