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Case Study: Patch
In the last two issues of Ride! we discussed how to establish a
relationship with your horse in which s/he respects you; and that
respect is earned controlling your horse’s space, movement and
direction. The next step in enhancing this relationship is teaching
your horse good ground manners. In practical terms this means that
our equine partner respects our space and quietly keeps a proper
distance when being lead, while standing, being tied, etc. And
during leading he needs to learn the equivalent of the “equine
heel”. When you stop, he stops. When you turn right or left, he
moves with you automatically. When you back up – your horse backs
up. It also means he is the correct distance beside you while
leading, not too close and not lagging behind.
Everything we did in the round pen and with the
lead line work sets the foundation for teaching your horse good
manners by gaining his attention -- we have created a willing
student. Why are ground manners so important? Well last month we
talked about Leo - a horse that was aggressive towards people. The
need for respect and manners was obvious. But in this issue I’m
going to introduce you to “Patch”; one of the sweetest, most
people-loving horses you could ever know…. And it should become
equally clear why a horse like this needs solid ground manners as
well.
Patch is actually my own horse. I got him about 7
weeks ago. He’s still a youngster – around twenty months old. He’s
very solid and stocky, an APHA gelding with blue eyes and just a few
black patches on an otherwise white coat. He’d been raised by his
prior owners from the time he was a weanling, and been a very
special family pet for them.
Well, Patch adores people; he cannot get enough
human attention. Sounds great, right? The problem is, he has been
handled so much, (petted, cuddled, kissed, you name it) that when I
got him, he had no concept of pressure or respect, and his favorite
place to be was in your back pocket! The closer he could get to you
the better – no matter if he was stepping on you or knocking you
down; anything for more attention and loving. Now - there is not a
mean bone in this horse’s body, but he demanded constant handling
and would be right in your face to get it. I have no doubt this was
adorable when he was a cute little baby foal … Not so cute when a
thousand pounds is head butting you for more petting.
Patch had become what I refer to as dull, meaning
he had become virtually desensitized to pressure. He had been
physically touched so much without being asked to do anything in
return, that he was not at all motivated by pressure. When I
initially started working with him, even just the basic go forward
cue required an enormous amount of pressure. He simply had no idea
what I was asking for – and perhaps more to the point, had no
concept of being “asked.” He was not at all fearful of a rope, lunge
whip, anything. Now of course you do not want your horse to fear
you, but they must understand the basics of pressure and release for
effective training. Pressure is working within a horse’s own natural
instincts to get away from something – using their flight mechanism.
Patch had largely lost this instinct. So when I first began working
with him, I had to use a lot of pressure to reintroduce the simple
mechanics of pressure and release.
And just like with Mona and Leo (from the last
two columns), I worked Patch in the round pen and on a lead line to
begin to establish our relationship with myself as the leader. The
biggest challenge came when trying to teach him basic ground manners
and leading etiquette. Again – he just wanted to be in your back
pocket all the time. So what we did, and what you have to do with
any horse that does not meet your expectations for good ground
manners, is this….
Every time you take your horse out of his stall
or pasture is a training opportunity in ground manners. Make every
walk you take with your horse count. Determine the distance you
would the horse to walk beside you (I like a horse about eighteen to
twenty-four inches from my shoulder). Cue your horse to go forward
from the stand with a kiss, or a cluck. Do NOT pull on the lead
rope. Always give him a chance to move forward from just the
pre-cue. If he does not move, continue cueing and then apply light
pressure to the line, which matches the pressure he is offering (no
more and no less). Please note that you should have the go forward
cue established before doing this exercise (see prior columns). Once
he starts forward, immediately release the pressure and continue
walking with a slack line. Always walk your horse with a slack line.
If your horse starts to walk ahead of you, stop and ask him to
back-up several steps. Horses do not like to back up and this is an
appropriate negative reinforcement. Horses need a reason to change a
behavior – backing is a reason they can understand.
Since Patch really liked to walk into our
personal space, we backed him, and backed him and backed him some
more! He was always stepping into us when being led or groomed. So
we very persistently and consistently responded with back commands
every single time he did it – yes – hundreds and hundreds of
repetitions, and always right away so he understood why he was being
asked to do something he did not like doing. He had to learn to
stand away from us. And once that lesson was taught, we were able to
work on more advanced ground manners exercises such as moving his
hips over, moving his shoulder over, side passes… all fantastic
ground manners exercises which carry over into saddle work as well.
I am sure that because he was also learning the
basic notion of pressure and release – it took longer than it would
for many horses. But when he did “get it”, I can’t tell you how
quickly everything else fell into place! He had always wanted to
please and to get attention – we just had to show him a new way to
do it. And now that he has learned that fundamental lesson, he has
become so light and responsive it’s truly amazing – especially at
such a young age. He has a wonderful mind and temperament; he just
had bad manners because of how he had been raised. Now a child can
safely lead this horse. And that IS what this is all about --
safety. It’s not just the aggressive horses we need to instill with
good manners. Any horse that does not respect our space, no matter
how sweet – is dangerous, period.
A client once asked me how much a horse should be
handled – especially a baby. In essence she wanted to know if you
could handle a horse too much. My response was this… “The question
isn’t how much you should handle your horse, but how you handle your
horse. In some cases just fifteen minutes of proper foundation
training can easily offer a hundred times the benefit of hours of
improper handling. It’s also key to remember that while these basic
foundation training exercises are applicable to working with babies
as much as mature horses, babies like to play! And they like to play
a lot. This does not mean they are being bad or that you are doing a
bad job training them; it simply means you need to be prepared to be
exceptionally patient and understanding.
Lastly, I want to make sure this one point is
clear to everyone. I am not saying you should restrict the time you
spend “loving-on” your horse. Far from it! Horses adore physical
contact and petting, and it’s a very special element of why we enjoy
spending time with them. What I am saying is that the handling needs
to be on your terms -- not his, and in his space -- not yours! Can
you scratch their withers or rub their heads too much? No. Can you
kiss your horse too much? Only if you’re a cowboy and get caught in
the act J - otherwise, no. As long as you are controlling their
space and have established the respect and leadership role, love
away on them. So make the most of your time with your horse and
continue to teach him that respect equals love.
In the last few months we talked about working
your horse’s physical and mental aspects. In the upcoming issues we
begin discussion on the critical emotional aspect of horses –
starting with horse personalities and de-spooking.
Until next month,
Charles Wilhelm |
