Just like many of us don’t like drama amongst people, we also don’t have to become part of our horse’s drama.
Horses can be dramatic. They have lots of complex emotions and they are big and sometimes dangerous animals that can injure us in a heartbeat if we are not present with them.
One of the ways to lose your ability to be present?is to let your emotions be influenced by the horse. It can be easy to let this happen, especially if fear plays a role. I’ve had many horses in training over the years where the owner was afraid of either handling their horse from the ground or riding them due to their behavior and the horse knew it.
We don’t want to get hurt?and I completely understand that, and I certainly don’t want to get hurt either. Safety is always at the forefront of my mind when I handle horses and therefore, I spend time with them, thinking through what I’m going to ask of them, how they might respond, what the risks are and how I’m going to handle them.
I don’t set myself or the horse up for failure by being unprepared or rushed. In fact, whenever I’ve done this in the past, this was often when I did get hurt. Whenever I hear of someone who was injured riding or handling a horse, it was almost always because they were rushing the horse, pressuring the horse to do something they weren’t ready to do, or simply not listening to the horse in the first place.
The best thing we can do?to consistently get the horse in a safe, relaxed mindset is to educate them and educate ourselves, so we know what to do to avoid dangerous situations. Education of a horse starts in the round pen. We start by teaching them personal space. This means that the horse is not allowed to come into your space unless you invite them. They will only be invited when they are calm and relaxed, not before.
A common problem I see?is that owners lead their horses on a very short lead line, holding the horse very close to the halter. When you are this close to a horse that doesn’t know how to walk calmly, you set yourself up for being pushed around, pulled around by the horse, stepped on, run over, bitten, maybe even kicked.
You are not strong enough to hold the horse and it certainly isn’t comfortable to have an antsy horse jig around next to you, calling for his buddies or being nervous. Being close to a horse like this is dangerous. The first thing you have to do is create some space between you and this horse, so that your personal safety zone is never invaded. This keeps you safe.
You can begin by asking a horse to back out of your space when you lead him,?giving rein/rope as he backs away. Wait for his mind to settle back down and tune into you before you walk forward again. If he goes right back to his old self the second you move forward you can disengage his hindquarters and ask him to back up again. Repeated multiple times you will end up with a horse that keeps a safe distance of several feet to you as you lead him and doesn’t pass you or walk faster than you. If you have a horse that tries to walk really fast, be careful not to speed up your own feet. If you do this, it simply means that you are allowing the horse to dictate how you should walk and therefore,?he is actually leading you, not the other way around. Slow down your feet instead.
You want to be the kind, compassionate yet firm leader?that ensures that the horse maintains a safe distance to you at all times. When the horse understands that you are in charge and that he can’t enter into your safety zone, he will start to relax, listen to you and breathe. He is now willing to be led successfully by you.
All successful horse training starts by changing this dynamic from the horse thinking he has to handle everything by himself, to him understanding that you have now taken over. Most horses don’t want to be the leader and they are actually nervous because they are worried about being in charge. When you start taking charge and stepping into calm assertive leadership, your horse will thank you for it and release his anxiety.
To follow up on leading,?it is good to do groundwork in the round pen to further establish dominance. If your horse has a lot of energy either because he is fresh or because he is a breed with a lot of energy, then round pen work is great for allowing him to be dramatic at a safe distance.
Come well prepared with the right tools.?The right tools for groundwork are a rope halter and lead rope made out of yachting rope (so it has some weight to it) and the lead rope should at least be 14 feet long. You can also bring a short dressage whip or a training stick to help you maintain your personal space and redirect the horse’s feet when you need to.
It’s important to have a long, weighted lead rope?because they don’t burn you should the horse pull through your hands. It gives you the ability to somewhat lunge the horse in circles around you if he won’t listen and it creates space. The length also gives you leverage to pull against the horse from a distance which gives you much more strength than trying to hold on to a short piece of lead line that might be pulled straight through your hands or place you so close to the horse that you are “in the danger zone” of being trampled should he do anything.
Allow your horse to have his emotions when you’re working him in the round pen. As long as he is at a safe distance he can buck, run, rear, kick or whatever he feels like. Sometimes horses are pent up from being in stalls or even pastures and not burning off their energy. Allow him to get it out whilst free lunging, before you try to make him focus and work on specific things.
Trying to force a fresh horse to focus is an accident waiting to happen.?There’s no need to see his drama as anything negative either. He’s just being a horse, allow him to be wild and free and get it out of his system. He will soon enough calm down and listen to what you want from him again. Don’t start the actual training process until you see him start to slow down, lick and chew, turn his inside ear towards you and show you he is ready to work and relax.
It’s very important to wait for this mindset change.?Your goal isn’t either to exhaust him through mindless lunging in circles. Focus on changing his direction a lot so he has to think about what he’s doing. He should still have lots of energy left over for the rest of your training session or else he won’t learn anything if his body is too tired.
We are just allowing him to release the top of his pent-up energy which allows us to communicate with him again, we are not trying to tire him out. The latter is bad training.
Seen and experienced from a safe distance,?a bucking, galloping, rearing horse is magnificent. Observe him like you would a TV screen, noticing his muscles, gracefulness, exuberance and joy for life. If he tries to come towards you before he’s nice and calm and in the right mindset, bring a lunge whip with you and ask him to go away before he gets too close, then invite him back in when he is ready and give him some love and attention.
Happy Training and stay safe and be prepared!
Ride with Lightness
Celie xo
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