Many of you have heard the terminology, “getting in and getting out,” when describing the correction for our horses. The other day I was reminded of this concept when I ran across the following quote from Aristotle.
“It is easy to fly into a passion—anybody can do that—but to be angry with the right person to the right extent and at the right time and with the right object and in the right way—that is not easy, and it is not everyone who can do it.”
Gifted horsemen seem to have a sixth sense about what Aristotle is trying to tell us. They seem to know exactly when or if to get into the horse, how intense to get into the horse, how long to stay into the horse, and exactly the precise time to get out of the horse. Although this seems to be a special gift for some horsemen, and the quote suggests not everyone can do it, I would like to believe that with knowledge, awareness and experience, everyone can learn it. Plus, we have to remember that whether we think of ourselves as one or not, we all are our horse’s trainer. We are either being an effective trainer or we are causing our horse’s problems. In my experience as a riding instructor, I have found three common mistakes that riders make in this area.
To help you gain more knowledge and become more self and horse aware, I will address each of these common mistakes.
Most horse people crave a reciprocal connection with their horses. And, many believe they will lose that connection if they are too strict and/or punish them. I heard a national trainer try to pinhole this as a women’s issue. She was saying that women don’t believe in punishing their horses because they were raised to be nice and avoid conflict, so people would like them. This may be a small part of the problem, but in my experience, it is not gender specific. I have worked with men that felt the same way about punishing their horses. I think the problem is more from a lack of horse knowledge.
Riders that truly understand a horse’s natural instincts realize horses like them more if they see them as strong but fair leaders. A fair leader gives fair correction. It’s our job as horsemen to know our selves, know our horses and sense what fair correction is for our horse. Correction given by a strong but fair leader is the right amount of assertiveness without aggression, balanced with the right amount of softness without passivity. Horses quickly understand this balance. They have to have a healthy amount of fear (respect), but they also need to feel the right amount of protection and nurturing (trust) from their leader. It is how horses are hard wired and how they behave in a herd situation. And, if horses believe in punishment for noncompliance, then we as horse handlers must believe it too.
With this problem, riders understand that the horse needs to be corrected but won’t do it because they fear the horse’s response and lack confidence in their own abilities to handle the response. This is certainly a recipe for a dysfunctional relationship between the rider and horse. It only leads to the horse becoming more aggressive and putting the rider into serious danger. Many times these people hop on a horse that is obviously being disrespectful and/or fearful, which always baffles me. I think to myself, “I am a horse trainer with many years of experience and an added advantage of very long legs, and I would not even think of getting on that horse! Why in the world are they getting on?” Obviously, my answer to this problem is safety first—GET OFF THE HORSE! Go back to the ground, and start forming a healthier relationship with your horse. Spend time learning how your horse responds to correction and teach it how to submit to correction. When you and your horse have a safe working relationship from the ground, then it’s time to maybe get back in the saddle. I say maybe because there are certain techniques for staying safe while you are correcting your horse in the saddle. If you are not aware of these techniques, I highly encourage you to get some professional instruction.
This problem isn’t that riders don’t believe in punishment or that they are too scared of their horse’s response if they do give punishment. This problem has more to do with people feeling uncomfortable with their own assertiveness and not reading their horses. When riders feel they are really getting into a horse because they are stepping out of their box and feeling uncomfortable about their assertiveness, they are focusing too much on themselves and not enough on their horse. Horsemen need to read the response their correction elicits from the horse, not whether they feel as if they have corrected the horse, so it’s time to back off. A horse needs to be corrected with the right intensity and long enough for the rider to see a healthy fear response in the horse (respect). Seeing this healthy fear response will take some experience. Each horse is different. But when you do see it, you must back off IMMEDIATELY! Once again, we need to remember that to be a strong effective leader, we must be fair.
“Fairness” can present a very fine line when it comes to managing a horse’s respect level. If you find yourself correcting your horse over and over for the same is sue, you aren’t correcting strongly enough. I call this nagging. Your horse’s training will not move forward, and/or you will create aggressive behavioral problems because you are irritating your horse. On the other hand, if you over correct, your horse will become too fearful, and its training will go backwards. Most of those who feel uncomfortable with their assertiveness won’t find themselves in the latter situation, but when or if this happens, all is not lost. You just need to take your horse’s training back a few stages and spend time regaining his trust and confidence.
Becoming a strong but fair leader is our goal for bringing out the best in our horses. Although all human personalities have their weaknesses, and some of these weaknesses may make administering correction a little more challenging, I truly believe learning the art of “getting in and getting out” is attainable for any horse person. By gaining more knowledge, we can learn about the basic instincts of the horse, and start thinking more like a horse. When we learn more, we become more aware of the messages we are sending our horses, our horse’s response to certain stimuli, and what messages they are communicating back to us.
At MM Training and Consulting, we help riders learn how to “get in and get out” through our extensive Underground and Ground Training programs. These programs will give you and your horse the foundation for success in the saddle. But we don’t stop there. We take ground training a step further with our What Color Is Your Horse Really?™ program. This program carries people beyond basic horse sense into really knowing themselves and who their horses are through the use of our Color Tool™, a tool for recognizing horse and human motivations and personality types. With this added dimension to ground training, we can truly create the ultimate connection we want in our horse-human relationship.
Based on your personality tendencies and your horse’s personality tendencies, we help you customize a training program especially suited for you and your horse. Although similar programs are popping up elsewhere, the Color Tool is exclusive to MM Training and Consulting. It is the most simple and applicable program I have found and will not only enrich your horse-human relationships but also your human-human relationships.
Whether you have a yearling or an older, well trained horse or whether you are a new horse owner or consider yourself an advanced rider, please join us for our 2008 clinics. We have something for everyone!