Horse Logic
Did You Provide a Job Description?
by Nicole Birkholzer
D
id you know that your horse wants to know what you expect of him? Making sure your horse understands your requests or the job you want him to perform can resolve a lot of miscommunication issues. Most likely, your horse has been trained by someone else before he came into your life. This was true for Rio, a
Rio stunning steel-gray Quarter Horse. He had been trained out of state for reining and had successfully competed. When Jill tried Rio, she knew right away that this was her next prospect to take her training business and competing to the next level. She felt an instant connection with Rio and was excited to connect under saddle. A few months into their partnership, Jill reached out to me. She felt that Rio was holding back and wondered what he needed to succeed with her. When I tuned in to Rio, he immediately shared that Jill used her inner thighs a lot during their rides. He was surprised by the activity of her legs and wasn’t sure how to respond to it. Jill explained that she was using her legs to encourage Rio to move forward with little success. Jill 56
Community Horse Fall/Winter 2022
shared that most of the riders in the reining industry use their heels and spurs to motivate the horse to move out. She had found that using her thighs and lower legs was a kinder and more effective way to gain speed; however, Rio didn’t respond as expected. Turning the conversation back to Rio, I explained to him that Jill was using
Rio and Jill her legs to move him into the next higher gear. Rio’s job was simply to read the squeeze as a signal to speed up. I then suggested that Jill use her heels briefly and then follow up with a squeeze to make the connection for him. Rio agreed that it would be helpful if Jill created a bridge to remind him of the meaning behind the new body signal. A few weeks later, I ran into Jill and asked how Rio was doing. Jill replied that Rio was a different horse. During their next ride following our conversation, Rio responded to Jill’s aid like a charm. And, she had taken him to a schooling competition where he effortlessly scored just one point below the perfect score. Bringing Jill and Rio together was simple. One conversation provided clar-
