Excuses, excuses

Hi, readers! It's summer and I've been playing in the sun. Also, my laptop bit the dust. Thus, the lack in posts. I'm trying to get back into my blogging routine. We'll see how it goes. ;)

I taught a wonderful lesson with one of my really fun clients last night. She has a wonderful little gelding that I ride a few times a week. They are both on the green side but willing to learn. We were working to prepare for a show, and I set up cones in the corners of the arena to help work on keeping on the rail and riding correct corners. Sweet little gelding was doing really well with all the corners except one. At this particular corner, he would drop his shoulder and push to the inside of the cone. Every time.  Wonderful client wanted to know why he was spooking in that corner. Helpful railbird commented that it was probably where she was standing or possibly the saddle cover hanging over the rail. While initially it may have been one of those things, what it boiled down to is that the horse didn't want to go into that corner. He wasn't spooking and he wasn't afraid. Without the proper leadership from the saddle, he just didn't have a reason to. Now, I have no idea why he initially didn't want to go into the corner, but after three or four times, he had it in his head he shouldn't have to. So, I encouraged my student to be proactive by lifting the shoulder ahead of time and focusing her energy on riding through the corner rather than fighting about the cone. Viola!! He went right through.

As riders, we have a natural tendency to want to explain and rationalize what is happening with our horses. Especially when something goes wrong. Putting a label on it, or assigning it a reason or cause makes us feel better. The problem with this is that horses don't always have a reason for what they do; or, if our thought process isn't like the horse's, we may assign the wrong reason to the behavior. Horses live in the moment. They are not hatching plans to make our rides more difficult. They are not devious.What horses are is incredibly sensitive. If something is bothering you, it will bother them. By putting a lot of thought into the problem you are having, that corner, this movement, or that transition, you are only telling the horse that there is something to be concerned about.

If we constantly excuse our horses inappropriate behavior because there was something hanging on the rail, he doesn't like that horse, the door was open instead of closed etc, we make it ok. By putting a name on it, and allowing the horse to behave in a way they shouldn't because of that, we have given our horse the opportunity to make decisions. Now, I don't know about you, but, when I'm in the saddle, I want to be making the decisions. So, when I'm riding and the horse pulls a move that's out of line, I make sure that I was not giving a confusing message, that there's nothing the horse should be legitimately concerned about, and then I carry on with whatever I wanted in the first place. I may adjust my strategy to make the exercise more clear to the horse, but I don't spend a lot of time figuring out what may have bothered sweet Fluffy. I don't even care! I want to continue to make progress with the horse listening to me, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time focusing on a little hiccup. Often times, when we fall into a pattern with our horse, we are anticipating the problem and creating tension in the horse. It's hard, but when something unplanned happens, you need to brush it off and move on. Fixating and wondering if it will happen again is almost a sure guarantee that it will. Ensuring that your horse's attention is focused on you and being proactive to stop problems before they turn into a habit will go a long way in eliminating unwanted behavior.

We ALL Need an Attitude Adjustment Sometimes

You know those days at the barn where your horse is happy to see you, and you are happy to see your horse. You have a great ride, and as you head back to put your horse away a big rainbow appears in the sky and birds fly up and land on your shoulder and sing you a beautiful bird song. Oh wait, that’s starting to sound a little like a Disney cartoon… but you know what I’m talking about. Why don’t we have that all the time?

It’s easy to fall into the trap of blaming our horses for a bad ride, but is this really fair? Let’s pick up the boss analogy again. A good boss only gives their employee tasks that they are capable of completing, gives the support the employee needs to finish the task, and acknowledges the accomplishment when the job is completed. How often are we bad bosses when we ride? Do we set our horses up for success, support them, and reward when they get it? Or do we let our expectations or memories from a previous ride clutter our mind and give our horse mixed signals? It’s easy to do, and the habit is hard to break. “He always spooks there” “You can’t do that to him from his off side” “He doesn’t do XXX” How many times have you said something like this about your horse?  How much of this behavior is human driven rather than horse driven?

When we ride our horses, a cluttered mind can really affect their performance. Horses, unlike humans, operate in the moment. They don’t have a master game plan or set of goals when you pull them out of their paddock. One minute they were eating or sniffing poo or whathaveyou and, the next, you came to catch them for a ride. We humans are great at making plans and goals, but where we fall short is helping the horse to clearly understand and accomplish them. We can inadvertently muddle our signals with tension in our body or mind. Our horses are so incredibly sensitive they can pick up on whatever physical or mental baggage we brought to the barn.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that if we just do it right then our horses will magically turn into the most obedient, cooperative critter in the world. They are still big prey animals with a mind and personality of their own. Certain individuals will always be more cooperative and pliable than others. Sometimes they ignore our wonderful leadership, but if we can stay consistent, clear, and patient they will usually come around to our way of thinking… eventually.

 I find, when I’m  not getting the response I want from  the horse, it helps to stop and take a little break; sometimes I let the horse stand and air up or walk on a loose rein. I don’t come back to the exercise until we have both calmed down, and I have figured out a simpler step to ask the horse for. By then, we are usually on the same page and ready to get back to work.

Lately, I’ve been searching out times to ride when the arena is empty. I leave the radio off, put my phone on the rail, and really focus on the ride at hand.  I want to be able to read my horse and give him the right workout for where he is at that day. It’s a struggle. It’s so easy to become distracted or frustrated, but the results speak for themselves. I’ve had some of the best rides ever in my life over the last couple of months. It’s exciting and makes my brain hurt at the same time.