🔄 If You’re Always Redirecting the Same Thing…

Why repetition without reflection can block true understanding.

In horse training, redirection is a useful tool—when used with purpose, timing, and awareness.But when we find ourselves redirecting the same thing again and again……it’s time to pause and ask why.

Because redirection isn’t the goal.Understanding is.Motivation is.The ability to coordinate is.

And when those pieces are missing, no amount of redirection—no matter how soft or well-intended—can fill the gap.

🚫 Don’t Become the Sidewheel

It’s easy to slip into the trap of being the horse’s sidewheel:Always steering, always correcting, always "helping"—until we’ve silently taken over responsibility for something that was never meant to be ours.

But when we do that, we unknowingly steal the most valuable part of the learning process:The thinking frame of mind.

We don’t want our horses to just respond.We want them to understand, to choose, to coordinate from the inside out.

So if a horse keeps drifting out of alignment, or disconnecting from the task, or falling into the same pattern—again and again—…the answer isn’t more correction.The answer is to zoom out and ask:

What’s missing in the shared picture?

🧠 Three Missing Pieces:

Understanding.Motivation.Coordination.

If the horse doesn’t understand the task, they’ll try to guess—or check out.

If they’re not motivated, they’ll shut down, evade, or offer minimal effort.

And if they don’t yet have the ability to coordinate their body for the task, they’ll appear resistant—even when they’re actually just overwhelmed.

Repeated redirection in these cases doesn't help—it hides the real need.So instead of making them do it, we need to:

• Isolate what’s missing

• Simplify the request

• Clarify the idea

• Rebuild motivation

• Create space to explore and find the answer themselves

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Only then does redirection become refinement.

🌱 Training is a Conversation

The moment redirection becomes routine, the horse stops thinking.They no longer engage with the question—we’ve already answered it for them, again and again.

But when we truly listen, we notice the gap.And when we step back to address the real reason behind the drift, the brace, or the avoidance……we invite the horse back into the conversation.

Because a motivated, thinking, understanding horse doesn’t need to be made to stay in the movement.They want to be there.