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CONSISTENCY
In training a horse, on the ground
or riding a horse, or having a relationship with a horse, there are
major factors involved in speaking the horse’s language, in other
words, communicating with the horse. Consistency in this
communication is a huge factor. Consistency in a horses life is
very important. What does consistency mean? Consistency means that
we do things in the same way each time, for example, pick up a rein
or put a leg on the horse. Each time we should ask and execute cues
in the same way. That is being consistent.
Sometimes a
friend will show us a different way of doing things. For example,
to pick up a lead or ask our horse to move its hind quarters over in
a different way than we usually ask. This may be good but it is not
consistent with what we usually do and it may take our horse
sometime to become accustomed to this new cue.
Consistency may
be lost when we have had a bad day or are not feeling well. If our
cues are always consistent, even when we don’t feel well, we can
ride in a consistent way and have a good ride. We should not let
how we feel interfere with how we work with and train our horse.
For example, if you have a major headache and you go out to see your
horse and the horse steps into your space and you ignore it and you
don’t correct it like you always do, then you are being inconsistent
with your training. This means you are inconsistent with your
relationship with your horse and your horse will not understand and
will step into your space again. When we teach a horse to respect
our space, we have to maintain that relationship. There is no time
that the horse will go on automatic pilot and assume what you want
and make its own corrections. So, consistency is a big factor.
One of the
things I see at the ranch is that when some riders in class are
feeling tired, stressed or just not enthusiastic about riding that
day, they are more lazy about standards and what is expected from
the horses. They do not initiate cues properly, or do it
halfheartedly. That brings up something else that comes up
regularly in classes, not following through. In other words, the
owner puts a leg on the horse and the horse does not listen.
Consistency says that when I put a leg on the horse, that means the
horse should move, whether it is a side pass, moving the shoulders
or hips over or whatever, it should happen. The cue means something
and the follow up is important to make sure the horse moves off the
leg. When we don’t follow through, the horse learns that he need
not always listen to and obey the cue.
Sometimes the
rider’s attitude can interfere with the communication with the horse
and the result is that we don’t have such a good ride. A riders
good, positive attitude can influence the quality of the ride. Even
if the horse didn’t perform 100 percent, if the rider’s attitude is
upbeat, the ride will be a good ride. Also, if we are not in a good
mood, we tend to be less forgiving if our horse does something
wrong. We may not follow through on our cues, become impatient or
even take our mood out on the horse. These are all things to be
aware of.
When the
quality of our rides varies so much from day to day, we need to
think about all these things. Number one, what is our attitude as
we approach the ride? Number two, are we consistent in the way we
communicate with the horse? Number three, are we consistently
following through with our cues and getting the horse to respond to
our leg pressure, rein aids or whatever cues we are using with the
horse?
One more thing
to consider is that horses have their bad days too. They can be
having a bad hair day, breakfast didn’t set well, or whatever as
they are flesh and blood as well. That is why I always have my
clients warm up their horses before they come into class. We lunge
or round pen to get the freshness off the horse, get it thinking
about working and listening to the cues, and also to see if the
horse is off. Knowing and understanding your horse, what is normal
and what may be off is very important. Thinking about these things
and doing the best we can to stay consistent will ensure that when
we get into class or out on the trail, we will have a better ride.
Charles Wilhelm
NW March 2009 |
