10/28/2024
Original post by Rocky Mountain Sport Horses. Worth your time to read through.
Random horse training thoughts:
There are several fundamental lessons I preach……if you’ve been to any of my clinics or taken a lesson or had a horse in training with me, you will no doubt know them by heart by the time you leave my ranch 😉
1. Make doing the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard (for the horse).
example: So good ole’ Flicka has decided that she will not stand by the mounting block, you say whoa, you re-position her, the mounting block, they the minute you go to step up, Flicka steps just far enough away that you’d be doing yoga to reach the stirrup. Stop, think, make doing the right thing easy (standing quietly by the mounting block) and the wrong thing (moving away from the mounting block) hard. So immediately when sweet ole’ Flicka steps away, step down, assert your body energy and make flicka trot around that mounting block in a small circle until she wants to stop, then go another lap and start over. It won’t take long for her to realize, wow, when I just stand here, I can breath and rest, but when I move away, she makes me work hard.
2. Horses learn from the release of pressure, not the pressure itself.
example: You are working on lateral flexion, you are asking the horse to give it’s nose to it’s side, either on the ground or under saddle. You have the horses nose pulled to the side, the horse gives and goes to return it’s head to it’s regular position and before that happens, you pull it around again. You read somewhere that you need to do it “X” amount of times each way. I am okay with the multiple exercises, but what you missed was the opportunity to reward that horse and achieve success with that task. Horses don’t learn from the pressure, they learn from the release of it, So the minute that horse bends how you want, give the horse it’s nose, let it take a breath and then repeat.
3. Whoa….means whoa or slow or quit or listen to me or…………
example: You are riding along the rail at a walk and Ole’ Flicka speeds up and starts trotting, without being asked, you yell Whoa, and make her return to a walk. You have now UN-TRAINED your horse….whoa means “ALL FEET IN CONCRETE”…..nothing else, not slow down, not listen to me, not stop what you are doing, it means stop. Pick an other word, any other word (although I suggest not using NO, as it sounds too much like Whoa”, and use that to focus the horses attention. I use the world Quit, when I say quit, that horse knows that whatever their last action was, it was wrong. Because one day when you need whoa, if you’ve used it for everything else, you won’t have it.
4. Let the horse make the mistake…..don’t stop them before they do it.
example: You have been working on straight lines with your horse, who usually drifts or drops a shoulder. You ask for the trot and you can already feel your horse drifting and you know within a few strides he’s going to be off course, your first instinct is to correct him before he veers from your straight line. Don’t! If you always correct your horse before they make the mistake, they will never over-come it and learn correct self carriage. Let your horse make the mistake first, then correct it.
5. Expect success…….
example: You are riding your young stallion in the arena, and look up to see someone with a mare, who is in flameing heat come in to ride with you. Expect success, don’t just stand there waiting for the worse to happen, take a deep breath and focus your horse on you, small trot circles and lateral drills are great for this. Often times, I see riders, expect the worst from their horses and they almost always get it!
6. You must have lateral flexion to get vertical flexion…..
If you can’t get lateral flexion and can’t move each of your horses’ body parts laterally, you are not going to be able to achieve vertical flexion or collection. Lateral is the key to almost everything.
7. The nicest bit can be the harshest in the wrong hands…..it’s not the bit, it’s the hands that hold it that matter.
I’ve seen horses mouths ruined in snaffles (and for that matter, I’ve seen horses noses’ scarred from sidepulls and bosal’s too) when used by riders with harsh hands and I’ve seen horses in spade bits and correction ports, go with little to no contact, to the point they didn’t know it was there. It’s not the bit, it’s the riders hands it’s in that matters. Same for spurs, the only rider that should wear spurs, should be able to guide with their legs, knees and calves with enough control that the horse has no idea that the rider even has them on.
8. Air is priceless………
The worst thing you can do is run a horse out of air. You will take away their trust and try in a single instance. There is no shame in getting off, tieing the reins up and taking a breather yourself, you owe the horse the same respect.
9. Short and Sweet versus Long and Lenient………..
One of the biggest and most frustrating situations I watch with novice riders and trainers, is they don’t know when to push and when to stop. Instead of asking and insisting on answers from their horse and rewarding that behaviour immediately, they spend hours and days and weeks and years…..doing the same thing over and over and over again. If you find yourself repeating the same lessons over and over with your horse, stop, get outside help. I once watched a “trainer” try to de-sensitize a horse to an object for 3 weeks straight. They’d approach and instead of sticking with it, they were afraid they’d scare the horse, or put too much pressure on it, they’d retreat before they made any progress at all. In those few weeks, that person taught that horse more bad habits then they will ever realize. If you can’t follow through and don’t have the experience, don’t start it in the first place. And don’t be afraid to stop a lesson quickly if you get quick success. example: you decide to work your horse on lead changes and circles today. You warm your horse up, expecting this to be a lengthy lesson and drill, but much to your surprise, your horse nails the first 4 lead changes perfect. STOP, get off, loosen the cinch and forget the circles, that lesson will last for decades, you will have plenty of time for circles tomorrow. Many incredible training sessons have been accomplished in 15 minutes.
10. Your mood and focus matters…………
Having a bad day, headache, tense, upset, sick? Your horse knows it. If you are not set for success, don’t set your horse up for failure. Skip the training session, the sayng is “5 minutes to make a bad habit and 5 months to break it”. Pay attention to your horse! Take your ear buds out, put your phone down, silence your ringside fan club, give your horse your full attention. Horses aren’t trained in between TikTok videos or texts or railside chats every 10 minutes.
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