When you need to correct your horse, think of it in the same way as correcting a child, which you would do calmly, considerately, and clearly, instead of with escalating anger, a raised voice, and pumping adrenaline. Taking emotions out of corrections can go a long way in training. Your horse stays in a willing mind set, ready to try what you ask, and you are able to evaluate what he is offering and reward him for his efforts.
If you make a mistake, don’t dwell on it. Do what this rider is doing: Move on and make the rest of your ride as good as it can be.
Here, a rider makes corrections in a helpful, matter-of-fact way, rather than letting her emotions get the best of her.
You may have noticed that you’d rather spend time with people who assume the best rather than those who assume the worst and with those who have positive outlooks rather than those who whine and complain. Wouldn’t our horses appreciate this, too?
The next time you’re at the barn, listen to what other riders say and how they say it. How many of them compile long lists of what their horses are doing wrong (and how it’s usually the horses’ faults) and complain about how this or that trick or behavior could be better? You might be surprised at how negative the comments can get!
The power of positive thinking is a proven approach to many areas of life, so why not apply it to your horsemanship? Instead of looking for everything that’s wrong or bad, start looking for the good that you and your horse are doing, then build on that. Often, the more you concentrate on the good and the less energy you spend on the bad, the more likely it is that, over time, the good outweighs the not-so-good. After a while, you may even look back and realize that the problems you used to have are now gone.
Perhaps you can’t do a perfect walk-lope departure yet. That’s OK. Do the jog-lope transition you’re really good at and occasionally try a walk-lope transition. If it’s not perfect, don’t make a big deal out of it; just keep going. Over time, it’s highly likely that you will eventually find yourself doing a pretty good departure because you didn’t make such a fuss over the less-than-perfect one.
If your horse isn’t doing what you think you’re asking, treat him like a friend and assume the best rather than the worst. Assume he doesn’t understand or is confused. Perhaps he’s not able to do what you’re asking because he’s not physically developed or coordinated enough yet. Or he may be trying to tell you that he’s in pain. Doesn’t considering this perspective of what’s happening different from the automatic assumption that he’s being disobedient, willful, or resistant? He may be avoiding doing what you ask but with good reason, according to his thought process.
Instead of dwelling on the negatives, this rider is focusing on what her horse is doing well.
If your horse doesn’t do what you ask, also take a look at how you’re asking. Break the request down into smaller pieces and see if this works.
There are no limits to the ways in which you can improve as you seek to advance your skills and those of your horse. To do so, it helps to reframe the areas needing improvement, not as bad or negative behaviors but simply as areas you need to work on together.
Be Consistent
Many cartoons have depicted horses plotting ways to make us angry, to embarrass us in front of friends, or to make us look incompetent in front of judges. In reality, a horse’s actions usually are not directed toward the rider. He is merely doing what he has found to be correct in similar situations, based on your teachings (or someone else’s). Or he is doing what he thinks is going to help him at that moment.
Your horse’s actions may be the result of miscommunication. Something he considers correct behavior but which you don’t—such as dragging you along to get to a few sprigs of grass—may be behavior you have inadvertently created and rewarded by inconsistently responding whenever he offered this behavior in the past. We are training our horses every moment we are with them. We just may not be teaching them the behaviors we think we are.
It’s consistency—having the same expectations and rules every day, all of the time, no matter what—that helps our horses to learn what’s expected of them and to behave the way we would like them. Being consistent with our horses sounds simple and obvious, doesn’t it? However, it’s all too easy to let our consistency waver. Just imagine yourself in the following scenario and see if you find any similarities to your daily interactions with your horse:
Consider this scenario: As you lead your horse in from the pasture, he crowds you and even scoots ahead, making circles around you. Your mind may be on your upcoming lesson, so you just get out of his way, and the two of you keep up this circular dance all the way to the barn. The next day, you bring your horse in as usual. However, on this day, you are upset. Perhaps your boss blamed you for something that wasn’t your fault, and you’re still steaming about it. Your horse acts exactly as he did the day before: He crowds you, scoots ahead, and makes a circle. This time, you are having none of it. You slap him on the chest and yank his lead rope. After all, he should know better than to do this.
This horse is just being a horse—snatching some grass. His actions aren’t meant to personally irritate the rider.
Who’s being inconsistent here? Your horse is just doing what you allowed on the day before; you taught him that it was acceptable. Then, twenty-four hours later, you changed the rules, but he didn’t know that. He’s not likely leading this way to be naughty; you haven’t set consistent standards and maintained the parameters whenever you’re together—all of the time, no matter what.
Horses are steady creatures, and they thrive on positive consistency. If you are consistent with your horse day in and day out, he’ll know what to expect and what is allowed and not allowed. Because of your consistency and levelheadedness, your horse will start seeing you as a leader he can put his trust in. You may be able to get his attention by smacking him, but, at that point, you’ve stopped being a leader and are just reacting to a behavior.
What should you do if your horse has a behavior that you know you’ve helped create but now want to get rid of? Isn’t this also changing the rules and being inconsistent? Won’t it be confusing or disconcerting to your horse, even upsetting to him?
This is a good observation. You have horses because you enjoy being around them, and you want them to enjoy being around you. There’s nothing wrong with this; the mutual enjoyment of each other’s company is a good mind-set to cultivate. Problems can arise when you interact with your horse based on whether he will like you.
For example: You may feed him treats and allow him to overeagerly snuffle your pockets, which leads to nipping. Or perhaps you don’t consistently ask him to give you a certain amount of space, which leads to him inadvertently running into you. Over time, your horse may see the pocket searching and crowding behaviors as acceptable, and perhaps even wanted, because you are not indicating otherwise. If you try to correct these behaviors, your horse may very well act a little put out and unhappy with you and your new rules.
Keep your rules fair and considerate, be consistent and calm when enforcing them, and don’t second-guess yourself. Before long, your horse will accept the new rules and be fine with them. Your horse will like you and will be happy to see you when you have proven to him that you are fair, consistent, levelheaded, matter-of-fact, and appreciative of his efforts.
Feel Free to Make Mistakes
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