14/06/2024
I want horses to have opinions.
A horse with an opinion will express when they do not feel safe - because they are being pushed too hard, because they are hurting, because we’re asking for something incorrectly, because our energy is off. An opinion can tell me that something is not right - and it is my job to do my best to figure it out.
Leslie Desmond famously said “What value does yes have if no is not an option?” If we don’t give them the ability to express themselves, how will we have a clue how they are feeling? Do we actually care? How will they be able to learn willingly verses through submission? And yes, there is a difference. A BIG difference.
A horse with an opinion is thinking for themselves, verses blindly doing what is asked even when they are not mentally or physically capable. Better to refuse a fence rather than jump it in such a way that is going to be dangerous. Better to be unsettled in warm up and try to figure it out before entering the show ring. Better to act up in smaller ways, rather than push them through until the bigger explosion or the really unsafe risk happens.
In my practice, the horse is a feedback loop. How she moves and reacts, in addition to what I feel under my hands and see, tells me things. I need to be willing to let the horse have an opinion, to express how they feel, so that I do not push beyond boundaries to ask too much. I try not to get to “no”, but no is okay. No is important, just as important as yes.
A teacher recently said to me that the way we train and ride horses is often separating their sensory and motor functions to the point that they really don’t know where their bodies are in space. The way we strap down their heads and prevent full range of eye sight; the way that we restrict breathing and mouth movement (which impacts the entire body) by cranking nosebands tight; the use of harsh bits; when we drug them before we ride; the way that we simply ask for constant submission.
Thanks Rhett Fincher for posting this!!
