The Missing Link: Understanding and Connecting your Horse's Brain and Actions

Question: What does a horse refusing to move or kicking out when asked to move forward such as at the canter or lope, spooking, herd anxiety or herd bound, trailer loading issues, bolting, “leaning” on the bit, becoming aggressive, fidgeting when tied, a horse that won’t stand quietly to be mounted have in common? The horse’s brain.

Most “issues” people focus on are not the problem itself, but rather a symptom of the underlining issue. How many times have you heard or maybe said yourself, “MY horse does (or doesn’t)…” or maybe, “It was all going fine and then suddenly…” or how about “My horse is really great but he has just one little problem with...”

Frequently FOUR missing links contribute to common issues or “problems” with the horse:

• Lack of Awareness in the person
• Lack of Understanding of the horse’s actions
• Lack of Clear Communication between humans and horses
• Lack of Mental Availability from the horse

Lack of Awareness: So many times the person does not recognize, put value to or address their horse’s behavior until it gets dramatic enough that it no longer can be ignored. The horse does not randomly act out. If a person is reacting after a horse is at its peak stress level, the horse is not being supported by them, and is on its own as to how they handle itself.

Lack of Understanding: Have you ever seen the magician move the three cups around with one cup covering a small ball? The object is for you to try and visually follow the cup shielding the ball. The distraction of the movement tends to confuse the person watching and they usually pick the wrong cup at the end.

The same goes for horses. People tend to focus on the “big” and “dramatic” movement instead of watching or noticing the small ways their horse is constantly communicating with them. Focusing on the unwanted horse behavior rather than reviewing what led up to the unwanted moment. A lack of understanding regarding the root cause makes efforts from the rider attempting to “fix the problem” seem futile.

Lack of Clear Communication: If you spoke English and were attempting to communicate with someone who only spoke Italian, it would not matter how many times you repeated yourself, how loudly you spoke, or how much you changed your tone of voice; they still would not understand you.

This often is the case between human and horse communication. First the rider’s manner of communicating, using their energy or aids may have no meaning to the horse. So the horse appears to “ignore” them because of a lack of understanding, causing frustration in the rider. Using “stronger” aids (harsher bit, longer spurs, whips, etc.) is often suggested, and yet frequently this does not clarify the communication. The seemingly random use of aids, with increasing severity, offering critique can cause the horse to become mentally tuned out as a coping mechanism.

Lack of Mental Availability: If you have ever been asked to do something that you did not want to or did not understand, can you remember the feelings of physical resistance in your body because of the mental stress you were experiencing?

The same goes for horses. When a person is lacking awareness of their horse, this affects their understanding of why and when a horse behaves as it does. Unclear in how to communicate with the horse, the horse has no alternative but to mentally “shut down.”

Without the horse mentally participating “surviving the ride” and being “hopeful” for an uneventful ride becomes the norm in the rider. Neither of which will make either horse or rider come away with a positive and motivated feeling for the next ride.

How many times have you witnessed or experienced a “difficult” or resistant horse and stopped to notice where his brain was?

Have you ever watched a horse resistant to load into a horse trailer? Have you seen him looking in the opposite direction from the trailer? How will he load with quality if he is avoiding thinking or literally looking at the trailer?

Have you ever tried to turn left and had your horse “leak out” to the right? Notice where his eyes are looking? Towards the right, which is why his body is leaking out in that direction. Since the horse’s body follows where his brain is at, he’ll never make quality and balanced left turn if he isn’t thinking about turning left.

Have you ever felt your horse “shift gears” and noticed you were passive, or hopeful, that he’d slow down? Until that horse thinks about slowing down, he will not offer a soft and thoughtful physical response.

Have you ever been riding in a group and gone to leave the group and had your horse have a complete emotional meltdown and physical tantrum? Until your horse can keep his thoughts with you, irrelevant of whether you are near the other group of riders or not, his brain will remain with the group of horses that left, and therefore his body will try to follow his brain to get back to that group.

I’ll close by mentioning another key “tool” missing from most horse/people partnerships' quality. Too many times it’s not until “the day you need to get the job done,” that people suddenly and randomly demands quality from their horse.

Don’t wait until the moment you need to get the job done as the first time you ask for quality from your horse. Every day, every moment you interact with your horse. If you’re not offering it, don’t “hope” for it from your horse.

If there is a lack of confidence, understanding or clarity the horse won’t/can't do his job well.

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Less than ideal circumstances leading to better partnerships

Thought for the day...

Often when weather conditions and circumstances are out of our control or are not ideal, we tend to shy away from spending time with our horses in order to avoid potential conflict or issues. For me I find some of the most successful learning situations is when our surroundings are less than ideal.

Yesterday was a great example. Here in the desert of southwest Arizona we had a blusterous 20 mile an hour windstorm that was sandblasting from all directions. Being close to a Marine base, we also had F-35 Jets flying overhead, so close that you actually vibrate from the Jet's power. Trash and tumbleweeds were blowing everywhere. Palm trees were bent over.

I've included two pics which don't nearly give you a clear enough idea, but to see the flag standing straight out gives you an idea of how strong the wind was.








Two days before, a three-year-old horse had arrived for training. The first day we had just worked on the concept of softening to pressure on the leadrope. We didn't move farther than 40 feet from his stall. I introduced the ideas of being able to first look and think, and then move. Also the concept that he looks where he's going while he moves, rather than looking at everything except where he's going. The concept of personal space and that if he is asked to do something, he needs to try to address what is being asked of him the first time and not that it takes a huge amount of energy to get him to listen. Also the concept that he can stand over grass and wait quietly without constantly trying to lunge for the grass and eat. It was a lot for his young brain. And yet there was no running, no fleeing, no chasing, no driving, no scaring him, in order to help him learn. Just simple conversation creating boundaries of what behaviors worked and those that did not. Lots of blinking, licking, chewing, and yawning from him.

So the second day is when the wind storm hit us. It was so bad you couldn't see 40 feet out because of the sand and debris in the air. And yet I brought him into the round pen to work with him at liberty for the first time. For me the round pen is not a place to chase/run the horse into submission. It is rather a safe setting that allows the horse to learn to search to find what is being asked of him, without scaring him or driving him into giving up. There was distractions of other horses running around, other animals running around the farm, metal roofs flapping, and yet through simple trial and error (communicated through spatial pressure and release w the lead rope hanging at my side), the young horse was able to let go of all of the mental distractions until he could focus on just me. He learned how to be with me without spatially walking on top of me even though he was loose. He learned how to stop and look at the distractions and then bring his attention back to me when I asked him to. And then he learned how to leave me to move around the rail of the pen, without flee or chaotic energy, rather mimicking whatever energy I was offering from the center of the pen. Then when I decreased my energy and moved away from the center of the pen, he learned to come in and be with me respectfully, quietly waiting for whatever I asked of him next. If you had only seen him you'd never know there was so much distraction and Chaos going on around us.

So the next time the weather or situation is less than ideal, remember it might be the perfect opportunity, because you may have to face addressing small issues that in the past you've wanted to mask or smooth over rather than getting to the root cause. Being forced to confront those small issues is a wonderful preventative measure for them not to evolve causing major issues further down the road.

Proactive Riding- Raising the Rider’s Awareness

Creating conditioned and patternized behaviors, or routines, while interacting with our horses can lead to “dishonest” conversations between the human and the horse.  Whether heading out on a trail ride or focusing in the arena, there frequently is a sense of “wonder” from the rider regarding what the ride will “be like” on any given day.  I dislike repetitive movement as there becomes a familiarity and “dullness” to the conversation between the horse and human leading to brainless responses and a lack of adaptability. The day the person changes the routine their “quiet” horse becomes a fire breathing dragon because the pattern has changed.

There should be no mystery when working with our horses. Every interaction with the horse is an indication as to what is about to come.  Weather issues, location limitations, and time urgencies can influence people and horses falling into behaviors that contribute to a lack of awareness, lack of clear intention and lack of mental presence.

Unfortunately the standard with horses is that as long as the horse isn’t offering enough resistant behavior that the human sees their life flashing before their eyes, dramatic behaviors from the horse are tolerated.  Anticipative movement, the lack of softness towards a light rein, seat or leg pressure, the dramatic, flamboyant responses to an aid, are all indications that the horse’s brain and emotions are having a problem, and therefore his physical response will mimic the worry, fear, pain, insecurity, misunderstanding, leading to a less than ideal ride.

Assess your relationship with your horse by asking yourself the following:  Do you work with your horse at the same time of day? Catch him in the same manner?  Enter/exit the gate the same way? Tie/groom/tack up in the same place? Mount from the same side, in the same location? Start off always tracking in one direction?  These basic behaviors when done without intention, lead to mentally unavailable and resistant horses.

The moment you think about going for a ride, the ride begins.  “Reality,” other distractions and stresses from life need to be put on hold.  To be proactive by making decisions to influence how the ride will go, you’ll need a mental clarity as to what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and why you’re doing it.  Every moment you’re in close proximity to your horse, you are teaching him something, whether or not you mean to. 

Mental presence allows you to honestly assess what your horse is offering in his behaviors.  My approach is to first address the horse’s brain, and then the desired movement will follow. Opportunities for assessment can begin in the pasture or stall; notice if your horse moves off as you approach?  If so, why?  Is he distracted by new events at the barn? Wildlife that recently passed by? Does he prefer to stay with the herd rather than being ridden? You may not initially have a clear understanding of his behavior, but it will be the beginning of awareness from you of noticing initial resistance from him and be able to prioritize addressing it before you ride. 

As you lead, is he ahead of you physically and actually “leading you”? If so, he’s already telling you what the ride is going to be like.  If he believes from the start that he is in charge, by the time you’re in the saddle, you’ll be at his mercy. 

If he is pulling, hanging or ignoring your pressure with the lead rope while you’re on the ground, he’s already telling you he is going to be heavy on the bit and slow to respond with the rein.  Why wait until you’re in the saddle to address his concept, or lack thereof, of following, softening or yielding to pressure?

If he’s become fussy as you tack up as you ride more frequently, have you assessed if your saddle is fitting correctly? Perhaps pain issues from ill fitting tack have begun, and you’ve assumed he’s just being difficult with his excessive movement.  He only has so many ways to convey his distress before he has to increase his behaviors until you can no longer ignore them.

Humans often anthromoporphize equine behaviors, giving human characteristics to them and wrongly interpreting what is occurring. Taking the time to slow ourselves down from the rushing mentality, by addressing the little details, can help us break down overwhelming scenarios and understand our horse’s behavior.

By learning to recognize the signs leading up to potentially unwanted behavior, we can influence a change within the horse, before he has committed to doing something we don’t want.  But the small details, the finesse isn’t the “fun” or “exciting” way of doing things, therefore we humans bring chaos to horses, causing much turmoil.

Let us raise our standards.  What if the new “normal” became a horse that presented himself quietly to be caught irrelevant of if feed had just been put out in the pasture or riding at an odd time of day? Ignoring discipline, riding goals or experience, what if we could straight tie, ground tie or cross tie our horse in a field, to a trailer, or to a post, as we groomed and tacked up, without any fussing, wiggling, pawing, swinging of the hindquarters, holding his breath while we tightened the saddle, or tossing his head while we bridled him? Let’s be practical and forgo outdated tradition and learn to mount/dismount from either side on the ground, from the fence or a mounting block, without having to lead our horse to a spot and quickly scramble on while holding the reins tight to prevent him from walking off.  What if at any point we expected our horse could stand mentally and emotionally calm and therefore physically relaxed, rather than anticipative of what we might ask next.

If the above mentioned behaviors became our basic foundation that we built our partnership with our horses on, imagine the possibilities.  Here’s to proactive riding and raising our awareness!

The mirror... Thoughts on the reflections we might be seeing in our horses.

As the year is coming to an end, I find myself looking back towards my equine related experiences.  This year in particular I’ve enjoyed a balanced blend between new and past students, their horses and participating in their ongoing journey.  As I mentally started to review different teaching and training highlights, the most common theme throughout the year has been the “mirror” one.  I know have stated many times that often our horse is a mirror of ourselves, and we don’t always like what we see.

The statement above sounds a bit basic, and everybody says, “Yeah, yeah,” when they hear it, but rarely do folks put what I feel is the necessary effort in addressing “the mirror” by asking themselves, “Well, what is my horse “seeing” in what I’m offering him?” 

So rather than writing my typical “on going thoughts” on one topic, this time around I’m just going to offer basic thoughts I’ve had, things that have come up in lessons or clinics, or just overall assessments I’ve made in this past year all related to the “mirror” concept.  These are written in no particular order.

Each person will have a different interpretation of my thoughts written below, based on their own experiences, but I encourage you to perhaps explore some of them with a bit more energy rather than just accepting your initial reaction as you read them.  As with most things, the light bulb moments often happen days, weeks or months down the road.  Something you’ve heard many times, somehow suddenly makes sense, perhaps some of my thoughts can help you too!

Enjoy!

Your ride begins when you THINK about going for a ride and it does not end until you have turned your horse loose in his stall or paddock.  All the time in between you are communicating with him, whether or not you realize it.

Carrying anticipation from “what happened last time” prevents you from remaining mentally present while with your horse.

I ask my students to ride in “real time,” this means there is no pause button when things don’t go as expected with the horse.

A majority of riders do not maintain a “standard” in their life outside of horses, but when it comes to their horse, they are expecting/hoping for the best possible outcome in the worst possible scenarios.

Reactive riding versus proactive communication with the horse; always having to fix/correct after the unwanted behavior occurs rather than clearly telling the horse what the plan is ahead of time.

Fear.  Horses have it.  People have it.  The horse cannot rationalize his way through a fearful scenario without the help and active support of the human.  Most humans hope that by being “nice” and doing nothing, the horse will figure out how to get over his fear, and then the human will start interacting with him again once he is more reasonable.

90% mental, 10% physical.  There is a reason why a daunting, scary scenario presented often by the “child who doesn’t know better” turns out with horse and rider fine, unscathed and feeling confident, whereas the “experienced” rider often has premeditated everything that could possibly go wrong and ends up having a very dramatic experience with their horse in the same exact scenario.

The more people “know” the less they actually see what is happening with their horse.

A majority of pleasure riders initially get involved with horses thinking it will be their “outlet” and time to let down from the rest of their life (stress, drama, work, kids, etc.) Few realize how much the “modern day horse” often needs them to be at their BEST to help the horse feel better about life.

Working with horses requires a continual adaptability within us.  For humans, this is often a struggle because complacency, routines and patterns require both less mental presence and less physical effort.

More than half of the horse owners I encounter are not partnered with the correct horse, but continue to maintain a relationship with their horse based primarily on guilt and a sense of “I owe it to the horse.”  What few realize is how dangerous this sort of partnership can be.

People do not realize how “light switch” a horse’s emotions can be; even if a person is not getting the changes they want in their horse, it all can change for better or worse as fast as the flip of a light switch.

Rarely do people believe they can A.) Get a change in their horse, or B.) Realize how little physically effort and more clear communication it takes to get a big emotional, mental and physical change.

The “That’s good enough,” mentality that occurs when people try to be “nice” to their horse often leaves the horse in the gray area, with the horse lacking understanding, rather than when the person follows through until the horse really understands the emotional, mental and physical change that is being asked of him.

Most folks are hopeful.  “I hope he slows down.”  “I hope he doesn’t spook.”  “I hope we have a good ride today.”  “I hope he goes over that jump.”  You can decrease the “hopefulness” and increase both you and your horse’s confidence based on how you help prepare your horse for the upcoming scenario.

If you are carrying a “Let’s see what he does…” mentality, please stop and ask yourself would you challenge your horse to getting “it” right, rather than helping him be successful.

Often people have an initial specific interest in what “type” of riding they will do, rarely do they realize that if they are going to prioritize helping their horse, it will be the horse that is going to “direct” what their “interest” will be.

Just because you may not agree with your horse’s resistance, does not mean you cannot believe it. 

The moment of the dramatic behavior is often the symptom and not the issue.

Attempting to finally address and “fix things” at the peak of stress, worry or fear in your horse should not be the first time you start participating in the relationship.

You can be actively supportive without the partnership feeling like a dictatorship.

The more gear, equipment, and tack a person has to communicate with their horse, the less they actually convey.

Talk to the horse, rather than shout at him.

Making a decision to do something is better than doing nothing.

Breathing and smiling while working with the horse are two of the most undervalued behaviors a human can offer.  It affects the person mentally, physically and emotionally.  It affects the horse mentally, physically and emotionally.  Breathe, smile, breathe, smile.  Seriously. 

Often people are aware of their own behaviors/personality (amped up, high strung, talkative, introvert, etc.) but just accept that that is how they are, rather than attempting to learn how to be adaptable in the way in which they communicate with their horse.

Often when the horse needs us the most, we humans attempt to avoid the situation entirely.

There are only so many ways a horse can ask for help, and more often than not he is ignored, not addressed, or forced into scenarios where his behavior has to increase dramatically until the person can no longer ignore that the horse is having a problem.

Don’t leave your horse in the tantrum, don’t avoid the tantrum.  Embrace the tantrum, but help your horse get to a better spot on the other side. 

And the most major theme, for all riders, for all disciplines, for all experience levels, is:

Slow down.  Mentally, physically, emotionally.  Slow down.  What is the rush?  What MUST you accomplish? The slower you go the more time you have to influence what is about to happen, to help both you and your horse think through a scenario, to be present to feel what is happening, to be able to learn to have a real time, ongoing conversation with your horse rather than a shouting match.  You will accomplish so much more by slowing down and achieving quality, than rushing with brainlessness behaviors in you and your horse.

My hope would be that you take a while let this all sink in.  It is a lot.  Then come back and review it, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now…

Looking forward to more fun with the horses in the upcoming year!

Sam

The value of a voiceless day...

If you’ve ever read any of my past blogs you can probably imagine that in person I talk a lot.  It is always a challenge as an instructor to convey to the student exactly ALL of the information I want to offer in a single session.  Amazingly my voice holds up over my 3-5 day long clinics (thanks to the best-investment-ever PA system I have)… But usually once a year I’ll lose my voice for 2-3 days.  Although it can be annoying, I find it can be a great reminder forcing us to raise our awareness in how to best communicate with other people when we can’t talk, so too could we use that same awareness in how we interact with our horses.

It is also the time of year in which I invariably get a few calls about young horses that are progressing in their education and have “suddenly” started acting dangerously; bucking, kicking, bolting in response to something their rider has asked of them…   I find (and perhaps this comes from WAY too many hours spent pondering as I mow the property on the tractor and the riding mower) that there is a relationship in the various ways people “react” to my having no voice and how they attempt to interact with me, to being similar in how people approuch working with their horses in using “body language” when we communicate.  I know the comparison may seem a little odd, but bear with me.

The times I have lost my voice and have been around young children, when they realize my voice is gone and I can only barely whisper, I’ve noticed an entire change in the child’s mannerisms.  Behaviors such as responding to me in a whisper because I’m whispering, or literally changing their posture into a more “submissive” manner with their shoulders rolled forward and head slightly hunkered down as if they were telling me a secret when we were “talking.”  There also seems to be a slow tentativeness in their behavior such as when passing me an item or taking something from me. 

I find the same goes with young horses.  Horses are born with a curiosity that all too often humans diminish rather than support.  But initially that young colt or filly is curious about everything.  You go out to fix the fence, pull weeds, etc. and if you do it long enough, eventually that youngster will come over and inspect your activities.  If you’re “hunkered down” fixing fence, they will actually lower their posture as they inspect what you are doing.  Now they may bolt off and then come back again, but there will be gentleness to their curiosity.

Back to the days of no voice, when interacting with teenagers, at first there is a shock that I have no voice, and then you can almost see the impulsive, mischievous thought, “So if she can’t talk, then maybe I could __________.”  They may not actually act on that thought, but any initial intentions tend to be focused on restraining themselves from acting on those thoughts that might get them in trouble.  Then as they continue to interact, they will often come up with a sudden bunch of answers for you every time they ask you a question.  But none of their answers will really be appropriate and most will just be a result of them brainlessly talking.

All too often from a horse’s two to four year old age, which is usually the most common time people really start to handle, saddle and start young horses, the horses wind up getting anticipative while they get more “creative” in how they are reacting to the human.  The horse doesn’t really mentally slow down, so they wind up with a lot of excessive movement and chaotic thoughts, which eventually leads to them scaring themselves and not feeling too good around the human.  Because of the anticipation, they get defensive, usually by starting to offer dangerous behavior as a preventative measure to stop the human from asking more of the horse.

When voiceless and dealing with humans who are in their 20s-30s, often when they realize I can’t speak out loud, they tend to immediately “shut down” and end any form of communication, as if to say, “Since you can’t ‘talk’ there is no point in interacting.”

Often with horses from 5-10 years old they will have enough confidence and exposure to “get by” in how they interact with humans, but they have started to become accustomed to patternized behavior in how people interact with them and what performance is expected of them.  These patternized horses that often are calm and “quiet,” can suddenly turn into a fire breathing dragon when something is presented in a way they are unaccustmed to.  People don’t realize how their complacency in working "routines" with their horse can actually teach their horse’s brain to “shut down” towards anything new.

When dealing with people in their 40s and 50s when I have no voice, they tend to become the “let me do it for you” sorts… Meaning, that if I have no voice, in their good efforts and intentions, they will take over “all decision making” as if my ability to do that was directly related to whether or not I had a voice.  If you show signs that you do not want them to takeover, they tend to blow you off and continue.

Take a horse in their early to mid-teens and often their rider is someone re-entering the horse world after years of “having a life with school, work, and family” and now finally have to time to get back in the saddle.  All too often this group of riders has fantasized so long about “how it used to be” that they often lack the ability to really “see” what their horse is communicating to them.  They tend to assume they always understand and “know what is best” for the horse.  This can often lead to another version of “mentally shut down horses” that are old and mature enough to have the patience to put up with their riders ignoring them.  But they also are the group of horses that many times wind up having harsher bits, spurs, crops, etc. in order to get a response from them because they are “dull” or “stubborn”.

When dealing with older folks while I don’t have a voice, at first they think it is them that is having the problem in hearing me.  Then they realize it is me that can’t speak.  Then their eyes light up, as if they have nothing else to think about, and all the time in the world to “play” guess-what-I’m-trying-to-communicate.   They have the time and enthusiasm and can usually decipher what I’m conveying pretty quickly.

The older folks who interact with horses of all ages often have quality relationships because they aren’t in a “rush” to hurry up and accomplish anything.  That doesn’t mean that they don’t have goals, but often they enjoy the process of getting to the end goal, rather than just value in the sole accomplishment of the goal.  They also tend to notice a lot more of what is “going on” with their horse, even if they aren’t sure what to do about it.  If things don’t go “as planned” they don’t get stressed out.  Their horses also tend to respond a lot more positively to change and trying new stuff.

 So my point is, we affect and have the ability to influence every moment of how we interact with our horse.  The slower and more open minded we are, the greater the opportunity to take the time to really “see” what is going on.  Somehow I think being able to communicate vocally in the rest of our life, allows us to rush in our intentions, energy and movement when we work with our horses.  If for one day we had to rely more on our senses and pay attention to what we were actually doing, we might re-sensitize OURSELVES and be in awe of the mirror affect it would have on our horses.

Sam

Filling in the "holes"

I’ve had a new horse come in for training and in between this crazy ongoing rain I head outside to work with him.  He is a four-year old that has had a lot of handling, though his owner’s experience is limited, she has gone “slow” with him…

Remembering why we ride...

Whether you are a backyard rider, competitive or somewhere in between, I think sometimes as humans we tend to lose focus on our initial reasons of riding and spending time with horses…   Of course all of us have different definitions of “fun,” I for instance found sheer joy in jumping out of a perfectly good plane at 13,000 feet, someone else you probably couldn’t pay to do the same thing!  So too it goes with the horse world.  Some riders just want to have a confident partnership with their horse, while other people spend hundreds of hours fine tuning their skills in preparation for competition.

Wherever your enthusiasm falls on the scale, the truth is, we ALL share the underlining factor that too many times horse professionals, whether through lack of understanding, ability to communicate, or what I more often think is the case in the USA, don’t really prioritize teaching their students to address ALL aspects involved in riding.  In my opinion this includes, horsemanship, physiology of the horse, using anatomically effective aids, and encouraging an awareness in the human, but also a respect for both their own and their horse’s mental and emotional state.

Too many times, I think an instructor feels “pressured” to get their student or the horse to accomplish or achieve a specific task by a certain time; all too often the expectation and sole focus of accomplishing a scenario winds up inadvertently creating a lot of “new” issues.  So at what “cost” should it be that we can achieve our goals with our horse?  In my mind, there should be no cost.  There should be no trauma, drama, anticipation or ongoing stress in either human or horse. 

As I’ve mentioned in other blogs, if you expect the “perfect” ride every time you sit in the saddle, you are probably in the wrong sport… To me the excitement in working with the horses is the journey of ongoing learning; there never is an ending point, and I get motivated by the quest of continually learning, thinking and expanding my knowledge, understanding and perception.

We are our own worst “enemies” in terms of the ability humans have to play mental games, even if unwittingly doing so.  The negative scenarios are almost always remembered and “hung on to” far longer than the positive ones.  What we can’t yet accomplish tends to be focused on, rather than what we can currently achieve with our horse.  We allow ourselves to be influenced by others or psyche ourselves out with a long list of why, what and how we are going to have a problem with our horse.  If we believe something is going to be an issue, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy , and of course it will become an issue.

And yet, with all the fear, anticipation and negative feelings, we continue to ride.  I won’t even diverge into the professionals who use their authority to degrade their students or their horses, but that too can open up a whole other can of worms.

For most people riding began as an emotional “outlet” – whether they started as a child clinging bareback gleefully galloping through the fields without a care in the world, or they became involved with horses later in life after their children have left home, careers have been established, and now have the time and money to fulfill a lifelong dream of having a horse.  Yet all too often because of idealism and/or lack of experience, a novice horse person often winds up in a scenario whether caused from being over faced with an inappropriate horse they have acquired or from an inadequate information “source”, and fear begins to slowly become an issue in their relationship with horses. 

I am always amazed how many people continue to be involved with horses after serious fear based accidents or issues with their horse.  More often than not, the person’s insatiable desired emotional fulfillment associated with achieving an accomplishment or task with their horse tends to often override the “common sense factor.”  This tends to create dangerous behaviors and can be a recipe for long term fear issues. 

I believe your horse is usually a pretty honest reflection of your emotional and mental state; most people don’t always like what they see in the “mirror” their horse presents.  The ability to have a mental clarity in order to offer positive, effective and confidence building leadership starts with you. 

So whether you are a complete novice or an experienced horseperson with years in the saddle, take a moment to assess the CURRENT “fulfillment” factor in your horse experience.  If you find that there is a lot of “gray” areas, take the time and effort to figure out how to eliminate those, whether it be finding new or different instruction, ideas, theories, etc.  There is nothing wrong in saying, “I’m not sure what to do.”  I tell people when they ride with me, the longer you operate in the gray areas, the less confidence you give your horse, the more your riding will evolve into “survival mode” rather than pleasure mode.  So if you’re at a plateau, or have clear “issues” with your horse- do SOMETHING about it. 

For your horse’s sake, for your own physical safety and for your future emotional satisfaction to put the fun back into riding.  Doing nothing, accomplishes nothing.  The more you take a proactive approach in all aspects of working with your horse, the more empowered you will feel, the more your horse will enjoy being with you, the more your emotions will be satisfied and you will start to find that “fun” factor again. 

Western society presents all too often that things should be “quick and easy.”  If that is your approach to horses, you’re probably in the wrong sport.  It is going to take effort, energy, research, open mindedness and time for you to become educated, understand and learn.  BUT by doing so, you’ll be achieving far more in your ongoing journey rather than resorting to the latest “quick fix” gadget or trick. 

One of the most rewarding experiences I can have as an instructor is at the start of a lesson when discussing with a student what they worked on in their rides between our sessions, and listening to a student as they relay having had experienced a “light bulb moment.”   Usually the sudden clarity occurs at a time when they are nowhere near their horse.  A person will be sitting in traffic, doing chores, etc. and they will be reviewing in their mind an idea, concept or theory when there is suddenly the connection made between the idea and the actuality of a physical aid which in turn affects the horse’s brain and then physical accomplishment of a task presented.  The student’s newfound clarity evolves into being a viable tool they can use in “real” time, thus improving not only their overall communication with their horse, but building a trusting partnership because the rider has become believable, clear with an aid, and honest in what they are asking of their horse.

These scenarios excite me because when a rider can start committing to raising their awareness towards the horse at times other than when they are sitting in the saddle, the “doors” in the person’s mind open allowing and ease and fun feeling as they make progression towards their goals.   Suddenly there is a flurry of positive energy the rider feels once they BELIEVE that THEY CAN influence and achieve a change in their horse!  The ability for a rider to realize they can make a change within themselves in order to influence a change in their horse is what brings the “fun” back to riding.

So whether nothing “bad” has ever happened with your horse or not, whether the ride is always sort of “okay,” or whether you’re just not sure “what to do next,” perhaps the best thing you can do is devote some time, effort and energy into varying your current exposure and ideas; not so much to “fix” what you currently believe is a “problem,” but perhaps for a different perspective on things that you may not realize might contributing to undermining the fun in your riding.

As I remind my riders constantly, keep SMILING- inside and out!

Sam

Finding the “child within” when we work with our horse!

Spring is in the air, most riding enthusiasts are getting giddy with thoughts of relaxed (and warm) days spent with their equine partner.  Many riders who are “gung ho” to learn and improve their education, understanding and abilities can unknowingly have an “intense” energy as they are focusing with their horse.  And although we want to be mentally participative riders, we need to remind ourselves that the underlining issue should be that we are riding to have FUN.  I jokingly tell adult students to take the time to “act like a kid again” once in a while when they ride.   I am referring to the sometimes overly analytical, overly sensitive, overly intensive behavior many of us take on as adults when we focus.  This behavior tends to lack a positive and supportive leadership energy that conveys to our horse that we are really having “fun” even if we are “working”.  So the more tight and tense we get as we attempt to focus, the more the horse starts to wonder why and starts to associate a “stress” every time we put him to “work.”

On that note, perhaps the next time you’re sitting in traffic or have some time on your hands, you can assign you and your horse some games or tasks for your next ride that might be similar to what a child might suggest to do for “fun.”  Take Pico and me for example.  The other day I had intention to ride out into the orange groves, but of course “life happened” and by the time I got to him, I had very little time, it was already close to 90 degrees out and I couldn’t leave the property, sooo… 

As I looked around the riding area, I glanced at the plywood bridge we’d built; it occurred to me that although I could ask Pico to step with one, two, three or all four feet on the bridge, pause him stepping up, standing on or stepping down off of it, I’d never asked him to step up onto an object as he was BACKING.  (I gather most sensible adults wouldn’t either, but can imagine a few kids sitting around saying to one another, “I wonder if we just tried to see if I could get my horse to do ___________________ .”  And then proceeded, unhindered by all the unknown and what-ifs , so that in the end they were actually able to accomplish ______________ with their horse.

From a “mature” perspective, why on earth would I ask my horse to step up onto something while backing? How about if there was an emergency situation (out on the trail, etc.), or helping desensitize him to movement behind his vision and to being physically “touched” in his personal space, using it as an opportunity to continue to build trust, it also creates a “task” to accomplish while I refine my use of clear communication, etc.

As a side note, although I want to be “carefree” in offering this new task, I did not want to present the scenario as a challenge to Pico to “see” if he could get “it” right.  So before presenting a task such as stepping up backwards, I needed to have pre-established tools and clear communicative that I could effectively use as aids to tell Pico exactly what I wanted, even if we had never done the task before.

So I started from standing on the ground with Pico in a halter and using a lead rope to create first boundaries of where I wanted him to stand.  Then I asked him to be able to lightly shift his weight backwards, and of course that is when he felt the bridge against his rear legs.  I had to allow him to use braille like behavior with his hind legs to get used to edge and height of the bridge. 

Pico wanted to explore his options- swinging out sideways, pushing into my personal space rather than hovering near the bridge, etc.  Most horses will try everything EXCEPT what you’d like them to do.  As mentioned in other blogs, the game of “hot and cold” was presented.  Each time he got “closer, softer or lighter in his response to my aid, I let him stand and rest for a moment so mentally he could start to associate where I wanted him.  After he kept finding the ideal spot I want him in, then he started picking a rear foot up in the air.  This was an awesome effort on his part, even if he wasn’t standing on the bridge yet.  He would lift a rear leg, gently draw it forward, backwards, out to the side, but couldn’t fathom actually “reaching” backwards with it.  Finally I was able to shift his weight while his hind foot was in the air, and then as I relaxed the pressure of my hand on the lead rope, he relaxed his foot and placed it gently down on the bridge.  Breathe, sigh, lick, chew.  Blew his nose.  Blew again.  Dropped his head down towards the ground and took another big breath.

Quietly, we walked away from the bridge and I spent a few minutes picking weeds (literally) so that he had some time to sort out what had just happened.  The second time I lined him up and after just a few tries of other options, offered his hind foot slowly to step up.  Again, we went and picked weeds.  He continued to blow his nose.

Even though in all his searching he never once “blew up”, got aggressive, or acted stressed, but it was a LOT to ask his brain and emotions to address.  REMEMBER to give your horse an acknowledgement and or break when they get “it” right.

Then I hopped on him bareback, in the halter, lined him up, and asked him to step backwards and up.  Light, soft, smooth.  Awesome.

The one thing I will mention when playing games with your horse is not to do so in a manner that will create anticipation in him, causing him to “go through the motions” rather than really addressing what you are offering.  Otherwise, you’ll think that your horse is being “good”, and your horse is really just trying to “hurry up and get it done.”  Too many trick horses can do “all the tricks”, but if you change up the order or try and interfere, they horse can’t handle the change in routine.    When I teach a horse to stand on something, bow, lie down, line up to an object, pick me up off the fence, back into pressure, none of it should seem like a “trained” response.

Have fun,

Sam

Tune Up Day 5: Enjoy the Ride

I know in many of my past blogs, current teachings and futuristic “advice” I often talk about goals and having “intention” when we work with our horses…   As with everything there is a time and place for that sort of focus, but there is also a time, and I’m sure you’ve experienced the feeling, where you “just want to go for an enjoyable ride.”  Today was that sort of day with O. 

I didn’t wake up this morning and say, “O will be good today, therefor I can just enjoy the ride.”  No, rather, as with every horse in every session, I took her at “face value” and assessed mentally and emotionally how she was feeling as I caught her (again she greeted me, this time leaving her buddy and grazing in the pasture to come say “hi,” and to be caught), groomed and tacked her up.  Happy, quiet, calm. 

I worked her once again on the long lead and within a few circles O had taken the initiative to NOT instinctually flee, but rather to literally look at something that bothered her and then to relax.  So I called her in and we moved on.

Some of these “feelings” I get when working with a horse comes from spending hours upon endless hours being around them.  I always joke with clients that if they spent as much time with their horse as they paid me to spend with their horse, then they too would have an entirely different relationship with the animal.

The weather was perfect, the horse was happy, so why not enjoy the ride?  There are some days, where it is okay to enjoy “where you are at,” rather than having to introduce something new every time you work with your horse.  This was one of those days.  The horses are completely honest as to their assessment towards a human’s energy, stress and emotions.  So when it feels like a “great day,” let your brain and body enjoy, because your horse will sense that positive energy from you and will mimic it. 

That was the case for how O was moving, trying and mentally participating like a pro.  Someone was stringing white tape to rebuild an electric fence, and the old ball (think size of an exercise ball) of wire was sitting in the field like a lurking predator and the newly strung tape was gently flapping in the wind.   O initially tried the “quietly sneaking past the scary spot” tactic. I offered instead that she stop and physically look at it in order to mentally address the concerning object, which after she did so briefly was immediately able “let it go” and refocus on what we were doing.  And that is exactly the point of maintaining specific intention and clear communication in our past rides. 

You can never expect to have a “bomb proof” horse, (trust me they don’t exist, EVERY horse on the planet has “something” than can send them emotionally into a meltdown moment,) but you can teach and expose your horse to various scenarios in order to build their confidence.  Will you ever be able to expose them to “everything?” No.  So instead of trying to overly desensitize a horse, why not teach them how to “handle” a natural response (such as fleeing, defensiveness, etc.) in a more reasonable manner so that when (and it will) something unexpected arises, you have pre-defined tools and options to help your horse through the scenario so that neither of you wind up feeling like you’re just trying to “survive” the ride.

When I first met O there wasn’t a moment in her day when she could be “okay” about life, so to reach a day like today is incredibly rewarding…  (A few days after our last ride, O continued to try and greet me every time I was near her, as if to say, “What’s next?”)

If you had been sitting on the sidelines watching the ride, hopefully you would have been totally unimpressed and almost on the verge of “bored.”  I say that because really, most of our rides should be “boring” and uneventful.  If every time we return home after a ride and have a “story” to tell, there is probably something missing in our communication and relationship with our horse.  I tell my competitive students, “If I saw you in a warm up arena with 40 other horses, I wouldn’t want to notice you.”  Because think about, most of the rides you remember experiencing or witnessing typically are a lot more “exciting” than most people would like to have with their horse.  The truly quality rides are the ones that look quiet, fluid and almost like horse and rider are one being in their movement.

I hope these past five Tune Up blogs have added some new perspectives, thoughts and ideas for when you head out to your horse.  As always, it is a bit difficult to write to “everyone” because each person and horse is at a different “spot” in their learning.  I’d love to hear any feedback in either an email or comment!

Thanks,

Sam

Tune Up Day 4: Experiencing the maturity of horse

Today O left breakfast and came over with her head over the gate to be haltered.  There was a confident calm to her so I saddled her and then found an extra-long rope and worked here out in the open field in certain areas where she had previously had some concern as to the pile of logs, the rabbits randomly jumping out, the birds fighting in the citrus trees, etc.  Even though she showed some concern, by allowing her to stop, look, think and then feel okay about the situation, by about the second complete circle she was moving in a relaxed, focused manner.  I asked for a few transitions and then changed direction.  She appeared happy and seemed to be asking, “What’s next?” So I mounted her and off we went.

From the very first step in the saddle, there was a maturity and confidence in her movement that she initially offered without me having to “support her” to achieve it.  We quickly reviewed transitions, accuracy of specific directions, riding imaginary shapes, and doing specific “tasks.”  It kind of felt like everything I asked of her she quickly said, “Check, check, check…” So on to the next “stage” of learning.

People often ask “How long do should I focus on a task such as ____________,” and I try to explain that the horse will clearly tell you when they “got it” and when they don’t.  Some of you may have experienced those moments where you feel like you just have to “think” something and your horse immediately does what you thought.  Those are good examples of “aha” moments where your horse is telling you they are ready to move on in their learning. 

More often than not it is human nature to want to achieve “more stuff” and therefor in adherently accept less quality from their horse because they are so focused on achieving the “end goal” that they wind up rushing the horse through the motions rather than seeking quality within each movement. 

On the other hand, sometimes people can get overly analytical and can accidently dwell on a task or exercise to the point of driving their horse nuts.  If you ask lightly, your horse responds confidently, immediately and quietly, it is a sign that you should move on. 

I try to remind people rarely do we get 100% accuracy, so yes, there needs to be some flexibility in what we accept.  I usually assess the level of mental try the horse has offered.  For me, if the horse has offered mental try between 95-100%, I’m happy.  BUT, that amount of effort from two different horses may look like VERY different in the physical outcome or performance.  It may seem with a confident horse that we have achieved a lot of “movement,” whereas with a lesser confident horse we may have only achieved one specific task.  I don’t care either way; my only goal is that the time a horse spends with me has a positive, supportive and respectful feel to it.  Without that, there is no way the horse is going to want to offer participating in our next session together.

So back to O.  Now that she clearly understood tracking straight, backwards, left and right, I then presented the concept of the ability to move one part of her body independently of another.  When I  first work with a horse many times it will feel like the horse moves a bit like a 2x4 board, meaning if you push one end of the board one way, the opposite end immediately follows.  But for teaching a horse quality engagement of its hindquarters (yes, this is where we start to use those “big words,”) I have to be able to “break” the horse’s body into five independent sections: the head, the neck, the shoulder, the ribcage and the hindquarter.  My goal is that I can direct and influence each of those regions in a horse.  Correct self-carriage, lateral movements, roll backs, flying changes, shortening and lengthening of the stride,  lateral movement, etc. all comes from being able to help the horse learn how to correctly engage and use his hindquarters.  BUT horses due to various and multiple factors such as conformation tend to be heavy on the forehand, or drag their front end. 

Many people who focus on “pretty riding” (i.e. things such as the horse’s headset) rather than the correct and accurate usage of its body, never learn how to ask their horse to correctly use his body, which may not be an issue until the “tasks” start requiring more accuracy within the horse.  

Take for example the flying lead change, if you cannot have a quality and balanced canter or lope, shorten and lengthen the stride while maintaining a light and balanced horse and cannot counter canter (canter on the lead opposite from the direction you are riding,) the quality of your lead change will decrease.   Can you still physically get horse to do the lead change? Yes.  Will it improve with brainless repetition of an exercise? No.  The lack of initial quality and balanced movement is why you see horses that “always” only change in the front end and then take a few strides to change behind, or they “race” through the change, or they lose all forward implusion through the change, or their body gets physically stiff and tight through the change, etc.

So especially with a “gumby doll” horse like O, whose body naturally can go in five different directions at once, I need her to learn to understand how to a.) Yield to the pressure of my leg, and b.) Learn that she can move one region of her body at a time.  As I teach new more technical movements to a horse, I allow them to physically slow down which allows them to mentally “be present.”  If you put it into people terms, and were “rushed” into learning, how clear would you be in your complete understanding of a new subject?  The same goes for the horses.  Plus, by literally slowing down to initial teach the horse something, I have more “time” to address each of her incorrect efforts, so that she can narrow down her options to reach the conclusion of what I want.

Nothing I offer the horse is random, and hopefully you can think back the past few days’ journal entries and how the training theories and focus help gently “build” a platform and foundation for introducing today’s new concept.  This allows the physical aids I use to communicate with O to be my “tools,” rather than something else to “confuse” her with.  Too many times people can get annoyed when thinking about “having to do” the basics with their horse, but without them, you have nothing.  AND if someone feels like they “keep” having to review the basics, then something is not clear in the communication with their horse, because once the basics are clearly defined they should help your riding, not hinder it.

I typically ask a horse to move its shoulders first as this is the “easiest” body part to move.  With O, she figured out what I wanted within a few tries.  If you are presenting something and it feels like you constantly have to “re-introduce” a concept, something isn’t clear in your communication and you need to slow down and assess what specific aids you are using, how and when you ask your horse to do the task.  YOU also need to assess your horse’s response to each of your aids.  By doing both of these assessments, you’ll mostly likely be able to figure out where the “real” problem is, which if you address, then you’ll most likely be able to achieve the initial goal.

As with most people, horses too tend to be typically “more coordinated” on one side than the other.  I’d say 50% of a horse’s crookedness is due to the horse and the other 50% is due to the rider.  People are naturally crooked, discombobulated, slow to respond, unaware, etc. and yet when we sit on a horse we somehow think that all crookedness comes from the horse.  WRONG.  How can we take a crooked person, a crooked horse, put them together and expect them to move out “straight?”

As an exercise for yourself, take one day and assess your own body when not riding.  As you make a turn while driving do you “lean into” the turn?  Do you know what, where and how to sit equally on your seat bones?  As you stand do you stand squarely on both feet, shift your weight, or “cock a foot”?  When you lay down do you always sleep on your side?  You get the idea.  If the only time you think about your body is when you’re sitting in the saddle, then that is not enough time to become aware of what you are doing, unless you’re spending ten hours a day riding out.

It is not fair to ask your horse to track “straight” if you are offering a crooked feel from the start.  If in general you are sitting crooked, your body will have to “compensate” in order to remain feeling balanced, causing an inaccurate usage of aids.  So you may be able to “sneak by” in the basics if you’re crooked, but once you start asking for things like lateral movements in your horse, you might “suddenly” feel huge gaping holes in your communication/understanding with your horse.

Most frustration between horse and rider generally arise from a lack of awareness and clarity.  Mentally, it takes a LOT to participate EVERY step of every ride for both the horse and rider.  Previous posts such as “Raising the Bar,” Clear Communication, etc. all address these concepts.

So back to O, she quietly yielded her shoulders away from the aids on my right side.  But when I applied my left leg, to ask her to yield to her right, I could feel her “bulge” and physically push against my leg by locking up her shoulder in resistance towards the pressure my leg was creating.  This is where yesterday’s game of “hot and cold” comes becomes a tool, as O was pretty sure she couldn’t “relax” or soften into my aid, but instead that she had to push through it.

During our “trial and error” of my supporting her while she searched for the right “answer,” neither she nor I got defensive, emotional or flustered.  I cannot emphasize the above statement enough.  KEEP YOUR EMOTIONS OUT OF YOUR RIDING.  It is the best gift you can offer your horse.  1.) Human emotions can change like a light switch, 2.) Our emotions can be distracting from offering clear quality, 3.) HUMANS lie, even if we don’t intentionally “mean to.”  I’m not saying don’t have fun with your horse, but the less “gray” and emotional, and the more “black and white” and clear you can be towards your horse, the faster they can understand what you want.  Even when happy with a result, I joke and tell students don’t celebrate the achievement until the end of the task at hand.  Too many times people will literally quit a movement or task in the middle of it because they felt a good change in their horse, and although the human is happy, the horse is left “hanging in the middle” not fully understanding what it was there were supposed to do.

So O quickly realized she COULD yield her shoulder towards her right away from my left leg.  So I then asked for a little more forward (this is where your sliding scale of energy within a gait applies) and to keep a rhythm while she yielded.  Immediately she offered a soft response on both sides, and that was my cue to call it a day.  I’d like to mention I don’t EVER work a horse by the clock.  One day a ride may be 15 minutes and the next just over an hour.  My assessment of the horse’s mental and emotional state will tell me “how much” the horse can handle.  Again, people being greedy by nature sometimes can “blow” a great session by asking for the famous, “Just one more time,” scenario.  Many accidents seem to happen in those scenarios too.  So go with your gut instinct, if your horse feels good, and you feel good, call it a day!

Sam

Tune Up Day 3: Hot and Cold

Day 3:

Today I ponied O for a total of about four minutes; I asked her to step over a bridge and a log on her own.  The timing of her turns and gaits were much lighter and she was completely attentive from the start, so I didn’t have to work a lot to get her brain focused.

Today as I continued increasing (slightly) the intensity and timing of what I asked her to do, she hit a few “walls.”  Meaning in response to what I was asking she either wanted to get draggy (thinking about what was behind her rather than in front,) or physically lock up her shoulder, neck or hock if she wasn’t sure or was feeling resistant towards what I was asking.  These behaviors are common in all horses, but with young horses when these sorts of behaviors first appear, because they don’t “seem like a big deal” they tend to be ignored.  To me, when they first appear, it is a great opportunity to help the horse narrow down her options of what behaviors are acceptable and those that are not.

People need to remember that when a horse is trying something, they are not trying to “psyche” out their ride, but rather there are searching for boundaries.  Living within a herd, the leader of the herd will always clearly define what is acceptable behavior and that which is not; the same theory should apply for us humans towards the horses when we work with them.   Too many times a horse will ask the rider, “Will this work? Or how about this?” and instead of directly addressing the horse, we get distracted by attempting to categorize their behavior as “good” or “bad” instead of recognizing that the horse is trying to understand what we want. 

So in the case of asking for a transition, and O gently leaking to the outside as she offered the transition,  I used the rein opposite from the direction she wanted to go, in a direct manner, to ask her to not leak out.  Her response was to get heavier on the leaking shoulder.  So I needed to remove the option of her continuing to “move forward”.  I then needed to reinforce that my leg on her leaking-out side was a “boundary” rather than something to lean on.  Once those two points were made, she realized her only option left was to “follow the feel” of my direct rein. 

Think of sometimes working with a horse similar to the game of “hot and cold” you may have played as a child where someone has to guess an object.  Let us imagine I have something in mind that I’d like a horse to do.  As she tries an option and is getting “colder” or is not making progress towards what I’d like, I then make those efforts uncomfortable.  But as she tries an option and is getting “warmer,” my aids get softer and I get very “quiet” in the saddle.  This encourages her to want to keep searching for that “warmer” spot.  This type of thinking allows the horse to “make her own” decision about participating, rather than me never letting her make any choices for herself.  When she does offer a “colder” effort, I don’t critique her; I just show her that isn’t what I’d like.

The all too common “leaking out” is a great example of where a rider for multiple reasons and misunderstandings, could either try to “smooth over” the unwanted drifting, or become overly critical towards the horse with an over active aid in response to the unwanted behavior.  Too many times a rider will critique their horse, but they will never actually present a way to help the horse understand HOW to achieve or offer the desired response.  I try to remind people that instead of saying, “bad horse,” or “don’t do that,” communicate with your aids a positive response such as “try this instead.”

Again put it into people terms, if you were trying to learn something and your instructor just kept telling you “no,” but never offered HOW to do or understand something, the chances of you figuring it out or learning would be very little and your attitude towards learning would start to become resentful.  The same goes for the horses.

This is how people take the curiosity out of their young horse.  Many times youngsters are very happy to learn and participate, but it tends to be a combination of the lack of clear communication, recognition and respect from a human that creates the shut-down, mentally unavailable horse.

So as the ride progressed O become more respectful to the “walls” I created with my aids, and more open minded to each aid I offered when I communicated “the plan” of where I wanted her to move.  Due to this clarity she was able to become more relaxed throughout the ride, because my aids were clear, consistent and fair when applied.  She could believe that when I said “we are riding to Point A,” we were REALLY riding ALL the way to Point A.  By her not having to question everything I offered, she could “quiet” emotionally and therefor physically relax because mentally she could understand what her “job” was.

She let down more and more by blowing, chewing, licking her lips, etc.  This is a good time to mention that even if your horse doesn’t look or feel physically stressed, they still can be carrying a bit of worry inside of them.  Make sure you don’t accidentally misinterpret a “calm” appearance as “feeling good.”  Rather than just focusing on the overall horse, assess things like the consistency in which they breathe, the size and balance of their steps, how they carry their tail, worry peaks above their eyes, fussiness with the bit, wrinkles in their bottom lip, etc. which can all appear in seemingly “quiet” horses and are actually indications that on the inside the horse may not be feeling as “warm and fuzzy” as they look on the outside.

O’s owner had watched the session and as she and I discussed what she had seen, ideas for her other horse, etc. it was a great opportunity for O to just stand, which she did fine for the first three minutes.  With many young horses people get so excited to finally get to ride them that they tend to focus on the “go” but don’t spend a lot of time practicing the “whoa.”  When I drop my reins I want my horse to drop its head and relax, whether for a one minute or twenty.  I don’t want to have to feel like I need to “hold” my horse still. 

So after O felt like we had stood long enough, she started trying her options.  “What if I took a few steps to left?”  “How about a few steps to the right?”  “Could I back up a step or two?”  “How about if I just turn on the forehand?”  You get the idea.  I addressed each thing she presented  the same as I approached the previous unwanted behavior of leaking out,  and eventually she narrowed down her options to conclude that “just standing” while the reins lay drooped across her neck was what she’d like to do.  It was about two minutes after she’d started standing again, that she blew her nose, and then blew again and again.  This was a great example of the sometimes “delayed” emotional relaxation and let down a horse can have, but humans might miss if they try to rush their horse into “feeling good.”

Looking forward to tomorrow,

Sam

Tune Up Day 2: Clear Communication

Day 2 Tune Up:

Today O left her feed and come over to greet me with her head over the stall gate and I was able to halter her from outside the stall… I tacked and ponied her, this time working with more energy in both the trot and canter while ponied. 

This is also a good place to mention manners in the horse that is being ridden while ponying another.  In the case of Pico, if you think “little man syndrome” you might be on the right track for his sometimes ignorant behavior towards other horses.  So when he gets to be the “big man” on the totem pole when working another horse, his ego can get the better of him, as many horses do when they are working cattle.  Many times a really insecure horse can become overly aggressive towards a cow, as if taking the offense is the best defense towards another animal. 

So as I was working O on her lightness and balance while ponying, I was also working with Pico to remind him his brain should stay with ME no matter where, or what, O was doing.  Whether she spooked and jumped ahead of us, whether she got too close to him as we made a tight turn, whether we were trotting over a log, he needed to stay mentally available and participate with what I was asking of him.

O seemed happy and ready to work so I after I put up Pico I climbed aboard her.  Figure eights, serpentines, halts, backing, tear drop reverses, etc. were some of the patterns I presented.  I teach people to imagine having a sliding scale of ten different energy levels within each gait, and so I focused mostly on the trot increasing and decreasing my energy between a two and a seven as we were riding our “shapes.”  This is where things such as the “drunken sailor” arise, many young horses think that they cannot multi-task (i.e. keeping a consistent rhythm through an entire movement), so they tend to offer either “slow” and straight or “wiggly” as they increase their speed.

Working at the posting trot is a great way to help delegate the rhythm and energy you’d like from your horse, by the amount you use within your seat and the frequency at which you rise and sit.  Too many times people “follow” the horse’s movement rather than feeling like they can influence how fast or slow the horse goes without it requiring “much” of a change from them.  I find many older horses offer “one speed” within a gait, and if you ask for more or less you tend to hit an imaginary “wall” of resistance.  So from the start with youngsters, I need them to understand that all gaits must have a balanced sliding scale.

With a horse like O and her reactive personality, when she is bothered by something, she will “increase” her forward moving energy but lose the quality of her movement and balance because she can physically shorten her neck into an accordion like manner, causing her to take very fast, short and choppy “sewing machine steps.”  These steps put more effort in the up and down motion of her leg, rather than a balanced powerful movement initialed from her hind quarters propelling her forward in elongated steps.  As I’m riding her, if she does become a bit concerned, rather than letting her just build up her worry with more momentum, I need to still stay “focused on the job,” but address her increase of speed by lowering my energy in the saddle and helping her find a slower and more reasonable way to move.  Think of the phrase, “Face your fears.”   A horse that “deals” with life by fleeing (which is the most natural thing for them to do,) will become more and more reactive over time as their fears increase… But the funny thing with horses is if you tend to slow them down and help them mentally address what is bothering them, they then can usually “let go” of the initial worry and continue the ride without carrying their original stress.  This is especially so with O. 

As the ride continued I worked on varying riding her literally on the buckle (holding the very end of my reins), and then taking up a feel of the reins.  DO NOT THINK “CONTACT.”  Too many times there are many terms in the horse world that are misinterpreted and have caused a lot of issues for both humans and horses.  I won’t get off on that tangent in this blog. 

So when I say I “took up” on the rein, it means that I had a light feel of O’s mouth.  I ride with what I call “piano fingers.”  That means that as I increase or decrease pressure through my index finger, then middle, then ring finger and finally pinky, I can communicate a whole array of energies from my hand to O’s brain.  I can use my reins to have a steady feel; I can use a direct or indirect rein, etc., which all tell O something different.  Too many times for the sake of riding “pretty” people do not communicate clearly with their reins and so the horse has to decipher what the rider wants because the rider asks for several different movements but basically using the almost identical aid.  In a young horse, if the horse is having to constantly question the rider, this can be the beginning of the horse increasing his resistance and fear and decreasing his confidence the more rides he has on him.

Today I also started to define imaginary “walls” on each side of the horse between my leg and hand.  How many of you have ever tried to turn in one direction and had a horse gentle leak out the opposite way?  In some styles of teaching people are encouraged to “hold” their horse’s shoulder, hip, etc. in order to prevent it from leaking.   But for me, at 5’2”, even if I’m riding a pony, that animal is always going to be stronger than I am.  And if I watch an animal such as O, in the pasture doing amazing rollbacks, why on earth would I need to “hold” her body in order to keep her balanced when I ride?  But I also can’t expect her to just “know” that I want her to carry herself without leaning on me (literally).  So I must create boundaries of what behavior she offers that works, and that which does not, the same as what I’d done in her ground work.  So as we worked on our more specific and balanced turns, even if she was light in her physically movement, if I at all felt her leaning or dragging through the turn in her should, ribcage or hindquarters, I’d slow down and emphasize shifting her weight to her hind quarters to become balanced rather than “falling” or leaking through the turn.

This is also where I’d like to mention a lot of horses increase their speed because of a lack of balance.  If any of you have ever watched a jump course where the ride starts off at one speed and with each jump the speed increases, it is usually because the horse is not moving and/or jumping in a balanced manner.

Another thing I’d like to mention is stay present in what I call “real time riding.”  This means that although I may have a goal, I need to address EVERY single thing O is trying, if I don’t she will keep trying something getting physically bigger and stronger in doing so.  The following are some of the things that I focused on:

1) When I made a correction, if O responded defensively then I needed to stop and help her learn that a correction is not an attack and that she does not need to get defensive, tight, hurried, etc. If she doesn’t initially understand what I want, and then gets defensive about the correction, it can create a whole array of issues and we’ll never continue a trusting relationship as her education continues.

2) The standard I present initially must stay consistent; I can’t sometimes “really mean it” and other times let certain things slide.  If I do, she’ll start to question if I “really mean it” and then I’ll have to constantly be having to convince her.  Not fun.

3.) Even if O doesn’t quite get “it” right, if she is trying, I need to acknowledge her effort, I personally do this with some sort of “quiet” moment so that her brain can process that her effort was a good thing.  Too many people continue to hammer away at a horse, and never allow the horse to process what is happening, which of course causes resentful, burnt out, shut down horses.

As the ride progressed, O continued to relax more and more, her effort increased and movement became rhythmic.  This to me was a good place to “call it a day.”

After the ride, I left her standing tacked up while I cleaned two stalls.  Again, changing the “routine” of what she might expect even after a ride helps her to stay mentally present and participative the ENTIRE time I’m around her.

Sam