How to get your horse to “join up” without chasing your horse into submission

As horse riders on the journey we are all seeking the moment of utter magic and joy, where our horse connects with us on a deeper level emotionally.

The moment where they stop arguing with us, pushing us around, trying to run away from us.

That moment of union where it’s like you are your horse move and think as one. 

Join up is often recommended to establish this connection. It is touted as the way to handle your horse without violence and to develop a bond. However, after years of breaking, training and playing around with different groundwork principles, I believe there is a better way.

What is join up

Join up is where you free lunge your horse in a round yard.

You keep the horse moving forward until you see loud, over exaggerated and multiple relaxation cues (Read more about relaxation cues here).

The premise being that when you horse shows these signs of submission they are ready to approach you and bond with you. When you are free lunging your horse you are wanting them to change direction by turning into you not away from you. This also encourages the join up process.

Why this works

It gets the zoomies out.

We honestly expect a lot more of our horses than we do of other animals. Because they are so big and we want to sit on them we expect a naturally flighty animal to be unflappable (get it cause they’re often scared of flappy plastic bags). We not only expect them to be cool, calm and collected in all environments but we also want them to be steady and balanced when they work no matter what kind of performance pressure we put on them.

Behaviours that are perfectly acceptable from other animals (i.e. the zoomies) are considered naughty when done by horses. Sometimes they just need a good run to get the spunk out of their system and then they can concentrate and work again. Join up can let our horses have a good run and a buck and warm their back up before settling into focus and work. 

Horses learn from the release of pressure. Whatever a horse is consistently doing when you take the pressure off them they will learn to do. So if you take the pressure of the lunge whip off when your horse shows relaxation cues, or calmly approaches you, they will learn to give multiple, loud relaxation cues and approach you calmly… eventually so they don’t have to lunge anymore.

So used correctly this can be a handy skill to have and know how to use but it doesn’t establish a bond with your horse. It can be a useful way to allow your horse to get its pent up energy out of its system so it can calmly approach you and better control its emotions. 

And a horse that can’t control its emotions, can’t control its behaviour. 

Why we don’t love it

It doesn’t teach horses how to process their emotions.

Just running the energy out of them so that they can focus doesn’t teach them how to shift their emotional state.

So if they are cooperating because they are scared, confused, frustrated anxious etc, it only teaches them how to process emotion (fight or flighty hormones) by running - which is not necessarily what we need to teach a flight animal. More so we are taking advantage of the horses natural way of processing fight or flight hormones by running. The fitter we make our horses the longer it takes to get those relaxation cues and we end up making our horses fitter than us. 

It works off the idea of submission.

While at equestrian movement we start with leadership (i.e. me boss you follower), we like to try and move quickly into a partnership.

We also establish leadership with clear, consistent boundaries and following through on our asks. Not chasing our horses until they quit (FYI this is also why join up works). You are clear and consistent on what you want the horse to do and what will happen to them when they do it. There are clear consequences to their behaviour and it is followed through on.

So what is thought of as a bond establishing it really is just the horse learning what to do with pressure and how to find the release (don’t believe me? Check out this study where they were able to get the same join up results with a remote control car. https://thehorse.com/118284/remote-controlled-cars-used-to-study-round-pen-training/)

You don’t have to chase your horse to establish a connection with your horse and get them to “join up” or “hook on”

Showing up as a good leader, establishing clear, consistent expectations, following through on your asks, being clear in your expectations and consequences and over time you will develop trust, respect and a relationship. Want to speed the process along? We cover how to establish the connection without join up in our Easy Peasy Liberty Module of Training trainability.

Why you should play with your horse (and 14 games to play)

All work and no play makes Doris a dull girl – and it’s just as true for your horse as it is for you!

Building a little bit of play into your routine has significant benefits, including:

• Improving the bond between you and your horse

• Improving your horses work ethic (and your own work ethic as well)

• Increasing training techniques for you and your horse

• Improving the physical, mental and emotional well-being of you both

Playing with your horse doesn’t have to be complex or difficult, nor does it have to eat into your training time. But given the benefits of playtime, is it not worth 10-15 minutes?

How to play with your horse

Here are just a few suggestions of games you can play with your horse.

On the ground

1. Come – teach your horse to respond to the command “come” by taking a step towards you (immediately reward the effort to step towards you). You may initially need to start this on a lead rope then progress without it. Once your horse is taking a few steps voluntarily, extend the distance and eventually you can begin to cue with other signals, such as raising both arms. Remember, your horse is motivated by a release in pressure, so always reward a small give towards you. (It could also help you with the uncatchable horse, but perhaps start in a smaller enclosed area if they are).

2. Fetch – this is a great fun game where you drop an item and ask your horse to pick it up for you. A great game that will help avoid dismounting if you drop your crop!

3. Follow the leader/Tag – These games are an extension of the come command.

4. Hug – a hug from a loved one is an amazing feeling, so why not teach your horse to hug you! Have you horse stretch his neck around your body.

5. Soccer – many horses love to play with inanimate objects! You can teach your horse to play with a ball with you if they are inclined to play with objects. Start with proper horse balls – these have handles and are larger but still light so as your horse nuzzles the ball it will move. The handles also drive the inquisitive mind to grab them and also make the ball move in unpredictable directions.

In the saddle

1. Hack it out! Go for a trail ride, explore the paddock – whatever you do, just get out of that arena!

2. Ride a different discipline – if you are training dressage, why not set up a small jump course, or some barrels, and have a burl. Get some friends together and compete in your own at home pony club session! (Make it even more fun by handing out some cheeky mock awards, such as shiniest bum or widest turn).

3. Go to a show – just for fun – What if you just went to a show with no intentions of winning? The stimulation of the show along with the fact that you will be much more relaxed will not only be good practice for you both, but break up the monotony of work. Don’t think you are ready to show? Who cares? Be that annoyingly blissful person that is looking after your horse, gaining experience and doesn’t care about points or opinions.

4. Simon says – this is another great group game to play. Someone will need to play Simon but you can swap it around so everyone has a turn. Simon says do a twenty meter circle, Simon says halt, Trot on – oops Simon didn’t say that- you lose!

5. Maze run - using poles, cones and barrels, create a maze and obstacle course to navigate through. Just remember to ensure you understand how well your horse turns, as you don’t want to make it too difficult… it is, after all, a game!

6. Horseback archery - if you haven’t had a go at this yet, it is truly time to try! We run an archery session in our school’s mastery classes and everyone enjoys it. It is also great for teaching emotional agility within yourself and your horse!

Quick fun

1. Find that itch and scratch it – horses are herd animals so contact is something they enjoy. Even better, it’s something they need for those hard-to-reach itchy spots. Give your horse a moment of pleasure by giving one of those favourite hard-to-reach areas a good long scratch!

2. Carrot stretches – what horse doesn’t like carrots (and if yours doesn’t, try their other favourite treat). Encourage them to reach forward, between their front legs, and to the sides to get the carrots – preferably while staying still. It’s also great for stretching out their neck and back muscles before a riding session.

3. Squeaky toys – as with the soccer ball, some curious horses may enjoy the stimulation provided by flicking around and jumping on a squeaky toy. Laughter will be guaranteed as they discover the different noises they make. Just make sure the toy is much larger than a mouthful!

What games do you play with your horse? Comment below!

Chase the ball - Holistic Horse Handling Program Lesson Plan Preview

Trainability is a concept we discuss a lot at Equestrian Movement.

It refers to the learning capability of the horse, as well as that willingness to learn.

A way to increase that willingness is through variety, consent, confidence and leadership; which is why the concept of “Chase the ball” came up for a lesson plan.

“Chase the ball” expands on the Liberty training outlined in the Holistic Horse Handling Program, and makes our basic, day-to-day groundwork with our horses by including a moving target. Plus, it was just plain fun to teach!

This exercise plan is designed to create confidence in our horses, as we encourage them to investigate new things. It expands their training vocabulary, and helps our horses connect with us. It also removes all pressure in the learning phase, to help strengthen the bond and connection between horse and handler.

Follow my feet - a Holsitic Horse Handling Program Lesson Plan Preview

“Follow My Feet” is a great way to establish leadership and connection with your horse, and can be used to in a variety of different scenarios.

When a horse forces our feet to move, they are taking a role in leadership. When we move their feet, we take the leadership. Follow my feet allows you to expand on that leadership and turn it into a partnership.

This can be a good exercise for our pushy, bully type horses as we can be a bit more assertive when we have the halter on but is also a light, connective exercise for our more sensitive horse and when we get a break through with our bully type horses.

As with all Holistic Horse Handling Lesson Plans, it is groundwork, this time focusing on leadership and connection.

The Personalities and Coping Mechanisms of Different Horse Breeds

Each breed of horse was bred for certain characteristics and traits that make them good for certain disciplines.

With that comes their responsiveness, intelligence and coping mechanisms.

Within each breed is also variances of personality traits. For example, you could have a thoroughbred, notorious for being flighty and spooky, that is actually bold and confident (on the spectrum of thoroughbred behaviour).

Knowing how to utilise those default traits and use them when working together is key to avoiding conflict in your interactions. If you have ever seen a horse shut down, get frustrated, or lash out during work, this is a horse showing it is tired of being unheard and having an emotional response that is not desired - therefore, conflict.

Age, maturity, herd dynamics and their general environment also play a keen role in their emotional ability to learn and cope with the stresses our training inevitably results in.

• The younger the horse the more they need a confident leader to show them how to navigate their experiences confidently. This is why generally it’s not recommended to have a young horse and a green rider.

• Environmental exposures and life experience can be a tricky one for us as owners, because quite often we don’t know our horses’ history and therefore don’t know why they have particular triggers or things that set them off.

If our horse has had a bad experience before we got them they could be sensitive to certain things. For example if they had their ears or muzzle twitched to be handled they may now be head shy or have issues being haltered and bridled. If they have had an accident in a float previously they may be really resistant to going on floats. If they haven’t had a good backing experience they may have issues with being ridden that we don’t understand.

The breeds can be broadly categorised into their level of confidence and rsponsiveness, but each individual horses’ experience and personality can then change that. The following is a handy cheat sheet on the average breed traits, but should go hand in hand with what you already know of your horse.

Arabs

Arabs are bred for endurance and long distances. They are super intelligent as well, which is why they can get such a bad wrap for their temperament. They really don’t tolerate people not treating them fair and they are also fairly impatient of riders who aren’t particularly experienced. You really need to open a 2-way conversation with an Arab to get the best out of them (get some great tools to open the lines of communication in our mini-course here).

They don’t do well with being told what to do. The more work they get the fitter they get, so lunging them until they are tired doesn’t generally work - in fact, they can sometimes continue to use the adrenaline and run until they drop.

Thoroughbreds

Thoroughbreds (in my experience) are not quite as intelligent as Arabs and can quickly flip the switch, become silly and not process their stimuli well.

They can become unmanageable quickly given the right circumstances. They are bred to go fast for short periods of time. Mostly they haven’t been given the time to be trained as safe horses either and need a good re-education after their racing career for them to be safe for beginners.

Because they are so athletic they make good all-rounders - trained well, they excel in most disciplines. However there is a tendency for people to try and make a quick buck from them by giving them a couple weeks or months of training after racing and then sedating them to sell on. They also have potential racing injuries that can limit their performance. Given time, structure and stability in their training they can make excellent horses for looking after you, but when that doesn’t happen they get a bad wrap for how silly, spooky or agreesive they are.

Stock Horses & Quarter Horses

Stock Horses and Quarter Horses generally are quite intelligent, responsive and learn quickly. They also generally are quite reliable and not overly spooky because stock men need good reliable horses. The way they have been bred over the years means they have retained the traits that make good work horses with focus, concentration, an eagerness to learn and intelligence. They are also generally quite sure footed and sound.

The old cowboy method of sacking them out, however, can lead to these horses having a tendency to shut down instead of be responsive. This means we need to spend time getting them to open up and “speak” to us to avoid unexpected explosions of unwanted behaviour.

Warmbloods

Warmbloods have all the power and strength of the heavy horses, but can have some of the silliness of Thoroughbreds they can be crossed with, which can make for a handful of a combination for the inexperienced rider. Add to that they can easily be made sour in their training or go lame if pushed too hard too young to excel in dressage.

This, in combination with their athleticism, size and strength can sometimes make them quite difficult to handle. They generally have a calmer brain on them then the Thoroughbreds and learn a little slower.

If hacked out and given the opportunity to develop thoroughly and slowly they can be very relaxed and not easily spooked. A lot of them spend their training in the arena though and as such don’t get exposed to lots of different stimuli, so when they eventually do have to go out at competitions they can be overly spooky and sensitive to their environment.

Draught horses

These are our heavy horses such as Clydesdales and Percherons. Typically they are very bold and confident, and they aren’t easily spooked. However, because they are so bold and confident they also tend to be more argumentative and push handlers around (and because they tend to be heavier they can be REALLY pushy). If the trainer has handled them without an understanding of setting clear boundaries and just tried to bully them into submission, they can become nervy and sensitive.

They learn a lot slower - where an Arab will figure out what you want after a couple of repetitions, for these guys it may take quite a few rides. This means the trainers may get frustrated and take it out on the horse - again, making them overly reactive and sensitive.

Standardbreds

Generally speaking, Standardbreds have a fairly calm temperament but as with the Warmbloods, the more Thoroughbred they have in them the more spooky and difficult they can be. How they were handled during their racing career and how they were backed after will also play a role in how calm they are. As with the Thoroughbreds, they can also have underlying injuries from racing.

When looking to buy or lease your own horse, you want to find a horse that matches your temperament and personality, and that includes understanding the different characteristics and nature of the breeds and then figuring out where on the spectrum of flighty to bold that horse sits for that breed. Some people want a more active horse for the discipline they want to ride and can cope with a more intelligent horse that quickly tries to out think them, whereas others may need a slower moving, slower thinking horse for just weekend pleasure rides.

Understanding what you need from your horse, and pairing that with your horses emotional, physical and mental needs in training, will give you the best chance of success with your relationship with your horse.

Do you need support training your horse?

Take the quiz to understand what your horses unique personality needs in training (click here)

Are you filling your horse's emotional needs?

We talk a lot in the human world about filling our cups but do you know how to fill your horses emotional cup?

Every time we work our horses we are creating stress.

That stress can either influence them positively and help them grow and develop or it can influence them negatively and they can develop stress associated vices like crib biting or behavioural issues associated with fear and frustration. 

The way that we structure our training sessions should work to create just the right amount of stress that allows them to grow and develop their cognitive skills, emotional range and physical skills. We can do this by giving our horses a tool to connect back in with us to let us know if we are creating too much stress.

When we open this pathway to communication our horses start licking.... a lot!!! And I often find they need a good licking session before we get started to connect and fill their cup and to break up the training session as we go.

Often if they are pushed to the far end of their stress management skills this licking becomes nipping. The nipping is them asking us to back off and be more respectful of the pressure of our asks. 

Having this conversation with our horses empowers them to have more control in the training session over what is done to them which builds mutual trust and respect and in turn improves true willingness instead of submission. 

What is the biggest mistake we can make when training?

What is the biggest error we make with our horses?

One of the biggest human errors I believe that we make with our horses in training is expecting a certain task is achieved to our expectations. That success is only valid if the horse performs to a particular, pre-determined level.

Going in to a training session with this as our goal posts is a sure fire way to get ourselves in arguments with our horses, turn our horses sour and get stuck in our training. Or even worse create big, dangerous behavioural problems.

Having a task achieved to our expectations doesn't factor in whether our horse is trying, giving us yeses or nos or is an active willing participant in our training.

It doesn't tease out whether our horses understand or can do what we're asking or if they have an underlying issue that needs addressing.

Rather than setting our goal posts to whether or not we achieve a certain task to our expectations we should be structuring our training session around our horses yeses. When our horse consecutively says yes to our ask we are setting our standards and rewarding for willingness and their active engagement in our training session.

Long term this means that we don't need loads of pressure for big challenging asks, because we've already geared our horses to be agreeable with what we are asking rather than getting the yeses through intense pressure and stress.

It also means we can trouble shoot the “no” before it becomes a bigger problem.

A lot of horses have legitimate reasons for their no’s, and when we address them we can unravel some big behavioural issues and solve them quickly so that our horse is a lot happier to work with us.

Would you like to learn more about how to create a happy horse under saddle and in work? Sign up for the free training Help your horse love riding again.

The common denominator in all horse training methods - and when it goes wrong

No matter what your preferred style (or your horse’s preferred style) of training is, they all have something in common:

we are always moving them away from something they don't want (pressure or withholding of the treat) towards something they do want (release of pressure, treat or another form of emotional motivation).

When they get the thing they do want they get a happy hormone hit for task achievement. It is ours and their own reward system for recognising they've done something good.

The clearer we are at acknowledging the behaviour we want and reinforcing it, the bigger the happy hormone hit and the more willing our horses become to try again (for a certain period of time).

This isn't without its own problems.

The process of finding the answer and not getting it cause the opposite of happy hormones. The blocking of achieving a task is the cause of frustration and quite often it's us that's responsible for handing out rewards so that frustration can get directed towards us. 

The bigger happy hormone hit our horses get for task achievement, the stronger the feeling of frustration when they don't find the answer - and even more so if they think they have given the right answer but we withhold the reward because we think it wasn't a good enough effort. This withholding of reward can move our horses out of frustration into aggression if we are working with a horse of that temperament type.

However we choose to reinforce wanted behaviours we want our horses to find enjoyment in finding answers. This is what creates willingness and cooperation. When our horses find learning fun they more willingly participant and accept bigger challenges as they develop.

The added bonus is that when our horses understand how to seek and find answers, introducing new challenges is easy and we don't have to go through the whole process again. 

A lot of the horses I work with don't know how to find the answers and it makes introducing new asks harder because they get stressed not knowing how to respond. Teaching a horse to find the release of pressure both in a physical pressure and in the withholding of reward and guiding them through those emotions gives them the emotional range to deal with the different stressors that come up in training as well as moving them out of a flight brain into a learning brain. 

This is why we use the Trainability Program with our horses.

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Has your horse lost interest in work?

Sometimes when we push our horses boundaries a little or do something a bit more challenging our horses can at best become a little disconnected, unresponsive and uninterested and at worst sour and acting out behaviourly.

In this training I discuss 2 thoroughbreds I've been working with that lost their interest to work with us after challenging their boundaries a little and what we do to help them re-engage.

Spring ahead, fall back part 2

I still didn’t know what was the matter with Stella.

But, to summarize from Part 1, the ways Stella tried to tell me something was wrong were vast and varied:

1. anxiety and nervousness on the cross ties, when she's normally very quiet;

2. biting while I was brushing her sides;

3. increasing fussiness when being tacked up;

4. getting "stuck" at the mounting block - not wanting to walk on after I had mounted;

5. not wanting to stand still while I tightened her girth from the saddle;

6. and finally, on the night of my last ride, anxiety escalating to "naughtiness" at the mounting block.

I told all of this to our vet, Trevor, when he came out to see Stella on the Monday night after the rearing incident.

As we stood in Stella's stall talking about it, she was sweet and loving toward Trevor (as usual. Like I said, she's the sweetest pony I know). But the moment he ran his hand over her girth area, she swung her head around, almost violently, as though to bite.

He felt every other inch of her body, palpating and manipulating her withers, spine, muscles along the back, her loins, her hindquarters, everywhere. There were no other places that caused her even to flinch. I was happy that we could rule out back pain, but as soon as he came back to the girth area, the violent head swing happened again.

At least we had been able to narrow it down to where she was hurting. Now we just had to figure out why.

Trevor had a couple of ideas off the top of his head as to what it could be. Looking back on the events leading up to the incident, the first thing that came to mind was that this was pain associated with Stella being in heat. Now, I don't know how many of you have mares, but those who do know that being in season can bring on some very odd behaviours in a mare, and some mares can have pretty painful heats.

If Stella was experiencing some kind of ovarian pain, that could explain many of the symptoms she was showing - the increased anxiety/nervousness (which can accompany any kind of pain in a horse, really), the sensitivity in the belly/girth area, and the other, less obvious, symptoms, like making sour-puss faces at her best girlfriends.

Having said that, I hadn't really seen any other signs of Stella being in heat. But, to be fair, I had now had her for almost five months, and I honestly hadn't noticed so far when she had ever been in heat (and after all of my trials and tribulations with my other mare, Sunny, I had developed a pretty keen eye for a mare in season!).

Nonetheless, it was at least a place to start. We decided to put her on bute for four days. By the fifth day, one of two things will have happened - either the pain will have gone away on its own due to the fact that, if she started her heat the Thursday before (that's when the worst of the symptoms started), she should be out of season by the coming Thursday, or, if it was a temporary issue, the bute should have taken the pain away. 

I was to continue working her (ground work and lungeing only, no saddle) for the next four days, and then on day 5, which would be the Friday, I was to try tacking her up to gauge her reaction to having the saddle put on and the girth tightened.

We did as instructed. I also started keeping a journal for Stella, to track her symptoms, and jot down notes about how she seemed on each day. If this issue was, in fact, being caused by painful heats, then I was going to need to know when she was due to come into season, so I would be able to plan her work schedule and her pain management around it.

On day 5 (Friday), we put on her saddle. She seemed concerned, and a little anxious, but at least she didn't try to leap around as I put it on. I was not convinced the pain was gone, and in fact her sides still seemed a little sensitive whenever I touched them. I could even tell by the look on her face that she was not feeling comfortable about being tacked up.

Saturday and Sunday were spent at a groundwork and desensitization clinic (that's a whole 'nother blog post!), so it was Tuesday of week two before I tried tacking her up again. I actually started out without tack. I was itching to practice some things we'd learned over the weekend, and I wanted to gauge her demeanour in the ring without a saddle on first. So off we went with just a rope halter and lead. Stella was quiet, focused and attentive. No spooking, no shenanigans. It was a nice little schooling session, and had I left it there, I would have gone home thinking that there was some real improvement. But, of course, when you're trying to test a theory, you have to follow through.

I took Stella back to her stall and started tacking her up. She was about the same as she had been on Friday. A little ouchy on her sides right behind her elbows, and a little anxious about what I was doing. I figured I was never going to get to the bottom of things until I pushed the envelope a little bit, so I decided to see how she looked on the lunge line. 

It quickly became obvious to me that having the saddle on was the issue. After half a circle of calm walking, Stella exploded, running and bucking until I was worried she’d fall over. My concern was not so much that she was blowing off some steam (after all, she’ hadn’t been worked in days). My concern was the bucking. See, Stella doesn't buck. And by that, I don't mean Stella rarely bucks, or she doesn't buck much. I mean she doesn't buck. Ever.

The other thing that worried me was the difference in her temperament between when she was in the ring without the saddle, and when she was in the ring with the saddle. She was immediately a little more anxious in the saddle. She was expecting it to hurt (and obviously it did, judging by the bucks).

So. Back to square one. This tells me loud and clear that the pain is still there, even after almost a week off, and four days of bute.

Time to call the vet back out...

This was written by Pam Levy, who is an equestrian blogger and the creator of The Horse and Human Wellness Project, a blog that chronicles her quest to create a stronger connection with her horses. She is currently living her dream on the small farm she owns with her husband in rural Nova Scotia, on Canada’s east coast. Their herd includes three horses (Sunny, Stella and Q) and two cats (Jack and Arthur). Visit The Horse and Human Wellness Project blog or Facebook page.

Spring Ahead, Fall Back - Part 1

Here's the thing. You have got to listen to your horse.

Stella had been telling me for two weeks that something wasn't right. I just wasn't listening.

We’d recently gone through some pretty major saddle fitting issues, but, once I finally found a saddle that worked for Stella, it was full steam ahead with her training. She was now going very nicely, trotting round quietly, reaching for the bit, using her hind quarters, turning and going straight like nobody's business.

She was quiet and correct at the mounting block (and if she did have a "moment" and get out of line, with a couple gentle reminders she would step back over to me and stand waiting for me to get on). She almost always stood quietly afterward, waiting for me to tell her when it was time to walk on.

Her lunging was coming along nicely, although she had reached the point where I didn't really need to lunge her before every ride. When we did lunge, we did fun stuff, like poles and low cavaletti, which she really seems to enjoy.

Even her spookiness seemed to be improving. I was doing a lot of just leading her around the property in her rope halter, introducing her to new things and spending quiet time together. She had a new paddock mate, a lovely horse named Dee, who is also six. They get along swimmingly, and the move to a new turnout area also allowed Stella to make friends with a couple of geldings in the adjoining paddocks. So she had a nice new group of buddies, and really started enjoying her turn out time.

Everything seemed to be going exactly as planned... up until about two weeks ago.

A little over 2 weeks ago…

It was a Friday afternoon. I was grooming Stella on the cross ties, and she happened to catch sight, out the window, of a horse coming down the driveway. I guess she hadn't really seen a horse from that view before and it startled her so much she spun around in the aisleway and was, in a split second, facing the wrong way. 

She had one crosstie over the top of her head and had pulled it so tight that she started to panic. I spoke to her softly, rubbed her forehead (her favourite thing), and got her to calm down enough that she relaxed her head and neck and I was able to undo the crossties and turn her around. I made a nice fuss over her and continued grooming. She never quite settled that day, and even during our ride she was very much on edge. I blamed it on the crosstie incident and put it out of my head.

15 days ago…

One evening the following week (Monday, I think), I had ridden and was now untacking and grooming Stella in her stall. She was munching on her hay and I was softly currying her left side when she suddenly reached back and bit me!

Now first of all let me say that this is very odd behaviour for Stella. She is, quite literally, one of the sweetest ponies I know.

But I also know that a lot of people at the barn like to feed treats to the horses (and as much as I gently scold them when they feed treats to my horse, well, it's hard to get them to stop). So I assumed that this was the result of a pony getting stuffed with too many tidbits, so I put up a nice little "NO TREATS PLEASE" sign on Stella's stall door, and didn't think twice about it.

14 days ago…

When I tacked up on Tuesday, Stella seemed much quieter, although she did get a little fussy when I threw the saddle pad over her back (I used to move very slowly and methodically when I tacked her up, because I remember when I first got her that she was always very antsy getting her saddle put on. So I chalked it up to me just being a little too devil-may-care with the tacking up, and made a mental note to go back to moving a little slower).  She was very, very good that night. I remember thinking that I wished someone was videoing her, because she was being such a lovely girl.

13 days ago…

On Wednesday, I was more careful tacking up. I didn't want her reverting to her old ways. The saddle pad & sheepskin half pad were fine, but when I put her saddle on, she literally jumped sideways (into me).

For a moment, my heart sank. She was behaving like a pony who didn't like her saddle (and trust me, I know exactly how a pony who doesn't like her saddle behaves). But because she had been going so much happier in this saddle than she ever had in any other, I really felt in my heart that this wasn't the problem. 

But I nonetheless took the saddle off, and felt all along her back, along her withers, spine, loins, everywhere. Not a flinch, not an ear back, nothing. I gently sat the saddle back on her (this time, she didn't seem to mind), and loosely did up the girth. I remember her swinging her head around at that point. It was almost like she was going to nip me, but then changed her mind. I thought at the time that the no-treats rule must be working, since she was going to nip but then thought better of it...

That night, I had what I would say was my best ride yet on her.

Great at the mounting block (My coach, Wylie, was teaching a lesson in the arena while I was riding, and she even commented on how nicely Stella stood during mounting), and then a super quiet, nicely forward ride, no head tossing, no turning issues, just a happy pony and a very happy rider.

And even after the ride, she had some stellar moments. For example, since day one she's been very silly about having her bridle taken off. She shakes her head like she thinks that'll make the bridle come off faster. It's something we always work on, and this night, she stood quietly and let the bit softly drop out of her mouth. She had finally figured it out, and I was so very proud of her.

That was the last good ride I had.

12 days ago…

On Thursday, she was a little antsy coming in from her paddock.

I remember thinking that she must be in heat (especially considering she peed twice while being groomed). She was even making sour-puss faces at her best friend, Emmy, who lives in the stall next to her. I know that some mares' heats manifest themselves in unfocused, unsettled behaviour, so I assumed that was the issue, and carried on.

She never really settled as I groomed and tacked up, and then, the weirdest thing happened. I took her to the mounting block, she stood quietly, but then once I'd mounted, she wouldn't move. Like she was... stuck, or something. She seemed to literally be holding her breath. I clucked and gave her a little nudge, and finally she moved off.

Everything seemed fine then, but I do recall that she was pretty tightly wound the whole ride. She was spooky and seemed to have a hard time focusing. Wylie also commented that she looked a little F-A-T (don't tell Stella!), so we decided to decrease her grain a little. Not that she gets much to start with, but she does get plenty of nice, good quality hay, so I figured could probably have her pellets reduced.

11 days ago…

On Friday, she once again felt frisky and scattered. Grooming and tacking up was a chore. She was literally all over the place. 

Because she was being so silly and unfocused, I decided to lunge her for a few minutes first. She pulled a couple of really big spook-and-runs on the lunge line, but finally she calmed down and seemed like she was settled enough to do some work.

Now, I've always been very careful not to tighten the girth up all at once. Not just with Stella, but with any horse. So I start out just tight enough to keep the saddle on. I'll tighten another hole when I get to the ring, then another hole just before I get on. Then I'll do the rest of the tightening from the saddle, in a couple of goes.

And I remember thinking how much easier it was to tighten my girth while mounted when I got my current saddle, because it has short billets, so I can just reach down to tighten it, rather than leaning over so far. Stella's always been very good about standing while I tighten the girth, but on this night, she would not stand still. It took me three tries to tighten my girth one hole because little miss Fussy Pants was shaking her head and trying to trot off every time I reached down. I finally got it done, and carried on with the ride.

9 days ago…

On Saturday, I gave her the day off. We did some ground work in the ring instead. She was quiet, happy, and focused. Then on Sunday, we did some more of the same. She started off a little less focused than she was the day before, but we worked through it and she ended up being fairly quiet so I decided to go get her tacked up for a quick ride. When I brought her back into the ring in her saddle and bridle, it was like we hadn't even done any ground work. She was spooky, unsettled and even a little bit naughty.

I gave the girth a tighten, and took her to the mounting block, where she behaved very oddly, getting really close to the block, making it very difficult for me to get on. We worked on it for a bit, and then she seemed okay.

But the moment I put my foot in the stirrup, she was obviously very much not okay. She reared, pretty much straight up. Three times. With lunges and spins in between.

Total rodeo horse.

Totally out of character for my sweet little mare.

Totally frightening.

I was surprised, and immediately very worried. What had happened to my sweet pony? My pony who had been steadily improving every day? Obviously something was very, very wrong. I was devastated.

Wylie was away teaching a clinic, but I texted her first thing in the following morning to tell her what had happened. She agreed that this was extremely out of character for Stella, and we made the decision to call our vet (who, as luck would have it, was going to be at our barn that evening to float another horse's teeth). I spent the day making a mental list of all the signs Stella had given me that something was wrong. Something had to have happened to bring this on. I refused to believe that this was Stella being naughty. This was Stella in pain, and I had to find out what was causing it before I could get back on my pony.

To be continued...

This was written by Pam Levy, who is an equestrian blogger and the creator of The Horse and Human Wellness Project, a blog that chronicles her quest to create a stronger connection with her horses. She is currently living her dream on the small farm she owns with her husband in rural Nova Scotia, on Canada’s east coast. Their herd includes three horses (Sunny, Stella and Q) and two cats (Jack and Arthur). Visit The Horse and Human Wellness Project blog or Facebook page.

Is forced consent still a yes?

Is forced consent still consent?

We were having a discussion in our stronger bond community about how I ask Fitty if he wants his rug on and I let him tell me yes or no.

This flies in the face of everything we are taught in the horse industry. The horse must do as its told otherwise it will be the boss!!

I admit it was initially an uncomfortable conversation for me. It went against everything I have been taught to let my horse say no to me!!

This is where we have started to tier our yeses to find out truly if they are a yes or if they are a yes because they have no other option. In certain scenarios we can give the horse a choice. One scenario is whether or not they want a rug. If he were old, underweight or clipped I would tell him he had no choice but as it is, I'm happy for him to tell me what he wants.

So here's a little break down as I see it:

• Submission, your horse is saying yes because it has no other option

• Disobedience, your horse is saying no because they are challenging you

• Willingness, your horse is saying yes because they are actively engaged in the exercise and you're building their yes muscle

• Consent, your horse has the option to say no and sometimes does but you are asking for permission to do something with them and they are consenting the ask.

• Choice, you are giving the horse a choice of 2 options and they are allowed to pick.

There are certain times and places for all these forms of yeses. The deeper the connection and the better you open the lines of communication the clearer you and your horse will work through these conversations without their behaviour escalating.

Need help understanding how you can work consent into your training? Join the Training Trainability Membership Program to learn this and so much more!

Breaking News: Nipping isn't necessarily naughty...

Did you know that nipping is a way your horse can be seeking to connect with you?

While we are looking for more subtle cues, your horse nipping at you can be their efforts to get your attention and focus on them because they want you to be with them and present. Our nippers commonly are the larrikin type, confident and mischievous and they are enticing us to play back. (Ie does it sometimes feel like a game to your horse when they nip and you smack?)

Another time our horses nip at us is when they are trying to communicate something. An example of this is when we rug them and they are having problems with the rug fit, girthing them if they have ulcers or the saddle/girth is uncomfortable, nipping at us when we try to pick their hooves up because they have a sore back etc.

Big problem is, we are taught that nipping is naughty and we should stop it. But it is how our horses fill their emotional cup and how they communicate.

Rather than reprimanding the action, why not teach them to lick instead?

Learn how to turn nippers into lickers by joining our Training Trainability membership - just $45AUD/month until June 19th.

Riding your horse doesn't have to be the crux of your training

Some of you might know that recently we had to retire Custard from riding. It’s the downside of loving an older horse - eventually it’s not suitable, viable or sensible to continue to ride.

So Custard is a happy gentleman of leisure, doted on with plenty of love and treats.

This did leave me without a horse of my own to ride. Luckily, I was able to start working with another of my friends boys - Stormy.

Stormy is an 17 year old OTT Thoroughbred with poor conformation - sway back, club foot, and pigeon toed. He had been out of work for a while, loves to run and really thrives on that one-on-one interaction.

Due to that conformation, he has some issues with discomfort around the shoulders, and is also anxious about being touched and groomed around the withers, or even being tacked up. While he isn’t nasty, he did have a tendency to hold his breath until he couldn’t cope.

He was literally saying

“I ‘m a good boy. This is scary but I’m a good boy. BAAAHHHH I can’t do this it’s too much!!!”,

albiet in body language, not words.

So the last 2 months has been spent:

• Gaining consent to work (hey buddy, you have the chance to tell me when you aren’t coping)

• Professional body work

• Focusing on relaxing and giving him new tools to de-escalate his panic

• In-hand work - even advancing to working in-hand with flexion! (We developed this as a lesson plan for our Training Trainability students to work on through May, because Stormy was doing so well with it).

• Lunging to improve some strength and fitness

• Getting a yes to be bridled (we went back and forward on that, and I began to understand that when he was feeling a bit more pinched or cold in the back, he would give bigger no’s)

• Getting yes to being saddled

In just this short time, Stormy has gone from being frightened (in a good boy way) and unfit to developing softness and roundness to his back, confident with his requests (yes, no, give me a moment), and comes running from the back of the paddock to come play with us.

Last weekend we actually tacked up, mounted and had a tiny plod. Just to let him know it isn’t all bad.

The thing is, for 8 weeks we didn’t ride. Yet we still achieved so much and have a happier horse under saddle for the effort. I didn’t need to cave to the expectations of others by putting my horse second.

That is what we stand for.

Want to learn how to use these skills with your own horse? Training Trainability enrolments close on the 19th of June.

Are you your horse's human?

There are a lot of different training methods out there. So many varying opinions.

I wont say our Training Trainability method is perfect, because no single training method is perfect without adaptation (and we aim to provide that flexibility and adaptation within the membership).

But I will say ours gives something most others don’t - connection.

And connection is a vital part of what our horses desire, with the added bonus of providing forgiveness when we don’t get something right.

Horses, by nature, live in herds. They need a community, a dynamic of relationship, to provide them protection, friendship and even - ocassionally - to put them back in their place. The herd confidence in their alpha sets them up for the best harmony. They have spent centuries evolving this way.

With that in mind, we can’t expect our horse to behave any differently with us. The path of domestication hasn’t taken out that particular need - so that means we must tailor our own interactions to be more herd-like.

Cue funny picture of humans grazing… maybe not.

We should, however, be considering how we can become a part of the herd - in a way that is managable, allows our horse to easily slip into a process with us, knowing they are protected, have a companion, and know their boundaries. Even if they do test them sometimes.

That level of interaction takes us from just being their leader to creating a deeper connection. It means that you will have a horse that wants to spend time with you, just quietly hanging together, just within breathing space or even slightly touching.

Connection is what makes us our horse’s human.

And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

When we give our horse a voice, we might not always like what they say

One of the flow on affects that comes up as a result of working with me is that it becomes very difficult for us to work with a horse if it gives us anything other than an enthusiastic yes.

What I mean by difficult is that we become uncomfortable forcing or pushing them to do anything unless we know they are definitely challenging us and don’t have any underlying reason for that no.

Along with our leadership exercises, one of our first training tools is a cue that our horse can use to consent our asking something of them. We do this so that our horse can tell us no if they want to. '

Giving our horse the opportunity to say no:

• Lets us address any legitimate reason they have for saying no. ie pain, discomfort, tack not fitting, not understanding or not being able to do what we ask.

• Lets them have a say in what happens to them. Gives them some control over what we do to them and therefore can deescalate naughty or dangerous behaviour.

• Help us decide if they are directly challenging us and need to be “worked through” or if there is something we are missing that they are trying to communicate to us.

For most of the horses we’ve worked with they have had a very “because I say so” approach to their training, which can work to a point but isn’t helpful if the horse is having a problem or if the rider can’t actually follow through on their “because I say so” and gets nervous or scared.

What we do is give them the opportunity to say no and use our other training tools to encourage a yes.

When we first give these horses the option to say no, they say no - A LOT!!!! To everything!!!

And this is why they haven’t been given the option to say no before. Because most riders don’t know what to do with a no and are told their horse is just taking the piss or being naughty, even when the horse legitimately isn’t coping with its' training.

It doesn’t mean that we let our horse walk all over us and get away with everything.

We have a couple of very simple exercises that we use with our horse as a way of establishing manners and discipline. We then work with our horses on establishing consent for each ask. And then we try to making learning and the training environment positive and enjoyable to the horse.

And then - TA DA - we have true willingness and not just submission and forced yeses.

Would you like to communicate for effectively and create more willingness with your horse? Have a look at our Training Trainability membership, which takes you through how to develop respect and consent from your horse, and can get you on your way to having wins in as little as a single session!

Are you setting your horse up to fail?

One of the things we talk a lot about at Equestrian Movement is having adjustable goal posts.

One of our students has actually said that we make it impossible to fail and to finish up without a win.

We call it setting our horses up for success.

As riders and handlers we can expect a lot of our horses. We want each training session to go perfectly to what we had in mind. We want it to not only go as well as our last but also improve on our last. We don’t want our horses to be in a bad mood or temperamental even if they have a good excuse to do so. We don’t want to have to revisit any of our “simple” exercises. If we don’t meet all these prerequisites in each training session we can come away from it feeling disappointed in ourselves and our horses.

These expectations however are completely unrealistic.

We can’t even expect it of ourselves let alone our horse and here’s some reasons why:

• If our horse knows how to learn, process pressure and confidently seek the correct answer without fear of getting into trouble it can still take up to 4 training sessions or more to consolidate the answer (and that is if you thoroughly and confidently know what you’re doing)

• From introducing a new exercise it takes 6 – 8 weeks for balance (nerves to innervate the muscle group required for that movement), 3 – 4 months for muscle growth (building the muscle to be able to execute the movement and initially this is only a stride or 2) and 6 – 12 months for bone and ligament density (for you to be able to get on your horse and they can just do it and hold it for extended periods of time). All this is also as long as your horse doesn’t injure itself, doesn’t have extended periods of time of for one reason or another and doesn’t have old injuries flare up.

• Environment, season, feed, weather, herd conditions will all affect how your horse is working in each training session.

• Shifting emotional baggage. The biggest different between riding horses and riding motorbikes is that they have the capacity to think for themselves and feel. Working with past trauma and emotional reactions to our asks means that some days our horses can be super willing and keen and other days that don’t want a bar of us.

So to deal with all these variables to each training session we have laid out some rules to hold us a little more accountable to what we are doing with our horse and make it easier for them to succeed.

• Try and stick to a maximum of 3 repetitions of an ask and then change exercises, especially if it’s a new exercise.

• Finish on a positive note feeling like you could’ve done more

• Provide your horse with a tool to consent each ask and a way to tell you if they are done.

• Get comfortable knowing where your prerequisites are. If you and your horse are really struggling with an exercise and you can see the training session deteriorating into a fit, know what exercise to move on to that you can shift the dynamics to finish on a win showing your horse you truly are a good leader.

• Know how to bring your horses energy levels down into a state of relaxation and then back up again into work and do it lots. You want your horse to confidently flex their relaxation muscle.

What more support creating a positive working environment with your horse? Have a look at our Training Trainability membership.

Our biggest take away from the Stronger Bond Workshop

One of our biggest take aways from our stronger bond workshop is having permission to get quiet, get still and wait longer.

When we are working on connection with our horses we need to start from a place of relaxation.

When we push, rush or force our horses into something that’s where we start to disrupt that connection and trigger our horses emotional resistance.

Maybe they need to take a moment to deal with their fear. Or maybe then need a moment to deal with their resentment or frustration of being made to do something they don’t want to do.

Whatever the reason is we have found that giving the horse the space to process that emotional resistance and return to the state of relaxation and then choose to do what we ask of their own accord then we deepen our connection and our relationship with our horse.

This does require an extreme amount of patience. And letting go of the idea that all nos are our horses being naughty. Some nos are our horse legitimately trying to tell us something. Ie they have a problem like pain or discomfort or not understanding or not being able to do what we’re asking. For a lot of the horses I get called out to work with, the most important thing the are looking for to deescalating behaviour deemed naughty and dangerous is just that we listen to their nos.

Once we figure and remove all reasons for a no then we can start working on our yes. Part of how we get our horses to say yes is to bring them back to that state of relaxation by focusing on their breathing and allow them the option to say yes or no. We teach this with our consent cue. When our horses have the option to say yes I’m ready for the next ask, this is where true willingness is and we are working on a level of mutual cooperation. To get there we as their trainer need to take a deep breath, have some patience, be quiet, be still and wait a little or a lot longer.

Want to know more we have a free training in our free facebook group of getting quiet and still both on the ground and in the saddle with our horse.

Moving from controlling to communicating with our horses

Over the years as a horse rider I have been told a lot that my horse lacks submission.

Anyone who hasn’t heard “needing more submission”, hasn’t been in a competition. Even outside the ring we can hear from our peers how naughty they think our horse is being.

And it can leave us with a feeling of ineptitude that our horse may act out and not do exactly as they are told.

When we get into the dressage ring, our horse being “on the bit” is also considered a sign of submission and our horse even being slightly in front of the bit considered lack of submission.

I actually got to a point with my riding where I thought I wasn’t in control of my horse if it wasn’t “on the bit”. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. We see plenty of riders who are perfectly in control of their horse and it works in front of the vertical.

In fact working our horse incorrectly on the bit actually can create less submission because our cues get muddled up and our horse can’t differentiate between more frame and the brakes.

One of the places I like to get my students to is comfortably letting go of their horses mouth and riding them on the buckle in all paces. It also helps if you are comfortable riding your horse at the fastest that it can go so we’re not holding them back for fear of speed. When we come from a place of controlling our horses, they tend to actually behave worse fighting with us. When we let our horses go and trust that they will still listen we can start working on our communication and therefore willingness.

When we look at communication this is where we use our aids to cue and talk to our horses instead of control what they are doing.

The most important part of communication is not telling the horse what to do but what they are saying in response. If they aren’t responding with a yes to our aid, why? How can we change that no to a yes? Or is our horse trying to tell us something?

When we focus on communication we are giving the horse permission to say no. When we are controlling our horse we are giving them no option but to say yes. And this is problem when they actually have a good reason for no. They are sore, they don’t understand, they have ulcers, they need their teeth done, they can’t physically do what we are asking of them are just some of the perfectly acceptable reasons for our horse to say no and reasons why a horses behaviour may escalate.

One of the ways we broach communication and the option to say no whilst maintaining manners and discipline to still be respectful of us is consent. We teach our horses a cue that they can give us to tell us when they are ready for the next ask or if they need time to process the previous ask. It also helps us to differentiate between the times they are challenging us and taking the piss and the times where they actually need us to help them understand, or to slow down or that they have a legitimate problem that needs addressing.

Do you need help with your horse? We have a free group where can get the support and ask the questions that will help you open the pathway of communication and develop a deeper connection with your horse. Join it here!

New horse - now what?

So you’ve got a new horse and you’re starting to figure out it's harder than you expected and not all it's cracked up to be. 

You thought you got your dream horse, but working with them is stressful and you come away feeling like a failure and you’re not good enough. 

Maybe your horse just needs a better rider.

Before you truly throw in the towel, consider this:

Take the expectations off of yourself and your horse

You may have thought that you would have your new horse a couple weeks and be ready to go out and do all the amazing things you dreamed of, but now you feel nervous and uncomfortable and are finding excuses for why you shouldn’t ride. 

Your new horse isn’t a mechanical object. It comes with emotions and emotional baggage. It has had a huge transition and we can never quite know what has happened to them in their life. 

Take those expectations away and just get to know your new horse and focus on building a relationship and trust first.

Know that you are enough

When it comes to working with our horses it is so very common to come away feeling like we aren’t enough. Just having the attitude that you can be exactly what your horse needs can be the game changer to succeeding with your horse.

Skill isn’t the be all and end all

While it is important to develop the skills to help you and your horse succeed together, it is just one piece of the puzzle. 

The most important thing that you can provide for your horse is security and safety that you are going to show up as a good leader and meet their emotional needs. 

Professional trainers are good at teaching buttons (trained cues), but a horse that can’t control its emotions can’t control its behaviour - so providing your horse with the emotional support and balance they need will go a long way to creating the relationship and horse of your dreams. 

Establish yourself as a leader with easy exercises

Your horse knows what you don’t know: an important part of your horse cooperating and being safe is that you see you as a good leader. 

If you are trying to further your skills and challenge yourself by doing things outside your comfort zone, your horse will know that you aren’t competent in following through on those asks and will challenge you as a leader. 

Start building your relationship and leadership skills with exercises that make you go” pfft that’s too easy”, because all of your horses little quirks will have the opportunity to come out in exercises that you are confident with which will build your confidence in how well you know your horse and build their confidence in you. Once you know what your horse does at its worst, what they are doing when they aren’t coping with the stress and pressure and how to bring them back from the brink of overwhelm and distress - only then should you start challenging yourself and your horse. 

Be flexible and ready to shift the goal posts when needed

This goes hand in hand with dropping your expectations. 

If you go in to work with your horse expecting them to work or behave a certain way and they don’t meet your expectations, you can create a negative working environment where neither of you are enjoying each others company. Being able to shift your goal posts so that it's impossible to not come away with a win and positive experience makes both you and your horse look forward to spending time together. 

Always finish on a positive note feeling like you could’ve done more.

What are your goals? If you are keen on building a harmonious relationship with your horse based on leadership, trust, affection, and healthy movement? Join the Arena to access the programs and support!