Who Should Move Their Feet?
A perspective on leadership with our horses.
One of the things we talk about at Equestrian Movement is showing up for your horse as a good leader.
Being a good leader means your horse can be a good follower and look to you when feeling challenged, uncomfortable or scared for direction rather than just reacting.
However, one of the big ways a horse will test you and challenge your leadership qualities is by trying to move you and push you around.
If your horse can move your feet, they are controlling where you are going so that makes them the leader. You are following their cues. However when you recognise that your horse is moving your feet and can firstly stand your ground and secondly step into them to move their feet, then you become the leader. They are following your cues.
This can feel like it’s easier said than down with some of our bold, pushy horses, but with consistency and follow through, over time it really does work.
Our favourite exercise for this is walk when I walk, stop when I stop, go when I go. This has been a huge game changer for many of my students and what we always go back to when we start to lose our horses engagement in their work. We go into a lot further detail about this in our Facebook group if you are having trouble implementing - feel free to join and ask questions (click here).
For some of our nervous horses, or horses that have experienced trauma, you may find that initially they aren’t trying to move your feet but are trying to get away from you.
If you start working on your relationship and establishing that connection, they WILL start to relax and bring their walls down around you. This is when they will start to challenge you as a leader, because they are becoming comfortable and confident with you.
This is also something that can happen when you just buy a horse. It will take them time to get used to the change and settle into the routine. I call this the honey moon period and they can be on their best behaviour. Normally by about 3 months they will start to relax and as they relax challenge you to see if you are effective enough to be a good leader or if they need to take over.
Addressing unwanted behaviour is pointless without acknowledging wanted behaviour
Are you constantly on your horses case?
Are you constantly on your horses case?
More bend!
More forward!
More frame!
… More, more, more!
One of the biggest things I have to remind my students of is to say good when they are trying, give them a break and give them pats for their good effort.
It’s not that we are purposefully hold out (although sometimes we are taught not to pat or say good boy/girl) but that we get caught up in what we are doing and trying to get the results. On focus is so centered on results that we forget to even congratulate ourselves for our effort and this has flow on affects to the horse.
When we acknowledge wanted behaviour with positive reinforcement (at Equestrian Movement we call them emotional motivators or our horses love language), our horse actively seeks the answer and therefore the reward. An added bonus of the win for the horse is the release of happy hormones associated with task completion, and if we have associated our emotional motivator with our connection with our horses, they will look to do it for us to please us and not just satisfy their own desires.
When we constantly say no, use negative reinforcement and hassle our horses, they eventually stop being curious and stop trying.
If every time they put effort in and try they are told wrong or not good enough there is no reason for them to try and nothing for them to enjoy in the learning process.
My 2 cents on licking and mouthing
A deeper look into a strange behaviour
Does your horse have to have something in it’s mouth? Or is it a licker?
Licking and mouthing are considered signs of relaxation and are often touted as gold standards signs of submission.
For me though, if a horse has to show active, loud signs of relaxation than it had to be stressed in the first place.
Everything we do with our horse creates stress.
The stress of learning cues and aids;
The stress of behaving themselves and looking after us no matter the scenario and environment;
The physical stress of performing for us all have an impact on our horses.
It is just a matter of ensuring that the stress is just enough to fire the adaptational process towards improving the horse and not a detriment to them.
For example, more physical stress than they can cope with results in injury and worst case, breaking down young. The same kind of break down can happen with mental and emotional stress, both of which are closely related. Just enough stress promotes resilience and courage. Too much stress leads to overwhelm and shut down. Finding that level of pressure that promotes the transformation your looking for without the stress. Which means that sometimes our horse works well without need to show active signs of relaxation.
Raising your horse’s energy and bringing it back down
When we are training our horse and establishing cues, we are applying pressure to our horses to trigger a reaction. The training process is multiple applications of this pressure to trigger a reaction until our horse is conditioned to associate a particular behaviour with a cue.
The trouble with this process is that our horses can get stressed, overwhelmed and frustrated. Their energy raises and their emotions get heightened until they can no longer control their behaviour and start to act out.
Each ask compounds on the previous ask and the emotional and mental performance pressure builds up. Some horses cope, some horses don’t. The ones that don’t get labelled dangerous, difficult or naughty but at the crux of it they just haven’t been shown how to cooperate and say yes.
One training tool or value we have to manage this is asking for consent. We give our horses the time and space to process the ask to say no if they need to but more importantly say yes when they are ready for the next ask. This allows them to process their emotions and stress before it gets to the point of overwhelm.
A horse that can’t control its emotions, can’t control its behaviour.
The second tool or value we use is teaching our horses relaxation and looking for relaxation and tension cues. When we are tuned in to our horses level of relaxation and tension we can clearly know if our horse is going to cope with pressure, how much pressure and what they will do when they stop coping.
This sliding scale of relaxation and performance is key to keeping our horses in a relaxed, active working brain. The more often you transition from active working to relaxed back to active working. The stronger that wiring becomes the smoother the transition is and the more resilience we build for them to cope with increased levels of pressure and stress.
How strong is your bond with your horse? Take our quiz!!
Take our quiz and see what you might need to work on to improve the relationship you have with your horse.
How to get your horse to “join up” without chasing your horse into submission
Why we are not in love with the Join Up process.
As horse riders on the journey we are all seeking the moment of utter magic and joy, where our horse connects with us on a deeper level emotionally.
The moment where they stop arguing with us, pushing us around, trying to run away from us.
That moment of union where it’s like you are your horse move and think as one.
Join up is often recommended to establish this connection. It is touted as the way to handle your horse without violence and to develop a bond. However, after years of breaking, training and playing around with different groundwork principles, I believe there is a better way.
What is join up
Join up is where you free lunge your horse in a round yard.
You keep the horse moving forward until you see loud, over exaggerated and multiple relaxation cues (Read more about relaxation cues here).
The premise being that when you horse shows these signs of submission they are ready to approach you and bond with you. When you are free lunging your horse you are wanting them to change direction by turning into you not away from you. This also encourages the join up process.
Why this works
It gets the zoomies out.
We honestly expect a lot more of our horses than we do of other animals. Because they are so big and we want to sit on them we expect a naturally flighty animal to be unflappable (get it cause they’re often scared of flappy plastic bags). We not only expect them to be cool, calm and collected in all environments but we also want them to be steady and balanced when they work no matter what kind of performance pressure we put on them.
Behaviours that are perfectly acceptable from other animals (i.e. the zoomies) are considered naughty when done by horses. Sometimes they just need a good run to get the spunk out of their system and then they can concentrate and work again. Join up can let our horses have a good run and a buck and warm their back up before settling into focus and work.
Horses learn from the release of pressure. Whatever a horse is consistently doing when you take the pressure off them they will learn to do. So if you take the pressure of the lunge whip off when your horse shows relaxation cues, or calmly approaches you, they will learn to give multiple, loud relaxation cues and approach you calmly… eventually so they don’t have to lunge anymore.
So used correctly this can be a handy skill to have and know how to use but it doesn’t establish a bond with your horse. It can be a useful way to allow your horse to get its pent up energy out of its system so it can calmly approach you and better control its emotions.
And a horse that can’t control its emotions, can’t control its behaviour.
Why we don’t love it
It doesn’t teach horses how to process their emotions.
Just running the energy out of them so that they can focus doesn’t teach them how to shift their emotional state.
So if they are cooperating because they are scared, confused, frustrated anxious etc, it only teaches them how to process emotion (fight or flighty hormones) by running - which is not necessarily what we need to teach a flight animal. More so we are taking advantage of the horses natural way of processing fight or flight hormones by running. The fitter we make our horses the longer it takes to get those relaxation cues and we end up making our horses fitter than us.
It works off the idea of submission.
While at equestrian movement we start with leadership (i.e. me boss you follower), we like to try and move quickly into a partnership.
We also establish leadership with clear, consistent boundaries and following through on our asks. Not chasing our horses until they quit (FYI this is also why join up works). You are clear and consistent on what you want the horse to do and what will happen to them when they do it. There are clear consequences to their behaviour and it is followed through on.
So what is thought of as a bond establishing it really is just the horse learning what to do with pressure and how to find the release (don’t believe me? Check out this study where they were able to get the same join up results with a remote control car. https://thehorse.com/118284/remote-controlled-cars-used-to-study-round-pen-training/)
You don’t have to chase your horse to establish a connection with your horse and get them to “join up” or “hook on”
Showing up as a good leader, establishing clear, consistent expectations, following through on your asks, being clear in your expectations and consequences and over time you will develop trust, respect and a relationship. Want to speed the process along? We cover how to establish the connection without join up in our Easy Peasy Liberty Module of Training trainability.
7 Relaxation Cues Your Horse Is Communicating To You
What are the cues your horse is showing that it is relaxing?
Relaxation cues are a tell tale sign of our horses lowering their guard around us and letting us in.
It also helps to tell us how much pressure to put on our horse, when to back off and let them process the pressure and when our horse is no longer coping.
How clear these cues are vary on age, previous experiences and breed.
Typically speaking heavy horses (like clydies and percherons) can be harder to get relaxation cues from because it can be harder for them to feel stressed compared to a thoroughbred. Lets face it, just being alive is a stress to some thoroughbreds. Younger horses and natural people pleasers that get stressed more easily may show more obvious relaxation cues but it can also take them longer to relax. Horses that have experienced past traumas or that live alone may struggle with relaxing at all and can be hard to elicit relaxation cues from.
Some relaxation cues to look for:
Quivering lower lip
Lowering their head
Shaking out their head, wiggling their ears and lowering their head (different to head shaking and tossing when stressed or frustrated)
Muscle twitches
Full body shake
Lying down
Mouthing, licking and chewing
Some signs of tension:
Holding and bracing through their body
Stomping their hoof
Head lifted and lifts against pressure
Tight through the ears and jaw
Looking for relaxation and tension cues from my horse has been a game changer in our working relationship. It helps me address the no before he even says it. What I hadn’t realised was he was stressed with me just going into the paddock with him. I guess not knowing what to expect and having to work. The tension cues would start with me just walking to the paddock.
Initially it took 20 minutes of just being quiet and still with my horse in the paddock before I started seeing relaxation cues. Once I realised this relaxation was the missing piece to starting to build a connection and relationship, I made these the point of my training sessions. I started prioritising these relaxation cues of all else and then worked towards connection. Now I get the same relaxation cues - the same ones that people would do join up for ages for with their horses - within minutes of standing quietly with my horse.
What Is "Trainability"?
And are you providing it for your horse?
Are you supporting your horses ability to be trained?
Trainability refers to the ability for your horse to process the education your are providing. It requires a willingness and desire to work together as you both progress.
It is unfortunate that many training techniques actually discourage “trainability” - although these techniques will continue to state that they get results.
I agree they can get results:
Sometimes that result is a horse that has been bullied into submission, and has no way of communicating his lack of understanding.
Sometimes that result is a horse that has been forced to shut down emotionally, because they are constantly exposed to adverse situations and then expected to not respond in any way.
Finally, sometimes that result is a horse that is deemed ‘unsafe’, ‘unsound’ or dangerous. Sometimes that result is another horse on the doggers truck.
It’s not always doom and gloom. Some horses come through traditional training programs and can do well.
But so many horse’s don’t thrive in traditional training methods - and neither do their owners.
This is why Trainability became such an importance focus for me, and it is why I will always put the concept of first do no harm in the fore-front of any work I do. It is why I work so closely with Katie - to give more horse owners the capability, knowledge and skills to change the world of their horse.
When we open our horses up to becoming trainable, we open them to a whole new world. A world that allows them:
To openly communicate with you, express their confusion or understanding to the task at hand;
To understand that we are the leader, but we are not going to punish them for something they didn’t understand, but will help them through until they do;
To feel confident and safe enough to be curious, instead of being reactive to new stimuli;
& to show their personality in a totally new light.
Even more than that, it teaches us, as people:
To better understand our horse;
Methods that we can apply to our horse regardless of education level;
& how to be a better horse person.
That is why Katie Boniface has put together the Holistic Horse Handling Program . It is a selection of exercises, activities and theory that shows you, step by step, how to work through the challenge of making your horse more trainable.
Let the way you train your horse reflect the love you feel. Sign up to Holistic horse handling program waitlist today
What Strengthening Your Bond Will Do For Your Horse
Did you know that herd structure plays a big part in the way we should bond with our horse?
Have you ever wondered why horses are herd animals?
I wouldn’t be surprised if you really haven’t given it much thought. They just are - right?
Or perhaps you think “they are animals of prey, it makes sense to have the advantage of numbers”.
And in a sense, that is true. But a herd offers so much more.
The structure of the herd incorporates:
An alpha that expects discipline, provides security and that they trust.
An alpha that they can ‘test’ to ensure they are being lead by the best.
Herd mates that they share affection with.
Herd mates that share companionship and will play together.
When it comes to OUR interaction with our horse, we need to spend time intergrating ourselves into a similar position of the alpha horse in the herd. By doing so, we can set ourselves the easier task of training and working with a horse that respects us, trusts us and will share affection and connection.
So what are the areas we work on with our bond?
Boundaries:
By establishing boundaries, we can reinforce manners and respect with our horse. And we don’t need to beat them back or bully them into submission to do so.
Affection:
Have you ever watched to paddock mates mutually grooming? Not only is it cute, it has the benefit of reconnecting and re-establishing bond through affection. We love our horses and want them to love us back, so when we practice exercises that encourage affection, our bond strengthens infinitely.
Adventure:
Taking a break from the regular work routine or home routine to take an adventure together is not only a lot of fun, but a great way to reinforce our leadership and to create a level of trust founded on the confidence that your horse knows you will help them process stimuli and keep them from danger.
Companionship:
Spending some time with your horse without expectations is an exercise that actually has a bigger impact on ourselves but still a large impact on your horse. It is also a great assessment of your horse’s expectations from you - their reaction to your presence in the paddock will point you in the direction of what needs more work.
Security:
We (should already be, I hope) providing the basic security for our horses physical well-being, but sometimes we neglect the emotional security. By taking the opportunity to support our horse through these times of emotional crisis, we result in a higher level of trust, more affection, and an extremely strong bond.
Why does my horse buck? 7 Common Occassions & Their Cause
While a normal behaviour, it can be dangerous for us. Learn about the most common times horses buck and why they are doing it.
Horses bucking is a very normal and natural horse behaviour.
However, we don’t really want them doing it when we are handling or riding them because we can get hurt.
There are a couple of different types of bucking our horses can do as well. Just a little kick out in protest to your ask, through to a full out bronco ride that doesn’t stop until they get you off.
Knowing the type of bucking your horse is doing can help you to problem solve and understand what they need to not buck.
1. Bucking when mounting
If you are too scared to mount your horse because they take of bucking you will most likely need a breaker to work with your horse. There are a couple of reasons for this behaviour.
Poor mounting technique has meant that being mounted has hurt for them. Digging your toes into their ribs, twisting the saddle as you mount, pulling the saddle over and pulling and clambering your way up their back.
Sore back. The twist and the pull of climbing up into the saddle aggravates an already sore back
Girthy. If they are muscle sore around the girth, the way the girth pulls as you twist and pull yourself into the saddle can hurt
Saddle doesn’t fit
Memory of previous pain from being mounted
Poor initial experience of breaking. A horse doesn’t need to be bucked out to accept the saddle and rider. They do need to get used to moving with the restriction of the girth around the ribs and the rider moving and wobbling around on the their back.
Topline and their back not being conditioned to support the weight of the rider.
Thumping or sitting heavy into the saddle.
Any of these problems will also come up as you are just riding. For example the first few steps off in walk trigger a bronco outburst, the transition to trot, just a simple turn. Any time the horse unexpectable and unexplainably tacks off in a broncing fit these things need to be addressed.
2. Bucking when putting your heels in or touching the flank.
It is important that you know that the flank is a very sensitive area for the horse. It is literally where rodeo riders tie a rope to make a horse buck.
This is also the most common place for riders to swing their leg into when they lose their balance, especially in they are gripping with the knee. Swinging your heel into your horse flank and gripping can be an auto eject button on a lot of horses.
Being an unbalanced, bouncy rider on a green, novice horse or a horse that is even the slightest bit sore through their back, nervous, anxious horses and horses that are a little intolerant. It takes a very special horse to look after an inexperienced rider - that’s why a lot of riding school horses and trail horses are worth their weight in gold. They don’t react to unbalanced riders. Working on your core and riding independently of your horse is and important skill to develop as a horse riding that wants to care for their horse and to help kicking or bucking out.
3. Horse bucks when excited.
A horse that can’t control its emotions can’t control its behaviour.
We can often see this kind of bucking when we let our horse out for a big gallop or if other horses are loose galloping around and playing and our horse wants to join in. They can also buck on a gallop because they’ve lost their balance and trying to catch it. This one just takes time correcting to let our horse know what is appropriate under saddle and what isn’t.
4. Horse bucks into canter when asked to canter
If your horse only really bucks going into canter this is a pretty strong sign of them being cold backed or working hollow and tight through their back.
With the way the trot strides work in a diagonal pair, they can work with their head down in a frame and not properly warm their back up.
Because they canter has a naturally roundedness and lift through the back, if they’re back isn’t warmed up properly they will use the transition to canter to stretch their back and jump into it. If you warm up the canter on the lunge before you ride it probably won’t happen under saddle. The may also baulk or kick out after poles or jumps because this also encourages them to use their back.
5. Horse bucks when asked to move forward
Bucking when asking to move forward the horse has commonly established an aversion to leg pressure and gone sour on their working.
Spicing it up by hacking out, having them fit for their job and doing other groundwork exercises can help. Spurs will make it worse and the whip also usually makes it worse.
6. Horse bucks after jump
As with bucking into canter, horses that buck after the jump are generally cold backed and need their back well warmed up. They sometimes also do it if they are scared of the jump fill.
I have had some horses that only buck after a jump if they clip the rail, so that could be either frustration with themselves for touching it or giving themselves a fright.
7. Horse bucks on the lunge
This one I’m less worried about.
If my horse has some bucks in his system and needs to warm his back up, I want him to do it on the lunge and not in the saddle. I still don’t want them to be crazy and out of control, but I’m ok with them kicking their legs around a bit. If I have the right facilities and may also free lunge and let them have a good run and a buck if they really want to play, get the crazies out of their system or want a good stretch.
Once we have identified the when of the bucking, we can start to look deeper into the why, and then start to work on the how.
Stay tuned for the next blog to see how we can correct bucking behaviours!
Get Your Horse To Trust You In 6 Easy Steps
Let’s get into the nitty gritty of developing trust.
Does your horse trust you?
Getting your horse to trust you has very little to do with the horse’s behaviour itself - it is about whether or not you are trustworthy to your horse!
So what can we do to help solidify that trust?
Consistency
The biggest part, and probably the hardest part of all, is consistency. It doesn’t matter what we are doing, whether it is riding on a trail, mucking out a stall, or rugging up - you need to be consistent in WHAT you are asking and consistent in HOW you ask it.
This might mean spending some time analysing how you interact with your horse at different times. When you lead your horse to the mounting block, do you treat it differently than when you lead them to their feed yard? In that exact example, you will often have horses that will willingly push against you to get to their feed faster, but walk reluctantly to the mounting block. Do you correct both of these behaviours and expect the same movement?
2. Boundaries
To expect our horses to trust us, we must set them up for success. One of the areas that most horse owners tend to muck up is boundaries.
Boundaries mean that we have a clear personal space that we expect our horse to respect, and that space should only be invaded upon invitation.
When we let our horses push into us when they are nervous, but then expect them to not walk over the top of us when we lead them, we have not set up our boundaries correctly.
It might sound counter-intuitive (surely trust means they want to be closer?), but the respect and consistency we build with our boundaries exercise leads to a much higher level of trust.
3. Enocourage a Learningn Brain
How you handle yourself around your horse when times get difficult can influence how the trust develops. For example, how can your horse trust you if you yell at them for doing something that they either are unsure of, testing you with, or unable to do? How can your horse not be expected to get excited if you do?
Breathing and keeping your emotions stable, even when things are going to literal shyte, helps establish respect and trust.
4. Emotional Support
In the same way that we must manage our own emotions, we must help our horses deal with their own. This can be rather difficult in some of the ‘hotter’ breeds but still very important. When we show our horses a way of processing and learning that the scary objects are not as scary as first seen, they breath, look at us and start to understand that we are as trustworthy as we promise to be.
5. Breaking Up The Routine
While consistency is numero uno in all we should do, it shouldn’t mean all work and no play. A chance for adventures, playtime or even a change of scenery not only breaks the monotony of work life, it helps expose the horse to new scenarios to test and explore their trust in you, and work on further extending it.
6. Communication
Finally, communication is very important. How we communicate the commands, how the horse responds to those aids, how we listen when they are processing, how we identify when they are not processing, how they tell us when they move on - all essential for a stronger level of trust.
Breaking The Wheel - Why You Should Choose To Train Trainability
What makes Training Trainability so different to other horse training methods?
Do we follow tradition because that’s how it’s always been done?
Or do we challenge tradition and incorporate new training techniques that have been proven to not only work for horses but dogs, elephants, birds, dolphins, seals… And those are just the animals I am aware of.
If you are “doing all the things” and your horse can do all the tricks but you feel like there is still something missing, then Training Trainability is for you.
Our tradition-breaking perspective that we have incorporated into our training values, philosophies and principles is that horses are emotionally intelligent, sentient beings that should be valued as equals and not devalued to the status of a belonging.
We value our horses needs physically, mentally and emotionally over our riding goals, and encourage them to learn and willingly participate in their education so that our training and ridden sessions are not only a joy for us but our horses as well.
This does not mean we let our horses push us around and get away with being bold. In fact, we are the complete opposite.
One of our core values is that to have a strong, trusting relationship between horse and rider we need to show up as a strong leader, setting clear, consistent boundaries and following through on our asks. The thing that is different is how we set those boundaries and being clear and consistent so our horse understands what we want, what to expect from us and why.
Our goal in training is to give our horse a voice. Some say in their own training experience. Their education is happening for them, not to them. They are allowed to tell us if they are overwhelmed, frustrated, sore, confused, unsure, anxious and any other spectrum of emotion they may feel without being “pushed through”.
We offer other supportive strategies that first teach our horses how to process and move through these emotions and then tackle the challenges we set for them with confidence and trust in us to guide them through the unknown (which is obviously always full of scary monsters like flapping plastic bags and rustling trees).
What we are really truly looking for in our work with horses is not the 50c ribbon, the nod of approval from our peers or the accolades from the judges but the connection, emotional relationship and the peace that comes from creating a deep and powerful bond with our horses.
Because if all we wanted was the adrenaline rush of the ride without the emotions and intellect, we would ride motor bikes.
Are you ready to join the equestrian movement?
#jointheequestrianmovement
The Missing Element In Your Horse's Training
Can you identify what is missing with your hors'e’s training?
Have you ever considered what could be missing from your training?
A big marker used for identifying if you have a “good” horse is submission.
Submission, willingness and obedience are seen as signs of a “good” horse and it may even earn the horse the status of bomb proof. It comes up regularly as a quality marked for in competition and judged on by peers, trainers and instructors. Resistance, on the other hand, is seen as a quality of a bad horse that’s being naughty and acting out.
Many riders that do have a horse that can act out get confused when we get told our horse is being naughty.
We get upset when we are told our horse is too much for us.
We know deep down our horse is good and we love them with our everything, but we can just end up at our wits end not knowing how to simply get along with our horse.
Why can’t my horse just cooperate so we both can just enjoy each others company!?!
Maybe you’ve even googled:
How do I stop my horse from biting?
How do I stop my horse from throwing his head?
How do I stop my horse from bolting?
How do I stop my horse from bucking?
There have been many times in my riding career where I’ve just sat down on the floor and cried, ready to quit and just walk away because its all just too hard. It never lasts. I pull myself together and try again. And after 25 + years of trying again… and again… and again….
It is my belief that the most important element lacking in our training is giving our horse a voice.
Giving them permission to say no.
Giving them some control in what happens to them in their training.
Let them consent to working with you.
It’s the two way communication that is missing for our horses!
When you think about the crux of the issue, resistance is just the horse saying no, and willingness is the horse saying yes!!
In our industry, willingness is demanded from our horse. It is expected. And if that willingness isn’t given it is common practice that it is forced.
So a lot of the time the willingness of “good” horses I see isn’t given because they WANT to be participating in their training, it is given because they don’t want to experience the consequences and the type of discipline that gets used on them when they aren’t willing. This can lead to a horse being shut down, or learned helplessness, where the horse really resents what is happening to it but doesn’t see any other option. Alternatively, they can go the other way and become aggressive and some may consider dangerous.
Have you ever asked why your horse might say no?
We have. Here are just a couple of reasons:
Your horse doesn’t understand
Your horse is in pain
Your horse can’t do what you are asking
Your horse is uncomfortable
Your horse has an underlying medical condition that needs treating ie. Ulcers.
Your horses teeth need doing and are rubbing and cutting into the sides of their mouth
Your horses feed needs tweaking
Your horses tack doesn’t fit correctly
Your horse has rub areas, galls or sores from either not being properly groomed or tack rubbing from poor fit
Your horse is remembering or has an established learnt behaviour from a bad or poorly trained experience their past
Your horse is getting overwhelmed and doesn’t know how to effectively process its emotions.
These are just a handful of reasons that I have experienced for a horse saying no and therefore resistance.
When I first go out to a new assessment lesson, the most common reason for the horses behaviour being unmanageable - the reason I was called out in the first place - is because that horse has at least one if not more of the above reasons that it hasn’t been able to get across. The horse gets more frustrated and upset, it doesn’t feel heard or listened too and the behaviour escalates past what the owner can comfortably and safely manage.
The first thing I do is open a pathway of communication. I let the horse know I’m not going to make it do anything it doesn’t want to do and that I am there to listen to them. Once they know this, all of that “resistance” and naughty behaviour deescalates rapidly to just small, manageable yeses and nos. Once the horse feels listened to and heard, they don’t need or want to resort to the big dangerous behaviours that are really the big, loud nos. And it is then we can work through and address all of the reasons our horse is saying no.
This doesn’t mean that we allow our horses to bully us and push us around. We still maintain manners and expectations of how they should behave with us. The big difference is how we establish and maintain those manners and expectations we set. We give the horse the tools to say yes and no without it being a case of “them getting away with it” and them taking advantage of us next time.
Once we have ruled out all reasons for our horse saying no, only then can we start taking small steps towards getting a yes and rewarding the yes to encourage more yeses.
Once we have a small yes (this can be as simple as leading in halter in walk, sending them away at feed time or just putting the halter on), we slowly build the number of yeses but we maintain the horses right to say no. Over time we will get consistent, multiple yeses not because they are forced but because the horse enjoys the mental stimulation of learning, the physical stimulation of movement and the emotional stimulation of a dynamic and respectful relationship. The bonus being they can also let us know if they are overwhelmed, frustrated, confused, hurt and all other manner of issues that can crop up in training without having to escalate their behaviour and become dangerous.
The two way conversation is now established and we can move forward again with our education.
And that, my readers, is what is truly missing from most horseman’s trainings.
Why Your Horse Wont Canter
Are you struggling to get your canter established?
The canter is considered by a number of horse riders as one of the most fun strides to ride. Yet many other riders find it very hard to get their horse into a canter. So let’s have a review on why the canter might not be working for you.
Your horse isn’t fit enough to hold you in a canter
Like any athlete, horses require training to develop and hold riders in their chosen sport. It involves them coordinating 4 legs, balancing a human on their back, engaging their core, and trying to listen to what you are telling them. Imagine trying to hold 3 plates, walk in high heels, suck in your belly and smiling at the same time – then up that walk to a run! While it doesn’t look pretty, and probably isn’t feasible, with practice it becomes easier.
Same for our horse. We can help them build it up by ensuring they have their core engaged, a working pace and balance in the lower paces before introducing it in the canter. We can also help them by working on their canter transitions on the lunge.
You are getting in the way of your horse’s canter
If you lack balance, or lack confidence, you may be clenching down on your horse with your knees, and/or gripping the mouth to tight, and essentially providing a set of mixed signals for your horse.
If your canter isn’t established, you can’t help your horse coordinate theirs under saddle. Hop off, work on some canter on the lunge, and look for a riding school horse with a balanced canter to help you learn.
The working area is too small for the horse to canter
If you are trying to canter in 15 meter circles and your horse is unable to do so, the area is too small. The horse lacks the capability of maintaining that amount of bend at the canter pace, regardless if it can while at the lower paces.
The advice here is to go big! Bigger circles, bigger arena! Allow your horse to build up their ability to bend in the canter before trying to work in smaller circles or corners.
The horse just goes into a faster trot, and doesn’t pop into a canter
This may happen for several reasons:
Your horse can physically hold you in the canter
Your horse doesn’t understand the aids
You are giving your horse the wrong instructions
Your horse is trying but isn’t quite there yet
Your horse is purposely avoiding the canter
Firstly, make sure you are providing the correct cues to pop them into canter. You may need to hire an instructor to get you through this phase. I would also suggest reading the 4 reasons why a horse evades to establish what to do in the case of the other reasons.
Do you have a riding question? Pop it in the comments below and we will respond!
What the toss? 8 Reasons Why Your Horse May Be Head Tossing
Head tossing can be difficult to ride and scary for newer riders.
We all see beautiful images of horses working in a self-carriage frame, and then come across a horse that tosses his head or needs to hold it high. It can be frightening, frustrating and unbalancing when we ride these horses.
Understanding why this might be happening can improve our chances of correcting this unwanted behaviour.
Dental and bit issues
Mouth pain created by an incorrectly worn bit or dental issues can lead to head tossing, particularly when you put the bridle on or apply a reign aid – strong or soft. The best way to see if this is the cause of your horse’s head tossing is to have a discussion and examination with your dentist.
Development Issues
A horse that is working hollow is generally going to carry his or her head higher (unless being forced into a frame, which will be uncomfortable and limit the development of your horse). A horse that has poor strength and elasticity through their top-line will also need to use their shoulders and neck to lift, which will bring their head high. Ensure to work through the training scale to maximise your horse’s capability for self-carriage is the only way to fix this, and it will take time.
Anxiety
Horses that are anxious are naturally inclined to have their heads held high on the lookout for danger. Some horses may have anxiety related to one particular issue, and others may be living in a chronic state of anxiety. The best way to deal with an anxious horse is to help them get past the ‘fight or flight’ stage of the anxiety to where they can begin to mentally process their decisions, while at the same time encouraging them to follow you as their calm leader – if you are not anxious, they shouldn’t be either. This may require professional assistance.
Need support training an anxious horse? Training Trainability has your answers!
Click here to view the programTraining Issues
A horse that doesn’t understand or becomes frustrated may toss his head to communicate his confusion. They will usually attempt to do what you ask but become repeatedly confused as we continue to not give the release they were expecting. You may have to work with your trainer to ensure the aids you are applying have been developed from the very basic to the more advanced (as they learn).
Conversely, a horse that knows the training but is trying to avoid putting his head down will react opposite of your aid and lift his head. This may be because the head in frame is too hard to maintain too long, or because he is testing us. Use the pressure/release method to encourage and reward the correct behaviour, and gradually increase the number of strides he has to maintain this.
Saddle Fit
Sometimes, an incorrectly fitting saddle that pinches or rubs may create a number of ‘naughty’ habits, including head tossing. A poorly fitted saddle would be like wearing a bra that is 3 sizes too small in one cup and 2 sizes too big in the other. These naughty behaviours are your horse’s way of telling you they are uncomfortable.
Poll Pressure
Some horses, particularly as they develop, or if they have dental issues, may have a sensitive poll. This is usually due to a tightening of the neck and/or the jaw muscles. Ear twitched horses may also be extra sensitive to this area, as ear twitching creates pain and can damage the muscles in and around the ear. Some great stretches to release poll pressure include low carrots stretches and between the knees carrot stretches. It’s also not a bad idea to review this at your horse’s next chiro visit.
Insects
If you are in a particularly high insect area or time, you may notice your horse tossing his head a lot more. Use some insect repellent on a grooming mitt to gently apply to the areas of the face, ears and neck to help reduce this.
Learned Behaviour
Unfortunately, some horses may have figured out that when they toss their head high, they can scare their rider or owner out of doing what they are asking for, and therefore it has become a learned response to get out of something they deem unpleasant. It takes some time, patience and consistency to break this behaviour, and a lot of pressure/release practice. But persevere – I promise that with the right approach it can be overcome!
overcome problem behaviours with our easy to follow method
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Getting Your Horse “on the Bit” is Easy...
What is riding on the bit and why do so many of us struggle with it?
Getting Your Horse “on the Bit” is Easy – Keeping Your Horse There is Hard
Riding your horse on the bit is both one of the easiest and hardest things you will do in your riding career.
The reason it is easy is because to get the horse to be on bit and flex at poll is the use of pressure & release to get your horses to give to the bit pressure.
The reason it is hard is because of the way the horse has to engage its core to do it well – which gets harder when we start moving!
In the same way that we can stand still and engage our postural muscles, it’s easy - but then you are asked to move, or run, or dance – not so easy.
These are the things we are expecting of our horse – to move gracefully forward with acceptance of the bit.
The actual teaching of the acceptance of the bit, to be on the bit, is easy; the hard part is conditioning the involved for the horse to maintain it easily and with forward movement.
Issues with attempting to get your horse on the bit when they aren’t conditioned to it:
False flexion
False flexion. Note the bend at the 3rd vertebrae.
The horse breaks away at the 3rd vertebrae as opposed to flexing at the poll and bringing its head on the vertical. This puts its head too deep, leading to them working on the forehand, pulling with the shoulders and then working behind the bit.
You will still get rewarded in your dressage test for your horse being slightly behind the vertical or slightly on the vertical but still on the forehand, but you will have comments like lacking forward or lacking impulsion. And that’s essentially because you have pulled the horses head down without learning how to ride them forward through to contact.
That is the conditioning work that we do to maintain the horse in frame while on the bit in forward movement.
Twisting Pelvis or Dropped Shoulder
We use bend to establish the suppleness for the horse to be able to put its head down in the first place. So rather than bending through the rib cage, they will twist through the pelvis or drop the shoulder. This allows them to put their head down without technically having to engage their postural or self-carriage muscles.
This further enhances them travelling on the forehand, pulling with their chest and shoulders, working with false flexion and working behind the bit.
Tips to work your horse to truly be ‘on the bit’
What being on the bit actually is is between being too hollow and too deep.
What I teach my students is to ride them forward, hands out of their mouth and let them be hollow. Then use their half halt (which you have taught them to give to bit through pressure/release), and they might come behind the bit slightly, or your just asking them to tuck their chin in, and then you want to ride them forward out of that again. You are using your circle work to keep them nice and supple. Eventually, the horse will develop its core strength and the stability of its postural muscles to be able to ride forward, into contact. So that when you ride your half halt, they don’t come behind the bit, and when you ride your forward, they don’t hollow.
What happens, though, is we get super excited that our horse is on the bit, and we want to keep them there, not change up the exercise or allowing strengthening. In doing that we end up with our horse coming behind the bit, behind the leg, and going on the forehand.
So it is important for us riders, in these first few stages where the horse is learning and developing how to work on the bit, to allow them to go hollow, and then bring them back in again, then letting them go hollow, and bring them back again.
You have to give your horse the 12 months it needs to condition their body to that exercise.
Using the half halt to bring them in and then letting them out forward and hollow allows the correct toning for the muscles during the development stage
It takes 6-8 weeks to develop the coordination and balance, followed by 3-4 months of muscle conditioning – the muscles they need to develop to actually hold their head there (we want it to feel natural and good for them to hold their head there while they are moving) – and finally, 6-12 months for bone and ligament density, so that this environmental stress that we have created in their bodies becomes part of their conformation. That’s when you can just hop on your horse and they are already there.
The ‘on the bit part’ is quite easy. The conditioning part is the hard part, where you are giving your horse the time and the environmental exposure for their body to adapt to it and be able to do it easily and maintain it consistently.
Obviously, part of that is you, as the rider, understanding how to apply the pressure release so their head can come down, but also having the sensitivity to know when your horse has come behind your leg, or when its dropped the hip, or fallen out through the shoulder, or when it’s not moving forward to your hands, or when it is not moving forward with thoroughness.
All of these parts of part of your journey as a rider to learn, so that you don’t inhibit your horse’s range of movement.
You don’t want to stress about whether the horse’s head is on the bit or not, you want to learn the foundations of how to work the horse correctly into contact. And once you learn those foundations, and apply those exercises, the horse will come onto the bit.
The ‘on the bit’ part is just the last piece of the puzzle of good self carriage from your horse.
Foundations of Equine Development Green to Self Carriage program is coming soon - register your interest here
Horse body language: Are they saying no?
We are so often hearing “why does my horse...?”, “Is my horse being naughty?”, “Does my horse hate me?”, “Why won't my horse...?”
Is your horse trying to say no?
We are so often hearing “why does my horse...?”, “Is my horse being naughty?”, “Does my horse hate me?”, “Why won't my horse...?”
This perception and wording of what you ask yourself when you are working your horse plays a significant role in not only how you train but also how your horse works.
If you are trying to find ways to make your horse do something you are inevitably going to come across the argument of who's the bigger bully.
But when you can think of working with your horse in a way where they have a choice to say yes or no then we can start to work together. If we can see that willingness is a yes to our ask and resistance is a no to our ask we can ask WHY is our horse giving us a no (therefore rule out pain and other issues) and ask HOW can get a yes.
One of the ways we do this is by being flexible with our goal posts. Our goal posts is basically getting the yes. And if we can set willingness and yeses as our goal posts, its impossible to come away without a win. Its when we have certain expectations of what our horse should do for us + willingness and yeses that we are setting both ourselves and our horses up to fail.
For example, consider if you are going out to work your horse with the expectation of doing a 90cm gridwork session. You go out to catch your horse and they high tail it to the back corner of the paddock (first no). Eventually you catch them and they are fidgeting and fussing around for the saddle and channeling their inner giraffe for the bridle (second and third no). Then they won’t stand still for you to mount (fourth no). They start mucking up for you in your warm up pulling through the bit, testing and fighting every aid etc. How well do you think your actually training session is going to go?
Now consider your if instead you adjusted your goal posts to have willingness and yes as the goal for the day. You go to catch your horse the go to the end of the paddock so you work on some focus, attention and connection exercises and they hook on and follow you up to the barn. They start fidgeting and fussing around for their tack so you work on getting a yes to put the saddle on and getting them to put their own bridle on. They won’t stand still for the mounting block so you work on getting them to invite you into the saddle. So you can start to see rather than it being an argument the whole way through you acknowledge the no and reshape the exercise to make the yes the goal.
How much different do you think your horse would be by the end of the training session? What about a week of training them like this? A month? A year? How could the relationship with your horse change if the focus of each training session was willingness and yeses instead of task achievement?
Will it take longer? Short term? Yes. Long term? No. If you put the work in at the beginning to set the expectations and the standards it does take a while of you showing up with consistency of your expectations to condition the horses interaction but once this is established the more difficult exercises that become big road blocks actually become relatively easy to progress through.
So rather than getting frustrated, impatient and disheartened because every training session is a battle and you constantly feel stuck, flip the script. Break it down it to small achievable goals, build the yeses and eventually the yeses come easily to the bigger asks. And the best thing is, once this is well established, when your horse does say no, you know their is a good reason and can catch it before it becomes a big problem.
Do you need help establishing focus, attention and connection? Join our free stronger bond community where we give you support for exactly that.
Why does my horse bite me?
Have you been bitten by your horse?
Have you been bitten by your horse? Maybe you were doing up their girth and they whipped around and gave you a nip. Maybe you were standing outside their yard talking to your mate and they struck out and gave you a good bruise, much to your embarrassment. Maybe the are constantly at you and hassling you and its impossible to handle them without coming away covered in bruises. Even though they are herbivores that mouth can pack a punch!!
One of our philosophies at Equestrian Movement is “first do no harm”. So before you delve into the training of any behavioural issues we believe it is vital to rule out all possible physical reasons they could have for that behaviour. Working with your horse team of equine health practitioners you want to rule out any pain from:
Ulcers
Muscle pain (back, neck, pole etc)
Gut pain in general maybe from fresh grass etc
Dental issues
Reduction in range of movement (for example a recent horse I was working with was trying to nip my when I wanted to pick his back leg up because back pain was limiting the range of movement through his hindquarters)
Poorly fitted rug
Poorly fitted tack
Once you have ruled out all these problems, the next thing to do is see if you can see a pattern. Is the nipping only associated with a certain ask? For example, is it only when you put the rug on or is it only when you brush them. I have experienced in my time some horses, though not the majority, I would call sensory. They are particular about the feel of things, some people have called them ticklish. These horses don’t like being groomed because they don’t like the feel of the brush, or they may not like the rug being pulled forward because they don’t like the way the hair gets pushed the wrong way.
Once you’ve ruled this out you’re left with the majority of horses that are just naturally mouthy. Nippy horses are generally naturally mouthy horses. When you see them in the paddock they are biting at the other horses usually trying to antagonise them into play.
They will also usually drive you crazy by putting everything in their mouth!! Your whip, your saddle, your saddle cloth, the brush. Anything left lying around is fair game. So when you think about your nippy horse and what they are trying to say its important to realise that they are probably a very social temperament looking for connection (as long as you've ruled out all other problems such as pain, ulcers etc.) So what they are truly looking for from you when they are nipping at you is your focus, attention and to play with them.
It is important these horses know you are “with them”. They are also vocal and get easily stressed and more nippy if they think your training methods are unfair. They get almost an angsty tension about themselves if they don’t feel heard or respected. They are a little on the needy side, very demanding of your attention and love to be spoiled and fussed over. However, when the trust has been broken by you or other handlers they don’t know how to best express their neediness and can be standoffish whilst at the same time picking at you. If they’re safety really feels threatened they are more likely to become aggressive and lunge at you than run away.
Opening the lines of communication and rediscovering that connection is the best way to redirect that angsty mouthy energy to affection. I also have a little trick for turning nippers into lickers and occupying their mouth which I’m putting together into a freebie. If you don’t want to miss this mini video training make sure you’re on our email list.
Why we don't teach desensitisation
At Equestrian Movement we don’t use a lot of desensitisation. It might be a litte contraversial, but hear us out.
Teaching your horse to target is one step of teaching them how to investigate scary objects
This might sound a bit controversial but…
…at Equestrian Movement, we don’t use a lot of desensitisation.
There have been plenty of times in my riding and training career that I have questioned myself because I tend not to use it. I’ve often been told I haven’t done my job properly or a horse hasn’t been properly broken in if it hasn’t been “sacked out”.
And this idea that you haven’t done your job right if you haven’t desensitised your horse had me experimenting with it to see if there truly was something I was missing. If maybe I wasn’t doing the best possible job I was capable of for the horse. After some experimentation I still didn’t like the process and didn’t think it was necessary for a “good” horse.
There are 2 big reasons why we don’t “sack out” our horses to “break them in”.
Firstly, teaching your horse not to react to something there are scared of doesn’t make them less scared.
It just teaches them not to react.
It can work for some horses but they really have to have the right temperament. The kind of horse that is already fairly confident in itself, hasn’t had too much trauma in previous experiences, isn’t particularly spooky or easily startled.
Secondly, it can teach them to shut down.
This means that the fear the horse is feeling is too much to cope with. It doesn’t know what to do with it and switches into fight, flight or freeze mode.
The part of the brain responsible for processing, reasoning and learning is switched off. The part of the brain designed for survival is switched on. The 2 cannot work at the same time.
Maybe you’ve experienced this yourself when you’ve gotten a big fright? In the moment you are just reacting and when its over you’ve had to talk it through with a friend or counsellor to process the experience.
There are plenty of reasons a horse could be struggling with its emotional stress response.
Lets face it - most horses have a tough gig. It could have:
been weaned too young;
had to live in isolation;
not been able to integrate and live with a herd
not had enough time out;
lived in a box;
bad experiences with trainers, handlers, being broken in;
pain… the list goes on.
I’m not trying to make excuses for them, but I am saying that the number of ways a horse could learn how to process an environmental stimulus poorly is profound. Even if it is naturally a confident and secure horse let alone our more naturally spooky horses.
One of our core philosophies at Equestrian Movement is to first do no harm. Harm may not always be something you can see easily. Mental and emotional harm are just as important to address as physical. We want to build our horses up emotionally to be resilient, brave and confident within themselves.
Another one of our core philosophies is to set our horse up for success. I’ve always believed that we are supposed to be the “intelligent” species. We’re the ones who want to ride these horses and yet we expect them to be the ones to figure it out and even reprimand them for anticipating the right answer. So to set them up for success literally means to make the answer easy for them to find and understand.
So if we don’t use desensitisation, how do we deal with spooky horses?
We teach them to be curious.
We teach them how to breath through and process their emotions.
We teach them how to deal with stress, fear, anxiety, frustration and anger so that they aren’t taking it out on us.
We want them to build the confidence up in themselves first, and then their trust in us so that they can investigate for themselves something that has them spooked and learn from the experience that it wasn’t so bad.
This has lead to our core training principles in our course Training Trainability, where we teach our horses how to learn.
Leadership, communication and curiosity.
When we start implementing these training tools our spooky, sensitive, reactive horse starts to:
trust us to look after them and not put them in situations that are going to end badly for them, whether physically, mentally or emotionally.
be able to communicate they are having a problem, before the problem escalates out of control.
be curious and investigate potentially scary objects. The best part about teaching curiousity over desensitisation is that you can never desensitise a horse to every potential thing it may ever be scared of (for example the bubble machine in side show alley starting up and blowing across the show ring and bubbles popping on your horses nose). So instead you are teaching them to investigate things they are scared of rather than run away.
Desensitisation is one small piece of the training puzzle too often used incorrectly. While teaching a horse not to react to certain things and then to react to other things is an important part of their education, it is far more important that they know how to process their emotions.
Only then can the horse understand how to find the right answer and how to ask questions.
Are you curious about how we work these principles into our training?
Let Your Horse Make The Mistake!
Before you poo-poo the idea, hear me out!
Before you poo-poo the idea, hear me out!
One way to really affect your relationship with your horse in a negative way is to micromanage their behaviour.
As the perfectionists we are, it is super hard to let our horse make a mistake when we feel it is about to happen. In response, we create pressure when our horse is still doing the right thing.
If the pressure is there for the right AND the wrong behavior, there is no incentive for our horse to seek the answer.
So to help them continue to seek the right answer - let them make the mistake!
Once they've made the mistake, correct them. Let them keep making the mistake over and over until they figure out what the correct answer is and choose to do it. This creates willingness.
Create a work ethic in your horse where they are looking for the correct answer to the ask. Create a curious horse that engages in your training and enjoys learning.
Don’t create a horse that stops asking questions, stops looking for answers and sometimes starts arguing with you.
Support your horse’s training by understanding the full concepts of Trainability - the program that teaches you how to create a confident, willing and curious companion - view more details on the program here.
Does your horse struggle with focus?
Gaining a horse’s focus, concentration and attention isn’t always easy…
Does your horse know how to focus it's attention on you?
Does it know how to concentrate on a task?
Does it know how to problem solve and seek the right answer?
It may surprise you to know that horses don’t instinctively know how to learn and find answers.
Instinctively they know how to protect themselves - and if figuring out and doing what you ask keeps them safe then they will do that. But focusing on you and problem solving doesn’t come easy to each horse.
That's why we created the training trainability program.
It teaches the horse how to look for and seek the answers. It teaches them how to be curious instead of scared. It teaches them how to concentrate and focus on us. It helps develop a learning, problem solving brain that can hold it's attention without getting distracted.
The exercises are super easy to implement and can open a two way conversation between you and your horse so that they are softer and more willing. It gives you the basic training principles so that when they aren't working with you you can problem solve an answer.
Keen to know more? Click here!
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The simple, step-by-step proven process that builds confidence, faith and trust with your horse and creates willing horses that want to look after you