Table of Contents
Bonding with your horse
Benefits of grazing-in-hand
A trained horse in fifteen minutes a day
Applying fifteen-minute training sessions
Keeping 'Em Guessin'
Goal Setting in horse training
Avoiding missed steps
Going backward to move forward
Make your horse a winner by letting it win
Having a dwell time
Conversation can be a useful training tool
Getting off your horse's back
Two steps forward one step back
The joys of a patient horse
Seeking the comfort zone
Softening to the bridle
Use horse's curiosity in your training program
Bonding with your horse
Spending time with your horse when you are not working it doing something it likes to do goes a long way toward building your relationship. Having a good relationship with your horse is not only satisfying, it makes owning a horse worthwhile.
If you had a friend who only did what she wanted to do and never what you wanted to do, how long would you want to stay friends with that person? So, if the only time you are spending time with your horse is to work it or make other demands on it such as veterinary or farrier work, it is quite likely your horse won’t want to be your “buddy.”
I often suggest horse owners spend time with their horse by taking it out for some grazing in hand. Unfortunately, few see the value in the activity. They tend to find holding a lead while their horse grazes is either boring or not how they want to spend their time. Yet, the activity can be one of the best ways to form the bond most horse owners want with their horses.
To make grazing-in-hand more interesting, you can bring a book to read or a craft to work on. Other activities you can do while spending quiet time in the company of your horse could be doing stretching exercises such as yoga, tai chi or similar workouts. Just imagine how beneficial those exercises will be for your own wellbeing and riding position.
This is not to say the activity always needs to be quiet. You can practice a musical instrument, at least one that can be easily carried which would leave out a piano, or you can listen to music.
You might invite family members or friends to join you. While you’re having conversations, you deepen your friendships while strengthening your bond with your horse.
Incorporating grazing-in-hand time with your horse can also be part of its training program. How this can be done is covered in the Grazing in Hand blog.
Benefits of Grazing-in-hand
In the previous blog, the practice of grazing-in-hand was recommended as one of the best ways to bond with a horse. Grazing-in-hand is when the handler allows her horse to graze while wearing halter and lead rope.
Grazing is one of the most pleasurable experiences a horse enjoys. Having companionship during this time makes the activity more satisfying because the horse feels more secure. The security comes from having someone watching for any danger while the horse is occupied with eating.
The one hazard the handler needs to avoid is having her horse pull on the lead as it rushes to get to the grass. The horse should not learn it can push against the lead and pull the handler around. To prevent this, the handler needs to stop the horse and have it learn to wait until it gets an okay to drop its head and start grazing. The handler can cue her horse it can start grazing by dropping the lead from the hand closest to her horse and stepping away from it. If the horse is hesitant to drop its head, the handler can turn away from the horse. If the handler isn’t focused on it, the horse will likely drop its head and start grazing.
One horse owner I know would put her hand behind her horse’s head to cue it that it can start grazing. This cue could then transfer to when the handler wants her horse to lower its head during haltering or bridling.
When the handler wants the horse to lift its head again to move to another place to graze or return to the barn, she can pick up the lead near the horse’s head and apply pressure upward. To keep the situation from getting into a tug-of-war, the handler can swing the end of the lead or her foot near her horse’s head. To avoid being hit, the horse will pick up its head.
The goal is to keep the horse from dictating when it will start grazing. If it dances around instead of waiting for the signal it can graze, it should not be allowed to drop its head. This may take a bit of patience in the beginning, but eventually, the horse will stand still and wait for the handler to feed slack into the lead and back away.
While the horse is grazing, its education can be advanced. The handler can have a “sacking out” session by gently swinging the end of the lead around her horse’s barrel and legs. The horse will not only become accustomed to the movement and bumping of the rope, it will likely welcome it during fly season since the swishing of the rope can help keep flies off its body.
Grazing-in-hand sessions can not only be a time for fostering a closer relationship, they can be a valuable part of a horse’s training.
A trained horse in fifteen minutes a day
Wouldn’t it be great to own a horse that comes when you call it, patiently waits to have the halter put on, quietly leads and stands patiently to be groomed and tacked up? Wouldn’t it be great to have your horse walk away from the barn willingly when you two head out on the trails?
Does all that seem like a dream? You now ask, is it possible for me to train my horse to be a dream horse? If so, how do I do that when I don’t have a lot of time to spend working with my horse?
A wise person once stated each of us has all the time in the world. The sage went on to explain the time we have on this earth is all the time there is – it is up to us to decide how we will use that time. So, to have time to train your horse, it isn’t a matter of finding time, it’s a matter of setting the time. Even spending fifteen minutes a day with your horse can be effective in making it your dream horse.
You too can have a well-trained horse in just fifteen minutes a day!
That claim sounds like one of those infomercials or the latest self-help magazine article or book. You know the spiel; the commentator or author promises you can lose weight, organize your life, have a clean house and nutritious meals, improve your mind, expand your spiritual life or have a satisfying family life – in only minutes a day.
If we followed all the recommendations suggested by those programs or books, we would need a thirty-hour day to tackle all the self-improvements. So, if our lives are already full, how can a horse owner find even fifteen minutes a day to train her horse?
You will need to set the training time into your schedule. Let your family know this time is important to you and your well-being. But you don't need to leave your family out. For instance, while you are letting your horse graze on the lead rope, you can have your children join you for one-on-one conversations. Or, you can have your children do their homework or practice their musical instrument while you are grooming and tacking up your horse. You can lead your horse down a trail while taking a walk with your spouse.
In addition to advancing your horse’s education, the fifteen-minute program can be a part of your self-improvement program. Spending time with your horse could become part of a physical, mental and spiritual wellness program.
However, no claims will be made about having a cleaner house. That area of your life will need to have its own fifteen-minute program.
Applying fifteen-minute training sessions
In the previous blog, we discussed how fifteen-minute sessions can be an effective approach in a horse training program. Keeping the training sessions to exactly fifteen minutes isn’t the goal. The goal is to incorporate short sessions into your training regimen.
Along with keeping training lessons from becoming onerous, the mini lessons have a built in reward system. You reward your horse whenever it shows progress by ending the lesson. While longer sessions will likely be needed as part of your training, incorporating the fifteen-minute lessons into your program can be as, or even more, effective than a rigorous schedule of lengthy lessons. Using the fifteen-minute training philosophy, you can do longer training sessions by putting together several fifteen-minute lessons.
Let’s use the process of bridling a horse as an example of how mini sessions can turn a bridling-resistant horse to one who has fewer bridling battles.
The goal is to have your horse willing take the bit as it holds its head quietly at your side while it is being bridled. Provided the bridle fits and the bit doesn’t cause your horse discomfort, the first step is to have your horse hold its head still as the bridle is held in front of its face. The lesson should end when your horse stands quietly and isn’t trying to avoid the bridle.
Do not attempt to put the bit into its mouth during the initial stages of this training. By ending the lesson when your horse stops trying to avoid the bridle, your horse is rewarded for its cooperation. It's the standard training philosophy, "End the lesson a good note."
When your horse cooperates with the bridle held at its head, then the lesson can progress to putting the bit between its lips. When your horse accepts the bit resting between its lips, the lesson should end. Again, this rewards your horse for cooperating.
The next time you have about fifteen minutes to work with your horse, you can then progress to teaching your horse to relax its jaw when the bit is placed between its lips. To get the horse to relax its jaw, insert your thumb into your horse’s mouth at the corner of its mouth, where the bars are located. When you feel the tongue and jaw relax, end the lesson.
When your horse readily relaxes its jaw in the next lesson, you can slide the bit into its mouth. At this point, resist the temptation to put the headstall over your horse’s ears. The proper response to the horse’s willingness in accepting the bit is to ask your horse to relax and then remove the bridle, ending that fifteen-minute training session.
The training can then progress until your horse can be bridled without resistance or protest. To ensure your horse will continue to cooperate, continue to incorporate fifteen-minute bridling sessions into your training schedule. This is a way to keep your horse from developing a pattern where it associates being bridle with work. So on days when you aren’t planning to ride, bridle your horse and then remove the bridle.
Training in fifteen-minute increments can be helpful in correcting many undesirable behaviors. They help you to avoid creating a pattern in your training program, which can lead to avoidance vices. This will be discussed in the next blog.
Keeping 'Em Guessin'
Previous blogs discussed the benefits of training horses with fifteen-minute sessions; one of the benefits of the program is a built-in reward system. When your horse cooperates and shows progress, you can reward it by ending the lesson.
Shorter training sessions also keep your program from becoming routine. Except for the need to apply cues consistently, variety can be beneficial when handling horses.
I first encountered the concept of avoiding routine in horse training when I was working with my three-year-old. I was leading my young mare back to the barn to unsaddle her at the end of a lesson when my mentor told me to unsaddle her right in the arena.
“But shouldn’t I unsaddle her where I always do?” I asked.
“No, you don’t have to always do things the same. It’s okay to keep ’em guessin’,” she said.
I wondered if doing so would confuse or frustrate a horse. Testing the concept, I discovered, with the exception of cues, it is okay to keep a horse guessing.
I discovered it’s not only okay to keep a horse guessing but a good training technique for keeping the horse focused on its handler and preventing vices from forming. This doesn’t mean teasing the horse; it means making a routine of not getting into a routine.
Having a varied routine might seem to go against a horse’s nature. They find security in the familiar. Left to their own devices, horses tend to resist changing their routine.
We humans aren’t so different from our equine partners. We tend to sit in the same place on the bus or park in the same place at work. Routines can be good as they help us do mundane chores with minimal thought.
However, routine can be counterproductive in horse training. If the horse owner always works her horse when she catches it, her horse will likely start playing hard to catch. If the horse learns the cinch will be tightened uncomfortably around its girth whenever the saddle is put on, it will become cinch sour. If the horse learns whenever it goes outside the gate or stable door it will be going on a long ride, it can become barn sour.
Just as health professionals advise the best way to combat a disease is to prevent it, the best way to address a vice is to keep your horse from developing it in the first place. The best way to prevent your horse from developing vices is to avoid creating a pattern.
The training technique of keeping your horse guessing meshes nicely with the fifteen-minute training program. By doing fifteen minute lessons several times a week, you will be varying your routine.
When you only have enough time to go out to the pasture to catch your horse and let it go again, you will reward it for being caught. Or, during another short catching session, you can simply halter your horse and check for parasites, bites or injuries. During yet another session, you can lead your horse back to the stable and groom it before returning it to its pasture.
By catching your horse when you are not planning to go for a ride, it will be more cooperative when you do want to catch it for a ride. When it becomes easy to catch, you will have more time to spend on other areas of the training program, such as the saddling, bridling, mounting and riding. Those processes can have their own fifteen-minute-keep-‘em-guessin’ sessions.
Keeping your horse guessing not only prevents bad habits, it can help cure some. I once worked with a cinch-sour mare. The mare would paw with its left foreleg whenever it was saddled and the cinch tightened. At times, the pawing foreleg came dangerously close to hitting my leg.
To cure the mare of this vice, I varied the saddling routine. One time I would put the saddle on and then take it off again. Another time, I would take up the cinch just snug enough to keep the saddle on but not tight enough for mounting and then take the saddle off again. Then, I would continue to vary the routine by saddling the mare with the saddle snug and then lead her out to graze in-hand. And yet another time, I would arrange the cinch straps so that I could tighten the strap on the horse’s off-side.
Gradually, the mare became less agitated when she was saddled because she didn’t know whether the cinch was going to be tightened uncomfortably or not. She was kept guessin'.”
Keeping your horse guessin’ means you will likely need to be more creative, making your training program more interesting for you as well as your horse.
Goal setting in horse training
In the first Karate Kid movie, Mr. Miyagi, the karate master, introduced the young hero to bonsai, the art of restricting the growth of trees to keep them from outgrowing their container. When Daniel wanted to know how to trim the bonsai tree, his mentor told his young apprentice to close his eyes and visualize what a tree should look like. Then, when the young man opened his eyes, he was instructed to trim the miniature tree according to that image.
Similarly, horse owners should have a vision of how their horse should look; this doesn’t mean how it looks physically, but how it performs and behaves.
It is likely, you as the horse owner, want your horse to come when you call it. You want it to cooperate when it is haltered, led, groomed, saddled and bridled. You want it to stand still while being mounted and to be willing to head out on the trail or work in the arena.
Setting goals is essential in any program. To reach self-improvement goals, personal coaches advise their clients to set a series of goals of progressive steps. They might use the example of football and soccer teams trying to advance toward the goal post or the nets.
That approach for advancing your horse’s training and realizing your goals can be achieved using the philosophy of a step-by-step approach. Generally, that approach tends to be less frustrating than trying to get to the goal in one leap.
Determining when missed steps lead to frustration is covered in the next blog.
Avoiding missed steps
The previous blog post discussed the benefits of setting goals in a horse training program. Having goals helps horse owners to see their progress and to determine the next steps that should be taken to reach their goals.
Advancing a horse’s training in a step-by-step fashion helps prevent frustration. Often when a horse doesn’t seem to understand what is being asked of it, it will become uncooperative.
Such a situation was demonstrated at a jumping clinic for youth. The young clinician wasn’t much older than the clinic participants, but she was working with the young riders to prepare them to jump with their horses.
Initially, the clinician had the participants ride their horses on the rail doing flat work. To introduce the horses to jumps, a single ground pole was placed at a point on the rail and the riders trotted their horses over it.
After the horses and riders seemed to be moving forward and trotting well over the pole, the young clinician directed the riders to trot over a series of four ground poles placed in front of a jump chute. The horses refused to go over the series of ground poles, ducking away from the array of poles.
Going from a single pole to a series of four poles was too much too soon for the horses to navigate. Their resistance was an indication steps in their training were missed.
Just as elementary students are taught to add and subtract before they learn to multiply and divide, the horses shouldn’t be expected to advance comfortably in their training if there’s a gap in the progression.
When frustrated, horses generally show their confusion by becoming uncooperative. That is their way of communicating they don’t understand what is expected of them. In such situations, the horses aren’t trying to make their riders’ lives difficult; they’re trying to keep from getting into a situation they don’t know how to handle.
In such situations, the trainer should take a step back in the training time line to where the horse feels comfortable and progress one step at a time from there.
The next blog post talks about how going back and help a training program move forward.
Going backward to move forward
In the previous blog post, the concept of taking a backward step to advance a horse’s education was introduced.
The concept was to take a step back in the horse’s training when it seems frustrated with what it’s being asked to do. Horses learn best when they are relaxed; starting again from where it was comfortable performing a maneuver helps move the training forward with less resistance.
However, the backing maneuver itself can be beneficial for improving a horse’s performance.
I first became acquainted with incorporating the backing maneuver when I used it to retrain one of my first horses. When we’d go out on a trail ride, she would try to gallop back to the barn, a habit likely formed under her previous owners. Since she was likely rewarded for doing so by ending the ride, it became her default response when we turned toward home.
Going away from the barn, she would do a flat walk, but it was a different story for the return trip. If I tried to keep her from galloping home, she would prance and jig.
Generally, horses prefer to go forward instead of backing, so that maneuver can be used as a form of discipline or redirection. To retrain the mare to do a flat walk when heading toward the barn, I would stop and back her a few steps whenever she started jigging. This meant a half hour ride away from the barn ended up being an hour or more when returning. Through consistent training, she did learn to do a flat walk and became a great trail riding horse.
Backing was also used to help a three-year-old filly that had difficulty stepping out of a stall with a six-inch drop from the stall floor to the alleyway. Before being moved to the stable, the filly was on pasture, so she was unfamiliar with how to navigate such an obstacle. She didn’t have a problem stepping up into the stall, but when it came time to exit the stall, she didn’t know how to negotiate the downward step.
Horses have difficulty seeing depressions or drop-offs near their front feet. Since the filly had learned to back out of a trailer, I turned her tail toward the open door of the stall and backed her out of the stall, a maneuver she managed well.
Approaching the situation by using the information the horse already knew solved the dilemma. The young horse did eventually learned how to leave the stall stepping forward and backing her out was no longer necessary.
Make your horse a winner by letting it win
It might seem like heresy, but it’s okay to let your horse win.
In fact, setting up a training program so your horse’s efforts are recognized is the best way to build its confidence and willingness to cooperate. This approach to horse training can be a win/win for horse and rider.
Creating such a training program will mean the trainer needs to throw the old adage of “showing the horse who’s boss” into the compost heap. That training philosophy generally meant horse owners had to be domineering and severe when disciplining.
With the spread of the more effective methods used by “horse whisperers,” that outmoded training approach has been debunked. Today’s “horse whisperers” know “letting the horse win” when it performs as desired instills an eagerness in the horse to continue its efforts to please the trainer.
Letting your horse win means rewarding it when it makes the effort to cooperate or perform. If we humans weren’t rewarded for our efforts at work or school, how long would we be willing to give our best, much less cooperate? Horses aren’t much different.
However, it’s essential the horse wins only when it has performed as desired or made an honest effort to understand what it’s being asked to do. Of course, “letting a horse win” when it has performed incorrectly or badly is a losing proposition. Incorrect responses should not be rewarded.
An example of letting your horse win is releasing your horse when it’s willing to be caught. Or, you can reward it by taking it out of its pasture and giving it some in-hand grazing time.
You can show your horse it has won by removing the saddle when it stands quietly while being tacked up. You can show your horse it won by dismounting when it stands still after you’ve mounted. You can show your horse it won by giving it a break when it leaves the stable without a fuss when you go on a trail ride.
While horses don’t need fancy trophies or plaques, they do like to be appreciated. This appreciation goes a long way toward making a winning team.
Having a dwell time
Doing nothing can be one of the most difficult training techniques for a trainer, but it can be one of the most effective.
Giving your horse a break during training sessions is just as important as working on maneuvers. This “dwell time” allows your horse to think through the lesson as well as reward it for its efforts.
While it may seem a simple concept, incorporating dwell time into a training session can be a struggle for trainers. We need to fight the urge ask our horses to do more after they’ve performed well. When the lesson is going well, our tendency is to want to keep going.
Letting the horse stand quietly for several minutes might not seem productive. In actuality, dwell time can advance a training program more quickly than if the horse is asked to continue working.
Just as we humans tend to be more willing to do a job if we know we can relax when the job is done, most horses will exert themselves if they know they will get to rest when they make an honest effort.
The secret of dwell time is to recognize when your horse has made an effort to perform a maneuver and then give it down time. A break in the lesson would be simply sitting on your horse without asking it to do anything for several minutes.
Horses need the quiet time to process the lesson. During this “dwell time,” the horse will likely slowly move its mouth as though chewing on something or give a sigh or even open its mouth as though it’s yawning. These actions indicate the horse is relaxing and assimilating the lesson.
Dwell time can also benefit the trainer. It’s time the trainer can breathe and evaluate her horse’s progress.
The concept dwell time can also include dismounting.
Conversation can be a useful training tool
People talk can have a calming effect on horses.
I began noticing human conversation can relax horses when I visited a client-friend. Her pregnant mare would flatten her ears and rushed the stall door when we went near her stall. We stopped just out of reach of her charges and started talking about the stud she was bred to, the other horses in the client’s herd and other topics. After about a half hour, we notice the mare was quietly standing at the back of her stall.
Subsequent incidents seemed to confirm the power conversation and storytelling has on horses. One incident in particular took place at a horse training clinic where the clinician was trying to get a participant’s horse to accept being sacked out with a long rope. The mare’s owner had been trying to get her mare to accept the sacking out process all morning without seeming to make any headway. When the clinician stepped in to help the owner, she shared a personal story with the audience.
About fifteen minutes into the clinician’s story, I pointed out the change in the horse’s demeanor to a client sitting next to me. “Look at that mare,” I said to the client. “Isn’t it amazing the effect the story is having on her?”
As the clinician told her story of what could have been a serious automobile accident, she was gently swinging the long rope around, over and on to the mare’s neck and back. While doing that, the clinician related how she had been driving along an interstate highway when she suddenly came upon some debris lying in her lane. Swerving to avoid the hitting the object, she went onto the left shoulder of the roadway, and when she over-corrected in her attempt to get back on the highway, the passenger side of her car went under the trailer of a semi-tractor rig just ahead of the rig’s back wheels.
Fortunately, the clinician reported she was able to safely get out of the hazardous situation. But during the harrowing episode, she related she experienced an overload of input in a short amount of time. She used the story to illustrate why the mare was jumpy during the sacking out process. “There is an overload of stimulus,” she explained as she continued to swing the long rope.
But, as the clinician told her story, the mare stopped jumping around and lowered her head. The friend sitting next to me joked the horse was probably bored by the clinician’s story.
Of course the clinician’s story was anything but boring; however, I could well appreciate my client’s humor. We had made similar observations when I had worked with her horses. During breaks in training to give her horse dwell time, I would talk about some training technique or share stories of other horses and their struggles. As we talked, her horse would eventually cock its hind leg, lower its head and eyelids as I sat in the saddle or stood nearby holding its lead. When it looked like it was napping, my client would make some comment about the trainer putting her horse to sleep.
While it could be considered a running joke, that people-talk bores horses, the use of conversation or storytelling does seem to have a calming effect on them. And, a calm horse is a horse that is open to learning.
Horses are the only ones who can actually say why this happens. It may be than the horse realizes the focus is no longer on them. Or, they may know a predator on the prowl does not make noise. Or, maybe the rhythmic breathing needed to carry on a conversation relaxes the horse. Or, it could be all of the above.
Some horse owners may think they shouldn’t be distracted by having other people around when they are working with their horses. However, incorporating some conversation along with the horse’s dwell time can allow the horse to relax and have time to think through and assimilate the lesson.
Getting off your horse's back
Anyone who’s ever been nagged most likely wants the person to “just get off her back.” Smart people learn the best way to get the person nagging “off their backs,” is to just do what is being asked.
Our horses have pretty much the same attitude. When we keep nagging them, they just want us to get off their backs, but getting off our horses’ backs” can be one of the best rewards our equine partners like receiving.
While removing or releasing pressure can be a form of “getting off our horses’ back,” actually dismounting is just about the ultimate reward for a horse. A way to make the reward even better is to loosen the cinch or girth slightly after dismounting. This helps the horse relax further and give it time to process the lesson.
If a longer lesson is desired, the horse can be remounted and training can begin again. Just remember to tighten the cinch before mounting again.
A good example of when to “get off a horse’s back” was demonstrated by one of my clients. The client had a mare that had competed in gymkhana events. The mare was so accustomed to having to go full speed whenever she was ridden in an arena, she would dance and jig instead of doing a calm, flat walk when entering the ring.
When my client determined she needed to thin her herd, she put the mare up for sale. A potential buyer came to check out the mare under saddle. Despite all my client’s efforts to get the mare to calm down, it dance and jigged around the arena.
Eventually, the mare realized she wasn’t going to be asked to run. About the time she settled down and began to walk quietly, the potential buyer told my client he had seen as much as he needed to see.
My client told me she got off the mare then, but thought she should have continued to work the mare. I told she did exactly the right thing. She rewarded her mare for settling down by “getting off the mare’s back.”
It can be challenging for us trainers is to end a lesson when our horse performs well. But, if we ask our horses to keep working after they have performed as desired, we are punishing them. This will eventually squelch their incentive to perform.
Varying when to end the day’s training session with the first or second dismount will keep the horse guessing. As explained in the “Keep ’Em Guessin’ post, the practice keeps horses more attentive to the trainer.
Two steps forward one step back
In any training program, horse owners will likely encounter times when her horse seems to have forgotten what it supposedly has learned. The horse seems to have developed amnesia.
Even after the horse has shown it understands the cues and can perform the maneuvers learned in previous training sessions, the horse will seem to have taken two steps forward and then one step back.
It’s during such frustrating times the horse trainer will need to take a step back herself to bring her horse’s training forward.
Why horses seem to regress in their training only they know. It could be the training really didn’t become part of their repertoire. Or, they might need more time to process the maneuver. Or they could be trying to see whether performing as they had at a lower level will end the training session sooner.
Or, they could be just having a bad day. We all have them.
Horses are neither mechanical nor robots. They are thinking animals, even if there are those times when their thoughts don’t seem to jive with their owners.
While taking a step back in your horse training program could seem like a retreat, it might seem less a failure if viewed as a time for regrouping. As the “Backing to go forward” blog described, it is possible to go forward by taking a step back.
Generally, those backward periods don’t last, and the horse will eventually advance in its training in future lessons. Such episodes can be beneficial in firming up the horse’s responses to what it has already learned.
The joys of a patient horse
Not only is a patient horse a pleasure to handle and ride, it’s one of the best insurances for keeping a wreck from happening.
When a horse patiently waits for its handler to direct it when to move, where it should go or lets it know a session is finished, there is less chance it and its human companion will get into trouble. A horse that has learned to wait is a horse focused on its trainer-partner.
The patient horse is a listening horse. The listening horse is an attentive horse. It asks questions and then waits for the answers. The questions it might ask are - “What do you want me to do next?” “Are we done yet?” “Can I go graze now?”
The patient horse is a calm horse. A patient horse waits while it's tacked up. It waits while the rider mounts. It waits until it is cued to perform. A horse that waits doesn’t pull on the lead or push its handler. It doesn’t change gaits before it is cued to do so. It doesn’t turn around midway on the trail and head back to the barn.
I once worked with an impatient horse and her rider. Although an aged mare, the Arab still had plenty of get-up-and-go in her – much to the consternation of her novice senior owner. The owner’s son occasionally rode the mare, and he would gallop the horse across an open field. The open field was at the top of a ridge reached after a climbing a steep trail.
When the novice horse owner rode her horse up to the field, the mare thought it was going to be cued to make a mad dash across the open area as when it was ridden by the woman’s son. However, the woman just wanted the mare to stand quietly while she enjoyed the scenery. The more the woman tried to make the mare stand still, the more frustrated both horse and its rider became.
We started a program where the mare and the other horses on the trail ride were given a break when they reached the hilltop. The horses bridles were removed, their halters put on and then they were allowed to graze for ten or fifteen minutes.
It took several rides of including the breaks before the mare, as well as the other horses, no longer anticipated a gallop across the ridge. They stopped and stood patiently as they were dismounted and haltered and allowed to graze. The mare became quieter, more cooperative and patient.
To keep the horses from stopping at the same place expecting to rest there, the breaks were taken at different places on the hilltop. The anticipation of the grazing time also proved to make the ride up the steep hillside more pleasant as the horse looked forward to being rewarded when they reached the top of the ridge.
Anticipating such a reward encourages horses to become more attentive to their handlers or riders making them more willing to wait.
Seeking the comfort zone
Horses are focused on making their lives comfortable.
That means they are not out to make our lives difficult; they just want to be content.
Horses are most comfortable and content when they have full bellies and are hanging out in their pasture with their herd mates. They indicate their content when they stand with their heads lowered and their bodies in a straight line with tails slowly swishing away flies.
A high-headed, hollow-backed horse is an uncomfortable horse. A horse that is swishing and snapping its tail vigorously is an upset horse. A horse that is dancing around and not standing quietly is an anxious horse. Along with not thinking, their attitude is the opposite of cooperation and patience.
Uncomfortable, upset and anxious horses are reacting to a distressing or frightening situation; they aren’t in a mode to learn or cooperate with their handlers.
A horse in that state of mind can be compared to an electric switch – only in reverse. When a horse’s head is in the up position, its thinking is turned off. When its head is in the down position, its thinking mode is turned on.
Since a horse’s posture indicates the horse’s mental state, it is possible to reduce its anxiety by having it put its body in a relaxed position. When a horse relaxes its neck and lowers its head, the horse’s mental state tends to follow.
So, it is beneficial to teach your horse to lower its head on cue. To teach your horse to lower its head while you’re on the ground, simply rest your hand on the top of its neck behind its ears. When your horse drops its head or you can feel it relax even slightly, remove the pressure.
The pressure should be very slight. Using a strong push generally has the opposite result as horses tend to move against pressure until they learn how to give or soften to it.
Continue with the training until your horse will drop its head with the gentlest pressure to where its neck is level or lower. You can also put slight downward pressure on your horse’s halter to ask it to lower its head. You can also teach your horse to lower its head with the bridle to cue it to drop its head.
Teaching a horse to soften to the bridle is covered in the Softening to the Bridle blog.
Softening to the bridle
The blog entry “Seeking the Comfort Zone” discussed the importance of helping a horse relax when it is handled and during training sessions. A relaxed horse is better able to learn lessons and appreciate the time spent with its trainer.
A relaxed horse has its neck level or lower and is standing quietly. When mounted, this should be the posture during dwell time.
To help a mounted horse find its comfort zone, it’s beneficial to teach it to lower its head when cued through the reins. This is often known as “softening to the bridle.”
“Softening to the bridle” is the opposite of resistance and the horse pulling against pressure applied by the reins. The goal of teaching the horse to soften to the bridle is to have it respond to light pressure by giving to the pressure and putting slack in the reins.
Resisting pressure applied through the reins is often the initial response horses give to pressure on their mouths. This is an unwanted response and should not be rewarded. The rider should not reward the horse by releasing the pressure until the horse stops resisting the cue.
It’s best to start teaching “softening to the bridle” by using a bit that isn’t severe. Generally, this is the true snaffle bit. A true snaffle bit doesn’t have shanks such as a “Tom Thumb” snaffle. A true snaffle has the reins attached to the ring and the mouth piece can be jointed or a solid bar.
The one caution with the snaffle bit is that when pressure from both reins is applied at the same time, the horse is more likely to push against the bit. This is not usually the situation when pressure is applied with one rein at a time. While the goal is to have the horse soften to pressure when it’s applied by both reins simultaneously to achieve longitudinal flexion, the initial steps should be to use one rein at a time to teach lateral flexion.
Longitudinal flexion is when a horse moves its head up or down. Lateral flexion is when the horse bends its neck side to side. Lateral flexion is desired when changing direction. Longitudinal flexion is desired to ask a horse to lower its head and neck. Longitudinal flexion also aids in having a horse round its loin. This makes for a relaxed horse and a more comfortable ride through engagement with the hindquarters.
Starting with lateral flexion lessons will teach the horse that pressure on the reins means to give to the pressure instead of resisting or pushing against it. Start by applying pressure on one rein and when your horse no longer pulls against the pressure, release the rein. Wait for a moment to reward your horse; then repeat the process until your horse responds when less and less pressure is applied. Then go to the other side and repeat the process.
As your horse begins to understand that turning its head in the direction of the pull, you should be sure to have the inactive (or opposite) rein slack. If you have the slack out of the inactive rein, you could be confusing your horse because it will receive pressure from that rein as it turns its head.
It’s important to become more subtle as you and your horse learns the response to the rein being applied. When your horse will turn its head to the right or left in response to a slight pressure, then you can progress to applying pressure with both reins at the same time to ask your horse to lower its head. It might try raising its head to resist the pressure. Just keep the pressure on the reins until it will lower its head. Recognize and reward the slightest correct response to the cue.
Be aware it’s likely getting to this point won’t happen in the first lesson or the second or the third . . . Your horse will become more responsive when you appreciate the progress your horse makes by rewarding it for its efforts.
This appreciation will go a long way in strengthening the bond you two will develop.
Use horse's curiosity in your training program
Here’s a training technique that might pique your curiosity. Use a horse’s natural inquisitive nature to teach it to accept novelty.
Amazingly, horses have a certain amount of curiosity. At first glance, this characteristic seems be counter to their nature since investigating an oddity could get the animal into trouble. However if horses don’t feel threatened, they will investigate unusual happenings or objects.
I have encountered a number of incidents where horses have been drawn toward a new object or activity that would normally have sent them fleeing to the next county. Instead, the horses’ curious nature caused them to investigate.
One such incident was told to me by a client when he was spray painting his arena fence. The arena was in the horses’ pasture, so his herd had easy access to where he was working. While he was focused on spraying the wood fencing, his horses investigated the painting system’s compressor and hosing. Despite the noise and activity, the horses were enticed to get a closer look at what their owner was doing.
During their investigation, one of the horses became entangled in the hose and knocked over the paint reservoir. Luckily, the only loss was some paint with no injury to human or horse. Although about that time, the owner might have had thoughts of shipping some ponies to the glue factory. If the owner had been walking toward the horse with the sprayer in hand and the compressor running, the horses would have headed for the hills. But, as long as the equipment was stationary with the spray and the owner’s attention directed away from them, the horses felt safe enough to investigate.
With the knowledge that horses can be curious, it is possible to incorporate activities into a training program when introducing new situations or to redirect the animal’s thinking.
One of the first times I encountered a trainer who used curiosity enticement as a training technique involved a mare that was part of a youth camp’s lesson and trail string. The mare was difficult to approach, making catching her nearly impossible. To encourage the mare to become comfortable with people, the lead wrangler would go out to the pasture and do unusual things like sitting on the ground, rolling around or doing other activities not directed at the horse. The mare would approach to investigate the unusual activity and gradually became comfortable being close to the wrangler and eventually could be caught.
Another incident where a horse’s curiosity was piqued helped load a horse into a trailer. It isn’t unusual for a horse to load like a charm at home. But when the time comes to load up for the return trip, the horse will refuse to go in the trailer. This was the case in this instance.
The owner tried offering her gelding treats in the manger of the trailer while an assistant used the lunging technique to cue the horse to load. The horse continued to resist and after an hour or so of no success, it was decided everyone needed a break. Being thirsty, the horse’s owner went to the towing vehicle to get something to drink. Her horse watched its owner go to the truck’s cab and then return to the front of the trailer with a drinking cup. When the gelding saw his owner put the cup into the trailer’s manger, he decided to check out the new item and calmly walked into the trailer.
If, as your horse’s trainer, you have a situation or activity you would like to introduce to your horse, consider setting up the training session so your horse will be curious about what is taking place.
This approach has worked to introduce a horse to clippers. While many horse owners will let the horse smell the clippers while it is not running, the horse will still become frightened when the clippers are brought toward them while running. So, instead of turning on the noisy equipment and walking toward the horse, turn the clippers on while facing away from the horse. With your back turned and holding the clippers in front of you, turn the clippers on and then off several times.
Then walk toward the horse with the clippers off and rub the horse all over with the clippers. Along with rubbing the horse with the clippers, gently massage its body to get it to relax. A horse that’s tense tends to find the vibration from the clippers annoying.
Then, go back to turning the clippers on and off several more times with your back turn to your horse. Each time, gradually move closer to your horse. When it stands quietly, take off the pressure by moving away.
As your horse becomes more accepting of the clippers’ noise, massage it with the clippers running placed top of your hand. Your horse will learns the vibration of the clippers can have a soothing effect. Feeling the horse through your hand will also tell you whether your horse is relaxed or not.
Repeat the process on both sides of your horse. Of course, you will want to incorporate some dwell time in the lesson and may even make the clipper lessons 15-minute training sessions, repeated over a span of several days.