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Case Study: Big Red
The foundation training topics we covered over
the last six months are all necessary to set your horse up for
success, whether for her first ride or for re-schooling. The
exercises we have discussed accomplished these fundamental goals for
us: they brought down the emotional level, established solid
groundwork and respect, and lowered the horse’s resistance. So now,
once we are ready to get on the horse’s back, the horse is far more
ready and willing.
The critical things to have well established
before working with a snaffle bit with your horse is to have a solid
go forward cue, and also being able to stop its feet. With those
fundamentals, we have control and they have already begun to yield
to us.
For lateral flexion, we pick up a rein at a
standstill and wait until the horse gives in the direction of the
pull. The mistake most riders make here is when they pick up the
rein, they want to release as soon as the nose goes over. Very
important - you need to wait for the release until the give is in
the direction of the pull. And when you do release, it should be no
heavier than the weight of the rein. Lateral flexions are a critical
foundation exercise and you can expect to do two to three thousand
repetitions on each side. Some horses of course take longer than
others, but it is vital that the horse truly “gets” this lesson
before moving on.
When it comes to giving, you have two main types
of attitude you run into. The first is the “I Don’t Mind and Am
Happy to Give!” and the second attitude is the “I Don’t Care.” The
latter can take far more repetitions to learn the lesson, and the
consistency and timing of your release becomes even more important.
However – even the heaviest, most resistant to pressure horses can
and do learn this lesson with time and patience. Please keep in mind
though that all horses learn by conditioned response, and they are
just as likely to learn negative behaviors as positive ones!
Big Red was a huge quarter horse that came into
training with me some years back. This was without a doubt the most
resistant to the bit horse I have ever come across. Was this
natural? No – this horse had been taught to be heavy – taught to
pull away/lean on the rein. The owner had consistently released when
he was leaning on the rein and bit. I watched her do it and knew
exactly how it had happened. And when I say heavy, I mean this horse
would lean with well over fifty pounds of pressure. This was the
only time I actually got blisters and aching hands from reining work
– just from trying to maintain pressure on that horse until he gave
even a fraction that I could reward. And I was using both hands
braced on the saddle to maintain the contact. The first session
where we worked specifically on the bit it was about an hour and
twenty minutes of my maintaining the fifty pounds plus of contact
before he released for the first time! Now most of the time, it is
rarely more than twenty minutes before the horse gives that first
key release. But Big Red had been taught he was supposed to
be leaning – that he would get the release when he pulled. So that
first session he was doing everything he thought was right –
leaning, leaning, leaning… waiting for ME to give like had been done
for him all along. In the end it took about three days of one to
three hour sessions to get Big Red to truly change his understanding
of the giving and the bit. Then he became nicely light and
responsive.
Once your horse is doing the lateral flexion work
well at a standstill, you should then move on to doing the same
exercise but at walk, then work up to a trot and finally at a
canter. The higher the gait at which you are doing the exercise, the
slower your hand speed must be in asking for the give. Your goal is
that your hand speed is such that the horse can feel the weight of
the rein before they actually feel the contact of the rein.
With those fifty pound leaners like Big Red,
anchor your hand to the saddle as if it is a post. This means they
will pull on themselves (and you are less likely to get blisters!).
The next exercise to work on is vertical flexion.
Begin by going forward with a soft leg. After about fifteen feet,
pick up on the inside rein while maintaining light contact on the
outside rein until the horse flexes at the pole. And then soften
hand to acknowledge the horse is doing well. Then do it all over
again. The goal is that the horse stays flexed, giving and is
accepting of the bit. Once the horse is doing very well on the one
side, change direction.
Now if you put “light” on a scale of one to ten,
Big Red ended up about a four. But Big Red was an “I don’t care”
horse, and that’s about the most you can expect from them. Whatever
their attitude, the approach and method is the same for either type
of horse, as well as the end goal. You are seeking to develop a
light, responsive horse, looking for a long neck muscle that bounces
at the walk and trot, and that the head will give off center four to
six inches. It is okay if they go further, but not so far that they
break out at the front of the shoulder.
To contrast Big Red with Arabs like my horse
Tennyson, or thoroughbreds, the “hot” horses have a tendency to be
much more responsive to the rein. They have more energy and with
proper training – that translates into very light! Big Red was a
very lethargic horse and thus less responsive in general. The
principles are the same though. If we want a lighter horse we have
to be careful. We all have a tendency to pick up on the rein while
giving, looking for contact. But what light should come to mean –
and your goal should be – is that light means the weight of the rein
– not the actual contact. Your horse is light when the response
comes simply from feeling the weight of the rein and she yields to
that “pressure”. Now that may take three to six weeks and thousands
of repetitions. But as there is nothing more enjoyable than working
with a truly light horse, it is well worth the time you invest in
these exercises.
Let me address one common problem that can arise
during the exercises: head throwing.
If you find your horse is throwing her head a lot
while asking for a one rein give or a vertical rein give – first
check to make sure it’s not medical (teeth or such). If it is in
fact behavioral, you must maintain full contact while the
head is flipping about until your horse quiets – even if it’s just
for a tenth of second – and then immediately release to acknowledge
the correct response. Then continue again until the horse is
consistently giving you what you want and releases that a quiet head
will earn her the least pressure from you. Consistency is the key.
Do NOT give up! This is very difficult stuff and usually takes
hundreds of repetitions before they even get the tiniest clue about
what we are asking for.
On an ending note, we have been getting lots of
emails at the ranch about this column. If you have specific issues
and topics you would like me address in a future column, or would
like to provide feedback on how we are doing so far, please email me
at
cwtraining@comcast.net. Otherwise, in the next column we will talk
about “Stopping, Backing & Moving The Hips Over.”. |
