It's a Process

To quote Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson "it's a process".  Oh, how true. You must respect "the process" and go through each and every step of that same progression with your horse, showing patience all the way through.  This is how champions are made!

Too often, people want to rush their horse's progress and, just like a quarterback who's unsure of himself runs out of the pocket before letting the play develop, the results are usually not great.  Just like that play, horses take time to develop - sometimes, a lot of time.  But, the discipline it takes to give a horse the opportunity to develop properly will yield many benefits, not the least of which are dependability and longevity.

This philosophy goes along with another Seahawks axiom: "learn the fundamentals and do them as well as you  possibly can".  Strong fundamentals are so important for both horse, and rider.  It can be tempting to jump ahead and start doing things you see others doing but, without understanding the fundamentals that the technique is based on you have no foundation to build upon.  The better you are at the fundamentals then the more solid everything you build onto them will be. You and your horse will make true forward progress.

In short, there really are no short cuts in horsemanship.  It's taken Russell Wilson a lifetime of play and four years with the team to develop into the quarterback he is today.  Don't rush, respect "the process", go through the steps and use your own off season to improve both your and your horse's fundamentals!  Talk to you soon, JD

Merry Christmas to all!

As I take a break today between baking pies, roasting peppers and starting the prime rib for tonight's feast, it makes me think what a wonderful time of year this can be if you break your routine and make time to enjoy friends and family and everything else that makes the season great.

I like to break the routine at the barn too this time of year.  The horses all know their jobs, there aren't any pressing shows for a month or two and clients are busy with their own families so I love to let the horses take a break too.  We still work them and make sure to get them out but rides are shorter, courses are less complex and we definitely just take some days off (especially "Seahawks Sundays!").  I think the break in routine is good for them mentally.  We all recharge our batteries a little before the new year starts. 

I hope you can take a break to enjoy the season too and from my family to yours - both two legged and four legged - Merry Christmas!  Talk to you soon, JD.

Why it Pays to Think Like a Horse.

I find that it’s really helpful in day-to-day interactions with horses, as well as in my training regimen, to understand how a horse “thinks”.  This understanding is not only an aid in training but often can alleviate or head-off situations that might otherwise lead to frustration or even anger for all concerned, including the horse.

First, it is always dangerous to put human rationale into a horse’s behavior.  Horses are absolutely not rational beings; they do not have the capacity to function that way.  Horses are prey animals who survive by living in herds and by instinct.  They are what are sometimes called “fear/flight animals” and their very survival in the wild depends on instinct, not rational thought. 

Every foal is born as an essentially wild creature.  The training process often begins the day they are born as we humans begin to build their trust.  This is why many people believe in handling foals at birth and why it’s so important that you work with the mare so she is trusting too, of the people who will handle her foal.  It just makes everything so much easier!

Horses definitely respond to the herd leader.  They instinctively follow the lead mare so, when handling horses, we should aspire to be perceived as the “lead mare” or lead horse).  In other words: aspire to be the dominant one in the relationship.  This is why keeping a horse thinking about you when you’re riding rather than say, a spooky corner in the arena, so often works. 

Each time you reverse a horse or change directions, it’s good to remember that the horse often sees things as being completely different.  Maybe everything is going A-ok but then you reverse and suddenly the horse is spooky, well, this is the reason:  Horses have fantastic memories.  They may remember where you are but it looks different, the light is different, the shadows different, it’s just not quite the same (as it might look to you and me) and that difference will usually be perceived initially as “bad”.  Again, this is how they survive in the wild.  They must remember where the winter grass is or where the water is or even, where it’s safest to graze.  This works often to our advantage but if a horse has a bad experience it can also be very difficult for the horse to forget and learn that things are now safe. 

Horses also have very strong powers of association.  They can associate one action with a reaction for a good 6 seconds but after that they have no idea what relates to what.  So, if they’re being disciplined or rewarded, you need to be quick about it or your action might just cause frustration or be moot.

All training is based on a horse’s ability to remember and associate and on a horse’s need to rely on a herd leader.  A leader the horse can trust and respect.  With trust and respect comes the will to accept training and be an enjoyable companion for humans!  I hope this encourages you to “think like your horse” more often.  Talk to you soon!  JD

How Tight Can You Go?

Or......use your space wisely!  For years, I have been teaching my students that making elliptical or oval figures is more difficult for a horse and rider than just riding an arc that follows a circular path.

Recently, I was giving a clinic and a hunter-jumper friend of mine expressed the concept this way: don't go big to go small.  I thought "bingo!" that's it in an easy to understand statement.  In other words, don't go wide - or out in an elipse - when what you need is a tight arc. 
   
Most people understand the concept of attempting to make circles that are truely circular, not ovals or egg shapes etc.  But, when you put Trail obstacles in front of riders and ask them to ride a tight pattern, often they start widening. Then they're struggling to put the horse back on track to go over or through the obstacle. and it simply does not work.  Instead, they end up with impossible right angle turns and approaches that are off to one side.

So, in short, keep it simple.  Don't over think the course, ride arcs the way they naturally flow.  Don't ride like you're trying to get the trailer into a tight gas station, instead, arc your horse's rib cage around your leg and see how tight you can go - don't go big to go small!   Talk to you next week.  JD 

Confinement and Containment

I heard an interesting comment from a fellow trainer the other day and the subject just keeps coming up in various forms so I thought I’d start to ponder it with you today.   The comment was:  “I don’t believe in confinement”.

Well, hmm…… that’s an interesting comment because at its most basic: all training is based on confinement.  The very idea of collection is confinement between the hands and legs of the rider.  Asking a horse to load in a trailer, go into a wash rack or even to be stalled is asking a horse to accept confinement.

The process of accepting confinement starts when most horses are babies and we halter them for the very first time and when we first turn them out in fenced areas.  And certainly no horse is born knowing how to be tied, bridled or saddled, that all has to be taught. Confinement allows a horse to live with and alongside humans and not only be safe for people to be around, but to keep from getting hurt by us and our things as well.

For a horseman, confinement and containment are interrelated.  A horse that accepts the confinement of being a domesticated animal has taken a big step towards accepting the containment that is “collection”.  Collection is really containment that puts a horse in balance by asking for momentum while using hands to keep that momentum from just going forward.  So, the horse that “collects up” is containing or “compressing” his body.

Another aspect of all this is the mental component of containment.  Horses must accept all these changes in their life, which is quite unnatural in their natural state.  But, in doing so, it allows us to care for them and most horses now live without hunger or thirst, fear from predators or suffering from the extremes of weather.  It will never cease to amaze me how the horses I’ve turned out during the day in their pastures cry to be let back in as the day goes on.  They know their stall means food, water, blankets and generally: a safe place to spend their night.

I guess what I’m really saying is that there is a trade-off between horses and humans, a bargain if you will.  We use horses for work and pleasure and by doing so; horses get a different level of care and attention than they would in the wild.  The trade cannot happen though, without some confinement.

I’ll talk more about this in a future blog.  Talk to you next week, JD

Man-made Stiffness

I have written often about suppleness in horses and how to achieve it.  I have also explained the concept of each horse having two distinct sides: one hollow and one stiff.  So, today I wanted to write about a related concept:  resistance or “man-made stiffness”.

Often I see people, trainers included, working to supple a horse only to have the horse become stiff and resistant.  The important word here is “resistant”.  When working with the horse, you must always find their stiff side, that’s a given.  If a horse is stiff on one side of the bridle he will also be stiff all through his beck and body on that same side.  And, you should never forget that after softening a horse’s stiff side, you will need to go to their hollow or “soft” side to help the horse balance.  But, you must also remember that there’s what I call a “golden moment” – that instant when the horse softens and the rider must soften as well or new issues start to occur.

Over and over I see people making the mistake of not giving or even relaxing when a horse begins to soften or “give” to the rider’s aids.  Once this happens, horses become stiff in a new way.  This man-made stiffness is because there was no release or “reward” for giving to the aids.  The rider keeps asking and the horse starts resisting and the rider keeps asking, often demanding more and more, and the horse continues to resist, often to the point of becoming angry but definitely to the point of man-made stiffness.  The golden moment of give and take has passed and it’s now an unfortunate battle. 

The basic concept that’s often forgotten here is that when the horse gives, the rider must give back.  It’s a two-way street if you will, and it can all happen – and pass – in the blink of an eye.   True, if a horse “takes” the bridle rein you must “take” it back.  But here again, you must also soften or “give back” to the horse as soon as the horse yields or, you start to create stiffness.  If you’re working on leg yields for example, as soon as the horse softens his shoulder and rib cage while going forward, you should soften the cues and encourage the forward.  Or, if you are just sitting on a horse asking him to give to your leg, stop asking as soon as the horse yields. 

The list of examples could go on and on but hopefully you get the idea.  It’s all about that golden moment of give and take!   Talk to you next week.  JD

Fundamentals

To my great surprise I see that many aspiring riders who come to me for help have not been taught what I feel are the fundamentals horsemanship.  Yes, many coaches put students on lounge lines to get their balance and they give their students exercises on horseback to aid in their agility.  But, I’m thinking of something different…

Horses are herd animals and we have become a society primarily of people who have very little or no experience with a herd of anything, let alone horses.  Most people need a lot of help just understanding the basic personality of horses.  There has been a lot of research on how horses learn and how they remember things, etc., but often I find that previous to me, no one discussed this with my new student nor was the horse’s part in all this really even considered.  Just sitting securely is not enough.

Too often, lessons avoid things like discussing and learning about the “feel” of the horse’s mouth in a rider’s hands, or say, how the rhythm in a rider’s seat can affect the gait.   Basic knowledge of how a horse moves mechanically is so often never discussed beyond the basic gaits.  I think it is important to understand why some things work and why some do not.  Why some things work on some horses and on others they are just a disaster.

I also believe all students should be taught the basic mechanics of bits, how bits should fit and why they work in a horse’s mouth.  This leads to a discussion of horse mouths and then onto why teeth are important, and then on to a general discussion of basic, everyday equipment.  Such things as why the basic aids work and why basic rein techniques are so valuable are often left un-taught.  It’s not enough to just tell a student what to do; I think it’s crucial that they understand the “why” and “how” of what they’re doing so they’re not just “doing” – they’re learning!

Yes, I am on a soapbox here but, horse ownership is dwindling, registrations are down in nearly all breeds and horse show attendance is shrinking.   I believe by teaching the art of horsemanship and not just telling a rider how to sit for a few laps around the ring, we can get and keep more people interested in horses and all that’s involved with them.   What a wonderful thing for all of us, and for the horses that depend on us!

Horsemanship can be a life-long pursuit – it certainly has been for me!  Next time you have a lesson, make time to ask "why" and "how".  It will be the start of a wonderful conversation that I hope will last you a lifetime too!  Talk to you next week, JD.