Showing posts with label unwanted behavior. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unwanted behavior. Show all posts

Cause vs the Symptom: Horses that quit or abruptly stop moving forward



With current world events, I've been doing a lot of Remote Horse Coaching. For folks that have access to their horses, one of the "spring" themes seems to be horses that were going "fine" and then "randomly" or suddenly started stopping, where they abruptly quit moving forward, either when led or ridden.

Evolving your Horsemanship to Improve the Equine Partnership

Too many people are unclear in what, where and how they communicate with their horse. They unintentionally "challenge" the horse into guessing what they want. Then they reprimand the horse every time he can't figure it out. Or they present a task using the same manner of communication repetitiously, driving the horse's stress levels up, until he accidentally figures out what the person is asking. The more the horse has to "guess" at what the person wants, the more he will tune out the person's aids or communication and can become dull and unresponsive to the aids or feel like he is "taking over" during the session. 

Horse Unwilling to Move Forward

The theme of the past few days has been new folks asking for help with horses that are going "fine" and then the horse "randomly" or suddenly stops, or quits, moving forward. 

First, nothing is random when a horse does it. You may not know why the horse did it, but it was not an accident... Including all those times he "accidentally" rubbed your leg on the fence or put you under a low branch while riding. 

Second, the body is a reflection of the horse's brain and emotions. 

So is the real problem the horse is not moving forward? No. 

That is the result of his asking for support that was ignored and "answered" with a "driving" him into doing something. Which may have appeared to have "worked" until it didn't. 

The question should be, what were all the activities or scenarios asked of the horse prior to the moment of "final resistance"? 

When/where were the INITIAL signs of insecurity, resistance or him being unsure? 

So take a few minutes and play detective: 

Did the horse start looking away (literally) to avoid the area you were leading/riding him into? 

Was there a time where the horse was fixated on an object/buddy horse and not focused on where he was actually being asked to move? 

Did he attempt to speed up and rush through an area or task and you felt like you had to contain him? 

Did his movement start to drift or leak as you approached an area he was unsure of? 

If you were able to pass through an area of potential bother, did it feel like he was rushing or "fleeing" afterward? 

The horse only has so many ways to communicate he is unsure or needs more support. Unfortunately, because humans tend to be task fixated they tend to push a horse through something thinking if the horse does it once, he'll be okay the next time. 

And sometimes it appears that way. Until the day the horse "suddenly" quits wanting to move forward. 

So to save you and horse a lot of unnecessary stress, start to believe him from the moment he begins to show concern. 

Start to focus on what "tools" and skill set you to have to help redirect his thought, drain his tension, soften his body and create a curiosity versus a defensiveness in him when you present new or unfamiliar scenarios. 

Prioritize being able to influence and re-direct his thought WITHOUT it feeling like a fight. If you can't do that from the start, before you present a potentially stressful scenario, you're setting yourself up to be "at the mercy" of the horse. 

It isn't about getting the horse through/past one imaginary boundary or location, it is about the quality of every conversation between you and the horse that either contributes positively to building a quality partnership or starts to deteriorate it.

Unwanted Behavior: Lowering Head At the Lope

Topic_Info:    lowering his head at lope
Website_Info:  google
Location:      Sedona AZ
Date:          May 03, 2011

Question:
How do I prevent my horse from lowering his head while loping?

Answer:
When a horse carries his head at an unusually low height while moving it is typically a sign of them "avoiding" what is being presented... It can mask insecure or worried feelings and so instead of looking ahead with intention as to where the horse is about to move, he is "going through the motions" without mentally participating in what you are asking of him.  A horse's physical behavior is a direct reflection of his mental and emotional state.  When your horse feels good about what you are asking of him, he will move in a fluid, balanced and natural manner.  When he is worried, concerned, unclear or fearful he will move in an unnatural state.  Also you need to realize that most unwanted behaviors are not the issue themselves, but rather a symptom of an underlying issue.  In this case your horse's lack of thinking and participating to move forward may be the issue, and his low head carriage the symptom.

I would slow down and review the quality of your walk, jog, trot and transitions.  You should be able to get multiple different "energies" from your horse within each gait.  You'll want to assess if you increase the energy at one gait, does your horse start to show signs of stress which could include: shaking his head, "grabbing the bit," swishing his tail, grinding his teeth, taking short and fast "sewing machine steps" as oppose to quality forward steps using his hindquarters to push him forward, etc.  As you gradually increase or decrease your energy in the saddle, he should match the change in his energy willingly and without any abruptness.  Horses who are avoiding thinking and literally looking forward as they move tend to react as if they are being "pushed" forward.  This may be from a rider's heavy hands, inconsistent aids, fear of speed when ridden created in the horse from not moving balanced, and a multitude of other factors.

First a horse must be able to offer relaxed, fluid and consistent changes of energy within a gait, then quality transitions from one gait to another and then I start asking for more energy in the faster gaits.  If the horse starts to "dive" down on the bit or forehand as I increase my energy in the saddle (this does not mean kicking him forward or relying on spurs or whips as an aid,) if I just pull back on the reins I'm offering him something to resist- the bit.  If I offer a "consistent resistance" challenging my horse to a game of tug-o-war guess who will always win?  The horse.

Make sure as you ride that your intention in your own mind is clear and that you are "taking your horse for the ride" as oppose to waiting to see what he'll offer you and then telling him if he's reacting wrongly.  Your goal is to get your horse to think forward, then he'll move forward.  It's a bit like the child's game of "hot and cold."  You'll need to quickly and effectively convey to your horse that his reaction to thinking and then moving forward cannot be addressed by his diving downwards as you increase your energy.  The faster you can communicate that when he tries to dive that his behavior will not work, the faster he will "let it go" and quit diving on the forehand.

There are many ways to communicate that "a behavior your horse is offering isn't going to work," and it comes down to clear and effective communication.  Again a foundation of clear aids or "tools" needs to be established so that when you need to show your horse that something he is doing isn't going to work, he can understand and accept the aid, rather than becoming defensive towards the aid itself.  Too many times people think they are correcting a horse, when in reality they don't have enough tools to work with to clearly communicate with their horse.  So when they try to reprimand the horse, it just creates "another issue" that adds more confusion to the horse, which typically creates a defensive demeanor in the horse towards the person.

One such example of showing a horse his behavior is unacceptable (assuming there are quality tools established ahead of time) is by using an indirect inside rein.  If the aid is used correctly with accurate timing and an appropriate energy of the rider's hand, the rein will "tap into" the horse's brain and ask him to shift his weight and rock back onto his hindquarters.  In order to do this, he will lift his withers and lighten his weight off of the forehand.  As he moves in a more balanced state, he will then offer to carry his head at a more normal and natural height.

The problem is, too many people do not understand all of the many options in how, when and why they use their reins.  They do not asses their own sensitivity (or lack of) when trying to communicate to the horse.  They do not understand the difference between a direct and indirect rein.  They do not understand when to recognize and accept a "try" or effort from the horse, and when to ask more.  So too many times people wind up "picking a fight" with their horse when they are trying to correct an issue. 

Good Luck,
Sam

Patternized Behavior... Thought for the day

Have you ever been in the shower thinking about stuff you'll need to get done that day and suddenly stopped and asked yourself, "Did I already put conditioner in my hair?" I know it sounds silly but I bet a lot of you have. This is what I call Patternized Behavior which I define as after having done a specific task numerous times it starts to become part of your "routine" where you no longer have to think in detail or focus completely in order to get the task done.
So how does this term Patternized Behavior apply to horses and their owners? I find most horses that are mentally unavailable are resistant to change. That means they "know what they know" and will be what I categorize as tolerant or obedient to what is asked of them. That is, until you ask them something different from the "norm." Then they come completely unglued mentally, emotionally and physically. Kinda like when the babysitter tries to do something with your kids and the kids respond "that's not how my mom does it."
The topic for this blog came to me this morning as I went to feed. While at my winter location we have stalls where we overnight the horses in, then usually around 11am we turn them out into the pasture for six or seven hours of grazing. This morning because of my schedule, I decided to turn them out in the morning and bring them in the afternoon. I like to do things as "simple" as possible, so when I turn horses out I swing open their gate and they know to go and look for the opening in the hotwire.
So this morning I opened each of their stall gates and all five horses (except one) stood with an absolute blank look on their face. Total shock had overwhelmed them that they were not being fed breakfast. I shooed them out towards the pasture where they reluctantly trotted off to. Then they promptly turned around and stood at the pasture gate with a look on their face saying "This is NOT how we do it."
People and horses can get VERY comfortable with routine and patterns. They catch their horse the same way, tack up at the same time of day in the same spot, mount from the same side, start their warm up in the same direction, ride for the same length of time, etc. So the horses start to learn what to "expect" from their riders and figure out how to "comply" within the demands of their rider. This seems like a quality relationship until the day the rider comes up with something new. Then "ALL OF A SUDDEN" (one of the terms I dislike most when people attempt to explain a negative occurrence with their horse) their horse does something "he's never done before..."
Hmmmm. Most "issues" are not the issue at all; in fact they are the SYMPTOM of an issue, not the issue itself. So how do we know what the real issue is? Well this is where we need to assess if both our horses and ourselves are suffering from patternized routines or behaviors. The next time you're with your horse try an experiment. Take a few minutes and interact with him in a way that you have not done before. Below are some ideas:
Catch him, let him go and catch him again.

Carry your tack to a different place than the norm and tack him up in his stall, pasture, at a trailer, etc.

Mount him from the "off" side.

Mount him then dismount immediately and start picking rocks out of the arena.
While you are offering this new way of presenting things to your horse you should be assessing his mental availability and be asking yourself some of these questions:
Does he appear to get stressed (swishing his tail, pawing, chewing on the lead rope or fence, excessive movement as you work around him, etc.)?

Does he get a blank (literally) look on his face trying to figure out what you are doing?

Does he try to resort to "the old way" when you are asking him to do something new or different?

Does his breathing rate increase?

Does he become physically resistant to where you are asking him to move?
Now both your fellow riders and your horse may think you've gone off the deep end when they see you doing these "silly" little things with your horse, but by doing so you'll be able to evaluate how much MENTAL availability your horse has towards what ask or present something, new or different. If he appears to respond by "shutting down" you may need to go back to the basics and review what tools you are using to communicate with your horse, how and when you use them, how effective they are in offering "black and white" communication and increasing your standard as to what behaviors your horse offers that are acceptable and those that are not...
Your goal is for your horse to offer in any situation, whether he has experienced it before or not, "How can I make this work?" If you horse is mentally availability he will be physically willing to do what you are asking.
Stay tuned!  Sam