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Posted by Franca on 5/30/2008, 7:37 am, in reply to "you have to be careful"
85.14.150.1
That's one of many reasons why "direction" is better than "correction". If you have to "correct" (and we all do, sometimes, because nobody's perfect) then you've been snoozing and are LATE. Things you do after the fact - like correction and punishment - are not as effective (or fair to the horse) as direction and discipline. I try to be proactive rather than reactive, which means I have to be paying attention - no distractions, no daydreaming. 
At feeding time, discipline would be asking the horse to wait patiently at a respectful distance while the food is put out, and direction would be moving his energy back to that waiting spot if he starts to push in. This is before he's anywhere near close enough to strike, bite, kick, or run over you. If he gets close enough for you to feel threatened then you haven't established discipline, you haven't given him clear direction, and you're forced to be reactive and resort to correction and/or punishment. This is the human's fault, not the horse's.
I also wouldn't use something as short as a crop to maintain personal space with an extremely pushy horse - I'd use something with a longer reach, but again - not to correct or punish, but to redirect the horse before he enters my personal space in the first place. He should be able to wait for me without pushing in on me. Now, if he's had fair warning and comes forward anyway, into the lunge whip or flag's path while it's moving, then he's correcting himself, and he's doing it before he's close enough to run over me.
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