13/05/2025
The confidence cue.
Years ago, I was competing in an Extreme Mustang Makeover event, and when the trail class came around, a few of the poles had been misplaced. So, to improvise, the event director decided to use a bag of shavings at the end of a chute that we were supposed to trot into and stop.
To those of you who haven't worked with mustangs, this all may sound like a pretty minor inconvenience.
However, if you have worked a number of mustangs you know just how much of a problem this could pose.
As we domisticate these horses, often they'll have a major quirk or two that they may hold onto for the duration of their life. It is related to their intense survival instincts, and the best way to deal with it is to just accept it and help the horse to fully trust you in other areas.
Anyway, I took one look at that trail setup, riding one of the quirkiest mustangs I had ever trained, and realized it was a death sentence for my score that day. Just 100 days out of the wild, no matter the fact that I had prepared this horse in every way I could imagine, I was aware how this would go; there was no way we were going to make it all the way into that chute at a trot.
I brought out a bag of shavings to practice with and sure enough, my horse balked or snorted every time I walked toward or around it. And when I'd get her to walk or trot up to them in one spot, as soon as I'd have Sid move the bag a few feet away, she'd be 100% disarmed by it again. I kept her as calm as possible and made sure not to add any pressure or anxiety to the situation, but it was obvious she was going to take more time to accept it.
I voiced my concerns to the director in passing who was a good friend. He's a great horseman and a handy old roper, and after watching me work on it a few minutes he told me "When you get in there, just think straight and ride straight, don't even look at those shavings." he put his hand on my knee "You'll be just fine."
"Easy for you to say", I chuckled in my head.
But what else was I going to do?
I decided to accept what was. I knew enough to know that if I made a deal about the shavings now, it would only be a bigger deal in the show pen. She trusted me enough that she'd stand with me, we'd make it through that element, it just wouldn't be point earning, that's for sure.
Well, I got out there, we were killing our trail pattern, then we came up and around the bend and headed straight for that chute. I felt my mare tighten, her ears went straight forward in full alert as she locked onto that deadly bag of shavings.
I kept repeating in my head "Think straight, ride straight. Think straight, ride straight." I looked up and beyond, as I would if approaching a jump, keeping her between my hands and legs and actively riding.
Wouldn't you know it, my mare never once hesitated or lost impulsion, right up to the shavings where I caught her mid stride and sat back.
We finished our trail pattern in first place! She was the only horse that trotted all the way into the chute.
I know it wasn't due to my immaculate prep work and horsemanship. Obviously trust and training helped. But what worked was getting out of my own head and not giving my horse indicators that something dangerous was ahead.
Many of you reading this may find this principle obvious. It's not something we haven't heard before, but sometimes you just need a reminder of how powerful it is when we give our horses confidence, and how detrimental it can be when we've already accepted something as an unsurpassable obstacle.
I "knew" that information long before Stormy told me that day. However, the minute I applied it and saw the results so suddenly, the idea really sank in and became a core principle for me in the way I train and show.
Often our horses get into trouble because we tell them where the trouble is.
Think straight, ride straight. Stay out of their way. It's a game changer.
