24/10/2024
G'day Celie, (from Warwick Schiller)
Over the 30 years that I have been training horses, I was no stranger to making mistakes. Over time, with lots of trial and error, I was able to find out how to avoid these mistakes and all of their consequences. However, there are still 5 main issues I still see people struggling with. I'll first explain each mistake and give you a brief solution to them.
1) Overlooking The Subtle Signs Of Tension
I made this mistake for 25 years without understanding how it was affecting my horses. Horses rarely act out of the blue, if you learn how to read the subtle signs they use to show their rising level of tension, you can let them know that you are aware of their concern by immediately ceasing whatever action was giving them tension. This gives them a sense of confidence, as you communicate to them that you are aware of your surroundings and that you will be a trustworthy partner if things end up getting scary. It also prevents you from progressing beyond that rising tension, which often results in an explosive behavior such as bucking, bolting, or rearing.
Solution: At all times, be keenly aware of what your horse’s ears are doing, how their muzzle is moving, where their eyes are looking, and overall body tensity. A tense horse is one whose eyes are wide and unblinking, their ears are hyper fixated on a particular thing, and their muzzle is clamped shut, possibly twitching. Also, be aware of how your horse is standing, are their feet completely parallel and equally weighted, or do they have a foot cocked in a restful state? Being able to gauge where your horse is mentally will help you prevent them from getting out of control physically.
2) Asking Questions Your Horse Can't Say Yes To
In order to be a convincing leader (a leader is not someone who tells others what to do, a leader is someone that others trust and look to for guidance), you need to only ask questions that your horse can respond to with a "yes" answer. Ensuring that you set your horse up for success and not failure is the best way to gain your horse’s trust and confidence, which goes a long way during the training process.
Solution: Ideally we want to ask our horses for something they already know how to do, but that’s not enough. We also need to ensure that they are capable of doing it at that point in time, and that relies on us being a very good judge of their mental state. Another option is asking a horse to do something they don’t know how to do yet, but have the foundations to be able to figure it out. Most of their increase of knowledge in training comes from this. Being mindful of their level of understanding with all previous work is key here. We are trying to avoid the possibility of getting a "no" answer. If you’re ever in a situation where you know you are going to get a "no" answer, ask for something that you know will give you a "yes" answer instead.
3) Bringing Your Bad Day To The Barn
This mistake isn’t as much a thing that you do but a state in which you do things. Horses are very good readers of our energy, and if you are in a bad mood, just hanging with your horse may be the best option. It’s not about your bad day, it’s about your entire outlook and attitude. They don’t know if you had a bad day or are having a bad life, but they can read your energy in an instant. You have to be willing to look at any behavior that your horse exhibits as useful information, rather than take it personally.
Solution: Check in with yourself before interacting with your horse. Ask yourself "Am I in a healthy enough mind state to give 100% of my non-judgemental attention to my horse right now?" If the answer to that question is anything less than an astounding "Of course!" then you should re-evaluate whether you need to work on anything with your horse in that moment.
4) Not Being Aware Of Where Your Horse Gets Rest
Horses have an internal GPS. They know where home, food, and friends are at all times. They also remember where they have had to work. In addition, as natural energy conservers, they are always in search of the place where they have to do the least amount of work. If you saddle up your horse in the barn, take them to the arena, ride them or exercise them, then immediately take them back to the barn they will learn that the arena is a place of work and the barn is a place of rest. This idea also works for friends, horses know they don’t have to work when they are with their friends and will gravitate towards friends when given the chance.
Solution: Switch up your training routine. Make the barn (or the end of the arena closest to the barn) a place of work. Then give your horse some well-deserved rest in the places where they normally would have to work. If your horse has separation anxiety, let them go to their friends, but keep them busy there. The idea here isn’t to make it hard work, it’s easy to get into a ‘fixing" mentality, it’s just that there’s a lack of rest there. They will seek a place where there is some rest.
5) Asking For Multiple Things At Once
Inexperienced riders will often ask for multiple things at once without realizing it. Complex (and many not so complex) movements are made up of many small pieces. Just like letters form syllables that form words, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters, which all come together to form books. Remember that before you learned words, you learned letters. Many simple things we do with our horses are like words. Very simple if you know letters and syllables, but difficult if you don't.
Solution: When asking anything of your horse, make sure you can break it down into the smallest pieces, before attempting any of those components together. Opening a gate is a great example. The horse needs to be able to isolate the shoulders and the hips, move either in each direction as well as be able to easily adjust from one to another. Asking to side-pass over to a gate without perfecting both of these movements is bound to give you and the horse trouble. This comes back to only asking questions your horse can say yes to. Forcing either of these to happen is just prolonging the breakdown in communication between you and your horse. If you want a willing partnership, you have to be willing to take things step by step, patiently building up your arsenal of movements and exercises.
Training your own horse isn't as complicated as many people make it out to be, and the experience can be life-changing for both you and your horse. I have over 650 full-length training videos where you can learn all of the skills and theories needed to transform your horse into a safe, connected, relaxed, and skilled equine partner. We have a 7 day free trial that will give you access to all of the videos, as well as our Mobile App "WS On Demand". We also have a Training Checklist that works step-by-step to help you train your horse.
