Q: . In the herd, horses are natural followers. Within the herd, one horse needs to be a leader. In your relationship with your horse, your horse should see  you  as his leader. One way to establish the leadership role with your horse is to lead him.  It may not seem like asserting your leadership is showing your horse you love him. However, horses need boundaries and leadership. When he sees you as a good leader who will be attentive to his needs, he will trust you and feel safe with you. Lead your horse from various positions—the lead position (ahead of your horse), partner position (beside your horse), and drive position (behind his withers).  Leading your horse teaches your horse to respect your personal space. As you lead your horse, be assertive, yet gentle, with him when maintaining and establishing the boundaries of your personal space. Yielding to pressure is another way for your horse to see you as his leader. Horses use pressure with each other to assert dominance. Therefore, when you apply pressure to him, you are asserting your dominance over him—once again establishing your leadership role.  Use your hands to apply pressure on your horse’s body. The pressure should be gentle yet firm—not enough to push him, but enough to make him a little uncomfortable. Do not release the pressure until your horse has moved away from it.  Practice applying direct pressure to different parts of his body (e.g., shoulder, muzzle, legs). Indirect pressure involves the use of driving aids, such as a lead rope, to get your horse to yield. Practice this by standing about three feet in front of your horse, with his lead rope attached to his halter. Point your index finger at him and begin to wiggle the lead rope. Your horse should begin to move backwards.  Your horse may not understand what you are trying to get him do to the first time around. He may stand there, or move to the side. Wiggle the lead rope with more force until he steps back, or at least leans backwards.  Stop wiggling the lead rope as soon as makes the backward motion. It may take some time for your horse to learn that you are his leader and that he should respect your personal space. Practice for a few minutes each day until your horse readily and consistently accepts your leadership role with him.
A: Lead your horse Teach your horse to yield to direct pressure. Teach your horse to yield to indirect pressure. Practice leading and applying pressure each day.

Q: If a person rushes to respond or share their own opinions, they stand in the way of empathy. Hold mock conversations in which one person talks while the other person hears them out completely.  Encourage the listener to turn to face the speaker and make eye contact. The listener should be trying their best to understand what the other person is saying, not simply listening to reply. Those learning empathy need feedback to determine if they understand others' messages during communication. Saying what the person said back to them in a different way helps them double-check that they got the right message.  Paraphrasing may sound like, “From what I'm hearing, you seem very shocked and upset about the results of your doctor's exam. Is that right?” If the message was not received correctly, the speaker can try to relay it again so that the listener understands. Paraphrasing can also be taught in practice situations to help them feel confident doing it in real-life conversations. Identifying what someone is feeling can be challenging in the moment. To build the skill, start at the end: with the emotion you think the person felt. Then, reflect back and analyze other details, like facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and the actual words that were said.  For instance, if a wife guessed that her husband was angry, she might work backwards and recall that his arms were crossed, he was pacing, he had a sneer on his face, and his speech was overly sarcastic. Noting these details can help her read future nonverbal and verbal cues more easily. Help adults learn empathy by breaking down different scenarios and reflecting on the experiences of the people involved. This may work best by using scenes from popular movies or TV shows. For instance, a scene from a movie may portray two friends fighting. Have two people role-play the scene and discuss what each character may have been thinking and feeling, and what cues help you figure that out. Have everyone start by spending 5 or 10 minutes  breathing deeply and generating good vibes about themselves. This might include silently repeating affirmations, like “I am worthy," or simply envisioning giving oneself a warm hug.  In subsequent meditation sessions, they can start focusing on a friend or family member. Radiate positive thoughts towards that one person for the full exercise—just for about 10 minutes. After focusing on loved ones for a few sessions, they can then progress to radiating good vibes to a virtual stranger, such as the nice barista at Starbucks or someone they heard about on the news. Loving-kindness helps connect with the deeper human side of oneself and others, increasing a person's ability to feel empathy.
A:
Practice  listening without interrupting. Paraphrase what others say to verify understanding. Work backwards to read others' nonverbal and verbal cues. Imagine stepping into the shoes of others. Practice loving-kindness  meditation.