Horse Training – Demanding vs. Earning Your Horse’s Respect

I recently read an article by a Well Known Clinician in which she was offering tips for training a horse that did not want to go out on the trail alone. I agreed with her on several points:

• The reason this is such a common problem – horses are reluctant to leave the security they feel with their herd mates.
• That it would not be an overnight fix, but would take at least several weeks of training to resolve.
• That the work would have the benefits of making the horse safer and more willing.
• That ground work must be the starting point of the re-training.
• That the horse needs to have his attention on you (the trainer/rider) rather than on his herd or distractions in the environment.

But, I disagreed with the Well Known Clinician’s instructions to:

• “demand respect”,
• not let him “get away with” small disobediences, and
• “make him walk through” things that he is avoiding.

The words we use affect our behaviour.  What feelings and thoughts come to your mind when you hear the word “demand” or the phrase “don’t let him get away with …” or “make him do it”?  What comes to my mind is aggression, force, conflict.  There is a winner and a loser.  It feels dictatorial and unsympathetic to the needs and feelings of the other party – whether that is a human or a horse.  This way of thinking, in my mind, sets up a “master/servant” type of relationship.

When I work with horses, my aim is to create a willing partnership based on respect, trust and cooperation.  These elements are much stronger when they are earned rather than demanded.

Respect is earned by having clear, consistent and appropriate boundaries.

Trust is earned by paying attention to what the horse needs and then giving him that.

Confidence is built by decreasing his stress and helping him to feel calm and safe.

I want the horse to choose to follow me not because he is afraid of me, but because he feels safe with me – mentally as well as physically.

Behaviour is communication.  If the horse is not behaving or responding the way I would like him to, I don’t consider that as “disobedience”.

Rather than “not letting him get away with small disobediences”, I consider why the horse has a certain behaviour.  For example, if he won’t stand still for mounting I consider possible reasons.  Is he experiencing pain, anxiety or fear?  When I address the reason and give the horse what he needs to be calm and relaxed, then he will be able and willing to stand quietly.

Rather than “making him walk through things he is avoiding”, I consider his perspective as a flight, prey animal.  If he is concerned about a particular object, I will work with him in his “comfort zone” and gradually expand that area while I help to keep him in a calm, level frame.  In this way, I build his trust in me and his confidence increases.

When you earn your horse’s respect and trust, he will become more willing and confident – naturally.   You horse will feel safe, calm and relaxed whenever he is with you – even when he is away from his herd mates.

Click here to watch a short video (6.29 min) to see how I apply these principles when working with a horse in-hand (leading in contact) to build trust, respect and confidence.

Please do post your comments or questions below.

If you would like to help spread the word about a better way to work with horses, please share this blog with 5 friends, send a Tweet or post on your Facebook page.  The horses thank you.

 

You are welcome to use this article in your newsletter or blog as long as you include my credit information:

Written by Anne Gage, Confident Horsemanship (www.annegage.com).  I would also appreciate it if you’d send me a copy for my media files.

 

Anne Gage

Confident Horsemanship

www.annegage.com

www.facebook.com/ConfidentHorsemanship

www.twitter.com/AnneGage

Losing Confidence in the Saddle? How Your Horse’s Shape Affects You… and Him

It’s important for every rider to pay attention to their horse’s shape.  While we should look at the whole picture, in this blog entry I am going to focus on 3 natural shapes of the horse’s back.

1. Level – meaning neutral or straight
2. Round – meaning lifted or convex
3. Hollow – meaning dropped or concave

Each of these shapes is natural for the horse.  Each one effects the horse physiologically as well as psychologically.

Level Back at walk

Level & Round:For riding, the ideal shape of the horse’s back is to be level or lifted.  In these frames, the horse’s hindquarters are engaged as they reach well underneath his body.  This creates impulsion as his hindquarters are driving his forward movement.  His head and neck can work as the balancing mechanism they are built to be. The further the hind legs reach under the body, the more the back naturally lifts.  The horse can move with elegance and ease through all transitions and in all gaits.  He can collect and extend his stride, jump obstacles gracefully, and comfortably carry a rider

Lifted Back at Trot. Note how far the left hind foot is reaching under the body. The diagonally opposite front and hind legs have the same angles.

Lifted Back at Canter. Note the right hind leg reaching well under the body and the elevation of the front end.

Hollow: Unfortunately, it is far too common to see horses being worked in a hollow

Hollow Back in canter. Compare the reach of the hind leg in this photo to the one above.

backed frame in all disciplines of riding.  The hindquarters trail behind and the front end pulls him forward.  His balance is compromised because his head and neck become braced and tense.  He moves awkwardly and inefficiently through transitions and in all gaits   His movements are jarring and uncomfortable.  He looks and feels uncomfortable as his muscles, joints and mind are stressed and strained.

Riding a hollow backed horse presents more challenges to you physically, but also mentally because the hollow backed horse is:

1. mentally in flight mode
2. difficult to control at all gaits and is usually out of control at the gallop
3. difficult to slow down because he cannot get his hindquarters underneath himself
4. unbalanced especially when starting, stopping and in transitions (both upwards and downwards)

Of course, all of these situation can create more tension in the rider – especially a nervous or inexperienced one.

Nervous Riders & the Hollow Backed Horse: Many nervous riders end up with hollow backed horses.  The tension in the rider’s seat, back, legs and arms are mirrored in the horse’s body.  The horse drops his back as he feels rigid, driving pressure from the riders’ seat.  His neck braces as the rider uses the reins for support.

A viscous cycle has started with both horse and rider feeling stressed, tense and unbalanced.  The problem is compounded as the physically stressed horse is also more mentally stressed and reactive because he is in constant flight mode.  His movements are faster and he becomes more and more easily spooked.

 An inexperienced or nervous rider who has a good basic position will still find it difficult to maintain her position, balance, posture and suppleness when riding a hollow backed horse.  It takes an experienced and relaxed rider to work through the horse’s hollowness bringing him to a level and eventually a round frame.

If you find yourself in this situation, it is time to go back to basics and to get help from an experienced, empathetic horse trainer and riding coach.  Find someone who can work with your horse as well as with you.

The trainer/coach should have a good foundation in ground work that improves your horse’s frame – no running around high headed, hollow backed, counter bent and unbalanced on the lunge line.  Your horse needs to be balanced, relaxed, stretching and in true bend to strengthen his hindquarters and back muscles.   He or she should also be able to do the same for horse in the saddle without using gadgets to create a head set.

As your horse’s shape becomes consistently level (and eventually round), you will find that he is more calm, graceful and less spooky.  You will find that your own riding reflects these changes.

Confident Horse & Rider

Enjoy the journey.  It takes as long as it takes and there is no destination.

If you would like to help spread the word about a better way to work with horses, please share this blog with 5 friends, send a Tweet or post on your Facebook page.  The horses thank you.

 

You are welcome to use this article in your newsletter or blog as long as you include my credit information:

Written by Anne Gage, Confident Horsemanship (www.annegage.com).  I would also appreciate it if you’d send me a copy for my media files.

 

Anne Gage

Confident Horsemanship

www.annegage.com

www.facebook.com/ConfidentHorsemanship

www.twitter.com/AnneGage

 

Horse Training – A Stress-free First Ride

It has been too long since I posted a new blog entry. I’ve been working on some other projects between looking after the horses at home and working with clients. In lieu of a written blog, I wanted to share this 3 minute video I just put together of the first ride I put on Phoenix, a 7 year old warmblood mare a few days ago.

I put a second ride on Phoenix a 3 days later.  She was a bit more distracted on this day probably because of the dramatic weather change and one of her herd mates calling to her. But, she was still ok with me getting on her back.  She seemed uncomfortable when I asked her to move which she expressed by swishing her tail and kicking up one hind leg towards her belly.  I listened to her behaviour and stopped what I was asking.  We had put a brand new white saddle pad on for that session.  So, I could easily see the pressure marks from the saddle on the pad.  It clearly showed that there was uneven pressure with more on the back and little on the front.   Of course that would be uncomfortable for her.  Before the next ride, I will try a different saddle that, hopefully, will be a better fit.

I’ll be posting updates about her progress here and on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ConfidentHorsemanship

If you would like to help spread the word about a better way to work with horses, please share this blog with 5 friends, send a Tweet or post on your Facebook page.  The horses thank you.

 

You are welcome to use this article in your newsletter or blog as long as you include my credit information:

Written by Anne Gage, Confident Horsemanship (www.annegage.com).  I would also appreciate it if you’d send me a copy for my media files.

 

Anne Gage

Confident Horsemanship

www.annegage.com

www.facebook.com/ConfidentHorsemanship

www.twitter.com/AnneGage

Equine Body Language

The following is a guest post from Birgit Stutz of  Falling Star Ranch in Dunster, BC, Canada.  As well as being a fellow certified Chris Irwin trainer, Birgit is also co-author of  the book “Miracle on Mount Renshaw: The Rescue of Belle and Sundance” (now available in paperback).  

Horses are social animals. As herd members, they interact with other horses continually and use a system of communication including sounds, body positions, movements and odours, to let herd mates know what they want and don’t want.

Horses obviously don’t use words. They don’t even use sounds to any great extent. But if you watch horses as they interact with one another and with people, you will notice that body positions and movements are their main mode of speaking to one another.

Training Your Horse to Go Forwards – Willingly.

At a recent clinic, one of the participants wanted help teaching her mare to go forwards willingly when she was being ridden.  The woman described her mare as being sweet, but “lazy and stubborn”.  The mare had been a broodmare until the woman bought her and had only been started under saddle recently.

When resolving issues that come up under saddle, I like to take a look at how the horse responds to ground work.  Typically, the types of behaviours that show up on the ground will be same as the ones that show up when the horse is being ridden.  The behaviours can be addressed from the ground first. For example, a horse that is pushy with her shoulders on the ground will be pushy with her shoulders when ridden. Stress or resistance to contact on the bit can be identified, diagnosed and resolved through in-hand work and lunging. So, that’s where we started – leading in-hand and then lunging.

How to Safely Handle Your Horse’s Feet

Picking up feet safely.

The following question came through the Ask Anne page on my website.  Difficulty handling feet is a common issue with horse owners.   

“My mare has always had a problem standing for her feet to be done. She moves all around and yesterday even broke her halter from the cross ties.   She grabs her foot right out of your hand. People say I have to hit her and be more assertive.  I have tried yelling and smacking her belly.   I can’t beat her.  Now the people at the barn want to use a chain on her lip.   HELP! I see fear in her eyes.”

Your instinct to not want to beat your mare is correct. Imagine being fearful about going to the dentist and then having someone yell at you and/or hit you because you don’t want to go.   Would that make you feel more calm or more stressed about going?

3 Tips for Making Every Ride Great!

Riding should be fun and the time spent with your horse should be enjoyable or really … what’s the point?   If you’re taking your riding too seriously and have lost the joy, here are 3 tips to help you make the best of every ride.