WHEN A HORSE

does not listen…

Story and Photos By Alessandra Deerinck

...and normally happens through training by conditioning horses to respond to certain stimuli to do an action. In reality, for the possibilities of the behavioral response to a stimulus, the trained actions still coexist with instincts, experience, and emotions, components that can be difficult to control when the horse does not comply with our request.

Horses are a species of animals with very strong adaptive qualities that allows them to survive anywhere there is food, water and most importantly, another individual able to relate with them. While riding a horse or working on the ground, we do relate with him and in order to have a positive relationship our interaction should be harmoniously cooperative. This instance happens when one individual politely asks another something and gets a positive response. An example can be halting, which should be the result of a harmonious interaction, but when it is the decision of just one of the parties, it often can develop into a conflict. Politeness is not a concept that is identical across animal species and in order to cooperatively interact with an individual of another species we need to learn the elements of politeness for his species rather than train him to respond to a cue that he does not instinctually understand.

Traditionally, the solution has been to not let the horse “get away” with not responding to our requests. I think that many of the problems that can develop between rider and horse are the result of such actions, where human beings push horses past their limits, often by employing force. By forcefully insisting that a horse stops or keeps going, we establish and reinforce an unwanted behavioral memory. Horses are always ready to learn, and never switch off their memory. When we are interacting with them, they learn from anything, and everything we do. An unwanted behavior will often be exhibited if the horse gets back in the same place, because the sensory perception of a situation can cause the display of a certain behavior.

If we look at the reason why they do not comply with our request, we will find out that, in that moment, they are not recognizing us as leaders, and therefore they are taking the position of leading. Every attempt to force the horse will convince him, more and more, that we are not to be considered as a leader, because we are asking them to do something against their will. If we employ force, we obtain that the horse fears us, which is different than when he respects us. In any relationship, respect implies listening, being sensitive and caring for one another. If we employ force, in the mind of the horse we will have successfully acted as predators, not leaders. This is why, in training and working with HH Sensing, we always aim to develop in the horse an interest for what we are going to do together. If we can establish a harmonious relationship to support our time with a horse, it could even be possible to become a real team with the horse, alternating roles, as leader or follower. www.AviniHealth.com/CleanCells

So, what can we do, when the horse does not respond?

At HH Sensing we try to have multiple answers, which span from working on the ground to being in the saddle. All of the actions we recommend are aimed at reestablishing our leadership status by asking the horse to do something not too difficult and that spontaneously interests him, so he will respond to our request. This will put us back in the position of leadership, without having to resort to force. We suggest doing it in a situation where the horse has freedom of choice and taking care of putting some interest for the horse in the action.

We have developed a way to work with a horse that he understands instinctually, and the book Human Horse Sensing Horsemanship describes it in detail. We work with the communication through the senses and present the horse with a problem that he would like to solve, not because otherwise he would suffer unpleasant consequences, but because he understands the situation and has a real interest in solving it. This kind of interaction will convince a horse more and more that we are leaders worth following. After all, a leader in equine terms is, simply, someone who makes a request that leads to food, water and safety. The response is based on how the communication is carried out and received.

If properly used, the tarp is a great tool to interact with horses. From the sensory perspective, the challenge that we are asking the horse to overcome is to step on something that covers the “true ground”, and that makes noises when he gets on it. The way we make the horse want to get on the tarp is to simply put some hay, or other food on it. Our tarp needs to be large enough that, in order to reach the food, the horse will need to step on it. Using the tarp is a very versatile and effective way to demonstrate to the horse that what we present to him has a value, and that following our lead is a good idea. Obviously, we cannot use force or words to convince the horse of this fact, we need to use our behavior and the senses as vectors for the information we are giving to the horse.

Playing with a ball can be pleasant for both, horse and rider, as a mode of interaction. An object such as the ball, which has a variable movement, can give us the opportunity to establish a spontaneous and cooperative interaction with a horse that is free to choose its behavior, posing for the horse a problem to be solved, and also creating for both human and horse the opportunity to learn how to move together in sync if we do it while in the saddle.

In our clinics, we often work with a horse that we do not know and that has never worked with freedom of choice in his behavior, but because of the natural and spontaneous structure of the interaction, the horse understands without being trained for it. However, it is necessary to closely monitor the parameters of the social interaction in equine terms. HH Sensing considers how we are coexisting in the same space, if there is trust, respect, willingness to respond and attention, but we do so in the equine terms. The existence of those conditions between human and horse establishes that what we are conveying to the horse is being received and that the horse is responding. If instead he reacts (responding with an attitude), those parameters are not all present and we need to realize that our communication has some flaws and we need to correct it. As leaders, we need to change something in our behavior, or we will lose the consideration of the horse. When there is no tack to hold the horse, he could move away and not participate in our action, clearly telling that he has no interest in working together.

When a horse freely responds to us, we really have reached him without any doubt.

Are we ready to safely give the horse freedom of choice, and see if he can see us as leaders worth following?

Attention Versus Fear

Horses are always aware of the surrounding and can become attentive and focused on something at any time. When they focus on an object, they also feel the need to investigate it, which can result in an approach if horses feel attracted by the object or in an avoidance if they feel they need more distance to be safe. In relating with them we can facilitate their perception of the situations to which we led them, and as a consequence of our interaction their behavior becomes attentive and comfortable, even with situations that can be new or difficult. Our goal is to support the horse in his experience during each instance in order to avoid developing reactions, or stressful behavior.

Introducing The Bit

When we put the bit in the mouth of a horse for the first time, we should make it a good experience and letting them eat something like carrots while they get the bit can help them learn how to manage the presence of the bit in their mouth.

Leadline And Reins

When we are with horses, we always influence their perception because we hold them by the head, with halter and lunge lines on the ground, or with bridles when we ride. Learning how to do it in a cooperative manner can make a big difference in our relationship.

in putting a horse under saddle, we have formulated a phase of working on the ground with an English halter connected to one lunge line, not on a circle, but in any position relative to the horse. The action happens when managing the space between the human and the horse. The horse learns to turn right, or left by being held on either side, because they follow when we release the line, and they respect when we hold the line. The horse responds to very light contact, not by being trapped between lines, by a harsh bit, or by the use of headgear. The light contact later gets transferred, and developed into the one by holding the reins, when the horse is ridden. This prevents the experience of getting trapped by side reins, learning to resist to them, and to fixing their head position to avoid feeling pain in their mouths.

www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com