Riding Magazine Q &A

Dear Riding Readers:

Question:

I was asked this question several times at the last horse expo I attended. What causes an owner to not have a positive experience with their horse?

Answer:

This is a very good question and one I wish more people would ask. Over the years, I have trained a lot of “problem horses”—a horse that has endangered its owner or itself. At this point, the relationship is broken. The owner is fearful (and sometimes with good reason) and no longer enjoys riding the horse. However, in over 20 years of working with problem horses, I have concluded that there are no problem horses—only uneducated horses and handlers. The most enjoyable horses are those with good manners that have been patiently built through a solid training foundation (conditioned response). However, to teach any horse manners and turn it into a safe mount, the owner must first learn the nature of the horse and how to work with it.

My motto is “success through knowledge.” This means that any time you have gained knowledge or information about something no matter what it is you will be more successful at it. For example if you are learning to work on a computer, you will be more successful at using it, if you get the manual out and read the startup section to learn about the mechanics of the keyboard and tools available. This doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes. But as you read the text and practice the steps given, you will become more accomplished using the computer. The same applies to horses. You will have a much better experience with your horse if you are a knowledgeable owner.

Currently, the horse industry is booming. In my business, I see two types of clients: middle-aged women who buy a horse and return to riding again and young ladies whose parents have bought them a horse. The biggest issue my older clients have is fear. They tell me when they were younger they never were fearful of riding and now they are. They are afraid of getting hurt. I explain to them that when we were younger we had a lot more confidence, better coordination and athletic skills. In addition, our ignorance caused us to not worry about what could happen when we rode or interacted with our horse.

With teens and children, I find the opposite problem. They are really confident and ride well and sometimes ride horses they shouldn’t be on. Because they are overly confident, they put themselves in to dangerous situations.

I believe both types of riders must be taught about a horse’s nature and how to work around them safely. Knowledge of safe riding and handling is important to basic horsemanship skills and builds confidence. We teach our horse’s manners--what is acceptable around humans. We teach them to respect our space as we respect theirs. Why shouldn’t we as owners learn as much as we can about them?

Sometimes our passion for our horse makes us complacent and to forget about basic safety precautions. We think like a human and not like a horse. Here are two examples: I watched a young lady the other day work with her horse she just bought. While grooming her horse, she noticed a bed sore on her horse’s left hock. She began cleaning and scrubbing the sore area in an unsafe manner—bent over with her head directly over the horse’s hock!  She was not following basic safety rules around her horse, such as when working around a horse's rear, stand near the point of the buttock, to the side and facing the rear, not directly in back. (For more detailed safety rules, see Starting Baby Jaz.) Fortunately, her horse did not react.

Next, I saw her mounting on her horse using the mounting block. The horse was dancing around the block while she was trying to mount. After a while, someone came over and jerked on the reins so she could get on. In both examples, the rider disregarded simple safety rules in handling her horse, which could have resulted in a serious mishap.

It is fine to be passionate about horses and dream about owning one. However, part of that dream must involve learning and gaining horse knowledge and how to be safe around them. We don’t go to high school and by pass kindergarten or first grade! We progress and accumulate knowledge. I believe it is the responsibility of parents and the adult entering the horse world to learn as much as possible. As humans, we have a tendency to blame the horse. However, I have another motto “It is never ever the horse’s fault.” The reason it is never the horse’s fault is the horse is a prey animal with a strong flight instinct and can react violently when frightened. Because they are a herd animal, they have herd instincts and a pecking order. All horses strike, kick, bite, and buck. We have to first understand this is their nature and, secondly, educate ourselves to teach them not to behave this way and to learn “table manners”. This is how you ensure you have a fun and enjoyable relationship with your horse.

If you have any questions, please visit me online at www.charleswilhelm.com.

It’s Never Ever the Horse’s Fault