A Journey Out of Fear

Horse Personalities: The Fearful Horse

Renee Swanepoel NDip Equine Studies, SANEF Level 1

 

Human personalities are a well-researched and well-known fact. We are all born with our own distinct personality and as we grow our environment causes us to react and respond to life in a way that reflects back to that personality.  Horses are very much the same and there are distinct personality types that can be observed with horses and how they react to their environment. The way in which a horse interacts with us and responds to his training can be a direct result of his personality and when working with any horse it can be valuable to first determine what that personality may be as a predicting factor in how he must be handled and worked and what can be expected along the way. It is also worth knowing your own personality type since that will also have a huge impact on the way you relate to your horse and his training.

 

I have had exposure to many types of personality when it comes to horses and the most common ones would certainly be the more extrovert type, the pleasers and the stubborn personalities. They fit my own personality well as does mine the discipline of Dressage which I love. Before this little stallion came into my life I had not had too much exposure to the fearful horse and had never had to reckon with raw fear as an obstacle to physical and mental training. Before we look at the fearful horse in detail, let us take a broad look at some of the theories of both human and horse personality.

 

There are a number of different opinions about the way in which horse and human personalities can be described. J. Warren Evans writes in his textbook, Horses: A Guide to Selection, Care and Employment, that there are six basic temperament types. He defines them as quiet, interested, nervous, extremely nervous, stubborn and treacherous. Yvonne Barteau, writing in the popular Dressage magazine, Dressage Today, lists the kinds of personality as four basic, clearly discernable personality groupings, which she lists as social, fearful, aloof and challenging. Britta Schoffmann, in her book, Dressage Training Customized, discusses 6 natural personality types when relating to training, as well as three “rider made” types of horse where training and the act of nurture over nature has had an influence on the horse’s reactions to his environment and training in terms of his personality.

 

 She lists the types of horse as follows:

 

·        The Overreactive Horse

·        The Slow, Stolid  Horse

·        The Hot horse

·        The Prankster

·        The Overachiever

·        The Sensitive Horse

 

She then lists the rider made types as:

 

·        The Fearful Horse

·        The Lazy Horse

·        The Resistant Horse

 

The young horse is mentioned as a special case on its own.

 

I particularly enjoy Britta’s views and descriptions of the personality types and would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in making sure that they are taking the horse’s personality and conformation into account when tailoring a training program.

 

Let us take a look at the information we have at hand about the fearful horse.

 

Britta categorises the fearful horse into two types – those that are born fearful, and those that are made fearful by poor interaction with humans. Horses are prey animals, so fear is part of their inherent nature, although years of selective breeding have lessened the need for flight. When a horse that has a natural tendency is bullied or that fear is reinforced by human handlers, it can spiral completely out of control. The most noticeable thing about these horses is that they lack self-confidence. When training and interacting with this type of horse, it is the first thing you should notice. They will never suppose that they can do anything and if they can be coaxed to try anything, their initial response is “oh dear, was that wrong, oh no, please don’t punish me!” before they have even given you a chance to say, well done! When they do make a mistake they will often retreat mentally and will not try again or be persuaded that it is ok to make a mistake. The sad fact with these horses is that many of them are really very talented individuals who could go far under the right circumstances but are often hastily passed along in a competitive situation simply because in the competition world, time equals money and there is no time to be spent coaxing a fearful horse out of his behaviour and instilling confidence. Patience is the number one key when working with these horses because training is a slow and painstaking process, but the end result will always be well worth the struggle. These horses will often have ‘triggers’ that will cause the horse to retreat into the panic, fearful state and part of the training is to introduce the horse sympathetically and careful to the triggers and try to lessen the fear response. The fear response will show in two different ways, I have found. The horse will either have an immediate outward response that will be sudden, violent and he will go into flight mode at once; or; he will go into an inward flight mode – when riding you will notice that suddenly the horse is not ’with you’ anymore and after a while suddenly “explodes” as he comes back to you. When they go into that internal fleeing mode, work is almost impossible because they will not respond to you at all and will not absorb anything you are trying to teach them. They will tend to freeze up until they cannot bear it anymore and will then only explode suddenly to escape the situation they see as threatening. They can be hard to handle from the ground and even worse to ride.

 

My own experience with the fearful horse began in May this year when I was introduced to LCT; a beautiful little stallion hiding away in the corner of his stable. He would not let you touch him if he could help it at all and if you had to touch him he would quite literally freeze up and cringe and as soon as he could would move away and go hide in the corner again. For two months he did not put his head over the stable door and he would not take food of any kind from a human hand. Or even a bucket in a human hand for that matter. What I did not know about him then was that he is one of the foremost breeding stallions of his breed in our country and that his children are talented Dressage and Showjumping stars. In his younger days he was one of the top in-hand show stallions in his class and in ridden classes on a good day was unbeatable. The breeding farm, in fact, via his progeny have won Stud of the Year for 2012 just a few weeks ago. This boy is talented. But ruined. He had been turned out to pasture and had not been ridden for at least 5 years prior to us working with him because he was deemed dangerous and people were of the firm opinion that a woman would never be able to handle or ride him.

 

The first stumbling block I faced when trying to ride him was that he would not actually let you get on him! As soon as he realised you were going to get on him, from a mounting block, leg up, or any other creative method I devised to get onto him, he would shoot forward and if you did get a foot in the stirrup, he would bunny hop off with you until you came off and then you would repeat… Once on, he would go into a tense, almost saddler like way of moving – up in front, legs pounding away and running for dear life. He had no idea of contact, no brakes and even a pat on the neck would give him such a startle that he would jump up and start to shake. He would also sweat. Boy, could he sweat. The sweat would run off him, making puddles around his feet if you stood still on concrete for long enough. Even now, I know when he is stressed about anything because he will immediately break into a terrible sweat. A crop of any kind is not an option with this horse – not when riding him or from the ground, which is complicated by the fact that because he is not working in self carriage yet, he needs to be reminded that his hind end must be quicker and to keep moving forward. The entire process of being ridden he found traumatic and at times completely unbearable.

 

From the ground he was never unkind or mean, just nervous and blocked off to any interaction with humans. That was an important clue for me – the absence of any mean or violent behaviour. A horse that is this fearful but does not become violent towards his human handler is a horse that can be rehabilitated. When the horse is expressing fear in a violent or dangerous way, chances of rehabilitation become much less and those kinds of horses have to be handled by professionals only. To start with, I had to get him used to me without causing too much distress so it quite literally began with me sitting in his stable reading magazines and not doing anything. The first thing you want to do with these horses is spark some kind of curiosity. Because they are so blocked off, they will not notice you or want to interact with you, but if you persist, they will come to you and show even just a tiny spark of interest and that is where your journey will begin. I believe greatly in join-up, or, lock-on as it is sometimes called, so it is something I will do right at the start of the training process. His reaction to this was very interesting because initially, he was in flight mode – wanting to escape me and not anything else. It took quite a few tries of go and come but eventually he gave the clues – mouth softening, frame softening and eventually lock on. With these guys often the clues are very subtle – if they follow you around they will do so from a slight distance and if you turn towards them again they will take off into flight mode again easily, so it is important to recognise when they are joining up as it is not often as pronounced as with other horses although it is there. If you wait for complete ‘puppy dog mode’ you may miss it and end up going on for hours!

 

Touch is a very important part of the healing process with any horse that is fearful and has a past. When a horse has been made fearful through touch – ie being hit, roughly handled and so forth – you will need to use touch to gain trust. This little guy would cringe when you laid a hand on him, so starting with just putting my hand on his shoulder and keeping it there for a while until I saw signs of relaxation, gentle grooming and always always touch. When riding him I will still put a hand on his shoulder or wither in front of me when I feel him tense up and just keep it there until I feel him come back to me. It has become my way of trying to prevent him from ‘disappearing’ under me when he gets worried. Never a pat, just a touch or scratch. I am by no means a new-agey, touchy feely rider or person, however I really did find this to be of great help to him in the beginning. Just the act of quiet touch at all times.

 

Using food as a reward and tool, which I have always used with great success proved to be a problem at first, since he would absolutely not take anything from a human hand. It presented a challenge in the beginning because there was no reward that I could employ that would help him understand he was doing a good job – a pat or rub was stressful, an enthusiastic ‘good boy’ was not something understood or liked, food was not tolerated. At first I tried to use backing off as a reward – retreat a little and back down. That was not always practical though – when lunging or riding he was too stressed to notice. I will never forget the day he took a treat from me for the first time – I will eternally be grateful to Kieffer for making their divine Apple treats, because that was the first thing he showed any interest in. Today, he will sell his soul and probably do back flips for a Kieffer cookie! He can smell then a mile away! It was a case of try and try and try. Finally, he noticed it, had a taste and for the first time his focus was on me. It was breakthrough. He now is making up for 10 years of lost treats and will eat carrots with great gusto! Anything new is still treated with suspicion, but the Kieffer treat and carrot is always a winner.

 

Another unusual trait with this little guy that was surprising to me was his unusual sensitivity to anything. If, for example, you change a piece of tack, let’s say using bandages one day and boots the next, he would be completely out of his comfort zone. The first thing that you notice is the sweating – then it will take a good 20 min to find his focus again. Changing arenas would do the same thing. At first I tried to keep everything simple and make no changes but as his trust grew, I made a point of changing just one thing every time – a different set of boots, a different arena, riding with music, having people stand next to the arena (his absolute fear) and so forth. We go on plenty of outrides and I let him have some choice about what he does at times – it took him a while to discover the joys of a good gallop, but now he that he has, boy oh boy!

 

The Dressage training is a slow process – we have had to start from scratch and drill the basics – relaxation, straightness and contact which are so vital, are things he really struggles with. He has a very difficult mouth – the scars around it tell a story as well. We have tried a few bits but he was very resistant to them all – I eventually after thought decided that what he fearful of was pressure on his tongue and so tried a Myler Comfort snaffle on him that has a greatly reduced amount of tongue pressure. This was another breakthrough in his education and he was although not perfect, much happier in that combination (we use a comfort bridle as well) and work is progressing slowly but steadily.

I introduced some jumping as well, because it was something he had never done before, as well being something that would ask him to make decisions and choices – something he has never been allowed to do. He absolutely loves it – it gives him the freedom to make his own choices (all of which have been good ones! ) and to have fun, let his hair down so to speak. We only jump very small things as I want him to keep gainaing more and more confidence and if he finds an exercise too easy, I can make it more complicated without actually having to raise fences beyond 60 or 70 cm. When outside, we jump logs and ditches and go through puddles – all targeted at trying to expand his educatina dn give him confidence.

One important thing that you should know about working with the fearful horse is that when they start to gain more confidence, they will begin to test boundries. That is also partly because the rider will tend to coddle the horse a little too. Always be firm and reasonable. Boundries are what give confidence. By feeling sorry for them and letting them test and get away with things you begin a see-saw kind of test, punish, retreat, cycle which is not productive at all. My rules apply – stand still for me to get on (that was a lot of work but now he knows!), when we work, we work, no looking for girlfriends while we work, when outside, we go as fast as I say, when I say and where I say. There is no need for beating or shouting – with him a firm no will do the trick or just positive riding and keeping his mind focussed. Because he is so scared of any crop or stick and even a baseball cap scares him, I devised a clever way of reinforcing without sending him into a fear spiral. I have taken the bottom strap of a flash noseband and have worked it through the D-Ring on my saddle. In that way it is not in my hand, he doesn’t notice it and it holds no stressor for him, but if he is in a place where he needs a bit of backup to the leg or he wants to go out the gate or anything, I just take the strap and tap him once with it, let it go and he gets the message without the need for a crop. It has worked really well as an alternative reinforcer. With this I don’t mean to say that everyone needs straps – what I do want to illustrate is that when working with any horse, you have to think outside the box and really try to understand what is going on in their heads and how you can help them. Sometimes unconventional methods can be of great value!

 

We still have a very long way to go and it will be years before he is truly happy in his work but the journey thus far has been fantastic and every little scrap of progress, no matter how small, is a gem that I value highly. The hot fearful horse is a huge challenge, but if you can work miracles, it will be worth every bit of hard work you put in.

 

 

 

 

Training Woes...

Or, rather, a little observation from my side!

As a part of my horsey life, teaching and showing and training my horses and those of clients, I get to sit on many horses to get a feel of what they are doing. I am constantly amazed at the difference in what the rider tells you and what the horse tells you when you sit on it. Not that the riders tell you all good or all bad things mind you - sometimes they can be quite complimentary about their long suffering steeds. Once you get on, however, the story can change quite a bit. This tells me a lot about FEEL. That elusive gift that all good riders possess and that all riders strive to develop. Being able to sit on a horse and just feel what it is doing is a gift that I find leads me to developing a training schedule for the horse that will not only yield positive results, but usually they come quite quickly.

One of the most common issues I deal with on most horses I ride is educating the shoulder. When you control the shoulder, the rest follows. Not very easy to do! The horse needs to learn to lift the shoulder so that he can bend correctly, take a bit of weight through the back onto the hindquarter and stay in control of his body. The bigger, short coupled horses find control of the shoulder a lot easier to develop than their more lanky cousins. Where they often struggle is in relaxation and softness through the body however they more than make up for it because once the shoulder is controlled, they find long and low quite easy which will supple and soften them in no time at all. The longer coupled and tall horses will often be more supple but not as strong, so they can really struggle with the strength that is required to lift the shoulder. They will often fall over themselves through corners or lose balance in transitions. one of the important factors when it comes to teaching the horse to use his shoulder is by using the outside rein. Too many riders pull their horses around on the inside rein not realising that bend needs to be maintained with the outside rein first. as soon as the horse is pulled onto the inside rein, it falls onto the inside shoulder, losing his center of balance and the purpose and use of the bend is lost.

Long and low work is vital in the development and training of any horse. I use it daily to relax, stretch and supple the horse. When you advance in your horse's training, work in long and low at different paces and through transitions is a fantastic way of progressing your training. the big issue I see with riders in long and low is that they simply throw the reins at the horse, who will typically 'plank out' his neck and run along on the forehand. That is not true long and low work! The horse should lift the shoulder up, extend his neck over and out to the front and most importantly, stays on the contact throughout. you can ride simple lead changes in long and low, for example, because the horse is still carrying hihimself and is still on your contact. The horse should follow the contact when you ask - but should still stay between your hand and leg. I do walk trot halt transitions through long and low, canters with simple changes and so forth. The most advanced work in long and low that is quite a powerful tool but is very hard work is long and low over cavaletti. The effort of lifting the legs combined with stretching over the back and neck is monumental.

The second issue I often encounter with many horses is that they are never allowed to move! Many training hurdles people encounter is that the horse seems stubborn, won't move off the leg or remains stiff. This is mostly because the horse has never been allowed to actually go forwards. I find this true for many of the really big horses - the really wide ones - the ones that really can actually move! When you sit on a horse in canter, come down the long side and say, "Ok! Now you can go!" this horse will go "huh?" and stay shuffling along. The horse is not dead to the leg (ok, yes they are in a way i guess!) they are dead in the HEAD! These horses need get out - long rides out where they are allowed to just move and have canters out and just have fun. At some point they will suddenly realise that there is something more fun than a shuffle down the long side of the arena. These horses have often been worked to death in the arena and have no more inclination to even try to enjoy their work. Working outside is also a great opportunity to add litttle training exercises like lateral work, halts, transitions etc which the horse will find playful and will benefit from. The big training problem with these horses is that the rider is usually a bit nervous and wil often try to solve the problem with even more schooling inside which just makes the problem worse. Another thing that i do with my horses is to take them out on non-show excursions. going out on a fun adventure with no pressure to behave! All my horses get to go out to training eventing courses to have a gallop, take some small jumps and just have a chance to pig around. We travel to outride venues, go on hunts and keep them busy with all sorts of excursions. These trips keep things fresh, keep them forward thinking and really develop rider horse relationship.

Clients are often surprised when I tell them that riding should not be hard work. Sure, there is some work involved, but if you are finishing a 30 min ride sweating, huffing and puffing, and your horse has barely broken a sweat, something is wrong! The less you do with your body, the more responsive your horse will get and the bigger pleasure he will be to ride!

So if you are a bit stuck with your horse, or he is just not progressing - give these things a mull over and maybe you will find something you can do to get your training on track again!

Help With Saddler!

Question:

Renee, I will confess, I have not read your article on retraining the THB; I will confess again that I don’t like THBs – that being the reason I did not read the article (sorry if I offend you by saying this).
Now I need a bit of advice (ironic isn’t it). I was progressing very nicely with my dressage lessons (leg yields, half pass, shoulder in the works!), but now my mare got too much pregnant and my trainer felt she should rest now in preparation for foaling. The owner of the (very small) stable yard is very good to me. He and the trainer decided to put me on the owner’s Saddler gelding. The horse is quite handsome, with a lovely long, arched neck. He is well mannered and friendly in his stable. The owner keeps the horses very relaxed in the “open – plan” stables; the dividing walls in the barn style stable block is only about 1.8m high; so the horses can see each other all the time (except when they lay down to sleep)
Now for the crunch: the gelding has been through a few Saddler trainers. They all did their “weird” training methods on him. He then was trained by a flashy, “windgat” dressage trainer that taught him things he was far from ready for (passage, few beat flying changes canter etc.). We now have the following problems: 1.] The horse is very tense. He was taught the Saddler walk – and it is difficult to get him to walk “flat footed”. 2.] He canters at break – neck speed, and does flying changes by himself. 3.] He anticipates: sometimes he thinks he will canter now, and turns side ways in anticipation of being asked for the canter (as Saddler trainers do turn the horses towards the rail to “throw” the horse into the correct lead canter) – it is then difficult to get him to walk straight again. 4.] He hates legs on him. With the Lane Fox saddle the legs are away from the saddle; when the legs are put on him, it means “go harder / faster”. This means he doesn’t want to take leg yields (just rushes forward faster & faster), and it is difficult to bend him “around the leg” in a circle / half circle.
We are spending a lot of time to try and get him to relax. We do a lot of walk work (also in patters). We have worked the head lower and neck rounder. He is starting to relax, but sometimes tenses up and goes into the “jog” / Saddler walk; then it is difficult to get back to a pure walk. The trot is much better (given that my legs don’t touch him, difficult with a Wintec dressage saddle!). The canter needs a lot of work still. The problem is that he needs a lot of patience; usually I am someone who doesn’t get angry easily. But after “begging” him for a pure walk for half an hour I sometimes get angry – I hide it away from my trainer and the owner. But the other day I worked him alone – and when he started with his jogging again, and then wanted to canter, I smacked him. I regretted it straight away – but the horse, after the freight it got, settled down a bit (!!!). I made a resolution that I will never do it again, he is not the type of horse where this will work – it will tense him more. I will work more on my patience. We also have done a lot of work on my seat to control speed – something wonderfully new for me!
Question: what else can I do? If you don’t have any more answers, and only feel sorry for me, I will understand…
We have also started backing my SA Boerperd mare. Fortunately no “farms were bought” (although I was shown in no uncertain terms that it could happen any moment if she felt like it). She is quite “hot” (and obviously still very inexperienced) but is progressing nicely. A lot of walk work (patters) with a bit of trotting (patters), desensitising, and long lines etc. What I have learned on the “seat” with the Saddler gelding helps a lot with her. Why am I relating this: please feel sorry for me, currently I have no settled, “lekker ryperd”…!

Answer:

Charles, Charles, Charles. I will start off by feeling sorry for you. The last time I got off to a rip-roaring start with a superb horse I got pregnant.. Hee hee. You have taken on quite a challenge in this horse but if you see it like that, a challenge, it may help out with the patience… who am I kidding. You did not miss anything in my article as I am still madly trying to finish Part 2, which discusses the actual training so none taken! (Offense I mean) The last time I sat on a Saddler, we got as far as the arena gate and then she exploded into a mass of quivering jelly and refused to move – even after her owner got on her and tried to beat the daylights out of her. I get the tension thing – they get spoiled like that, and it is such a pity.

This problem has taken a few years to evolve I would imagine, so know it is going to take a few years to correct! That is the first and most important thing to remember when a horse needs re-schooling and especially one that is this tense. Generally speaking, people try to teach their horses things too fast, before they are ready physically and mentally to do the job being asked. That results in the horse knowing all sorts of ‘tricks’ but they are not executing them properly. I cannot even count how many pupils I have had telling me that their horses are doing wonderful half passes, when upon further inspection, they are doing no more than a simple leg yield and the horse is most definitely not bent in the direction of movement! There is a definite ‘scale’ of training and the achievement of one tier will lead to the next, along with the exercises that go along with that. Schooling a horse is measured in years, not months. Often riders try to teach their horse one movement after the other, but the basics are not in place. Now it sounds to me like this poor gelding has had that happen to him. He has been scared out of his wits, been taught one ‘trick’ after the other, and still has no idea of what is expected of him.

Have you ever sat in class, perhaps at Varsity or at a lecture or a conference, and had no idea of what the lecturer was on about and everyone else seems to be totally absorbed and all you are praying for is ..’please don’t ask me a question… please don’t ask me a question…’ and your palms are sweaty and you are in an adrenaline overdose..? I think this boy is so scared to be asked a question because he is not really sure of what humans want from him. He knows there is punishment coming if he does not get it right, but he is not sure what the question was. He has been taught so many conflicting things that he is not sure what answer you want. Horses like that will often explode into an entire repertoire of things that they know when asked the most simple thing – exploding into flying changes, leg yields, canter strike-offs and the whole lot, one after the other, because they are hoping one of those tricks was what you were asking…!

There is definitely a balance issue here – by cantering faster and faster and changing legs, he is telling you that he is so tense it is unbalancing him and that is also why he is doing that. Think of tension in the canter like running downhill fast – you speed up and speed up until you can’t stop even if you wanted to. That’s what he is feeling in the canter. He speeds up and then must change legs in order to regain his balance. I have seen it often.

So, what to do! There are two aspects to the type of work you are going to need to do with him, and the first and most important part is a trust issue. This horse is going to have to learn to trust you. Now, that does not mean you fatten him up on carrots and the two of you stroll of into the sunset! First, he must realize that you are in charge. I use lock on for that (also called ‘join up’ by Monty Roberts). The horse must understand that you in control. When you are in control, it means you are not afraid and that you know what is going on, in his language.

When you throw a group of people into a stressful situation, you will notice that they will gravitate towards the person who seems to quickly gain an understanding of the situation, seems to know exactly what to do and shows the least fear. Suddenly the group gets quiet and the ‘leader’ tells them what is going on, what they need to do and who is going to do it. Suddenly they are less afraid and they focus their combined energy on the task at hand. That is what you are trying to achieve with a lock on. You are trying to focus the horse’s nervous energy on you and make him understand that you know what is going on and what he needs to do. Once you have achieved that, a small measure of trust is built.

With that trust, you are now going to ask him to step out of his comfort zone and learn that you are not going to ask him to do anything he cannot do. An easy way of doing this with the nervous wreck is to put a feed bag on the floor, with him on a lead. A pressure halter can also be used if the horse is very difficult and tends to explode. Of course the plastic bag becomes a monster and he will snort and prance and not want to go near it (being a saddler.. hee hee). If he is happy with bags, find something he is scared of – a sheet of blue plastic on the floor might be a monster to him. Be creative! You are going to ask him to step up to the bag. Then move away. Then step up to the bag, then move away. With each forward step, use lots of praise. If he backs up, keep backing him up and ask him to stand. In that way, you are still in control. Ask him to step up again. Keep your voice low, keep your body language quiet. When he finally steps up to the bag, praise. (you can use food if you want, but often nervous horses will not eat anyway!)A good reward is once he steps up to the bag and stands for even a split second, turn him away, walk him right away and around before coming back. That is a mental reward for him. He may need a small tap on the rear end with a crop to move forward the first time. If he moves forward after that, no more taps. If you are scared you may lose your temper, rather leave the crop. (I use a dressage crop.) This is the kind of work that can be done with him every day, even twice a day if you possibly can. Once he steps onto the bag (or the thing is scared of) you will see him make the connection – it is so acute you can almost hear the penny drop! He suddenly realizes that you are right, and that you will never ask him to do anything that you are not sure he can. A strong trust will be built on that. Keep up with the ‘trust games’ and keep reinforcing his understanding that you are to be trusted. Parelli Horsemanship is an excellent tool that helps the horse in exactly this area. The different ‘games’ are in fact carefully chosen exercises to reinforce trust and obedience issues. A clear warning though – once you have gained this horse’s trust, be very careful that you do not do anything to compromise it! It is a fine thread that is easily snapped! Once lost, you will find the horse reverts back to his old ways, and usually even worse!

The second part of your training program will need to address the issues under saddle. The first thing you should do is to stop the canters until you have improved the walk and trot. If you keep riding the canters as he is now, you are not teaching him anything, not improving anything and all that happens is the poor way of going is reinforced until it becomes habit. Stick to walk at first, because you are going to have to teach him all about leg. Very basically, start in halt, apply your leg aid softly, if he walks on praise him and repeat. When he understands the walk aid, move on to ‘walk faster’ – in walk, apply your leg aid and if he walks faster, praise. Same for trot. This is a process that happens over weeks, not minutes please. The slower you take it, the more eager he will be to learn and the better your results. I would introduce a good lungeing program, starting with leading him and teaching him the voice commands. Also, when leading him, you can teach him to move away from pressure by applying it to his side and asking him to step away from it. (I use the vocal command ‘siiide’ and always ask my horses to do that when I take them into the stable.) Once he understands the voice commands (include ‘slooowly’ and ‘move on!’)you will be able to translate that into the riding part, giving the voice command as well as the leg aid. Slowly he will begin to understand what you want. Once his walk and trot improves, and he is starting to understand the aids, you can introduce canter. Exercises to improve his balance are vital – polework, uphills, downhills, volte’s and serpentines and plenty of transitions will improve his balance. That will improve the work under saddle vastly.

The trick is really patience. Hard I know but it is vital. When he jogs, bring him back gently and ask again. Try to vary the work so that by the time he wants to evade one exercise, he is already onto the other.

This is a long road and there are no quick fixes that are going to help – only time and patience. The reason he reacted so well to the smack, was because he understands ‘no’ so well! What you need to teach him is to focus on the ‘yes’. People spend so much time ‘fixing’ while on their horses, they forget to focus on what they want that is right. The horses learn what NOT to do, but are never really sure of what they SHOULD be doing.

That help? I hope so.

Commiserations on the whole having a nice riding horse thing – the best part about working with my previous horse was that finally I could get on and NOT FIGHT! Having worked with problem horse after problem horse, I forgot what a superb horse feels like! I get it!

Let me know how things go!

Response:


Wow, thank you Renee! It almost feels as if you were standing next to our practice arena the way you explain the horse!
I understand the Varsity thing – Maths 1; had to do it twice…! Got a distinction the second time around! The poor gelding is giving Biology answers to Accounting questions at the moment – it is as if he understands questions different to what is asked; and gives answers that were fought / beaten into him. I want to be a good equestrian, that is why I take on challenges like these (sometimes without thinking about it first); sometimes it challenges my (usually very long) patience too the extreme. But if I get help and advice (as I have with the owner, my trainer and now with your input too) it does help a lot!
I am glad you answered another question I was afraid to ask. I heard a lot of people talking about “lock on” and “join up”; not knowing what it actually meant…! Unknowingly the owner of the gelding taught me many aspects of it with my young mare, without naming it; reading it here now has put a name to what we “just did”.
I was hoping for a short fix (not necessarily a short cut) for the problem. Unfortunately we don’t have years to fix the problem; the owner wants to sell the horse. We might have 6 months (we want to attempt to show him in December, and sell him shortly there after). My trainer (and the horse’s owner) reckons he has started to trust me more than he has just about anybody else – I hope it is truthful and not only to encourage me to continue since they are glad they got a sucker to take one the horse (ha – ha; just joking the owner and trainer are both to bluntly - straight forward honest to do something like that). That scares me a lot; if I have these problems with the horse, and he trusts me (even just a bit) – how did his previous riders manage? The horse used to be trained at the previous stables where I had my horses stabled and trained; although also a Saddler yard – he was quite O.K. there (as best as it can go under Saddler training). In the in – between 2 – 3 years I don’t know where he was and or how he was handled. Something just went wrong.
He is the typical Saddler trained horse: if something (anything) is asked he just wants to perform and “show”. It makes it difficult: legs are understood as “pick yourself up and GO, GO, GO!” I just got my legs (and seat) right with my pregnant mare – now I must take my legs off again (imagine riding Saddle Seat on a dressage saddle – not easy). Even the slightest touch sends him off in a tizz; I will try working on it from the ground as you described. I haven’t cantered again during the last 2 riding sessions.
My main problem is time. My main focus currently is backing my young mare – which is making great progress; she is starting to understand the legs as aids and doesn’t want to “plant” me as much anymore. She is feisty and hot – which I like in my show horses, but also clever and quick to learn. But she requires constant work – she is at a critical age (3 years 9 months) and point in training. We need to work through the “mounting issue” (she is still uneasy / jittery with me mounting her – it was started by Saddler grooms, and became a problem we now need to fix; which takes a lot of continuous, constant work). That is what happens if you are too scared to do things yourself – you end up with different problems. I have a 7 – 4 work, I arrive at the stables at 5. After I worked with the young mare it is starting to get dark. Fridays we work shorter ours, I get to the stables at 4 and then get lesson on the gelding. Saturdays are basically the only day I can work both. When I work the gelding 2 days in a row, he works much better the second day; he settles easier and faster. Maybe later on in the summer when it gets dark later (and it isn’t so cold anymore), I will be able to work more with the gelding too. When he relaxes and works with me he is actually a very nice ride – working softly has worked a bit, but he still tense up easily when asked to do something. One thing going for him is that he is very (almost too) eager to please – be it from himself of from being forced to “perform” all the time.
In the mean time I will try and fit in some of the advice you have given me. I am sure you could deduct from my original subject; I am actually feeling sorry for myself most at the moment. Talking about it, and finding some one that can understand and help, helps a LOT. Fortunately the young mare is giving me glimmers of hope that in the not too distant future I will have a nice riding (and show) horse again…!
Thanks a million for your advice and understanding – will let you know how it goes!

Retraining the Saddler

Renee, I will confess, I have not read your article on retraining the THB; I will confess again that I don’t like THBs – that being the reason I did not read the article (sorry if I offend you by saying this).
Now I need a bit of advice (ironic isn’t it). I was progressing very nicely with my dressage lessons (leg yields, half pass, shoulder in the works!), but now my mare got too much pregnant and my trainer felt she should rest now in preparation for foaling. The owner of the (very small) stable yard is very good to me. He and the trainer decided to put me on the owner’s Saddler gelding. The horse is quite handsome, with a lovely long, arched neck. He is well mannered and friendly in his stable. The owner keeps the horses very relaxed in the “open – plan” stables; the dividing walls in the barn style stable block is only about 1.8m high; so the horses can see each other all the time (except when they lay down to sleep)
Now for the crunch: the gelding has been through a few Saddler trainers. They all did their “weird” training methods on him. He then was trained by a flashy, “windgat” dressage trainer that taught him things he was far from ready for (passage, few beat flying changes canter etc.). We now have the following problems: 1.] The horse is very tense. He was taught the Saddler walk – and it is difficult to get him to walk “flat footed”. 2.] He canters at break – neck speed, and does flying changes by himself. 3.] He anticipates: sometimes he thinks he will canter now, and turns side ways in anticipation of being asked for the canter (as Saddler trainers do turn the horses towards the rail to “throw” the horse into the correct lead canter) – it is then difficult to get him to walk straight again. 4.] He hates legs on him. With the Lane Fox saddle the legs are away from the saddle; when the legs are put on him, it means “go harder / faster”. This means he doesn’t want to take leg yields (just rushes forward faster & faster), and it is difficult to bend him “around the leg” in a circle / half circle.
We are spending a lot of time to try and get him to relax. We do a lot of walk work (also in patters). We have worked the head lower and neck rounder. He is starting to relax, but sometimes tenses up and goes into the “jog” / Saddler walk; then it is difficult to get back to a pure walk. The trot is much better (given that my legs don’t touch him, difficult with a Wintec dressage saddle!). The canter needs a lot of work still. The problem is that he needs a lot of patience; usually I am someone who doesn’t get angry easily. But after “begging” him for a pure walk for half an hour I sometimes get angry – I hide it away from my trainer and the owner. But the other day I worked him alone – and when he started with his jogging again, and then wanted to canter, I smacked him. I regretted it straight away – but the horse, after the freight it got, settled down a bit (!!!). I made a resolution that I will never do it again, he is not the type of horse where this will work – it will tense him more. I will work more on my patience. We also have done a lot of work on my seat to control speed – something wonderfully new for me!
Question: what else can I do? If you don’t have any more answers, and only feel sorry for me, I will understand…
We have also started backing my SA Boerperd mare. Fortunately no “farms were bought” (although I was shown in no uncertain terms that it could happen any moment if she felt like it). She is quite “hot” (and obviously still very inexperienced) but is progressing nicely. A lot of walk work (patters) with a bit of trotting (patters), desensitising, and long lines etc. What I have learned on the “seat” with the Saddler gelding helps a lot with her. Why am I relating this: please feel sorry for me, currently I have no settled, “lekker ryperd”…!

Answer:

Charles, Charles, Charles. I will start off by feeling sorry for you. The last time I got off to a rip-roaring start with a superb horse I got pregnant.. Hee hee. You have taken on quite a challenge in this horse but if you see it like that, a challenge, it may help out with the patience… who am I kidding. You did not miss anything in my article as I am still madly trying to finish Part 2, which discusses the actual training so none taken! (Offense I mean) The last time I sat on a Saddler, we got as far as the arena gate and then she exploded into a mass of quivering jelly and refused to move – even after her owner got on her and tried to beat the daylights out of her. I get the tension thing – they get spoiled like that, and it is such a pity.

This problem has taken a few years to evolve I would imagine, so know it is going to take a few years to correct! That is the first and most important thing to remember when a horse needs re-schooling and especially one that is this tense. Generally speaking, people try to teach their horses things too fast, before they are ready physically and mentally to do the job being asked. That results in the horse knowing all sorts of ‘tricks’ but they are not executing them properly. I cannot even count how many pupils I have had telling me that their horses are doing wonderful half passes, when upon further inspection, they are doing no more than a simple leg yield and the horse is most definitely not bent in the direction of movement! There is a definite ‘scale’ of training and the achievement of one tier will lead to the next, along with the exercises that go along with that. Schooling a horse is measured in years, not months. Often riders try to teach their horse one movement after the other, but the basics are not in place. Now it sounds to me like this poor gelding has had that happen to him. He has been scared out of his wits, been taught one ‘trick’ after the other, and still has no idea of what is expected of him.

Have you ever sat in class, perhaps at Varsity or at a lecture or a conference, and had no idea of what the lecturer was on about and everyone else seems to be totally absorbed and all you are praying for is ..'please don’t ask me a question… please don’t ask me a question…’ and your palms are sweaty and you are in an adrenaline overdose..? I think this boy is so scared to be asked a question because he is not really sure of what humans want from him. He knows there is punishment coming if he does not get it right, but he is not sure what the question was. He has been taught so many conflicting things that he is not sure what answer you want. Horses like that will often explode into an entire repertoire of things that they know when asked the most simple thing – exploding into flying changes, leg yields, canter strike-offs and the whole lot, one after the other, because they are hoping one of those tricks was what you were asking…!

There is definitely a balance issue here – by cantering faster and faster and changing legs, he is telling you that he is so tense it is unbalancing him and that is also why he is doing that. Think of tension in the canter like running downhill fast – you speed up and speed up until you can’t stop even if you wanted to. That’s what he is feeling in the canter. He speeds up and then must change legs in order to regain his balance. I have seen it often.

So, what to do! There are two aspects to the type of work you are going to need to do with him, and the first and most important part is a trust issue. This horse is going to have to learn to trust you. Now, that does not mean you fatten him up on carrots and the two of you stroll of into the sunset! First, he must realize that you are in charge. I use lock on for that (also called ‘join up’ by Monty Roberts). The horse must understand that you in control. When you are in control, it means you are not afraid and that you know what is going on, in his language.

When you throw a group of people into a stressful situation, you will notice that they will gravitate towards the person who seems to quickly gain an understanding of the situation, seems to know exactly what to do and shows the least fear. Suddenly the group gets quiet and the ‘leader’ tells them what is going on, what they need to do and who is going to do it. Suddenly they are less afraid and they focus their combined energy on the task at hand. That is what you are trying to achieve with a lock on. You are trying to focus the horse’s nervous energy on you and make him understand that you know what is going on and what he needs to do. Once you have achieved that, a small measure of trust is built.

With that trust, you are now going to ask him to step out of his comfort zone and learn that you are not going to ask him to do anything he cannot do. An easy way of doing this with the nervous wreck is to put a feed bag on the floor, with him on a lead. A pressure halter can also be used if the horse is very difficult and tends to explode. Of course the plastic bag becomes a monster and he will snort and prance and not want to go near it (being a saddler.. hee hee). If he is happy with bags, find something he is scared of – a sheet of blue plastic on the floor might be a monster to him. Be creative! You are going to ask him to step up to the bag. Then move away. Then step up to the bag, then move away. With each forward step, use lots of praise. If he backs up, keep backing him up and ask him to stand. In that way, you are still in control. Ask him to step up again. Keep your voice low, keep your body language quiet. When he finally steps up to the bag, praise. (you can use food if you want, but often nervous horses will not eat anyway!)A good reward is once he steps up to the bag and stands for even a split second, turn him away, walk him right away and around before coming back. That is a mental reward for him. He may need a small tap on the rear end with a crop to move forward the first time. If he moves forward after that, no more taps. If you are scared you may lose your temper, rather leave the crop. (I use a dressage crop.) This is the kind of work that can be done with him every day, even twice a day if you possibly can. Once he steps onto the bag (or the thing is scared of) you will see him make the connection – it is so acute you can almost hear the penny drop! He suddenly realizes that you are right, and that you will never ask him to do anything that you are not sure he can. A strong trust will be built on that. Keep up with the ‘trust games’ and keep reinforcing his understanding that you are to be trusted. Parelli Horsemanship is an excellent tool that helps the horse in exactly this area. The different ‘games’ are in fact carefully chosen exercises to reinforce trust and obedience issues. A clear warning though – once you have gained this horse’s trust, be very careful that you do not do anything to compromise it! It is a fine thread that is easily snapped! Once lost, you will find the horse reverts back to his old ways, and usually even worse!

The second part of your training program will need to address the issues under saddle. The first thing you should do is to stop the canters until you have improved the walk and trot. If you keep riding the canters as he is now, you are not teaching him anything, not improving anything and all that happens is the poor way of going is reinforced until it becomes habit. Stick to walk at first, because you are going to have to teach him all about leg. Very basically, start in halt, apply your leg aid softly, if he walks on praise him and repeat. When he understands the walk aid, move on to ‘walk faster’ – in walk, apply your leg aid and if he walks faster, praise. Same for trot. This is a process that happens over weeks, not minutes please. The slower you take it, the more eager he will be to learn and the better your results. I would introduce a good lungeing program, starting with leading him and teaching him the voice commands. Also, when leading him, you can teach him to move away from pressure by applying it to his side and asking him to step away from it. (I use the vocal command ‘siiide’ and always ask my horses to do that when I take them into the stable.) Once he understands the voice commands (include ‘slooowly’ and ‘move on!’)you will be able to translate that into the riding part, giving the voice command as well as the leg aid. Slowly he will begin to understand what you want. Once his walk and trot improves, and he is starting to understand the aids, you can introduce canter. Exercises to improve his balance are vital – polework, uphills, downhills, volte’s and serpentines and plenty of transitions will improve his balance. That will improve the work under saddle vastly.

The trick is really patience. Hard I know but it is vital. When he jogs, bring him back gently and ask again. Try to vary the work so that by the time he wants to evade one exercise, he is already onto the other.

This is a long road and there are no quick fixes that are going to help – only time and patience. The reason he reacted so well to the smack, was because he understands ‘no’ so well! What you need to teach him is to focus on the ‘yes’. People spend so much time ‘fixing’ while on their horses, they forget to focus on what they want that is right. The horses learn what NOT to do, but are never really sure of what they SHOULD be doing.

That help? I hope so.

Commiserations on the whole having a nice riding horse thing – the best part about working with my previous horse was that finally I could get on and NOT FIGHT! Having worked with problem horse after problem horse, I forgot what a superb horse feels like! I get it!

Let me know how things go!