Whitesell Wisdom TEACH WITH BETTER COMMUNICATION Most of us would like to get our horse to gait on a loose or very light rein. If horses learn from release of pressure, why would we hold pressure on the mouth to make him or her gait? When we teach a horse to maintain gait, we might have just a feel on the reins, and when the horse gaits we release. Of course in early training, the horse will fall out of gait when we release. We add feel again and when gait comes, we release and so on. In the beginning, we only work for short periods. It doesn’t take the horse long to figure out when he gaits, he gets release and comfort. Everything we teach, we must release when the horse gives the right answer. As I travel the country doing clinics, I see most riders don’t have the connection they want with their horses. Most riders spend their time with their horses trying to teach them how to be safe for them. They work on teaching the horse not to spook, not to go too fast, not to do things that make us feel unsafe when we ride. Very few riders spend
By Larry Whitesell
time teaching the horse what he needs in order to feel comfortable or safe. Riders don’t see how the horse perceives what is happening, or interprets the rider’s wishes. Riders teach horses movements like turn on the forehand or haunches, leg yield, back, stop, etc. When you teach a movement instead of how to perform the movement, then the movement becomes a trick. When you trail ride and the horse becomes energized, tricks don’t work. Does his brain comprehend what you want his feet to do? The horse performs a movement to get a release with no real understanding of what his feet are doing and how to do the movement in balance with relaxation. Lightness comes from the feet, not the mouth. If his brain understands how the aids connect to his feet, he will always perform in balance. There is resistance when we pull on a rein, and the feet are sticky or go in the wrong direction. If the horse understands the aid, and his feet go where we ask, then the horse feels light.
18 • The Sound Advocate • Issue 4, 2020
