Why Green to Self Carriage Just Works

I’ll be honest. I’m still a bit green when it comes to training at higher levels.

I’ve never competed at novice level or higher.

I’ve never had an established horse to work with that I haven’t had to correct physiologically to be able to pursue those higher levels.

Every horse, of the half dozen or so I have worked with for any significant length of time, had to return to some basic level of work if I was really going to hold true to the philosophy that we hold at Equestrian Movement - FIRST DO NO HARM. And that philosophy is what guided us to the creation of our latest online course Green to Self Carraige.

I’m not saying that I couldn’t work at these higher levels, just that I haven’t had the opportunity.

I would prefer to work a horse for it’s own health than to push it into false frames and damage what potential that horse has for any length of career (or life) with any person. If that means going back down to prep & prelim levels, that is what I will do. My ego can take it.

And this is why Green to Self Carriage will work for all horses:

It is designed to take a green-broke horse through the stages to develop true self carriage, but can be applied to ANY HORSE

Yes, that’s right. Even a horse that is well established and winning ribbons MUST step back to these lower levels rectify missing elements in it’s education to be able to continue further in it’s carrer.

The course is designed to scale up and down as your horse and you identify deficits and rebuild the correct physical structure - which horses just seem to relish buggering up in the weirdest way (hoof in rabbit hole, anyone?).

The course is designed to work at your pace

So regardless of if you ride once or 4 times a week, you can create your own lesson plans using the exercises as they are outlined.

If an exercise is too easy for your horse, there is the next progression to up the anty on the challenge.

If the exercise is not possible for your horse, it leads you where to go down the scale to build up the capability for the horse to complete it first.

And you have the added bonus of ongoing support as you work through the program, so if you come across something you really struggle with, you can submit a video to Equestrian Movement and have it critiqued with recommendations on where to go from there!

You can take a break and come back to it - to the advantage of the horse

If you need to take some time away from riding, you will find that a horse that has been developed correctly through the self carriage phases not only handles the break but flourishes from it, coming back to work faster and ready to move up the training scale.

It can be applied to any horse, regardless of your discipline

Whether you trail ride, compete dressage, or ride endurace, a horse that has been taken through development of true self carriage correctly is not only a healthier horse physically but also a much smoother ride.

You can work a horse of any age with a number of potential ailments

Outside of those too young to ride or those that are living in well deserved retirement, your horse is never ‘too old’ to be redeveloped through the self carriage process.

No case is any truer to those words than my Custard. At 22 years young, coming from a life of where little regard for his physical, mental or emotional welfare was given, he has continued to surprise us with how he develops.

Even his attitude in the paddock has changed since working through the course. He used to have limited movement and would only run if he was chased (and could barely keep that up for any length of time). Now, he plays and on occasion even canters all the way from the back of a very large paddock just for the heck of it!

His arthritis (and my weight on his arthritic limbs) limit his ability to hold extended time of work under saddle, and transition into faster paces is taking a long time, and yet he not only builds on each exercise EVERY SINGLE LESSON but is actively seeking and asking for specific exercises which make him feel good - which leads me to…

Your horse will enjoy the process of movement and ASK for more

Nothing is more thrilling than a horse that can perform an exercise you have been working on - EXCEPT for a horse that asks you to up the challenge on that exercise!

When a horse is developed into true self carriage, the pleasure they derived from the movement and scaling up the exercises fills my (and their) heart with joy. Movement truly can feel good and horses are no less likely to recognise that than your personal trainer.

And when movement feels good, and our horse is asking for more, we have a truly willing horse that is engaged in it’s own learning.

It allows you to keep working with the Training Trainability mentality

When we work through green to self carriage correctly, we can continue to implement the Trainabiltiy method - in that our horse has a say in how it developes, will trust us to develop them to avoid pain, and follow our guidance through the movements, knowing that we will keep their emotional, mental and physical wellbeing first in mind always.

So, if you are just riding your horse for the glory of winning quickly, the Green to Self Carriage isn’t for you - but neither should your horse be for you.

But if you love riding, and your horses welfare is the priority in your work, then I encourage you to work through the training scale correctly and provide the best for you and your horse.

Would you like to learn more about how you can access our Green to Self Carriage Course? Check it out here!

Giving Consent

Does your horse agree with the way you work together?

Giving our horses the ability to say yes or no - to give consent - is an important training tool in the Equestrian Movement tool box.

It is next in line in our philosophies after first do no harm.

One of our big over arching goals is for our training sessions to happen FOR the horse.

WITH the horse.

Not to the horse.

We want them to not only participate but enjoy the learning process, and for movement to feel good for them.

Part of making this work is having the horse able to give consent to the next ask.

Sometimes there is a long gap between the previous ask and when they are ready for the next ask. As trainers and riders we tend to rush the process, and this is when our horses can hit breaking point. When the tension of the ask, ask, ask builds up, their frustration, confusion or overwhelm can burst out of them and be deemed as them being naughty at best and dangerous at worst.

When we give them permission to process and move their emotion (or even better show them how to process and move their emotion), where they can say

• “I’m not ready”,

• “I don’t understand”,

• “my body isn’t ready”,

• “I need a break”,

• “I’m hurting”,

Or anyother form of no that they might have, we are allowing them to express what they need from us to succeed in their training session.

It may well mean we need to adjust the goal posts for what we hoped to achieve.

When our horse feels listened to and isn’t reacting off their emotions, when that horse feels heard, they don’t have to act out with large and potentially dangerous behaviours to get their message across.

The Moody Mare - Tips to Handle Her During Your Training

There is a distinct divide in the horse community - you are either a mare person or a gelding person.

I myself am a self-confessed mare lover. Although I am currently working with geldings, I owe it all to my very first horse, an Arab mare.

I wouldn’t say that our relationship was smooth. Natty had the best RBF (resting bitch face) I have ever seen on ANYONE, human included. But like most mares, when you approach her with respect, ask rather than tell, and break through those walls, she could give you the softest looks and contact.

Although she has been gone for almost 3 years, I still vividly recall those moody days of season - those days when it might have been safer to be in a warzone than working with her - and after many conversations with fellow mare owners, I started thinking about how we can really work through these moody days.

It’s all going to come down to a combination of mental, emotional and physical management.

That “ticking clock” issue

A mare in the reproductive phase of estrous has 2 things on her mind - breeding and surviving. And the urge to reproduce can even override their desire to eat.

Even worse is their first cycle of the season. Typically, estrous averages about 6 days, but has been known to last much longer in the first cycle of the season, prolonged due to the fact that they have not yet ovulated. This can be particularly hard on horse and owner during this time, as it seems nothing you do will ever be easy again.

So their focus and attention isn’t yours, and it is going to be harder to get that attention. However, this is where our Training Trainability Course works really well - gain attention and focus, gain consent to work, and refocus on that leadership.

A total pain in the…ovaries?

There are quite a lot of issues for the mare's reproductive cycle that can significantly influence behaviour, aggression and pain.

1. The simple process of estrous (the receptive period) can cause changes to gait, meaning a horse with some underlying skeletal or muscular injuries may be more likely to display and feel this pain.

2. The fascia (connective tissue) can wrap or attach to areas of the ovary, tubes or uterus, meaning the period of estrous and subsequent ovulation can become quite painful. It is really hard to have this identified without the help of an osteopathic veterinarian.

3. Ovulation tends to occur about 1-2 days prior to the end of the estrous cycle. For up to 3 days prior to ovulation, the mare can experience significant discomfort as the follicle on the ovary expands (think about or talk to women who have experienced really bad menstural periods and you may get some insight into what the mare is feeling).

4. Aggression and extreme moodiness during estrous will depend on whether pain is evident (uterine or other, doesn't matter), but also if we are pushing their mental capacity at the time. Reproducing is an extremely strong instinct that can even overcome the desire to eat, so it isn't any surprise that when we ask a mare in estrous to work that they can lose the plot a bit.

So, what to do with that Moody Mare you need to train?

The key thing is to first get to know your mare - understand her cycle, her behaviour, her movement. Identify if there are underlying behavioural or physical pains outside of her season which are exacerbated when she is in season. This will point you into the right direction to move forward.

Next, when you are getting serious RBF attitude, consider the following:

🦄Are you pushing her to work on something new, uncomfortable (such as intense work) or difficult? Perhaps take it back to simple exercises and work she enjoys.
🦄Are you constantly correcting her or trying to prevent estrous behaviours? Perhaps consider only doing this firmly when she is under saddle and gently redirect her attention to you when doing groundwork (and work on bringing her focus to you when she is out of estrous). This will take a lot of patience and a lot of "yes's" (Training Trainability, folk -this is what it’s all about!)
🦄 If she is really uncomfortable (if there is lameness or pain increasing around estrous), gentle groundwork and a lot of spoiling may be a better approach over intense groundwork - resulting in a mare that is less resentful and therefore more willing to listen, learn and work with you next time.

Of course, sometimes a break can be just as good as a work out, so if you are feeling quite frustrated with her behaviour, turn her out (on a positive note), and let her be a mare for a week - and hopefully you can both come together again in unity. And if at any stage you are uncertain, always consult with your equine health care professional.

What Is "Trainability"?

Are you supporting your horses ability to be trained?

Trainability refers to the ability for your horse to process the education your are providing. It requires a willingness and desire to work together as you both progress.

It is unfortunate that many training techniques actually discourage “trainability” - although these techniques will continue to state that they get results.

I agree they can get results:

• Sometimes that result is a horse that has been bullied into submission, and has no way of communicating his lack of understanding.

• Sometimes that result is a horse that has been forced to shut down emotionally, because they are constantly exposed to adverse situations and then expected to not respond in any way.

• Finally, sometimes that result is a horse that is deemed ‘unsafe’, ‘unsound’ or dangerous. Sometimes that result is another horse on the doggers truck.

It’s not always doom and gloom. Some horses come through traditional training programs and can do well.

But so many horse’s don’t thrive in traditional training methods - and neither do their owners.

This is why Trainability became such an importance focus for me, and it is why I will always put the concept of first do no harm in the fore-front of any work I do. It is why I work so closely with Katie - to give more horse owners the capability, knowledge and skills to change the world of their horse.

When we open our horses up to becoming trainable, we open them to a whole new world. A world that allows them:

• To openly communicate with you, express their confusion or understanding to the task at hand;

• To understand that we are the leader, but we are not going to punish them for something they didn’t understand, but will help them through until they do;

• To feel confident and safe enough to be curious, instead of being reactive to new stimuli;

• & to show their personality in a totally new light.

Even more than that, it teaches us, as people:

• To better understand our horse;

• Methods that we can apply to our horse regardless of education level;

• & how to be a better horse person.

That is why Katie Boniface has put together the Holistic Horse Handling Program . It is a selection of exercises, activities and theory that shows you, step by step, how to work through the challenge of making your horse more trainable.

Let the way you train your horse reflect the love you feel. Sign up to Holistic horse handling program waitlist today

Breaking The Wheel - Why You Should Choose To Train Trainability

Do we follow tradition because that’s how it’s always been done?

Or do we challenge tradition and incorporate new training techniques that have been proven to not only work for horses but dogs, elephants, birds, dolphins, seals… And those are just the animals I am aware of.

If you are “doing all the things” and your horse can do all the tricks but you feel like there is still something missing, then Training Trainability is for you. 

Our tradition-breaking perspective that we have incorporated into our training values, philosophies and principles is that horses are emotionally intelligent, sentient beings that should be valued as equals and not devalued to the status of a belonging. 

We value our horses needs physically, mentally and emotionally over our riding goals, and encourage them to learn and willingly participate in their education so that our training and ridden sessions are not only a joy for us but our horses as well. 

This does not mean we let our horses push us around and get away with being bold. In fact, we are the complete opposite.

One of our core values is that to have a strong, trusting relationship between horse and rider we need to show up as a strong leader, setting clear, consistent boundaries and following through on our asks. The thing that is different is how we set those boundaries and being clear and consistent so our horse understands what we want, what to expect from us and why.

Our goal in training is to give our horse a voice. Some say in their own training experience. Their education is happening for them, not to them. They are allowed to tell us if they are overwhelmed, frustrated, sore, confused, unsure, anxious and any other spectrum of emotion they may feel without being “pushed through”.

We offer other supportive strategies that first teach our horses how to process and move through these emotions and then tackle the challenges we set for them with confidence and trust in us to guide them through the unknown (which is obviously always full of scary monsters like flapping plastic bags and rustling trees).

What we are really truly looking for in our work with horses is not the 50c ribbon, the nod of approval from our peers or the accolades from the judges but the connection, emotional relationship and the peace that comes from creating a deep and powerful bond with our horses.

Because if all we wanted was the adrenaline rush of the ride without the emotions and intellect, we would ride motor bikes.

Are you ready to join the equestrian movement?

#jointheequestrianmovement

The Missing Element In Your Horse's Training

Have you ever considered what could be missing from your training?

A big marker used for identifying if you have a “good” horse is submission.

Submission, willingness and obedience are seen as signs of a “good” horse and it may even earn the horse the status of bomb proof. It comes up regularly as a quality marked for in competition and judged on by peers, trainers and instructors. Resistance, on the other hand, is seen as a quality of a bad horse that’s being naughty and acting out.

Many riders that do have a horse that can act out get confused when we get told our horse is being naughty.

We get upset when we are told our horse is too much for us.

We know deep down our horse is good and we love them with our everything, but we can just end up at our wits end not knowing how to simply get along with our horse.

Why can’t my horse just cooperate so we both can just enjoy each others company!?!

Maybe you’ve even googled:

• How do I stop my horse from biting?

• How do I stop my horse from throwing his head?

• How do I stop my horse from bolting?

• How do I stop my horse from bucking?

There have been many times in my riding career where I’ve just sat down on the floor and cried, ready to quit and just walk away because its all just too hard. It never lasts. I pull myself together and try again. And after 25 + years of trying again… and again… and again….

It is my belief that the most important element lacking in our training is giving our horse a voice.

Giving them permission to say no.

Giving them some control in what happens to them in their training.

Let them consent to working with you.

It’s the two way communication that is missing for our horses!

When you think about the crux of the issue, resistance is just the horse saying no, and willingness is the horse saying yes!!

In our industry, willingness is demanded from our horse. It is expected. And if that willingness isn’t given it is common practice that it is forced.

So a lot of the time the willingness of “good” horses I see isn’t given because they WANT to be participating in their training, it is given because they don’t want to experience the consequences and the type of discipline that gets used on them when they aren’t willing. This can lead to a horse being shut down, or learned helplessness, where the horse really resents what is happening to it but doesn’t see any other option. Alternatively, they can go the other way and become aggressive and some may consider dangerous. 

Have you ever asked why your horse might say no?

We have. Here are just a couple of reasons:

• Your horse doesn’t understand

• Your horse is in pain

• Your horse can’t do what you are asking

• Your horse is uncomfortable

• Your horse has an underlying medical condition that needs treating ie. Ulcers.

• Your horses teeth need doing and are rubbing and cutting into the sides of their mouth

• Your horses feed needs tweaking

• Your horses tack doesn’t fit correctly

• Your horse has rub areas, galls or sores from either not being properly groomed or tack rubbing from poor fit

• Your horse is remembering or has an established learnt behaviour from a bad or poorly trained experience their past

• Your horse is getting overwhelmed and doesn’t know how to effectively process its emotions.

These are just a handful of reasons that I have experienced for a horse saying no and therefore resistance.

When I first go out to a new assessment lesson, the most common reason for the horses behaviour being unmanageable - the reason I was called out in the first place - is because that horse has at least one if not more of the above reasons that it hasn’t been able to get across. The horse gets more frustrated and upset, it doesn’t feel heard or listened too and the behaviour escalates past what the owner can comfortably and safely manage.

The first thing I do is open a pathway of communication. I let the horse know I’m not going to make it do anything it doesn’t want to do and that I am there to listen to them. Once they know this, all of that “resistance” and naughty behaviour deescalates rapidly to just small, manageable yeses and nos. Once the horse feels listened to and heard, they don’t need or want to resort to the big dangerous behaviours that are really the big, loud nos. And it is then we can work through and address all of the reasons our horse is saying no. 

This doesn’t mean that we allow our horses to bully us and push us around. We still maintain manners and expectations of how they should behave with us. The big difference is how we establish and maintain those manners and expectations we set. We give the horse the tools to say yes and no without it being a case of “them getting away with it” and them taking advantage of us next time. 

Once we have ruled out all reasons for our horse saying no, only then can we start taking small steps towards getting a yes and rewarding the yes to encourage more yeses.

Once we have a small yes (this can be as simple as leading in halter in walk, sending them away at feed time or just putting the halter on), we slowly build the number of yeses but we maintain the horses right to say no. Over time we will get consistent, multiple yeses not because they are forced but because the horse enjoys the mental stimulation of learning, the physical stimulation of movement and the emotional stimulation of a dynamic and respectful relationship. The bonus being they can also let us know if they are overwhelmed, frustrated, confused, hurt and all other manner of issues that can crop up in training without having to escalate their behaviour and become dangerous. 

The two way conversation is now established and we can move forward again with our education.

And that, my readers, is what is truly missing from most horseman’s trainings.

Let Your Horse Make The Mistake!

Before you poo-poo the idea, hear me out!

One way to really affect your relationship with your horse in a negative way is to micromanage their behaviour.

As the perfectionists we are, it is super hard to let our horse make a mistake when we feel it is about to happen. In response, we create pressure when our horse is still doing the right thing.

If the pressure is there for the right AND the wrong behavior, there is no incentive for our horse to seek the answer.

So to help them continue to seek the right answer - let them make the mistake!

Once they've made the mistake, correct them. Let them keep making the mistake over and over until they figure out what the correct answer is and choose to do it. This creates willingness.

Create a work ethic in your horse where they are looking for the correct answer to the ask. Create a curious horse that engages in your training and enjoys learning.

Don’t create a horse that stops asking questions, stops looking for answers and sometimes starts arguing with you.

Support your horse’s training by understanding the full concepts of Trainability - the program that teaches you how to create a confident, willing and curious companion - view more details on the program here.

The Secret Behind True Bend

Your horse can’t work in true bend if you are steering from the inside rein.

Are you always getting the comment more bend or circle not round in your dressage test?

Check in and be honest, are you using your inside rein to pull your horse around the circle? Or does your horse know how to steer off the outside leg?

Because I’m going to come right out and say most people aren’t even using their outside leg let alone steering well with it!!

This was one of those light bulb moments for me. You know the one where your instructor has been saying the same thing over and over but it never really sunk in and then one day the cogs all fall into place and the sun shines through the clouds and I magically understand how to turn!! And yes this was quite a fair way into my riding career and after training a couple of horses up to elementary.

I was really struggling with my canter circles on a big warmblood and had decided to put a halter on him and just muck around with him and low and behold he had no idea how to turn! Because the halter had a different effect on him he could get his weight behind it and just not turn. I didn’t realise that he didn’t understand how to follow the bit away from the leg. The most basic training principle. Even though he was “soft” in the mouth he was not soft because he understand to accept and follow the bit but because he was working behind the bit. That’s where he had found the release of pressure.

So the horse that doesn’t know how to steer from the leg comes across quite a few issues in their training.

• The inside rein stays heavy or the horse learns to work behind the bit because when you are pulling the horse from the mouth you are setting them off balance so they will counterbalance against the pull and tense their jaw and the muscles on the inside of their neck instead of flexing them to look in the direction of travel.

• Because their neck and jaw is tight the inside fore will be grounded and the horse will be working on the forehand.

• Because the horse is on the forehand and pulling itself around the corner it won’t be bent through the ribcage around the leg correctly and so will be working hollow even though it may seem to be in a frame.

• They then will bend by “displacing” their shoulders to the outside of the circle making it more likely they will fall out, therefore making us want to pull them from the inside rein even more.

• Then won’t be balancing into their inside hind and engaging properly even though they seem to be. This will results in them twisting or dropping the pelvis and working crooked.

So rather than using the circle for its purpose to supple and engage the topline muscle the circle will be straining and stressing their topline and putting more concussion into forelegs. This can all be happening even though they look like they are doing it correctly.

Can you turn your horse from your outside leg?

There is obviously way more to the circle than just the outside leg, but this is just a common piece of the puzzle I see a lot of riders missing.

Want to improve your dressage scores? We have a couple of options in our membership site that are a gold mine of juicy nuggets to help you pull those dressage test scores up while you train your horse to improve those movements.

Finding The Deeper Meaning Of The Basics

Our easy, basic exercises are simultaneously the easiest thing you will do and the hardest thing you will do well. The reason being is that the basics are entry level riding and the foundations of every thing else you do with your horse. So if you’re like me and been riding for 26 years and teaching for 14 years you’ve run through the basics thousands of times (no exaggeration). And each new horse I work through it with, each new rider I work through it with, each time I get a horse to a certain level of education hit a plateau and say ok time to go back to the basics I am learning something new, a different perspective and a deeper understanding of something that is so simple that a person who has never ridden it before can do.

This is why in our course green to self carriage we have tiered it to comfortably and easily move up and down the training scale. We have included all prerequisites and progressions in each lesson plan so if the current lesson plan has gone to crap you know what building blocks to strip back to but also if its too easy you know which exercise to work on next.

There is a huge difference in the halt a person rides the first time they ride a horse and the halt they ride a year later. There is a huge difference in the halt a person rides compared to a person who has had lessons with a good instructor every week for a year. There is a huge difference between the halt a person rides after a year of riding, 5 years of riding, 10 years of riding and 20 years of riding. With experience comes understanding and refinement and the horses we work with in that time are generally keen to teach us a thing or 2 also.

So before you rush on to that next movement, exercise or challenge, before you say “oh that exercise is too easy for us now” or “that exercise is boring I learnt that when I was first riding”, check in with you and your horse. Can you find a deeper meaning to the exercise? Can you learn something about it that you didn’t know before? Can your horse teach you something in that exercise that you couldn’t learn the first time you did it because your own feel and ability wasn’t ready?

Because trust me, I’ve been there. I’ve been the rider that hates practising halting because you only have to do it 2 maybe 3 times in a test. I’ve been the person that has said why do I need to get better at my walk through canter changes before I learn my flying changes? I’ve been the person that has rushed a horse through the basic principles to try and get to the “good stuff” and it just never works out the way we imagine. I am still learning new things about the most basic things we can do with a horse because I like to try and be a student of life which means I let my horses teach me how they want me to work best with them and I let my students teach me their perspective and feel of their horse.

We Don't Need To Be Challenging Our Horse's Boundaries Every Time We Ride

For some reason every time we ride we expect the ride to be better than our last.

We want to have done something that we weren’t able to do last ride.

We want our horse to perform better, be more willing, more submissive, more expressive - but how fair is that on our horse?

Are you able to do better at work every day than you did the day before? Or better at the gym or a sport you may play? Or horse riding for that matter? Can you bring your 100% every day? Be enthusiast? Pleasant to be around especially under pressure? Can you learn something new every day?

Seems like a tall ask.

But we expect it of our horses. And then wonder why behavioural issues pop up!

So today I give permission for you and your horse to just hang.

To just enjoy each other. Do what your horse likes. Do they like treats, going on adventures, being groomed? What things do you do that your horse really enjoys and appreciates?

I give you permission to go do just that. Then get back to us - how did it feel? Did you enjoy yourself? Did your horse enjoy itself?

I even give you permission to do it a couple of days in a row.

And then do your training and see if your horse is more willing, more enthusiastic, more eager to learn and participate in the activities.

Setting up your horse for success

We often get told not to let our horse anticipate the aid like it’s a bad thing.

But shouldn’t we celebrate the fact the horse is ready and eager to do what we ask and congratulate ourselves that we’ve been able to communicate and teach our horse to understand us?

Sure, we don’t want our horses to do what we’re asking before we are asking in a dressage test. But do we break their confidence by reprimanding them for it or do we encourage our horse and reward them for their effort and willingness and help them associate it to a cue/aid. Are you setting your horse up to succeed or to fail?

Setting our horse up to succeed is helping them, encouraging them and rewarding them for looking for the right answer. Its making the right answer easy and the wrong answer hard. Its making learning fun and easy. Its making training achievable. When our horses have little training wins it releases happy hormones that makes learning fun. If our horses are always in trouble for getting it wrong or not doing well enough the learning process gets stale and unenjoyable. Our horses stop lose courage to try, stop asking questions and shut down… or sometimes lash out.

Rules to live by to set our horse up to success:

-        First do no harm

-        Finish feeling like you could’ve done more

-        Finish on a positive note

-        Spend time with your horse that isn’t being ridden

-        Try not to repeat an ask more than 3 times before changing the exercise

-        Make sure they know what we’re asking and can do what we’re asking and we haven’t pushed them past their physical, mental and emotional limit.

-        Horses learn from the release of pressure not the application

-        Be clear, consistent and follow through on your asks.

We don’t need to be challenging our horses’ boundaries every time we ride

For some reason every time we ride we expect the ride to be better than our last. We want to have done something that we weren’t able to do last ride. We want our horse to perform better, be more willing, more submissive, more expressive but how fair is that on our horse?

Are you able to do better at work every day than you did the day before? Or better at the gym or a sport you may play? Or horse riding for that matter? Can you bring your 100% every day? Be enthusiast? Pleasant to be around especially under pressure? Can you learn something new every day? Seems like a tall ask right? But we expect it of our horses. And then wonder why behavioural issues pop up.

So today I give permission for you and your horse to just hang. To just enjoy each other. Do what your horse likes. Do they like treats, going on adventures, being groomed? What things do you do that your horse likes? I give you permission to go do that. And then get back to us. How did it feel? Did you enjoy yourself? Did your horse enjoy itself? I even give you permission to do it a couple of days in a row. And then do your training and see if your horse is more willing, more enthusiastic, more eager to learn and participate in the activities.

You need to teach your horse HOW to learn

Horses aren’t born into this world knowing how to be ridden.

They don’t know appropriate and safe ways to interact with humans.

They don’t know what’s expected of them.

In some cases, such as where they are weaned early, kept separate from other horses or go through poor living conditions such as dogger pens and feed lots, they don’t even know how to socialise with other horses – they only know how to do their best to protect themselves.

Our most common tool for training is negative reinforcement through pressure from halters, bits, spurs, and whips. Horses don’t automatically know what these pressures mean and what the appropriate response to those pressures are. Expecting them to know this is like a person starting a new job with a completely complex computer program, being shown their seat and left to figure it out – they are either going to try and fail, try and succeed, look for help or break down and quit.

Is it any wonder that horses become “naughty” if teaching them to learn isn’t done well?

Horses first need to learn how to process pressure and what it means. They need to know that pressure isn’t pain and isn’t there to hurt them, but is there to help them seek the answer.

Which means we need to know how to use pressure & release correctly to teach this.

The first and most important lesson you need to learn to communicate more effectively with horses:

“You can’t beat understanding into a horse”.

If a horse doesn’t understand what you want using the whip, spurs, halter or bit, using them harder and harder and harder doesn’t make them understand any better.

A lot of times, when a horse isn’t doing what its told, it’s classified as a naughty horse and you are told to be harder and stronger with them. However, in my experience if a horse isn’t doing as its “told”, it’s more commonly because it doesn’t understand, or can’t do what’s being asked. So they “act out” or are “naughty” because they resort to instinctive behaviour or past experiences to respond to the ask – and their instinctive behaviour when confused, intimidated or scared is to fight or run away.

There are definitely times when horses will challenge you and your authority but that’s not with the intent of being naughty – it is with the intent of testing if they can trust you. Are you strong enough and confident enough to lead them and keep them safe? If they decide you aren’t a good leader, they won’t feel safe doing as you ask and will react with the intent to protect themselves.

This is the one situation where being heavy handed can work. However, it’s not the best nor is it the most effective tool, especially if you’re already working with a bold, strong, confident horse. You need to be a really…. really… reaaaaally good rider to convince these horses with a heavy hand because their responses can escalate to big dangerous behaviours and it is hard to not get hurt in these situations until we get submission.

That is why we should teach discipline through consistency and following through with our ask, then rewarding for EFFORT, not necessarily the best most correct behaviour. We first condition how our horses mentally and emotionally process the ask before we get them understanding what the ask is. This may take a little longer in the outset, but sets us and our horses up to learn easily down the track.

When there is a clear pathway of consequence, our horses start looking for the right answer, interacting and engaging with us and enjoying the learning process.

Train your horse to be “trainable” with our Training Trainability course - an online training program designed to support the overall learning capabilities of your horse and based on simple exercises that reinforce affection, trust, respect and communication. Click here to learn more.

Who Wouldn't Want To Train A "Bomb Proof" Horse?

Ok - so first let me preface this with:

we don’t like the terminology “bomb proof”.

Often when I see horses described as bomb proof, they are malnourished or shut down.

Even when we are working with the truly quiet horses, I believe the term bomb proof puts us in a false sense of security that increases risk of accidents happening.

My experience has been active in training horses to be beginner riding school horses, so we need to get them as quiet as we can. For me it is important to have our horses in peak mental, emotional and physical health as well as a clear understanding of what is expected of them and their cues to be considered “quiet”.

School horses are truly special horses as they need to look after riders that are unbalanced and can unintentionally hurt them when they lose their balance, don’t understand complex aids (the horse knows they can get out of work at any stage) and aren’t strong enough to “bully” them into submission.

In my experience, the quiet “bomb proof” horse isn’t created by sacking them out and desensitising them.

They are created by proving ourselves as competent and trust worthy leaders, building our horses confidence and their understanding. This can make any breed and any temperament of horse “bomb proof” - as long as we rule out other considerations such as pain, medical conditions, ill fitting gear and the like.

Outside of pain or discomfort, the reason a horse might NOT be classified as “bomb proof” include:

• The horse not understanding what is needed of them

• The horse can’t do what we are asking of them

• The horse does not have the confidence in themselves (or their rider) that they are safe/will be kept safe, and this can include any past traumatic experiences.

• The horse does not understand how pressure is being used as a tool of communication. (This often starts with the rider/trainer not understanding the timing of pressure/release for the horse to understand it)

• The horse doesn’t feel understood. (This is the most common issue I see. Our horses try to communicate with us what they need and we often miss the subtle cues and the horse ends up overreacting and being considered dangerous)

• The rider/trainer not knowing when to back off and when to push for more, or expecting too much of the horse

These principles are our guiding factors in establishing the training that Equestrian Movement offers in our online courses:

• First do no harm. Ensure that any of the training you are doing moving forward is of no detriment to the horse.

• Create a safe and stable learning and living environment.

• Create a relationship with our horse where they trust us that not only will we not hurt them but we also won’t put them in a situation where they could be hurt.

• Teach them how to learn and understand what we want.

• Teach them how to process their emotions and think rather than react.

• Teach them confidence

• Make learning fun

• Make moving fun

• Make being ridden fun

Curious to know how we do this? We cover all these in our course Training Trainability.

What It Means When Your Horse Is Licking Or Chewing During Training

Is licking or chewing during training a sign of stress or relaxation?

I’m going to throw my 2 cents in on this debate #yourewelcome.

Licking can indicate your horse may have reached its’ coping limits with your training.

I believe it is a sign of both. 

If you’re horse is actively showing signs of relaxation than one would have to think that first it needs to be stressed, to release the stress and show exaggerated signs of relaxation. Right? So my thought is that it is actually a sign of learning and processing what they were working on. 

There’s no doubt about the fact that we create stress when working our horses. We create physical stress to condition their body, mental stress to grow their intellect and emotional stress to increase resilience to their environment. If we create just the right amount of stress they grow and develop. If we create too much stress they start to protect themselves. Their body tightens up to avoid injury, they stop thinking and processing what their are learning and they shy away from challenging situations. 

So while I’m not actively seeking the licking and chewing response, it is an indication to me the pressure I had on them before they started licking and chewing is probably about their limits for coping. Any more pressure and they will not be learning any more -they will be stressed. Horses can only learn and seek the right behaviour with a relaxed brain.

Begin training your horse the CORRECT way

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3 Reasons Your Horse Is Pushing You Around

Do you ever have those moments when your horse comes in close - then nearly stands on your or knocks you over? Or perhaps a horse that pushes ahead of you to get to the gate, even though it is on the lead?

Then you know what it is like to have a pushy horse.

A pushy horse isn’t necessarily nasty, but if the behaviour is left unchecked, it could result in a dangerous situation.

Of course, the last thing we want to have to do is continuously discipline our horse. It feels horrible to constantly tell them off, and it can damage our relationship.

If you know why your horse is pushy, it could save you a lot of time and effort in correcting the issue.

TIP: OUR FREEBIE IN THIS ARTICLE NOT ONLY SHOWS YOU HOW TO START CORRECTING THE BEHAVIOUR, IT DOES SO WITHOUT DAMAGING YOUR RELATIONSHIP OR AFFECTION FOR EACH OTHER!

1. You horse is insecure

An insecure horse is going to push into you for security, or may try to pull away from you to get to a more secure location - such as with the rest of the herd. This can happen when you horse is dealing with separation anxiety, or when they are in a new environment.

Tip: if you work on your horses trust, they will follow your lead more consistently. Work on adventures in our guide to start establishing trust and identify the areas your need to strengthen in your training and relationship.

2. Your horse doesn’t see you as a leader

It may be that your relationship is new, it may be that the herd structure has changed, or it may simply be that your horse has an alpha personality - whichever it is , your horse will, at some point, make you prove you are their leader.

Leadership is based on a level of consistency and knowledge, as well as comfort that you can. If you give the impression you cannot, your horse will look for someone who can - and will take it upon itself to see if it should be the leader instead. It’s instinctive - it is what would happen in a herd.

You can be a strong leader without beating your horse into submission (or scaring it with objects), and you don’t have to turn into a horse to do it either! The Holistic Horse Handling Program provides you with the tools you need to become a human alpha and understand the challenges that face it.

3. You keep giving your horse mixed signals

The biggest mistake I see is a lack of consistency - which is absolutely critical to preventing pushiness.

Your horse doesn’t care about the day that you had a cold and still had to turn up for feed time - but what it does care about is that it was able to push into you to get food quicker, and it worked.

Being consistent means you know what you expect and your expect this EVERY — SINGLE — TIME (perhaps singularly excluding life-threatening situations). Know what your boundaries are, and make sure your horse respects them too.

We hope that you have recieved some insight into why your horse may be pushy - pushing your boundaries, pushing your buttons, and potentially pushing your over. Contact us here if you need any further advice!

Are you looking to improve your horses security with you, become a leader your horse can trust, and understand how to clearly and consistently communicate with your horse?

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or join the opening communications course to get started!