Showing posts with label trail riding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trail riding. Show all posts

Trail Riding with your Horse: All the right Ingredients

One of the greatest challenges I have is getting folks to switch from reactive to proactive behavior with their horse. Although for a majority of people riding is supposed to be a fun outlet or escape from other aspects of their life, it isn't always the romanticized experience that initially inspires most folks to start riding in the first place. But it can quickly become an emotionally frustrating experience when the human has intentions that may not yet be appropriate for their own abilities or that of their horse. 

End the cycle of containing spooky horses

Containment:  physically trying to "stop" an unwanted behavior, which is usually the symptom and not the underlying "issue."

How many times have you heard things like:

Block the horse's _____________....

Don't let him ______________...

Make him ____________...

When a person attempts to block, hold, or "drive" a horse they are addressing the horse's physical movement.

His movement comes from a thought, such as:

The scenario is creating stress or pressure so he protects himself with run/bolt/spook...
The movement he is being asked he cannot properly do due to physical resistance, so he counteroffers a different movement (leaking with the shoulder, tossing his head, avoiding the big, locking up his hocks, etc.)
The more the person focuses on the unwanted movement, the more they actually are making the scenario deteriorate and feel unable to get a change in their horse.

Let's change our approach and start by addressing the horse's brain. This means we have to change from expectation (even negative ones such as "he always...") and demands in our horse and adjust our focus in how we are presenting scenarios.

Start by changing the initial thoughts in your head. Each time you come to a negative or hopeful comment, exchange the critique to a positive opportunity, such as below:

Unhelpful, critical, and hopeful thoughts

"I hope my horse doesn't spook at the corner. It wrecks the whole ride that follows." This defensive riding sets the horse up to fail and just about guarantees the unwanted movement is going to happen, creating fear in humans and horses.

Positive, supportive horsemanship

"Several times my horse has spooked at the corner. Before I get to the corner, I need to check in with my horse's brain, emotions, and movement. Can I redirect his thought today, or does he seem fixated on each distracting thing happening at the barn? I tried to redirect his brain, but he offered to lean on my rein. Okay, let's pause and ask him to soften to the pressure of the rein. Now he is softer, I'm able to direct where he is looking, but his steps are anticipative and hurried. So now let's work on a few thoughts and then move to somewhere specific and then pause (could be mental and/or physically) and ask his brain to check-in. When his brain checks in, his body offers to slow, he offers to be more present, less anticipative. Now I'm going to have him look towards the direction of pressure (scary corner,) and then look away. Ooops, his feedback with his body was that he wants to look away/move away, so I can't bring him into the vicinity of the scary place yet. I'll help him look and then the moment he shows an interest, I'll draw his thought away from the scary, as the release from the pressure. Oh, now he can look for a longer period without tension rising in his body, let's take a step towards it (pressure on), and now while he's still interested in the corner, let's change the thought and look away (release pressure)... Ah good, he breathed, blew his nose, etc... Let's go do something else for a minute and then we'll come back to this place that feels good now, and gently expand the comfort zone closer towards the scary corner.

You get the idea. There is nothing reactive in how I'd help the horse. Each piece is an opportunity for feedback from the horse, which then "tells" me what aspect I need to address to help him sort through his bother.

This is also NOT repetitiously asking the horse to walk back and forth "desensitizing him" to the corner- that is ALL physical and not mental conversation and leaves the horse just as bothered.

Keep in mind we may or may not make it to the corner today. But the corner isn't the issue. The horse's confidence, mental availability, and feel supported by the rider is. The more he has those three pieces, the more scary corners, horse eating tarps, claustrophobic trailers aren't problems anymore.

The conversation between the human and horse should be consistent and clear with the horse coming away less, stressed, and more confident about the experience.

Could you and your horse benefit from a Remote Coaching session with Sam? Click HERE for details

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!

Horsemanship: A simple misunderstanding...


Horsemanship: A simple misunderstanding...
Although I teach throughout the USA, because of the rural location where I am based for the summer, there tends to be limited interaction of horse owners here in the inland northwest.  Often people are living on larger properties and are able to keep their equine partners at home rather than boarded at a facility, and most people only have a few “nice months” to enjoy quality time with their horse without weather being an issue.  As nice as it is for owners to look out the window and see their horse happily munching in the field, the lack of interaction with other horsey folks often creates an isolated feel.  Although most people would prefer riding with other equine enthusiasts, they end up working/riding their horse alone.  Or all too commonly a horse owner ends up riding with a group of horse people because they are the “only” option of people to ride with.  The group may not be respectful or sensitive to someone else’s (or their horse’s) ability, needs, etc., and can often over face a member of their group in how (speed, etc.) or where the ride occurs.

Trail Ride Encounters- Thoughts from a recent ride

This past week we had several days that really made one question living 20 miles east of North America’s largest sand dunes… Somehow it never occurred to me that what creates the sand dunes will also affect the surrounding areas; i.e. WIND!  We had one day with 20mph consistent blowing and up to 45mph gusts.  Yeah, really. 

Most of us who have spent any time around the “old school” barns will tell you wind is NOT your horse’s friend.  Just think of all the opportunities for “stuff” to go wrong; out of control blowing plastic bags, tumbleweeds the size of a medium dog carelessly barreling towards you and your horse (no matter where you move, the tumbleweed is guaranteed to hound you,) the local wildlife “aflutter” only adding to your horse’s current state of near panic, the barn door “flapping” on its frame causing an echo like “demon” to antagonize your horse, and so on.  You get the idea. 

Needless to say, for those of us that have been in a situation where you had a job to do, you could not use weather as an excuse to delay.  So as a side note I’d like to mention a huge “bravo” to those horsemen who brave the winds, whether in sub-zero temperatures searching for new born calves on the Kansas snow covered prairies, to those in northern Colorado where wind can take 1,000lb hay bales and toss them like bowling balls.  And those here in the Arizona desert, although severe temperatures aren’t usually the issue, the “sandblasting effect” in trying to function can be beyond frustrating and its aftermath of finding sand in every conceivable (and sometimes not so conceivable) place is exhausting! 

Anyways, needless to say the wind settled down to a slight breeze and although we had a 20+ temperature drop in the last day, the spring warmth once again found its way to our desert.  So I grabbed Pico (who was not too impressed with being taken away from his grazing time) and a few dogs and headed out for the normal “loop” around the block. 

For those who don’t know, where I winter is the lettuce capital of the USA in the winter months.  Although have some of the most barren stretches of desert in Arizona with summer temperatures hitting 120 degrees on a “regular” basis in July and August, we DO have agriculture due to the implementation of flood irrigating crops with water provided by the Colorado River.  One never is quite prepared to see thousands of acres of green as they come across acres of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, onions, hay, citrus and many other crops.  The shock is especially so when you remember that all of the growth occurs in the same desert that the military designates as their “final” training ground for officers about to be deployed to fight in our current war because of similarities in terrain, weather, etc.

It occurred to me that humans and horses have a habit of “getting comfortable” with their current surroundings.  I started noting the number of “obstacles” that appeared as we made our 1 ½ mile ride through the orange groves.  What seemed normal to us could have easily blown another horse’s mind.  Here is some of what we came across: discarded car and tractor tires (at five different places,) wood pallets stacked in random spots, four white tarps billowing in the breeze (used to help prevent leakage through the water gates when irrigating,) an array of trash and broken bottles, four foot wide circles of ashes and other left over burned debris from burn piles, piles of broken limbs the size of cars stacked to be burned in the future, a tractor dragging dead branches to a burn pile, another tractor with arms that swivel above it with sharp blades on the end used to “top” the citrus trees (think “Edward scissor hands” tractor,) the main irrigation canal (15 feet wide by 15 feet deep cemented canal, was only about half full today, but enough water to entice the dogs to endlessly jump in, splash around and then “pop” out – great desensitizing tool for young horses,) jackrabbits being chased out of the groves and inevitably aiming straight for your horse as they flee the dogs,  overgrown dead brush that has stickers so when you walk through it the stalks tend to “grab” your horse- usually the tail- and get drug along as you walk, our railroad tie bridge and chain-link gate we have to pass through to leave the property – it is over the small irrigation canal about four feet deep by five feet wide, etc. 

So you get the idea… up north encountering wild animals (deer, bear, moose, elk, coyotes, fowl, etc.,) water (creeks, rivers, bogs, mud,) woods (from new to old growth,) serious climbs in altitude, extreme footing from shale to dirt and extreme weather can also be the “norm” on a ride out.

I have found over the years the “flat lander” horses are shocked by the mountains, just as much the mountain bred horses are fearful of seeing for vast distances.

Years ago I spent a lot of time traveling to “non-Westernized” locations around the planet.  When you travel in those sorts of locations, you learn to expect the unexpected, and your “standard” of what you would consider normal becomes relatively less defined the further away from modernized culture you travel.  With that in mind take a moment to think about what things your horse considers as “normal” and perhaps certain circumstances that might cause a bit of concern for him.  Too many times we learn how to operate within the “safe” boundaries of our horse’s comfort zone, and then unexpectedly the day comes where we “change it up” and our “fun horse” “suddenly” becomes a fire breathing dragon.

I was recently watching old clips from the Extreme Cowboy competition and had also read an article on exposing a young horse to many situations to help him gain confidence from quality experiences.  I think now a days people have become more open minded to having a bit more versatility in their horse, rather than focusing on just “one” discipline.  Mentally, physically and emotionally I think this does wonders for our horses, but it is also great for us riders to “mix it up” a bit too!

Happy Trails,

Sam & Pico

Riding Out- Make it Matter

The idea for this blog came about as we FINALLY had a break in our depressing rainy weather that has covered the Pacific Northwest for the past many months. I took out a young horse of mine along with another horse and of course four dogs in tow for a ride up in the mountains. As I rode along asking my horse to address the puddles, mud, bridges, water, etc. I thought about how many people could have ridden the same trail and had a really different outcome with their horse.

It was a nice break for me to get on one of my horses that was beyond the “starting” stage and I could enjoy the ride, but this did not mean that I was brainlessly sitting on him like a sack of potatoes. Somehow the words “trail ride” over the years have been interpreted as a “relaxing” form of riding for those people who are not looking to “train” their horse. The irony is that over the years some of the worst incidents and situations that I’ve witnessed or had to help “pick up the pieces afterwards” have occurred on these “relaxing” trail rides.

Many people whether they are competitive or not have finally after years of persuasion have come to realize that their horse needs more than just repetitive arena work. So mentally this can be great for variation for both horse and rider. The potential problem is if there is not intention and clarity from the rider towards the horse, it really doesn’t matter where you ride.

One of the fundamental “pieces of the puzzle” of riding that seems to be missing is the notion that just because you have bought or acquired your horse does not mean that he is currently in a place mentally, emotionally or physically that is appropriate for what you would like to do with him.

There seems to be three main categories of horse owners- and yes there are always exceptions, but generally as a professional, this is what I’ve encountered in the industry: those who are uneducated and are new owners- usually learning the hard way about the realities vs. the romanticized vision of being with the horses, the semi experienced horse owner who has enough experience to “know” better but is still hopeful that “it” (those small seemingly insignificant issues that manifest into dangerous and unwanted behavior over the long term) will all somehow work out with their horse, and then there are those people who are so focused on the final goal that their perspective and views of how their horse is behaving is limited due to their commitment that “at all costs” they are GOING to get the desired performance out of their horse.

I try to encourage people to use common sense when working with their horse- treat your horse as you would a child. You don’t just hope that a young child will figure things out in life; usually they require a lot of attention, effort and patience on your behalf in order to “educate” them with the tools to achieve independent success and confidence in life. The same goes for horses.

This brings up the second big issue. At one point in history we relied on horses as our mode of transportation, as our work animals to plow the fields to help us survive, and whatever other needs we might have living in rural America. These horses had thousands of hours of education and effort offered to them because people HAD to- as they relied on them for every aspect of life.

Today most riders in the United States are what I’d call pleasure riders, even if they compete at low levels. For the most part people do not have the time, energy or money to invest in their horses to create the “ideal” horse for their needs. So until the horse starts to become difficult or display dangerous behavior that the person realizes they need to enlist the help of a professional, (which usually becomes a long term situation because those “little issues” were let go for so long and the horse is now confirmed in how and what he thinks of people,) owners don’t seek help in advance. The irony is if the owner had initially put the time and effort into offering their horse a proper education from the start, they would have saved a lot of money and stress for both them and their horse in the long run.

Another issue is the current breeding trends (that in my opinion are reinforced by trainers, veterinarians and show judges,) we have basically taken the “horse out of the horse.” How many breedings does it take to produce that “one” ideal horse? And what happens to all of the remaining horses produced that are not up to that level of performance? Look at physical pictures of horse from 10, 20 and 40 years ago compared to those of the same breeds today and there is nothing similar within the breeds other than them having four legs, a head and tail! Never mind the physical, we never seem to realize what undesired traits mentally wise that we’ve passed on until we have a handful of horses all “suffering” from the same unwanted behavior.

As a result of our lack of standards towards looking at the entire picture of what we breed, rather than just the physical outward appearance or performance, we now have generations upon generations of horses that are mentally, emotionally and physically what I call “nut jobs.” As I tell people over and over, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. But somehow as a society, most people have lost any level of accountability for their actions and the sad part is it winds up being the horses and their offspring that pay the long term price for people’s “instant gratification” desires. The perfect example of that is the all too often backyard breeding scenario where one person has a stud and their neighbor has a mare and so they breed “to see what happens.”

If every person who owned a horse made the initial mental, physical and financial commitment to their horse with a “long term” outlook, I truly believe the horse industry would be a different place.

So what does any of the above have to do with heading out for a trail ride? Well stop for a moment and consider how many stories you might have told or heard about of that “eventful” ride. When people ask how a ride went, my goal is to be able to reply that it was “boring.” People laugh at this comment, but I say it with all seriousness.

Today it seems to be the rides that aren’t “boring” are the ones where both horse and rider are attempting to “survive the ride.” In most of these cases the foundation of clear communication, trust and respect, and educating the horse in baby steps has not been introduced. Therefore, as something unexpected (in this part of the country that could be anything from a range of encountering wild animals, to crossing rivers, bridges, severe ascending/descending of mountains, encountering off-road vehicles, traveling on very narrow trails, stepping over natural fallen obstacles, etc.)

I cannot imagine riding out without an array of established “tools” to help my horse throughout the ride for whatever may present itself along the way. But somehow many people and horses have survived many rides without clear communication and so they continue doing so. The problem is not “if,” but rather “when” something will arise that they will not be able to safely “survive” with their horse. These sort of events tend to trigger a lot of other concerns or issues that the horse has “emotionally stuffed” over a period of time, and then it all seems to “suddenly” all come out to the shock of the horse owner.

In what I do for a living I’ll admit I usually see the worst case scenarios and the “aftermath” caused by them. Which is why I’m so adamant that it is completely unnecessary to “wait and see” with horses. It’s not to scare riders into worrying about everything that could go wrong; rather it is to educate people that it is so unnecessary to “go” to those bad and scary places with a horse. Why not help you and your horse out from the start to help avoid all of the eventful riding “stories?”

By laying the proper foundation ahead of time, when things arise on the ride, which they always will, you’ll be able to expand your horse’s experience, increase his confidence and encourage his curiosity by presenting obstacles in a “fun” and quality manner with clear communication that will allow him to be able to mentally address, physically try, and emotionally relax as he encounters the “unknown.”

“Owning” a horse should not been seen as a “servant” type relationship. It requires a lot from both rider and horse. So take a moment and evaluate honestly you and your horse- you level of clear two-way communication, your levels of trust and respect, and your own efforts to help your horse through scenarios rather than challenging him to be successful. Your actions can make or break that ideal relationship with your horse!

To taking responsibility- and then the reins!
Sam