Petra Christensen
Horse Coaching
Riding with Confidence This series takes you through the steps of balancing yourself and your horse mentally, emotionally and physically so you and your horse develop a confident and trusting WholeHearted Partnership that is fun for both, horse and rider. Riding with confidence has a lot to do with trusting your gut feelings, setting healthy boundaries, not allowing others to overpower you as well as becoming a puzzle and problem solver. You will learn how to make the right decisions, not only for your horsemanship, but also to lead a healthy, positive and balanced life in general. Yes, WholeHearted Horsemanship can do this for you! My first article in this series “How to Increase and Regain your Confidence” concentrated on the rider, balancing mind and emotions by setting healthy boundaries and using approach and retreat to deal with confidence and anxiety issues. In this second part, I would like to teach you how to set yourself and your horse up for success by assessing your horse’s mental, emotional and physical fitness on the ground first before ever mounting your horse. Part 2:
Is my Horse Rideable? - Assessing the Horse’s Mental, Emotional and Physical Balance, From the Ground up When I lost my confidence due to a scary riding accident, my question was “How in the world can I make sure this won’t happen again?” How do I know whether my horse is mentally, emotionally and physically balanced so that I set myself up for a fun and safe ride? My advice to you: Don’t be in a hurry to get on and always put the relationship first! Approaching and Haltering Humans, by nature, are direct line thinkers. When we approach the barn or paddock we already have an idea what we want to do, when we have to be done and what will be next on our agenda like making dinner or picking the kids up from school. We want to halter our horse, move on to grooming, saddling and so on. Our horse has no agenda other than staying safe, comfortable, and being able to play and eat. Most likely, our horse has already noticed us approaching… and if we have done a great job at putting our relationship first by honoring our horse’s dignity and needs, he will either come to us or at least wait for us to approach him. So what do you do if that is – not yet – the case? Horses give us instant feedback, there are no emotions attached to a horse’s response and reaction. They are not out to make us feel bad, they live the life of a prey animal, and survival is on top of their list. Instead of allowing negative emotions to come up, set your mind to “Hmmm, how interesting! I wonder WHY my horse reacts this way.” This will help you to become a puzzle solver and solution finder.
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Petra Christensen
Horse Coaching
It will be important to resolve this issue. If your horse mentally braces against you, this mental brace will turn into an emotional and physical brace and can put your safety at risk! Ask yourself some simple questions: Did I acknowledge my horse while approaching him? Did I consider his personal space? What happened last time I spent time with my horse that might have caused him to retreat? Do I do things with and for my horse that he enjoys and finds comfort in? What’s in it for my horse? And last but not least, am I bringing mental, emotional and/or physical tension to the barn and paddock and my horse feels my anxiety and stress? Putting a positive balance in your emotional bank account so you can make off and on necessary withdrawals will guarantee you positive results. A couple examples of how to make deposits: Spend undemanding time with your horse; such as hand grazing or simply sharing space by sitting in or outside his paddock or stall (depending on your comfort zone). Carrot stretches are a great way to help your horse to stretch and flex AND there is something in it for him as well. Instead of grooming your horse to get him clean and ready for saddling, set your intent to “what can I do for you?” I promise you: You AND your horse will feel the difference when you put yourself in your horse’s shoes! Leading As herd animals horses are born to follow. The question is: Is your horse willingly following you while respecting your space? When your horse trusts you and respects you, he will be a good follower because you are exhibiting leadership qualities that cause him to feel safe. Therefore he will not feel the need to question or challenge you. While unconfident horses tend to be good followers as long as we are good leaders, confident horses will off and on ask the question: Can I be the boss? When being led, they will try to pass you, invade your space, move you off your path, pull on the rope or even nip at you. That’s just them being a horse. They would do the same with another horse that they feel is below them in the herd hierarchy. So how can we change our horse’s opinion of us? I use a 12’ lead line and soft rope halter. The advantage of a rope halter is that it is light and comfortable when my horse responds appropriately and it is thin enough to make a difference for my horse when he decides to lean into pressure. Horses easily push into a wide web halter and there is little you can do about it when they decide to move in a different direction than you intended. I am 100 pounds light and I have been able to stop a 1500 pound horse with a rope halter, proper timing and technique! The advantage of a 12’ line is that you can allow enough space between you and your horse so that you have time to respond in case he tries to evade your personal space. Holding the horse at arm length on the snap of the halter or lead rope is common practice but not very
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Petra Christensen
Horse Coaching
safe! No human can “hold” a scared or dominate horse away from them. Practicing for your horse to follow you, to stop when you stop, walk when you walk, trot when you trot and back up when you back up WHENEVER you lead your horse, will score leadership points for you. Leave 3 feet of rope, making sure that you are not directly in front of your horse but diagonally in front of his shoulder when you walk. Use the end of the lead rope as a helicopter over your head if your horse is really trying hard to invade your space. Once he ran into the leather popper a couple times (at nose height), he will find it more comfortable to stay quietly behind you. It will be important to match your horse’s intent and persistency to make a permanent change. Different horse personalities will put more effort into their ideas than others. It’s up to you, to find the amount of energy and perseverance it will take to show your horse that you are – indeed – a good leader. Remember: You know you were effective, when your horse will not challenge you anymore! Grooming Is your horse comfortable with you touching him everywhere? Even on the ears, tail, sheath or teats? If your horse has any “Yeah, but…” spots, consider this as instant feedback that he is not yet fully trusting you. Again, it is not helpful to have an emotional response to this fact. When we are conscious of an issue, we can find a solution! Find the areas your horse is really comfortable with and repetitively move towards and away from those spots he’s not ok with. Ground yourself firmly by breathing in and out, slowly and deeply. Releasing any tension in your body through proper breathing will help your horse to release tension as well. Watch your horse’s expression closely as you play approach and retreat in order to be safe. Remember to move slowly without being sneaky. Within a few sessions you will see a positive change in your partnership that will carry through to groundwork and riding.
" Picking Feet Sometimes, especially in bad weather with ice and mud clinging tightly to our horse’s hooves, it seems such a tedious task to pick feet. But it’s not just about making sure his feet are clean and free off debris… Being a prey animal, our horse knows that if he is not in full control of his feet, he could be in a life threatening situation. Does your horse fully trust you by surrendering his feet to you, therefore giving up his flight response? Consider how much your horse acts like a partner while picking his feet: Does he willingly pick up each individual foot, holding it up and putting it gently back down when you ask him to do so? Or does he refuse to shift his weight, leaning on you or ripping the foot out of your hands prematurely?
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Petra Christensen
Horse Coaching
This is an important relationship issue and needs to be addressed! Here is how: Spend a few minutes each day to teach your horse to pick and hold up his feet willingly. Stand next to him, facing his hind end and pinch your horse’s chestnut for the front feet (or hock for the hind feet), and whistle. Increase the pinch until your horse makes the slightest attempt at picking up his foot. Look for the slightest try and in this very instant, release. The better your timing is, the quicker the progress will be. Stroke his leg, and then ask again. Look for a little more effort each time. If your horse shifts his weight on you while holding up his foot, release, and ask again, until he stops doing so. Set his foot down in a spiral and look for relaxation and the horse’s commitment to trusting the process all the way to the ground. Spend a few minutes each day, and very quickly you will have improved your partnership with you horse. Ground Work and Play Whenever I play with my horse on the ground, I observe with an open eye and heart while asking myself the following questions: Would I ride THIS? Could I ride THIS? Should I ride THIS? A “head’s up” for the more confident rider… just because I would and could, doesn’t necessarily mean I “should”. Ask yourself this question: Will riding my horse today in this mental, emotional and/or physical condition (including an existing mental, emotional or physical brace) improve our relationship? Or is there a chance that I loose trust, confidence and respect? I ALWAYS put the relationship first, no matter what goals I had in mind. I will never give my horse a reason to loose trust and respect in me! Walk, Trot, Canter and Jump over Something – with Rhythm, Relaxation and Connection Let’s start with the definitions of rhythm, relaxation and connection: Rhythm: Regular foot falls Relaxation: The state of being free of tension and anxiety or the restoration of equilibrium following a disturbance Connection: With this, I don’t mean physical contact or connection. I am referring to your horse being connected with you mentally. Being connected means he is “in tune” with and focused on you, while responding willingly and immediately, without arguing or ignoring you. Keep in mind, that horses are unique like snowflakes. Just like us humans they have innate characteristics, traits and learned behavior. There are horses that like to go and are exuberant and move easily forward (extroverts) and there are horses that like to take it slow and their default is to stop (introverts). Horses can be – by nature and learned behavior – confident or unconfident. These characteristics are necessary to keep in mind when you play and work with your horse. More about this in one of my next articles.
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Petra Christensen
Horse Coaching
For now, consider the following exercises and pre-ride checks: •
Can your horse easily back up away from you?
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Can your horse easily move his front and hind end when you apply rhythmic pressure?
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Can your horse easily move his front and hind end when you apply steady pressure?
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Can your horse easily come to you, with trust, confidence and respect?
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Can you ask your horse to move sideways away from you?
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Can you send your horse in a circle and ask for walk, trot and canter, up and down transitions, and can he do so with rhythm, relaxation and connection in all three gaits?
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Is your horse willingly maintaining the gait and direction you suggested?
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Can you send your horse over a jump, with rhythm, relaxation and connection?
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Are the transitions equally fluid, whether it’s an upward or a downward transition?
While playing with my horse on the ground, I use a rope halter and a line that is at least 12” long in addition to a stick with a 6’ string so that I can influence my horse’s body from a safe distance if necessary. I refer to my value system of 1 to 10, with 10 being “the best it could be” and 1 equaling “non-existent”. In order to set myself and my horse up for success I want at least a 6 (better than average) to move on to saddling. If I have confidence issues, I want to honestly answer all my questions with an 8 or a 9, depending on how severe my anxiety is. Be sure not to stop at a trot and not to skip the jump. I see a lot of horses that can function at a walk and trot but lose their mental, emotional and physical balance when asked for a canter and jump. If your horse has a tendency to buck… the canter and jump will make it necessary for him to round his back and that’s where the buck will most likely show up. It’s a good thing to know PRIOR to mounting! Leaning/Pushing into Pressure and Bracing This is a very important subject. Horses, by nature, are designed to push into pressure. When the mountain lion jumps on the horse’s back, they round their back and push into the pressure trying to save their lives. While moving through these exercises make sure that your horse yields to pressure willingly and lightly. As long as your horse leans, pushes or braces into pressure, DO NOT get on! Last but not least… In the beginning your preparation on the ground might take up most of your session and riding will be short or you might even have to admit “My horse does not look rideable to me today”. Do not get discouraged, there is an extremely valuable lesson to be learned when you decide to declare: No thank you, not today! You are taking care of yourself and keeping yourself safe. Reassessing your session will help you make a better plan for the next day. What worked and what did not work? Sometimes, we run out of arrows and it is necessary to ask for help. Find
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Petra Christensen
Horse Coaching
somebody that has a clear understanding what your needs are and who will be supporting you in a positive way. As you progress, you will eventually increase your riding time and decrease the time you spend on the ground all the way down to a couple minutes of a pre-ride check. In my next article, I will give you strategies on how to help your horse achieve rhythm, relaxation and connection in all three gaits. Petra Christensen, owner of Red Horse Coaching, grew up in Germany as a horse crazy kid in a non-horsey family. She teaches horses and humans to be safe, trusting, respectful and confident by creating wholehearted partnerships. Petra coaches at 4 Winds Equestrian Center in Estancia, NM, and at her own facility Red Horse Farm in Pagosa Springs, CO. She also travels and teaches through the US. If you have further questions, you can reach Petra through her website www.petrachristensen.com photo credit: Nancy Ness and Coco
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