I Don`t Believe in Coincidence

I have worked and played with a lot of different animals and they all fascinate me but none more than the horse.  The big question is how they think about things and how they make decisions about what they are going to do.  When I was young my parents and teachers told me that animals only did things by instinct and that they were incapable of any kind of thought process.  I no longer believe that.  Here a few little stories about my experiences with our horses.

Two years ago we had a load of gravel delivered into our paddock to build up the area in and around our run in barn.  I had to move it using a wheel barrow because of the confined areas.  The horses were in the paddock when I started this.  After moving three wheel barrow loads, my horse Kai came up beside me while I was loading and he started to paw down the gravel from the top of the pile.  I stroked him and told him he was a good boy.  After that he helped me with every load.  Last year we had a load of screenings delivered for our round pen in our lower paddock.  As soon as we let the horses in that paddock he found the pile and started to level it.  The picture is in my last blog. 

Val`s horse, Bob, has a different talent.  One day while grooming him Val dropped her glove.  Bob picked it up and held it in his mouth until Val accepted it from him and rewarded him.  She has turned this into a little game with him by dropping different items which he retrieves and gives them back to her.  One day she took Bob into the round pen to do some liberty exercises.  She dropped the halter and lead rope in the centre of the pen and proceeded with the exercises.  After 15 minutes she asked him to disengage and come to her on the far side of the pen.  Bob came to the centre of the pen and picked up the halter and waited for her to come get it.  It was pretty clear he was letting her know he had had enough and wanted her to put his halter on and take him out to do something else.

Last week Val was doing some clean up in the paddock.  She was going around and picking up small rocks that had surfaced since the spring.  We try to clean these up to avoid having the horses bruise their feet.  She had picked up several stones when she noticed Bob was about 50 feet away with his nose to the ground and snuffling around something.  She went over to see what he was doing and found he had uncovered a base ball size rock that had been partially covered with ground.  Val picked it up, thanked him, and he went back to the hay feeder.

These are just a couple of little things that we have noticed our horses do, that seem to show a thought process that goes beyond instinct or simple rote learning.  I certainly don`t believe it is just coincidence.

Little Things Mean a Lot

I believe it was Ray Hunt who said the “Little things mean a lot to a horse.”

Indeed the same can be said of people and most other species.  Because they are small things, they are easy to skip over, DON`T

I have mentioned some of these things in earlier blogs but here are a few ideas to remember;

·         Learn your horses body language

·         Get an invitation before going in the paddock

·         When you approach your horse let them touch you first

·         If you touch first do it at the withers

·         Stroke, don`t pat

·         If they ask, scratch

·         Be gentle as possible and firm when necessary (never be mean)

·         Inspect your horse often, for cuts, bruises, stones in feet, etc.

·         Check equipment, ensure it is safe and comfortable.

·         If you use a bit be careful with the lip, gums and teeth

·         Monitor your horses feed and water, it can be the first sign of a health problem.

·         Don`t ignore things like a cough

·         Touch your horse often, feel for lumps, swellings and ticks

·         Check your horses paddock, stall and barn for anything that could hurt them.  Anticipation is easier to deal with than regret.

·         Spend undemanding time with your horse

·         Groom your horse yourself and do it often

·         When your horse does something helpful reward them

These are some of the little things that take moments of time and relatively little effort.  They are very BIG deals for your horse.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

It is often said that horses live in the present.  This is true.  However horses also have the best memory of all domestic animals.

The way your horse responds to something today won`t necessarily be the way he/she responded yesterday.

Our horse, Bob, has always been very easy to trailer load.  Yesterday he did not want to get on the trailer.  We have learned that everything means something and nothing means nothing.  We found that the door to the upper storage area at the front of the trailer had been left open.  So Bob could see this nice big cave that was a perfect hiding place for a cougar or even the notorious and deadly sabre toothed butterfly.  There was no way he was going near that scary place.  We closed the door and led him on the trailer.  The lead on was important because he trusts us and as long as we were leading he was okay with following.  We let him stay on the trailer and we stayed with him while he carefully checked everything out.  We took him off and did some ground  exercises and then repeated the lead on and rest.  We did this several times over the next hour.  By the end of it he was okay with getting on the trailer.

What happens tomorrow?  I don`t know.  I hope all will be okay, but, if he has an issue we will respect it and help him through it.  There is no doubt that he will remember the scary moment yesterday but he will also remember that nothing bad happened.  No matter what keep the horse`s trust and maintain your leadership.

Be Safe

Horses are inspiring and beautiful animals that are loved by millions of people.  They are also very big and powerful and fast.  These characteristics make it important for people to ensure their safety when they are with horses.

People and horses get hurt for a number of reasons including;

·         Lack of knowledge by the human of the nature of the horse

·         Lack of knowledge of methods used in communicating with and teaching horses.

·         Poor/inappropriate equipment

·         Poor maintenance of equipment.

·         Going too far beyond the abilities of the human and the horse.

·         Bad advice and bad information.

Working and playing with horses is one of the most pleasant and satisfying experiences you can have, but like anything else, there are risks.  Do your homework and protect yourself and your horse. Here are a few basic pieces of information:

The Nature of the horse

Horses are big, powerful and fast.  They are prey animals and their primary defence is flight.  If something scares a horse they are likely to panic and run.  If you are in the way (too close to the horse) they may knock you down and step on you.  If you are on their back when this happens you need some skill to stay on and gain control. I strongly recommend Dr. Robert Miller`s DVD on the nature of the horse to get an in depth view of the behaviour of the horse.

Communicating with and teaching horses

In natural horsemanship the methods used work with the nature of the horse.  The basic principles of these methods are discussed in earlier blogs.  There are many excellent clinicians who have developed programs to help people communicate with horses using these principals. It is worth every dollar and every minute you spend learning from these great horse men and horse women, both for you and for your horse.  They will instruct you on safe methods for doing ground work and riding.  Dr. Miller`s DVD will give you information about methods for giving needles, worming, treating eyes, handling feet etc.  If you avoid just one accident for you or your horse you will save the cost of this information.

Poor / Inappropriate equipment

When working with horses there is a wide assortment of equipment that can be used.  The first thing one normally uses is a halter and lead rope.  They are the most basic and vital pieces of equipment you will use.  It is important to know the different types of halters and ropes and how to use them.  If you use a flat halter with bad hardware you can quickly run into problems. Under stress buckles and snaps made of cheap, brittle metal can break.  Many clinicians use horsemans halter (rope halters).  This is for two reasons.  First there is no hardware.  Second the rope is thinner and gives more feel to the horse. Bridles and bits are one of the most misunderstood and misused pieces of equipment. It is really important to get a  good program that clearly explains how to bridle a horse, how to set up the bridle so it fits properly in the horse`s mouth and most important the proper use of reins to communicate effectively and gently with the horse.  It is really important to understand all of the pieces of equipment which you use in horse activities from ropes, to trailers to saddles.

Poor maintenance of equipment

Every time you use equipment from rope and halter to saddles and everything you need to carefully inspect it for damage and wear that could affect its strength and how it will work for you.  Check latigoes for deterioration of the leather.  Make sure that your cinch is in good condition.  Any break in a piece of equipment can lead to big trouble.

Going too far beyond the abilities of the human and the horse

Of course as you work with your horse you will be asking more of yourself and your horse to do new things and to improve performance of tasks already learned.  It is important to ensure that you do this in a carefully thought through progression that enables both you and the horse to build the skills needed to reach your goal.  You can`t go directly from a 6 inch step over to a 5 foot jump. It is also important for the rider to ensure that horse has been  properly prepared for the planned tasks.  Don`t take someone else`s word for it.  Always check for yourself.

Bad advice and bad information

It is not unusual for people to just accept the advice of someone they assume knows about horses and horsemanship.  This may happen because they know the person and they know they have been involved in the horse world for years.  I got a lot of advice this way.  Almost all of it was at best flawed and at its worst it was completely wrong.  There is so much information that is now available and it is relatively easy to verify its validity that there really is no excuse for accepting bad advice.  In earlier sections of this blog I have given references to a number of clinicians and experts in horses and horsemanship.  Take the time and spend some money to learn what these people can tell you.  We spend thousands of dollars on our horses, equipment, tack and veterinary services and ultimately we put our lives on the line with our horses, so spend a few hundred dollars and some hours to expand your knowledge. 

In the end knowledge is best road to safety.  Take the time to learn about horses from real experts who have the background and credentials to support the programs they present.  There is a program out that will satisfy your needs, improve the quality of your experiences and will help to keep you and your horse safe.

If your horse is doing this, stay out of the pen.

Getting to Soft

I often hear clinicians use the term “softness”.  It has taken some time watching clinicians working with horses in all kinds of different situations to understand what they mean.  So here is my attempt to explain it.

A horse is SOFT when;

·         It is relaxed mentally, physically and emotionally

·         Its body shows flexibility

·         It is mentally engaged with the human

·         It willingly responds to the cues of the human.

To attain this, the horse must have confidence and trust in the human and respect for the human.

As the level of softness increases the horses ability to learn new skills and to improve their performance of known skills also increases.

To attain softness in the horse the human must learn to demonstrate a consistently calm physical and emotional state when they are with the horse.  If the human is feeling anxious, angry or frustrated the horse will know.  You may kid yourself but you can not lie to a horse.

Kai is showing some of the outward signs of softness.  His head is down, his eyes and ears show he is mentally engaged with his human and his body is relaxed.  The next thing would be to check for responsiveness and flexibility.

Repeat, Refresh, Refine

Horses learn very quickly.   According to Dr. Robert Miller they learn faster than any other domestic animal.  They are also the most perceptive of all domestic animals.  Communicating with horses should respect these qualities.

Most training programs utilize the principle of repetition as a method to be followed to elicit the desired response from our equine partners.  Depending on the clinician the number and cycle of repetitions varies widely.  I have often heard the that exercises should be repeated 7 times for 7 days in order to attain the required level of performance.  Dr. Miller says that horses require 3 repetitions in order to retain a response.  He also tells us that we need to repeat the exercise in different places to make the lesson general to the horses environment.  As I have said before there are no right or wrong answers only different answers.

In my opinion repetition is easily overdone.  For we humans we call this NAGGING.  Believe me horses feel the same way when we ask them to do the same thing over and over again.

The best advice I have had from a clinician is that we should always leave something for tomorrow.  We should not try to do everything today.  The most important thing is that we stop an activity on a positive note for us and for the horse.  The key principle here is that release teaches.

One important thing to ask your horse for is lateral flexion.  There are various methods for doing this depending on the clinician you follow.  My experience is that the initial progress is slow until the horse understands the pressure and the required response.  Because it puts the horse in a vulnerable position there is natural resistance.  Take time to  allow the horse to understand this and yield to the pressure, and don`t try to get it all in one session. When you see the horse needs to stop do it at a point where the horse has given even a small amount and reward the effort.

Once you have the horse giving the flexion easily and consistently don`t keep doing it just because you can.  It will bore the horse and can even make them resent the act. The refresh part comes at any time you are with the horse. Just ask for the flexion on each side.  If it is given readily go on to something else.  Normally this begins with the horse in a halter and lead. 

Refinement may come with the introduction of a bridle and bit if you choose that.  Whatever you choose you begin to ask for quicker and softer response.  Ultimately the horse will give lateral flexion at liberty with complete softness.

I have found that this process is effective and maintains the horses spirit, dignity and interest.  In my early stages of being with horses the over use of repetition resulted in boredom, bad attitude and resistance.  Knowing when to stop is critical.  You can follow this pattern with any response you ask your horse to give.  The better you get with it the softer and more willing your partner will be.


Bob had been asked three times to put his back feet on the pedestal.  If you look at him you will see he is bracing, his ears are down and back and he is swishing his tail.  It is time to stop, but only after he makes even a slight effort.  In this case when he let the rope go slack we moved on to somehting different.  Fifteen minutes later he went back and put his feet on with no resistance.

Opinions and Open Minds

In the horse world there is no shortage of opinions.  This is normal. People have opinions on just about every topic.  There seems, however, to be a fairly strong tendency to have nearly fixed opinions which virtually discourage discussion of the opinions of others in the field of natural horsemanship.

I have noticed that almost all natural horsemanship clinicians state very clearly that their methods are one way to work with horses and are not the only methods.  They also state that there is no RIGHT or WRONG  method, there are only DIFFERENT methods.  There is so much to be gained  from this view of horsemanship and any other topic for the matter.  It seems there is an advantage to having an open mind, a respect for the opinions of others and a willingness to explore the differences.

This applies to a whole range of issues related to horses including training equipment, tack, tools, riding disciplines, hoof care, etc.  I try to take advantage of all of the information that is available and choose to use the things that may help me and my horse.  For me it is important to keep an open mind to all ideas.  I do not reject an idea just because it is different from mine and what I am doing now.

Everyone has a right to their opinion but they also have a responsibility to respect the opinions of others.