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Question:
I am giving my
horse cues but I am not getting the desired responses from him. Can
you give me some suggestions on what I may be doing wrong?
Answer:
That is a good
question and should be asked more often. After spending a good deal
of time in the last few years working with beginning and returning
riders, I find that working horses on the ground and riding horses
is really a mental game. What I mean is that we may know how to
ride correctly or we have been taught to use the rein and leg aids
properly. Nevertheless, we are not really doing what we think we
are doing. We think we are executing the aids correctly because
our brains tell us we have properly executed the cue. In reality,
we have not executed the movement properly. In other words,
sometimes our brain lies to us. What that means is that the brain
executed the cue but the body didn’t quite listen to the brain or
there is a lag in time.
For example, if
a rider is asking a horse to pick up the left lead from a trot, the
right leg should be in the number three position (slightly back of
the cinch). The horse may not pick up the left lead because the
communication is not clear. The rider may insist that the correct
cue was given but when I see daylight between the rider’s leg and
the horse, the rider is not really pressing. I don’t believe a
rider should have to press really hard but the pressure must be hard
enough that the horse feels contact and responds.
It is a mental
game to get the body to do what is needed to communicate with the
horse. In picking up a left lead, we may have our left leg in the
correct position and we may have the correct amount of contact with
the horse at the cinch but the shoulder falls in. The result is
that the horse picks up the outside or right lead instead of the
left. What can happen is that we pick up the inside rein to pick up
the inside shoulder. It becomes a supportive rein plus giving
direction. We may think we are picking up on that rein to correct
the shoulder but we wind up cuing the horse to take the outside
lead. The point is that we get fooled by what we are thinking and
feeling.
Another mental
game we play is related to our standards. We just had a trail
clinic here at the ranch. At the beginning of the day I asked the
participants to rate their horse’s trail performance on a scale of
one to ten with ten being the best. Most rated their horses at
seven or eight and one rated her horse at six. Because they were
setting the standards based on their concepts of what is acceptable
and what is a quality trail horse, the horses were rated fairly
high. By the end of the clinic they realized they had rated their
horses too high. We have to be honest with ourselves and where we
are in our training and our riding ability. The same is true for
our horse in terms of training and performance.
We have to
assess ourselves and be honest with ourselves. We need to set
higher standards or goals for performance for ourselves and our
horses and then strive to achieve them. It is important to have an
instructor or trainer to work with and who can evaluate how you are
riding your horse. Sometimes I ask someone’s opinion on how I am
riding a particular horse. I may think I am doing something
correctly but it is nice to have a second pair of eyes. My leg cues
may only be a quarter of an inch off but if I bring my leg back that
additional quarter of an inch, I may get better performance from the
horse. We all need to work with someone who can evaluate us to
insure that we are doing what we think we are doing.
One important
factor is that the horse needs to be able to understand the cues.
If the horse understands the cues, he is a trained horse. If he is
an untrained horse, all the proper cues in the world are not going
to elicit the correct response. A lot of times we don’t want to
make a mistake, we are afraid to experiment and try harder. When a
trainer is present to evaluate and direct our actions in real time
it is good for the rider and the horse.
Another factor
in the mental game is our relationship with our horse. We have an
idea of what our relationship with the horse should be. Most people
want to think in terms of a partnership with the horse. We don’t
want a partnership. We want a relationship. A partnership
indicates there is an equality in the relationship but in the herd
dynamic, there is only one leader. Horses don’t collaborate and
share ideas. There is a definite leader and a pecking order. When
a horse crowds into your space, he is not asking you to move, he is
telling you to get out of his way. If you move away, you have
acknowledged his leadership. It is important to come to terms with
the fact that in dealing with a horse, the rider must be the
leader. The relationship with a horse can be very enjoyable if it
is established acknowledging their terms and the language of the
horse. We need to expand what I call our box, to incorporate the
ability to establish our leadership.
Sometimes it is
hard for us to get out of our box. When you are a very timid rider,
even if you have a very compliant horse, you will have a better
relationship and better performance when the communication is
clear. It comes down to standards and personality. If you are a
very easy going person, you have to add dominance to your
personality in relationship to your horse. Horses are neat in that
they cause us to grow in self awareness and leadership. If you have
the opportunity to work with many horses, they will teach you how to
work with different dynamics and personalities. They really help us
grow. They can also humble us, which makes us better people.
Sometimes when I think I have a handle on everything, a horse will
remind me that I’m still a beginner and still learning.
Horsemanship is
definitely a mental game and once we come to terms with that it is
so much better. That includes fear and how we handle fear. If you
have had an accident and someone says “Cowgirl up and get back on
that horse,” think twice. That may not be the approach to take.
The way I approach it is to master the fear one step at a time.
That is how we train horses. If a horse is frightened of a plastic
bag, I don’t shove the bag at the horse’s face. If I did that with
a horse and the horse felt too much pressure, I would create a
bigger problem. Instead, I accustom the horse to the bag in steps,
proceeding as slowly as needed so that the horse loses the fear. We
have to take an intellectual, mental and emotional approach and we
have to consider the language of the horse. I hope this discussion
helps you to understand what may be happening and how to communicate
better with your horse.
Charles Wilhelm
It’s Never Ever the Horse’s Fault
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