The Value of Riding to a Contact Naturally

At liberty, we can observe horses moving with complete freedom while maintaining a naturally collected outline. Such posture is only held for moments before returning to a more comfortable position. The head and neck are lowered and most of the weight is carried on the forehand. As primarily grazing animals, horses have evolved to carry most of their weight on the forehand. In order to balance their weight, they need freedom of their neck and head. A horse has his own natural balance, but when he is asked to carry a rider, he has to find a new balance point which takes several months or even longer.

Correctly training a horse to perform even basic movements with grace and beauty is not possible without taking his natural balance into consideration.When a horse moves in self-imposed collection, he will instinctively lift his back, using the right muscles, tendons, and ligaments throughout his body to directly support this posture. One of the most damaging things we can do when schooling is ask for an “outline”, especially for a young horse. A horse’s outline changes in relation to his physical and mental development, it is fluid in its form, and is something that will, with correct training, develop naturally over a period of years. To insist on it before the horse is ready will have an effect on the way he functions on an emotional, mental and physical level. Too much contact creates a short neck and destroys the horse’s natural balance. At the very least he needs time to organise his legs and adjust his vertebrae.

That’s not to say that a long neck is always preferable. Unless a horse is encouraged to seek contact with the rider’s hands, to lift a little, he will never learn to carry a rider in true balance or develop the muscles he needs to move comfortably within a more advanced frame. By that I mean being able to alter his centre of gravity, without artificial inducement, in order to carry less weight on his forehand.

We should always strive to maintain a light contact throughout the horse’s training. If it needs to be held to maintain a more desirable shape, it is likely that shortcuts will have been taken or the horse less established than we thought he was. Shorter contact should always be the by product of physical development, not the means by which physical development is achieved.

The amount of contact required to allow the horse to work with his neck in the optimal position depends on his level of training, mental and physical development. It’s really important to understand why the nose must always be in front of the vertical. When we force a green horse to work with a short contact, in an outline, the poll becomes stiff, encouraging him to bring his nose behind the vertical in an effort to evade the pain we are creating in his mouth and neck. This way of working produces a very uncomfortable posture for the horse as he struggles to support himself in an unnatural way. The neck vertebrae become stiff and tense, blood flow is inhibited and the horse’s ability to learn is impaired. It also causes changes in spatial awareness, depth perception etc and is a major cause of shying for no apparent reason. Throughout a horse’s training, we should encourage our horses to stretch their necks down and out, to seek our hands through the reins, to go long and low no matter how high their level of schooling.

As well as ‘long and low’ we use the term ‘deep and round.’ They are not the same thing as the latter is often achieved with side reins and running reins which can lead to an artificially lowered head and shortened neck. We are told that this lifts the back and stretches the spine as a result of the hind leg coming through, but when a horse is worked too deep in the neck, his back arches down, making the hind legs work harder to compensate. This produces too much movement in the stifle and the hock, and not enough in the body. The hind quarters can’t work in harmony with the forehand when the bridge between them, the back, is not moving. When the legs work like this, they hit the ground harder, causing concussion not only in the leg joints, but also in the hip and spine. Dressage is an art form and schooling is a system of education.It needs time and the right conditions to grow and flourish. Allowing our horses to work with their necks long and low is where it all begins.

THE VALUE OF A REAL CONNECTION

 

More people than ever are becoming connected through social media, smart phones, apps, and many other forms of technology which has lead us silently and swiftly to embrace the age of instant gratification. When we want something, we want it now. We are losing the ability to wait for a delay in the fulfilment of our desires. Feelings of satisfaction are increasingly time sensitive and dependant on being able to almost instantly access a reward for what we are seeking.

Without our devices, most of us feel cut off, disconnected from our friends and what is going on in the rest of our world.  When we connect through a phone or computer, many aspects that go with a face to face communication are lost. The emotional exchange that happens when we experience each others’ facial expressions and body language is missing. Matched expressions of emotion are known to have a calming effect on our minds and bodies.


 The depth of connection with people and animals isn’t really possible using this kind of virtual contact. I sometimes reflect back to the days before mobile phones and wonder how I managed to find people and places with just an address and a landline number. If I needed to call someone, I would have to scout around for the old fashioned telephone kiosk, now a museum piece, praying I had the right change. Unless the other person was within reach of the receiver, my call would go unanswered. It was so much harder to keep in touch even fifteen years ago. A certain amount of sideways thinking and resourcefulness was needed to accomplish what often felt like a mission.


Successful communication with horses happens when we are able to bridge the invisible gap between our body language and their emotions in order to positively influence behaviour. We live in an age of rapid exchange of information but “talking” to your horse is usually far from instant, it requires much time and effort before a rewarding connection is acknowledged by both parties. It is so much easier to join up electronically with friends and discuss where our relationship is at and how we are going to improve it than actually going out and working on it in physically. Technology can rob us of the will to make tangible, consistent endeavours towards building a true connection with animals, but conversely, our need to do so has never been greater. Our desire to achieve a meaningful bond is historically stronger than ever. Although the advantages of instant messaging, social sharing etc are huge, they can’t fill the gap in our hearts that long to connect in a more inwardly satisfying way.

When we interact with a horse there is a direct communication through body language and unexpressed emotion. In other words, horses pick up on our thoughts and feelings whether or not they are expressed or visible. They are definitely affected by our mental state; we can’t fake it.  Reactions, in the form of feedback, take place without disguise, and with complete authenticity. Unlike a horse, we can say one thing but mean another and manipulate our facial expression to mask what we are really thinking.


Since horses are large and imposing animals, we are likely to notice their behaviour, and in doing so, we have the ideal opportunity to look at our own. Communicating face to face allows us to open ourselves to empathic understanding. Without the possibility of shared feelings, a true connection is nothing more than fantasy. For most of us, the idea of being fully accepted, warts and all, is only a dream. Perhaps one of the reasons so many of us have pets.  Horses, and other animals, simply don’t judge us, not ever; even when we do things we think will result in judgment being made against us. In an animal’s presence, we can feel our most whole. Spending time with our horses includes being with ourselves in ways that are impossible when we are plugged in to one of the many forms of electromagnetic wizardry.

A visit to the Rescue Centre

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to have a guided tour, with a brief biography, of the long term residents at a local horse rescue centre. We were shown horses and ponies with a range of difficulties that would make them impossible to sell or even fostered as field ornaments. It was very sad because the only difference between them and a much loved horse of perfect disposition is the sum of their experience with a number of different owners, although there was a grey gelding that had only one of those, but he had just as many problems due to being humanised from a foal.  

We met horses who had been so physically abused their trust in humans was permanently broken. We weren’t surprised to hear a couple of those were born in Ireland where they had received a quick and violent introduction to human relationships. The resulting trauma is so deep, they can only be managed by someone with a wide understanding of what they have been through, and who is able to show them guided leadership without a hint of domination. Even the smallest indication of dominance brings up instant feelings of fear so great, horses like these are totally fixated on escape which makes them dangerous to be near.

We watched two mares, self exercising in a covered school, who hadn’t been hit and were not frightened of people but their difficulties were none the less severe. These girls had serious problems when ridden. The details of what they do under saddle are not important, what we need to know is why they react like that. The reason is simple: horses really don’t understand what they are supposed to do for us unless they are lucky enough to be shown the way through good horsemanship which allows the person responsible for their education to understand the situation from the horse’s perspective.

Horses are herd animals; they are mentally designed to think of themselves as part of a team rather than as an individual. How the horse perceives reality is so different from ours, they may as well be from another planet which is why what we want from them can get completely lost in translation.  Ours is a throw away culture where we are can be less interested in investing in relationships than seeking recognition from our peers. We may not even be aware of our desire to achieve predetermined expectations which is in direct contrast to a horse who is hard wired to seek comfort above everything.

As 21^st Century horse owners, we often lead time starved lives full of deadlines and hectic schedules which prevent us from realising we are human be-ings rather than human do-ings. This had a direct impact not only on the way horses perceive us but also on the feedback they will show us in the future. They are not concerned about the number of jobs on the to do list or duties we’ve signed up for, what matters to them is how we respond “in the moment.”

These moments are priceless jewels on the timeline of reality where horse and human can merge, if only briefly, allowing important information to be downloaded. Unfortunately what often happens is the horse is locked in a stable before having a bit thrust in his mouth, a headpiece jammed over his ears and a saddle dumped on his back, after which he is spun round on the end of a lunge for an hour or so, followed by a person swinging onto his back. Before the horse has had a change to mentally digest what’s happening, a rider kicks his sides while making clucking noises.  

It never ceases to amaze me that more people aren’t aware that horses are not born knowing what leg aids mean. If he fails to respond, which mostly happens, a sort of frozen on the spot reaction, a stick is used until he gets the idea to lurch forward. While he is trying his best to balance with an unfamiliar weight on his back, he is clucked at and kicked at again to go faster until he makes it into trot. Without warning he feels a pulling sensation in his mouth but he has no idea what that means either. Another amazing thing is that people don’t know that horses don’t know they are supposed to stop when the bit is used against their mouth, most of them lean into the pressure, go deeper on the forehand and keep going in order to remove themselves from discomfort.

If they make it all the way back to the yard without bolting, bucking or using some other means to unseat the rider due to panic, fear and lack of understanding, they may be lucky enough to receive a slap-pat while the tack is ripped off them. After two or three weeks of the same treatment, plus a few turns left and right, the horse is considered broken and riding. If the horse isn’t sold directly to a private owner, he is likely to be entered in a sale or find himself in a dealer’s yard where if he is lucky, he may get a couple of weeks’ further education.

A horse’s nature is such that he will always try to be in agreement with what is being asked, at least until communication becomes impossible. When it does, he will use every means available to him to avoid doing whatever it is that he feels he can no longer cope with; the problem horse is born. Before he gets to that point, he may well have submitted temporarily to the demands of a skilled or forceful rider sufficiently enough to be described as a quiet ride, and often, as an all rounder. My description of the breaking process is by no means rare; in fact it’s the usual route horses are made to go down on the horse selling trail.

When an inexperienced owner innocently expects a degree of performance in line with his or her expectation of what was described, things can spiral downhill rapidly if the horse hasn’t sufficient tools to do the job. Such horses are often passed on or resold, collecting baggage rather than the help they need. Whether a horse has reached the point of no return with one or multiple owners, the result is the same. He is an unwanted animal without a future except as a rescue case. It is never the horse’s fault to be in this position, neither is it necessarily the owners, who, no doubt bought in good faith. Is anyone to blame? We are all responsible for the animals in our care, including the source from which they came. Until we really accept that horses need sufficient time, patience and understanding to prepare them for a life of riding and safe human interaction, rescue centres will continue to be busy.

Relationship Building Part Three. Consistency Wins the Day

Continuing the last two posts on consistency, we recently worked on our two day course with a mare who benefited greatly once boundaries were established. Everything within horsemanship is linked, each aspect leading to another like doors which must not only be opened but passed through. This little mare had doors which had never been opened during her entire life and those that were, were quickly closed again without going in to sort out what was buried inside.

There were two main doors which she used as a means of escape. She could either push her way out by the front, or know instinctively how to evade through the back. Her house, let’s use our imagination for minute, was unstructured and disorganised to the point where she was insecure within it. People came and went, often leaving their children for her to entertain and look after. As a kind hearted soul, she tried very hard to oblige but a lot of the time she couldn’t find her coping mechanism manual or instruction kit amongst the clutter left by her visitors.

Another of her problems was that they were all so different, she didn’t know what to expect and most of them never told her what they wanted her to do. Eventually she gave up trying to work it out, and when it got too hot in the kitchen, she would shoot through either door and run around looking for alternative support.  

Her behaviour was often misunderstood; she has a bit of a reputation for unpredictability and bad manners. Whenever she gave a contrary opinion she was ticked off and even made to sit on the naughty step, which she couldn’t see the point of at all, and since no one could make her stay, she left as soon as she could.  Some might consider her a bit of a rebel, or a naughty pony but it wasn’t like that. She loved her visitors, especially her owner who had shown nothing but kindness after rescuing her in a moment of rashness from a dealer. 

As her only training had come from the school of hard knocks, she wasn’t into listening to her rider as the questions were confusing, and when she gave an answer, she was mostly rewarded with a tug and a pull. In her mind, escape was the only solution. Since she was built like a mini tank with a chest as wide as a bull, it was a very effective strategy that had always worked until the day her owner loaded her up and took her to MSC on a course.

I think it’s true to say we were all amazed by the progress and transformation in this little mare. Bolshy and pushy to begin with, she was sufficiently polite and attentive by the end of the first day to join all the activities on the second. How was that achieved? By leaving the door of consistency open to strict boundary definition and following through until the task was understood. When agreement was reached, instant security miraculously popped its head out of one of the windows which had been shut for so long everyone thought it was part of the wall. The little mare yawned, she liked the feeling of not having to take responsibility. Now that she’d stopped trying to get away, she saw another door she’d never noticed before. The door of choice was inviting her in. She could choose to continue life as she knew it or step into the room of release. You could see her thinking about that one.

Understanding all the benefits inside the door of release was a light bulb moment. Although the light flickered off and on, another door with several windows continued to deliver support throughout the day. As she got familiar with the sense of release, she began to feel its influence. Softness came in through the window and pressure went out of the door. 

The dust has been stirred to reveal openings containing interspecies maps hidden under layers of confused signals. Now the windows are opening, letting in the light of communication, understanding, and true connection. Both horse and owner can start afresh, taking consistent steps towards building a healthy trust based relationship. We are forward to receiving updates on her progress.

Relationship Building Part Two

In the last post we discussed relationship building and touched on the techniques for success. One of the biggest hurdles to overcome is lack of trust as it’s not easy to accurately determine what the levels are. A good indicator is how strong the boundaries are between you. Your horse may be all over you like a rash but that doesn’t necessarily mean he trusts you. How do we define trust? Trust is the absence of fear based reactions both on the ground and under saddle. What are the signs? When your horse is happy to stand still without being tied up or held onto. When your horse agrees to be ridden without sudden shying, running off at unexpected noises, or other unpredictable behaviour. Natural though these responses are, they mostly occur when a horse feels insecure or under threat which can be most of the time for some.

In order to change their perception of how life works, we must learn to be totally consistent with everything we do. We know horses are creatures of habit and a big part of that is their need for consistency which isn’t to be confused with routine. You can have a routine without consistency and consistency without routine. We prefer the latter because it gives us and the horses more flexibility and opportunity to build a relationship without restraints.  Where should you start with consistency? By consciously making sure you do everything in the same way and at the same speed of movement to obtain a particular result until it becomes a habit or ritual the horse can rely on. The horse is less concerned whether what you do is right or wrong but cares deeply about doing something one way today and another tomorrow. Your horse will find it easier to trust you when you consistently do the “wrong” thing all of the time than the “right” thing some of the time. If he can’t rely on you to be consistent, how can he trust you to keep him safe when you take him away from the herd?

As an example of how much value a horse places on consistency, let’s look at a typical situation out hacking where the horse sees something he doesn’t like and refuses to go past it. Maybe you feel it expedient to get off and lead him past. The next day he does the same thing. You try a little harder to persuade him to keep going but he says no and turns round. You bring him back and try again. He tells you he doesn’t think it’s a good idea and before you know it, he’s turned round again and is heading for home. You manage to get him back so he’s facing the “right” way and to avoid an argument, you dismount and lead him past. The next day you ride out with a friend whose horse just walks by and not surprisingly, your horse is happy to follow. The day after you are on your own again and even more determined to ride past the stumbling block. After a couple of attempts to turn round, he agrees to go past with a bit of a dash. You give him lots of pats and tell him he’s a good boy. The next time you ride him it’s very windy, he’s more jumpy than usual so you’re not surprised he won’t pass the dreaded “thing.” You don’t trust him to stand still long enough for you to get on again if you lead him past so you decide to take an alternative route. Time goes by with some improvement. There are days he goes by without a problem but on others, he flatly refuses and tries evasion tactics which make you feel nervous enough to either dismount or go another way.

What’s actually happening is that the horse has developed a rule to help him deal with a lack of consistency beyond dismounting with regard to riding past whatever it was that he didn’t like, even though by now it no longer poses a threat. Now he dictates whether or not he’ll go past, depending on how confident he feels on any particular day. The rule is he will follow you or another horse past or go on his own if he feels like it. The rule is not only consistent, it’s also a habit. Consistency is so important to horses that they will be inclined to put their own version in place in order to feel safe unless you can show you can step up to the mark.  

Trust through consistency is absolutely the best way to build a successful partnership.

Relationship Building

Relationships are tricky things at the best of times. If we look back on our life, most of us can remember falling out with a friend, a work colleague or even a family member. Relationships change over time; as the years pass, our needs can change or we look at things from a different perspective. The business of relationships in general is big and complex. Communicational difficulties between humans often need a professional mediator so what chance is there to enjoy a successful relationship with a non verbal being like a horse?

Many people admit to liking animals better than humans, finding it easier to relate to their pets. If asked why, they would come up with reasons like "Animals don't judge you, " or "He's always pleased to see me", or "He accepts me for what I am, I can be me". Although these statements also apply to horses, on their own they are not enough. The difference between a horse and a dog for instance, is the latter relies on his owner completely for food, shelter, and companionship while horses never truly lose their wild heritage. Their need for safety and survival is so great, the instinct to return to the herd is overriding, even stronger than the desire for food.

A good relationship with your horse is determined by its health. Just like human relationships, not all are positive.  Horses are individuals with a group mentality; it is easier to form a bond with some than others depending on character and previous conditioning. Sadly most horses have multiple owners throughout their life which inevitably means they will collect some baggage over time that not only affect their performance, but also their ability to relate positively to humans.

We all know a healthy relationship is based on trust. Trust has to be earned.  It can’t be bought, forced or demanded. It is totally dependent on the horse feeling safe and secure. These feelings can change in an instant, they might be present one minute and gone the next as we all know. Horses only feel safe and secure while their survival isn’t under threat. Being absolutely consistent in riding and handling them with an aura of calm, assertive energy, giving them enough time to work out what we want them to do, allows trust to develop naturally. One of the best indicators of your horse’s trust levels is how happy he is to simply stand still without being constrained.

Since this might bring up more questions than answers, next time we will explore some simple techniques for relationship success.

Horses are Great Teachers, a guest post from Sam

I have now had 2 separate horses from Avril and the initial story for each has been the same. As a mum returning to riding 20 years after my last serious experiences with it, and then not very good, I have all the usual associated problems – not fit, not competent, and not confident. And even today I have little confidence and need a horse I am sure will not bolt, reverse into a ditch or spook into the oncoming traffic. I also carry my own neuroses – that any horse I will ride will not be as good for me as it is for Avril; that I may “ruin” a horse; and that I am not good enough to tell the difference between a horse that is testing boundaries and one that doesn’t understand what I am asking – because I am not asking correctly or mis-reading what it is telling me.

This background lead to the arrival of Oxo – one of Avril’s own ponies about whom I have written previously. It has since been followed by the arrival of Puzzle who’s role is to temporarily cover Oxo’s role while Oxo is resting from some surgery.

In both cases I have approached them with both terror and excitement – excitement that this might be the pony that will take me on quiet, gentle, peaceful hacks around the farm, allowing me to watch the swifts insect-diving in the ripening wheat. But the terror has been the prevailing emotion – and of course the one I share with the horses, and for which they end up having to take responsibility, in looking after me.

The first obvious consequence of this terror, combined with the horse being in an entirely new environment starts when I try to get on a pony which has not moved off from the mounting block without its rider in 10 years but because I am telling it so strongly that this is highly dangerous, it chooses to do so. Oxo did this for my first 4 or 5 rides, and on our first ride went marching out of the yard the minute I was on. For Puzzle, where I was slightly less terrified but not much she did this for our first ride. But as a (nearly) old hand at this I realized that I had to a) get a better grip on my nerves and b) just keep, patiently telling her that I needed her to stand still. After 5 or 6 circuits of the mounting block she stood still, including once I was on, and sorting out my stirrups. On our second ride she stood perfectly still straightaway and there was less fuss. Whether this was because I had reduced my fear after a lovely hack the day before, or because I had insisted the day before I don’t know – but of course the minute it happens then the virtuous circle on the confidence front commences. Since then we have had a couple of times moving off, usually after I haven’t ridden for a couple of days, but as my confidence in her, and in asking her to stand has grown it becomes less and less an issue. Certainly with Oxo it is an issue I had forgotten ever existed after a year of riding her.

My second challenge has been that both horses are perfectly patient and will wait while out, if you chat to a passer-by, want to let a dog be caught etc. Except that neither will with me – they want to pace a bit – I think because standing still is dangerous, especially when your rider is telling you there is trouble out there. With Oxo this was more of a problem because I was (even) more of a novice. So I started by asking her for 2 or 3 second stops on the outward trip and over time built up to 5 or 10 second stops, and then added in doing these on the way home, including even within spitting distance of the yard. Now she stands without me thinking about it – this is not something I have taught her because when I first rode her at Avril’s she stood perfectly when out – it is something she has now understood is ok to do with me even though I am exhibiting fear. For Puzzle exactly the same experience has emerged – and again I rode her a couple of times at Avril’s and it was not a feature there. So I know it is something about me which is making it happen. For Puzzle I now know enough not to just pull on the reins if she tries to walk on, so I ask her to walk round in a circle and then stand which has worked. I am also confident that as I relax the issue will go away – but until we have got to know each other I wont ask her to stand at road junctions etc.

For Puzzle the other manifestation was initially a real marching walk – not a run, and no hint of a jog, but a striding out that was the most purposeful I have ever felt. But again, literally by day 2, Puzzle had settled her walk (though it is a naturally very forward going walk, but I now also know it wont speed up or break into a trot, even when ridden on the buckle). It was the same with her trot – which the first time was more of a run, the second was less so and now is a very ground covering trot – which is the norm for Puzzle but with no hint of speeding up, and instant downward transitions (which also caught me out the first time I experienced it!)

After this the two ponies are different – Oxo has done the odd spook but only when she has been caught by surprise – a herd of deer moving through the woods when she could only catch glimpses of them was the most extreme – it involved a leap to one side and kicking out with her back feet. Initially this completely threw me because I thought it was a buck – even though it didn’t unseat me at all, and has never been seen since. This was in our first week and since then she has mostly just muscle twitched if something, like a pheasant, has leapt out of the hedge. But even then its only if she is caught by surprise. Now her muscle twitching is her only real spooking.

Puzzle told me of her nerves in a different way – she called and called the first hack we did together. I found this disconcerting but knew to keep her head straight and just tell her that we were going to continue out all the way until we got home. On our second hack she called twice and I haven’t heard her call at all since. Again this is not something I heard her do at Avril’s, and isn’t typical of her.

So I guess what I have taken from these experiences is that if we show our horses a lot of nerves they will show us some back – because they would not be remotely tuned into us if they didn’t and they are animals which survive on reading the body language of those around them. And that has lead me to conclude that with a new horse the first week will not necessarily be like the subsequent weeks and they may well show some small lapses in their perfect behaviour in the face of being at a new yard, different routine, different companions and a nervous rider.

With both horses I have done things in a way some would describe as particularly hard – I have spen my first few weeks hacking out alone. I have done this because I know that is what Avril’s horses are used to, and also so that I don’t have to worry about their reaction to any other horses, or the behavior of any other horses, and can just concentrate on me and my horse. I also feel that if I can do that then everything else will be easier later, including that I wont have to worry about finding a riding companion – and that is how it has proved to be. For me there is little that is more glorious than being on a horse, on my own, on a long rein, watching the wildlife ignore me!

Sam