08/18/2024
Letting the horse look at the jump, sniff it, stand near it, these are all things that decades ago, when I first started jumping I was told to never allow.
The idea back then was that a horse had to “just deal.” And if the horse quit at the jump, the horse was “being bad,” and needed to get a good smack with a crop.
But most of the time---not all, but in many cases---the reason that a horse quits is because of some sort of insecurity or fear or spookiness, and instead of punishing the horse, a better strategy is to try to get the horse to not be afraid, If a horse refuses out of fear, does whacking the horse, which adds fear to already existing fear, make a lot of sense?
Now, sure, sometimes a horse needs to be told to go, but generally a better first way is to try to let the horse have a “no big deal” attitude about what it’s being asked to do. Going back to that “old” way, I was also told this: “You have to make that horse more afraid of you than the thing he’s scared of.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard some version of that over the decades.
And while a horse does have to be taught to stay in front of the aids, the first step is to create confidence about that, and there are lots of ways to do this that work better than fear of being punished if he doesn’t, one of which is tons of trail riding with a brave and steady horse as a leader, so the younger or greener horse learns that it all that stuff it sees out in the wide world is not something to be afraid of.
So, generally, if a fence looks different, let him have a look first. If he stops, maybe let him look some more, or follow a braver horse. Some horses seem to be brave right from the beginning, and if so, lucky you.
But others are more spooky, and these usually need many more baby steps. Letting them have baby steps is often smart training, not a weakness or a surrender, and that’s something I had to learn as I unlearned what I’d originally been taught.