Proper Pressure with Feel, Timing and Balance

Understanding and having the skill to apply different types of pressure is very important in achieving high result success in working with animals. (feel)

Knowing when to use the different types of pressure comes from previous experience and your ability to read and understand the situation in that moment. (timing)

The ability to quickly adjust the pressure needed to how the animal responds to the pressure applied. (Balance)

This is how I would explain ”feel, timing, and balance” that is often said but very seldom explained. I would like to hear more peoples explanation of it. It is a very important thing to understand and I feel the more ideas you get the better you can understand it for yourself.

Here is a video that I think is a good way to see how effective using the right pressure with feel, timing and balance is.

3 thoughts on “Proper Pressure with Feel, Timing and Balance”

  2. Tom Caesar

    I believe the Feel is the most important part of the Feel timing and balance concept, without the feel we are just getting the horse to move by avoiding the pressure we are applying. I don’t remember who first used the comparison of feel with dancing but if we think about it there are no spoken words or fear or intimidation involved in getting our best gal to follow us across the dance floor using the slightest pressure and a lot of feel, when both partners are operating through feel it looks weightless. We can have that same feel of weightlessness in our relationship with the horse but we have to want it, to get to the inside of the horse it has to come from the inside of us. I believe there’s only two ways to communicate with our horses one being apply enough pressure so they move to avoid it or offer a feel of what we want them to do. In the beginning there has to be the mechanical pressure applied to get the horses feet moving but it’s how we apply that pressure that makes the big difference to the horse. Timing.. Tom Dorrance had a video where he was explaining how to balance a broom on your thumb. If your timing is off the broom will fall. Horses communicate thru body language with other horses and humans in sometimes very subtle ways, if we can learn to read their language and be aware of the slightest change our timing will improve. Balance… I have a picture in my mind of horse and rider, both going to the same destination and it doesn’t weigh anything to either of them. If we could just learn to get out of the horses way, they will give us everything they have.. thank you Curt for work… Tom

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