Is your horse present?

Is your horse present?
It's really important that during your horses appointment that your horse is present. Obviously, he is present in terms of him being stood there but I'm meaning mentally.
When a horse is mentally present with what I am doing I can really work with what he is telling me. Subtle changes in his face, Twitches, blinks, release of the jaw and diversion of the eyes tell me a lot about how he is feeling about what i am finding.
When your horses head is in a haynet, distracted or being fussed that line of communication is broken. Here are some tips for helping your horse stay present.
Ideally we want a quiet time of your horses day with as few distractions as possible.
Make sure your horse has been fed before I arrive and then remove the haynet before treatment commences.
 Refrain from fussing your horse whilst im working on him - that bit of muck stuck on his ear can wait until we're done!
Do not feed treats whilst im working
 Avoid making feeds whilst im there - they know the sound of that feed bin!
When your horse is present he can really work through what we are finding with his body. Sometimes that may mean he needs to rub his face on you, shake, paw the ground or walk away from me. These are all fine, its just his way of processing, communicating and dealing with the changes that at occuring
So throw the rope over his neck, stand back and watch just what he has to say, its actually quite fascinating once you become present yourself