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The Horse Hypnotist (Universal Principles)
Recently I was listening to a horse trainer tell how he helped a horse overcome a certain fear. There was a stump of a tree that the horse would become spoked by when rode close to. The horse had an irrational fear of the stump. Sort of a stump phobia.
The objective said the trainer was to neutralize the negative energy the horse perceived emitting from the stump. The trainer set out riding the horse in a large clockwise circle around the stump gradually winding closer and closer. Eventually the horse would realize he was getting uncomfortably close to the stump and abruptly turn away. The trainer would go with the initial turn, then turn back towards the stump, circling counterclockwise. This technique was repeated until the horse was within touching distance of the stump with no fear at all.
The trainer explained that the horse can only think of one thing at a time. By turning the horse back it was forced to stop thinking about the stump and think about the rider. The trainer laughed and said "heaven help me when horses start thinking about more than one thing at a time".
I see in this some universal principles. To name a few: 1. The conscious mind only being able to think of one thing at a time 2. Critical factor bypass using confusion 3. Perception 4. Desensitization
This also illustrates the importance of staying focused and in charge of the session.
Does anyone else have a similar observation to share?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Don on -
Hi David,
Thanks for your invitation to "horse around" in search of universal principles.
You might be interested in Googling "Clever Hans," which is an account of a horse in the early 1900s who supposedly had been taught to do arithmetic, but who had actually been taught to tap his hoof when his owner looked at him and spoke to him in a certain tone of voice, and to stop tapping when his owner straightened up slightly, in an unconscious gesture of satisfaction. (To the owner, it may have been unconscious, but to the horse it was clearly a signal to stop tapping.) Today, this is referred to as the "Clever Hans" error, and the term is used to refer to anything which we may be unconsciously reinforcing and encouraging (by attention, etc.) without realizing it.
Don
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Permalink Reply by Joe K Fobes on -
A horse does not have a critical factor. Hence it is rather impossible to bypass it.
Joe
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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on -
That reminds me of a horse of another color - David
In Milton Erickson's story the horse represents our unconscious minds and the rider represents our conscious minds... The rider (conscious mind) doesn't know the way home but get's there when he trusts the horse (unconscious mind) to take him home...
That's right.
Michael E.
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Permalink Reply by John R. Brochu on -
David:
Sorry to be the one to break this to you but “Mr. ED” couldn’t really speak.
The Horse trainer was using natural NLP on you to frame his Desensitization and Conditioning of the horse.
In the words of Freud “Sometimes a Cigar is only a Cigar.”
You may have been told about natural horsemanship but not about horse hypnosis. If I am being myopic on the topic please let me know…
Yours in Health,
John Brochu
BrochuHypnosisCenter.com
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Permalink Reply by John Cleesattel on -
Can you say "an acted out version of the fast phobia cure?"
John
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Permalink Reply by Cheryl Westley on -
I've practiced a little "equine psychology" but not hypnosis...
A friend of mine had two horses, the naughty one got out of the corral and refused to be caught. My friend's method of 'catching' said horse was to grab a harness and run around the property after it, waving the harness in the air, hollering and cursing at the horse to stop and let him put the harness on.
...I went into the house and grabbed a couple of carrots out of the fridge, and walked back out. When my friend had exhausted himself, I took the harness from him. I walked over to the fence and began breaking off pieces of carrot and feeding them - one by one - to the horse that was IN the corral (crunch-crunch-crunch). Pretty soon the prodigal came over and wanted some. I ignored him, physically turning my back to his head and gave the corralled horse another piece of carrot. Pretty soon I was getting bumped on the side and shoulder.
I turned around and held out a piece of carrot. He could smell it. He reached for it, but I pulled my hand off to the side so he had to stretch his neck out. He did so, taking another step closer to me at the same time. I let him have the carrot, and wrapped my arms around his neck. I had the harness in hand, and soon it was buckled on.
He was grudgingly lead back into the pen.
My friend looked at me in complete astonishment.... "How did you DO that??"
I guess he hadn't been paying attention.
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Permalink Reply by William Bullock on
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Nice one.
Cheryl Westley said:I've practiced a little "equine psychology" but not hypnosis...
A friend of mine had two horses, the naughty one got out of the corral and refused to be caught. My friend's method of 'catching' said horse was to grab a harness and run around the property after it, waving the harness in the air, hollering and cursing at the horse to stop and let him put the harness on.
...I went into the house and grabbed a couple of carrots out of the fridge, and walked back out. When my friend had exhausted himself, I took the harness from him. I walked over to the fence and began breaking off pieces of carrot and feeding them - one by one - to the horse that was IN the corral (crunch-crunch-crunch). Pretty soon the prodigal came over and wanted some. I ignored him, physically turning my back to his head and gave the corralled horse another piece of carrot. Pretty soon I was getting bumped on the side and shoulder.
I turned around and held out a piece of carrot. He could smell it. He reached for it, but I pulled my hand off to the side so he had to stretch his neck out. He did so, taking another step closer to me at the same time. I let him have the carrot, and wrapped my arms around his neck. I had the harness in hand, and soon it was buckled on.
He was grudgingly lead back into the pen.
My friend looked at me in complete astonishment.... "How did you DO that??"
I guess he hadn't been paying attention.
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Permalink Reply by Hypnosis Dave on -
Does it not make sense that all creatures with an instinct towards self preservation possess critical factoring? If the horse has no critical factor how was it able to develop fear?
JoeK said:A horse does not have a critical factor. Hence it is rather impossible to bypass it.
Joe
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Permalink Reply by Hypnosis Dave on
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Sounds very similar to suggestion compounding...
Allan Nelson said:The horse was simply desensitized gradually by repetitive nearing approaches to the stump. A little distraction used on the horse nearing the stump is just the same process.
Nice Account David !
Cheers Allan
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Permalink Reply by Don on
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David Lott said:Does it not make sense that all creatures with an instinct towards self preservation possess critical factoring? If the horse has no critical factor how was it able to develop fear?
Hi David,
It is possible to condition avoidance responses and to de-sensitize previously learned responses in organisms much simpler than a horse (ants, worms, and jellyfish, for example). Does this prove that a horse does not have a critical factor, or an instinct for self-presevation? Neigh, but we cannot prove that it has one, either.
Don
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Permalink Reply by Hypnosis Dave on
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Cool! I knew there had to be an Ericksonian metephor in the story somehow. Nice to know I am not alone.
"That's right"
Michael Ellner said:That reminds me of a horse of another color - David
In Milton Erickson's story the horse represents our unconscious minds and the rider represents our conscious minds... The rider (conscious mind) doesn't know the way home but get's there when he trusts the horse (unconscious mind) to take him home...
That's right.
Michael E.
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Permalink Reply by Hypnosis Dave on
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Well, maybe just a little "myopic". Of course the trainer's job is to impose his will over the horses will. That has to be done in a firm, consistent way that reaches the goal in this case of removing the horses irrational fear. I simply see a lot of similarities in what is done with hypnosis and other forms of mental manipulation. In a clinical setting the client has the will to overcome an irrational fear but the ISE and SSE are out of their reach. Using hypnosis or one of its variants as a tool allows the operator to locate those events and begin the desensitizing process. Different but similar.
I also believe good horsemanship and all proper animal handling requires some understanding of the animal's psychology. Check out that show "the dog whisperer" when you have a chance. Sometimes a brain is only a brain. They are just wired differently.
John R. Brochu said:David:
Sorry to be the one to break this to you but “Mr. ED” couldn’t really speak. The Horse trainer was using natural NLP on you to frame his Desensitization and Conditioning of the horse. In the words of Freud “Sometimes a Cigar is only a Cigar.” You may have been told about natural horsemanship but not about horse hypnosis. If I am being myopic on the topic please let me know…
Yours in Health,
John Brochu
BrochuHypnosisCenter.com
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