These emerging approaches—also sometimes called “emotional horsemanship”—seek to prioritize horses’ emotional worlds in our relationships with them and make space for plenty of equine agency. And the people who engage in and share them range from dressage trainers and saddle fitters to equine-assisted learning facilitators and bodyworkers.

If that sounds broad, it’s because it is. Through the lens of what I will refer to as trauma-informed horsemanship, horses and humans process emotions similarly, and this includes manifestations of stress in the body.

In turn, all of this emotional and physical baggage affects health and behaviors of both horses and humans in our relationships. By opening new channels of communication and seeking to truly listen to ourselves and our horses, these approaches have the potential to give equestrians new insights into why their horse might be uncomfortable or acting out.

The Feedback Circle

Colorado-based dressage trainer Nahshon Cook describes the human-horse emotional relationship as a feedback circle or an energy loop.

People often carry unresolved emotions as tension or even injury in their own bodies. This, in turn, affects how they move on the ground or in the saddle. Perhaps your hips are tight and your horse is unable to move his back freely. Over time, this can lead to both emotional stress and mechanical injury for the horse.

A horse “acting out” in response may trigger fear and more tension in the rider.

“Horses balance their behaviors—often unwanted behaviors—on stuck emotions in our bodies,” says Cook. “They are protecting themselves from trauma in the life of that person.”

Similarly, equines often carry their own history of emotional and physical trauma. And because horses are flight animals, they tend to internalize any resulting distress, regardless of the source.

Distress Due to Trauma

Claire Aitken, a South Carolina-based saddle fitter and equine massage therapist, sees this every day in her work, and must adjust accordingly for truly beneficial results.

“From a therapeutic perspective [before working on a horse], it’s important to take all of their history into account because these traumas that so many of them have, they hold in their body,” says Aitken.

This stoicism, combined with horses’ general tendency toward generosity with and forgiveness of the humans in their lives, makes it easy to miss early signs of discomfort. When we fail (even unintentionally) to respect their subtle attempts to communicate distress, such as opting out of work, for example, you may be driving your equine partner to escalate to behavioral issues that will be heard.

To interrupt this cycle and rebuild it as one with space for recovery, we must learn to listen better to what the horse wants and needs.

Acting with Aggression

When Kim Hallin, the founder of equine facilitated learning company Unbridled, LLC brought her horse Tempo into the world, it was with the intention of having a sport partner.

But the spunky filly was about to challenge everything she thought she knew. From birth, Tempo was not interested in passively following someone else’s path for her. And after a major injury early in life, the stress of recovery led her to develop severe aggression toward humans.

“Horses are flight animals, and [Tempo’s] flight was taken away,” says Hallin.

She explains that Tempo’s injury required frequent, often invasive, treatments and drastic reductions in her physical freedom. It didn’t take long for the young mare to connect humans with a loss of autonomy.

And although Hallin was trying to help Tempo heal, “[I was] the one opening that stall door every day but [not] letting her out. She came to associate humans with a loss of control over her body.”

Even after Tempo regained access to turnout with the herd, she retained her aggression toward humans, charging the fence whenever someone approached. And despite Hallin’s natural horsemanship skills, the situation did not improve. They made progress during training sessions, but interactions outside of those controlled environments triggered her aggression.

“[Training] wasn’t healing our relationship,” says Hallin.

When Hallin recognized Tempo’s behavior as resulting from trauma rooted in unmet emotional and instinctual needs, she was able to ask the horse what she needed and take steps to give her more choices. That is when she started to see real change.

From Shutting Down to Autonomy

Indeed, the fundamental take-home lesson for all of us, regardless of discipline, is probably the importance of autonomy, or providing the opportunity for our equines to consent.

Cook has earned a reputation as someone who works wonders with a horse whose body has shut down—a horse that may not have many options left. The first time he met the 21-year-old horse we’ll refer to as Zeus, the horse reared and struck at him as soon as he stepped into the arena.

When the horse stopped fighting and stood still for a moment, Cook was struck by his physical condition. Zeus’ medical history includes polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM) and completely degenerated suspensory ligaments, among other problems. His pasterns were parallel to the ground, and he was unable to flex to the left due to a large knot at the base of his neck.

Despite this, Zeus had likely spent a long time stoically performing dressage movements for his human before his will and his body finally sent up a vehement protest.

“That was his expectation of what a trainer in the arena was,” says Cook. “He had to protect himself. He did not feel safe in his lessons, so he’d started to turn his body off.” That was what had led his humans to Cook.

It took a year before Zeus was ready for a lesson. But when he eventually opted in, he easily executed a Spanish walk, and happily offered piaffe, both movements that unlocked tension in his back.

“In that moment, he guided me to movement that felt good in his compromised body,” says Cook.

Trauma-Informed Horsemanship Requires Listening for Consent

Trauma-informed horsemanship teaches us that consent is essential, even if we aren’t asking horses for such active engagement or performance.

Hallin sees a need for better consent practices in the world of equine therapy. It is too easy for a horse to shut down in those settings, and that will have negative consequences for horse and human alike.

“Are we re-traumatizing people when we’re having them participate in or observe nonconsensual therapy sessions with the horses?” she ponders.

Aitken is also careful to begin every therapeutic or saddle-fitting assessment by focusing on connection.

“Oftentimes, if there’s a horse that hasn’t been listened to in a while, just being there and listening to what he’s saying is a huge deal,” she says.

The variety of techniques available to modern bodyworkers allows Aitken to adapt to the horse’s wants and needs, whether that is simply synchronized breathing or energy work or physical manipulation of some sort.

Key Takeaway: Finding a Path Forward

As essential as consent is, it’s often just the beginning.

Trauma-informed horsemanship doesn’t stop with just horse or human. Professionals like Cook, Aitken, and Hallin have embraced the approach more as a philosophy than a methodology, using it to shape a holistic lens that considers the whole emotion-body cycle and makes space for healing in horses and their people.

“You don’t have to do anything but honor what [the horses] tell you,” says Cook.

But first, we have to get better at listening.

This article about trauma-informed horsemanship appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post What is Trauma-Informed Horsemanship? appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Dictated by Experience

Personality is a hard-wired part of your horse’s psyche. It’s a composite of genetic traits and inherent characteristics, along with that special something that makes every horse unique.

The problem with personality-typing a horse based on his actions (or inactions) is that behavior is contingent on experience. That means you’re observing how your horse responds to life versus who he is on a fundamental level.

For instance, let’s say your horse behaves aggressively around other horses. He’s labeled as having a dominant/aggressive personality. We need to look deeper to discover the true motivation behind the aggressive behavior, such as having poor social skills, feeling overwhelmed in large groups, or being bullied earlier in life.

People-pleasing, submissiveness, stubbornness, and excitability are other ways we may describe equine personalities, when in fact they are actually adaptive coping skills. While they are natural responses to stress, especially long-term distress, they are not a healthy state of being.

Appeasement behavior is often misinterpreted as people-pleasing because the horse avoids unpleasant consequences by trying really hard to do what is expected of him. Submissiveness isn’t a personality type, but horses can learn to behave submissively.

When a horse doesn’t stand up for himself, it can be simply because he lacks the motivation to do so. Imagine a horse with a carrot letting another horse take it because avoiding conflict is more appealing to him than the carrot. Another form of submissive behavior occurs when taking a stand leads to a disagreeable conclusion.

Just as often misunderstood, a horse classified as a “stubborn” personality may be reluctant to comply because of emotional distress and/or physical pain. Hoof pain, poor saddle fit, and confusing cues are enough to make any horse want to shut down and refuse to move.

You need to look beyond personality to identify the forces at work that are truly responsible for your horse’s actions. You also need to accept that you will never know with any certainty why your horse behaves the way he does. You would need to be able to read your horse’s mind to know that—a skill most of us don’t possess.

Keep a lid on speculation, too. The odds are you’ll be wrong, and acting on false assumptions can lead to detrimental consequences for you and your horse.

Questions to Ask to Determine Causes of Behavior

The closest you can get to understanding the source of your horse’s behavior is by doing your best to answer these three questions. (Results are subject to interpretation and fall under the category of somewhat educated guess.)

1. What purpose does the behavior serve?

Purpose is at the heart of everything your horse does. The question is, how does avoiding the trailer, refusing to stand at the mounting block, pawing the ground at feeding time, or kicking at the farrier get your horse what he wants or needs?

2. What is triggering the horse’s behavior?

Triggers, also known as antecedents, set behavior in motion. They are environmental (sights, sounds), internal or external physical sensations (back pain, hoof imbalance, girth sores), or connections your horse has made with previous experiences (associations).

Emotions also function as triggers, primary motivators, and responses to environmental and/or physical stimuli. An emotional trigger might be excitement about approaching food that results in pawing.

Emotionally charged memories are powerful, too. For instance, your horse can recall pain from a previous experience as he’s being asked to approach the mounting block. The closer he gets, the more anxious he feels.

His self-preservation instincts take over, and he stops in his tracks—a sensible behavioral response (and not at all personality driven) to the situation.

3. What is the consequence of the horse’s behavior?

Consequence is how your horse feels about the outcome of a behavior. Discover that, and you have a predictive tool for how he may behave in the future, especially under similar circumstances.

For instance, if the consequence of pawing is that your horse gets his bucket, he’s more likely to paw again at the next mealtime. On the other hand, if asking him to lift his left foot has an unpleasant outcome, causing pain in his right foot, it would be no surprise if future requests were met with a no.

When you understand your horse’s motivations, you are better equipped to help him feel safe, joyful and let his true personality shine through.

This article about horse behavior appeared in the March 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post What is the Cause of Your Horse’s Behavior? appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

You’ve heard horse owners evaluate rides and their horse’s behavior as they hop off, maybe something like: “He was such a goof today.”

This judgment may be a saccharine version of what was actually said when a horse is blamed for a “bad” ride. But horses don’t hold grudges or plan to ruin the day. They live in the moment and only act out what they feel.

Here, we talk to dressage trainer Cody Harrison to find out how you can move from blaming your horse for acting out to becoming a behavior investigator. Harrison is based in Brighton, Colo., and teaches riders to work as partners with their horses at his clinics and lessons.

He says horses may act out and have poor behavior if they aren’t comfortable in the current environment, if they don’t understand what’s being asked, or if they aren’t physically capable.

Good Vibes Only

“Ask yourself what your horse needs from you and what he is trying to teach you,” Harrison says. “Try to see it all as a learning experience rather than good and bad rides. Every time you interact with your horse, you are either training him or un-training him.”

It’s impossible to blame the horse and wonder why something happened at the same time. After acknowledging that horses aren’t out for revenge, your perspective shifts from blame to curiosity. Harrison encourages riders to be responsible for emotions or negativity they may bring to rides and to arrive at the barn with a relaxed mindset.

“You have to understand why your horse is doing things and how he thinks,” Harrison says. “The horse does not do things to intentionally irritate you. Everything a horse does is in response to a stimulus or a response to his own thoughts, but it’s not to spite you. If the horse isn’t comfortable in his environment, doesn’t understand, or isn’t physically capable of the move he’s being asked [to perform], he can’t be successful.”

Environmental Concerns Affect Horses’ Behavior

Harrison says many riders are quick to blame their horses for having poor behavior in new environments. With many new things bombarding their senses, horses are on guard.

“If a horse is scared of a new sound at an expo or large show, remember that it’s overstimulating,” Harrison says. “He can learn to act differently. One of the biggest ways to get his trust in those situations is to not get after him. Think, ‘Let me walk you through this and help you through this.’”

Your horse will feel your intent to guide rather than correct. As you’re working in new environments, Harrison advises looking for places where your horse is comfortable and staying there until it feels safe to move on.

“If you’re in a new arena, find where the horse is most comfortable—probably near the gate—and work there instead of going down to the other side right away. Work where the horse feels safe for a while, then push the boundaries until you can ride in more and more of the arena while your horse stays calm and relaxed. By not pushing the horse, you build his comfort and trust in you. If you push the boundaries, it can create a lack of trust. Forcing a horse into a situation—even if you get something accomplished—will mean you’ll have an argument each time.”

Does this softer approach work all the time? Harrison says he has a 95 percent rule: Looking for where your horse will be calm and talking him through will work 95 percent of the time.

“Ninety-five percent of the time, we want to be very light and encourage the horse,” he says. “But if you need to protect yourself, or say a small child runs in front of your horse, you may have to use more pressure. Still, be aware of how much pressure the horse can take in any situation. There are certain horses that will never take extreme pressure, just like there are certain people that can’t take that.”

Beyond Understanding

If the horse doesn’t understand what he’s being asked to do, the rider will often think he is being naughty. Harrison says horses will be resistant when they don’t understand.

“The horse starts guessing but gets in trouble because he isn’t getting the right answer,” he says. “So you end up applying more pressure instead of simplifying the exercise. It’s very important to make sure that any exercise you do is a spin-off of an exercise your horse already knows well. When exercises connect to each other, that helps the horse. If your horse knows leg-yields well, then move on to shoulder-in. Those moves are related. But even before leg-yields, make sure your horse can bend through his whole body and step underneath himself. All skills should build to help the horse understand.”

It’s Not Horse Behavior, It’s a Physical Block

Make sure not to ask the horse for more than he can physically do. If you do, he’ll resist. It’s not the horse’s fault if he physically can’t do what is asked.

“When people come into a clinic and I see that the horse is really lean or is a hard keeper, that’s a good clue that the horse may not be physically capable,” says Harrison. “If someone says they want to work on collection but the horse doesn’t have a developed topline, they’re not going to get there without lots of work first.”

Harrison recommends riders work at the trot to improve conditioning issues. The even movement gets horses moving well.

Consider the strength and fitness of older horses. Harrison says he often sees horses who once could do complex moves get asked to repeat what they aren’t in shape to do. If horses know the cues but can’t physically perform, they’ll get sore, and some riders end up blaming the horse.

Rider Responsibility

Harrison says you must consider what emotions and attitude you bring to each ride.

“It’s very important that you understand what your energy level and your day was like before you get on,” he says. “If you had a bad day at work, you’re still at work and not present with your horse. If you’re irritated, then nothing is going to be good enough. Anytime you don’t have control of your emotions, it’s going to affect your horse. As you’re driving to the barn, breathe and meditate a little. Bring yourself back to neutral.”

How can you train yourself to figure out what’s going on with a horse instead of blaming?

“I was taught in ways to make the horse do something,” says Harrison. “It never felt good after I accomplished it. It felt like domination instead of refined. It made me want to do things differently and to look for different ways.”

Harrison says he makes sure to build comfort into his lessons.

“There are moments we stop and figure out what’s going on,” he says. “All my students know that when I tell you to do a circle at E, it doesn’t have to be exactly at E, but somewhere near E. I want riders to do the circle when their horse is balanced and ready. The horse keeps trusting you. When trust develops, then you can be more specific about getting the circle precisely at E in the correct gait.”

Changing how you word your thoughts and frame your training sessions can change the presence you have with your horse—and your relationship with him. Notice if he is comfortable in his environment, if you’re giving clear cues, and if he’s physically able to do what you ask. If those three elements align, you won’t have to blame your horse.

Dealing with Failure

Failure is often inevitable, but what matters is how we deal with failure. In this video from Ridely, expert Mind Coach Annette Paterakis explains how you can deal with failure by redefining it to help you get better.

Annette explains that, where we put our focus is where we are going to go, so focusing on failure by redefining it as a learning opportunity will help us improve in the long run.

Register for Ridely PRO to access 450+ other useful training videos.

This article about factors that affect horse behavior and bad rides appeared in the September 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post What’s Really Causing Bad Rides? appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

We all have our own ways of dealing with stress, setbacks, relationship woes, demanding workloads and all of the effects these discomforts bring to our minds and bodies. There are countless ways humans will try to distract themselves, resulting in bad habits.

Horses are no different. They can overly anticipate the busyness of barns or feel neglected or rushed in day-to-day routines. Their relationships with their neighbors and pasturemates can either make or break their social life. Training stress can cause a horse to struggle both mentally and physically and can sour his view of his job.

Without the ability to control their own feeding schedules or their environment, many horses can become sullen and aggressive as they develop behaviors from a past, ongoing or unchecked health issue.

Stable Vices

A vice is a practice, behavior, or habit generally considered bad or unhealthy.
Sue McDonnell, Ph.D., is a certified applied animal behaviorist and the founding head of the equine behavior program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine. She shares that a horse who is exhibiting an undesirable behavior or stable vice that irritates and upsets his owner is not necessarily behaving badly.

“The veterinary scientific community has been trying to correct the misconception that horses intentionally choose to do these behaviors that are undesirable to people,” McDonnell says. “What owners are witnessing in their horse’s unwanted behaviors are coping mechanisms. The same goes for a human baby that is crying: We don’t think of the baby as evil or bad; [crying] just happens to be the only way a baby has to communicate or to cope with discomfort. Because we can’t always put a finger on why a baby is crying, a trial-and-error type of problem solving may have to take place.”

Owners have the same unfortunate issue; however, their baby is a 1,000-pound animal.

Messing with Nature

“We have taken the horse out of the wild, but we cannot take the wild out of the horse,” says Peter Morresey, BVSc, MVM, MACVSc, Dipl. ACT, Dipl. ACVIM, CVA, a shareholder at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky.

“Prior to domestication, the horse was a part of a free-ranging herd, grazing unconditionally, free to migrate to wherever resources and conditions were more favorable,” he continues. “Horses have been largely deprived of freedom of movement, herd social structure and transitioned to interval feeding. The nature of that feed has also radically changed: grass has been replaced by hay, concentrates with caloric and protein content are far above that was previously ingested [have been added], and roughage levels seemingly have been reduced.”

With all those major and minor variations and adjustments to the instinctive and inherent lives of horses, it’s no wonder they can sometimes have trouble adapting to the human-controlled versions of day-to-day functioning.

Behavioral History

Morresey’s first step into a horse’s medical evaluation is a detailed history, and he suggests documenting the timing of onset—the start of the behavior—its frequency, its manifestation, and any other events that affect how the horse displays the action.

“Things to consider are any changes in management, social structure, work level and in feeding,” he says. “Then you can progress to a thorough examination to see if there is a physical cause for the new or changed behavior. This can be extensive and take considerable time to document, but it’s well worth the effort when communicating with your veterinarian, equine behaviorist and nutritionist. The adequacy of stabling, feeding, turn out, tack and all materials that contact the horse directly or indirectly need to be assessed. A lameness, neurological oral, and ocular [eye] evaluation and an assessment for any muscular pain are essential to perform in order to gain as much information as possible.”

Both McDonnell and Morresey suggest that owners put their horse under 24-hour video surveillance to help determine a routine or cause of the behavior.

“The horse may display the behavior continuously, or only in the presence of the owner when an activity is anticipated,” McDonnell explains. She says that the video will also show how the horse budgets his time and the true progression of the behavior when humans aren’t in sight. Often behaviors seem to worsen or heighten when an owner or people are present.

Also read- Reduce Stable Stress

Orally Frustrated Behaviors

Cribbing is a repetitive behavior and apparent stable vice where the horse places his upper incisors against a horizontal hard surface while arching his neck and pulling backwards with his body while making a grunt inhaling sound. Windsucking is similar to cribbing but is done without the horse grasping onto an object with his teeth.

“Gastrointestinal issues that go untreated, like ulcers, can cause discomfort behaviors in horses, such as biting at objects, nuzzling at their ribcage or stomach area, and even cribbing,” says McDonnell.

“Obtaining a diagnosis by gastroscopy [an examination of the lining of the stomach using a flexible video endoscope] is highly recommended,” says Morresey.

Locomotive Behaviors

Pacing, circling, pawing, weaving and wall-kicking are usually observed in a stall, but sometimes can occur at the pasture fence, according to McDonnell.

“Weaving is a rhythmic side-to-side movement that can mimic an abbreviated form of perimeter pacing,” she says. “An even more abbreviated form is head-bobbing side to side. These actions can be a reaction to anxiety associated with confinement, separation and anticipation. They can be short-lived, ending once the situation subsides or is resolved.”

Pawing can start as a discomfort reaction when a horse wants to influence his environment but can’t due to confinement, being tied or isolated. It can also be caused by superficial irritation caused by ectoparasites: Lice living on legs, hair and especially in fetlock feathers can cause severe itching that will make a horse stomp, paw and rub.

“With time, these can become stereotypical and habitual behaviors that prove to be very difficult to treat due to the release of endorphins that take place when these actions are being done,” says McDonnell. “These behaviors generally aren’t damaging over short periods of time, but horses that are consistently performing these locomotive behaviors can have abnormal hoof wear, stress on their joints, uneven muscle development, performance problems and weight loss.”

Usually management improvements, such as offering the stalled horse frequent small meals of hay, ensuring turnout time and exercise, adding visual and social stimuli, regular parasite control and even having a friendly companion nearby, locomotive behaviors are reduced.

What Can You Do?

Morresey says that these behaviors require a multi-pronged approach due to the complexity of the condition and the non-controllable factors that encourage the behavior.

“Environment and social change need to be discussed with a veterinarian, and in many cases an equine behaviorist,” says Morresey. “Horses that have weaving tendencies can become addicted to the release of endorphins, just like any opiate.”

Possible treatments include calming agents, both medical and natural.

“Medications range from short and long-acting calmatives (e.g. reserpine, fluphenazine), progestins (e.g. altrenogest), and plant-based pharmaceuticals,” Morresey says. “Milk-derived proteins (caseins) have recently been introduced to the market. All have the ability to alter behavior in unfavorable ways and shouldn’t be dosed or given without veterinarian direction and consent.”

Whatever your horse’s unwanted behaviors may be, he’s just looking to calm the uncertainty of the unknown, ease his worries, and stop the discomforts that evolve and appear in life. Being a proactive, educated, and patient owner may not take the frustration away or fully prevent the behaviors, but it will help build a trusting bond with empathy and love for your horse, regardless of how he chooses to deal with challenges.

By ensuring he’s mentally and physically stimulated and providing positive reinforcement training and riding, pasture time, quality forage and consistent veterinary care, you can provide a pivotal role in helping your horse cope.

The post Stable Vices vs. Coping Mechanisms appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

“That is not OK, and you know it!” you say with more than a tinge of annoyance.

Does your horse do this or any of the following things that annoy you or put you in danger?

• Walking off while you’re mounting.
• Pulling the reins out of your hands when you stop.
• Rushing ahead while you’re leading.
• Pinning his ears or striking the fence/stall at feeding time.
• Reaching back to nip at you while you’re saddling.

If these things happen to you, you’re not alone.

Training All the Time

Are these examples of your horse being disrespectful, and willfully doing things he knows you don’t like? With some horses, maybe.

But here’s another way to look at it. What if you reframed these events this way: your horse is doing exactly what you’ve asked for—even though you didn’t know you asked for these results.

You may not realize it, but “training” takes place every moment you’re with your horse, not just when you’re in the saddle. You are training your horse each time you lead, feed, groom, load, or stand at the mounting block. You just might not be aware of what you’re teaching him.

Answering the Question

Whenever your horse asks a question—may I graze on the trail?—and you don’t respond, you have said “yes.” Unintentional training has begun.

Of course, the challenge is hearing your horse’s question in the split second he asks so you can redirect the outcome before the action has started.

Horses are creatures of subtlety. The flick of an ear, the change of an eye, the position of the head—all of these subtle changes mean something.

Horses are creatures of subtlety. The flick of an ear, the change of an eye, the position of the head—all of these subtle changes mean something.

Before your horse dives for the grass, he may have put his nose down just a bit, or changed his focus to the side of the trail. When you can catch the question right at that moment and answer it, you have a good chance of giving him the answer you prefer. This changes the result and builds a consistent habit: “No grazing on the trail, please.”

Consistency

Horses, like children, crave consistency.

We’ve all sympathized with the tired parent with the hungry or tired toddler who wants a certain sugary cereal at the grocery store. The parent says no. The child asks again. The parent says no. The child asks again, with increasing creativity. The parent says no. The child asks again, with amazing energy.

In that moment, it seems easier to give in and avoid a complete meltdown in the cereal aisle. But the next time, the child has learned that the outcome might change for the better if they just keep at it.

Horses are much the same way. When the answer to eating grass on the trail is always no, they’ll generally go along with that expectation and keep walking. (Of course, some days the grass is just too yummy and they still ask if they can have a snack.)

Inconsistency is confusing to your horse. One day, you’ll say it’s OK to snatch grass because you’re preoccupied with other thoughts and didn’t catch your horse’s question. The next day, you get angry when he snatches the grass. However, he’s just doing what you told him was acceptable the day before.

Training Ourselves

The good news about unintentional training is that it’s really more about training yourself than your horse.

It’s about paying attention when you’re with your horse—looking for the questions and answering them quickly and consistently.

This may be a new concept for many riders. To take the first steps, just start with curiosity. At the beginning, start noticing things.

If your horse has a particular misbehavior you’d like to change, what happens before that behavior? Does the softness of his eye change? Does he raise or lower his head? Flick an ear? Hold his mouth tightly? Flare his nostrils?

The goal is to catch the signs of a question before the idea turns into action.

Rule out Pain

If an action causes pain, your horse will do what he can to avoid or minimize the pain.

Some common qualities of misbehavior in your horse that can be pain-related include not standing still for mounting; bucking or rearing; raising his head during bridling; pinning his ears during saddling; or not standing well for the farrier.

If your horse has any of these behaviors, explore if he has pain in his back, mouth, feet, or joints as a possible contributor.

Changing the Rules

When you’re consistent every time you do a certain thing, your horse comes to quickly understand this is what you’re looking for. These are the rules, and horses are generally just fine with following them. However, the rules you’ve set may not be the rules you wanted or intended.

If your horse does a certain thing that you prefer he didn’t, especially for safety reasons, it’s time to change the rules.

Once you make the decision to change, your response and expectation needs to be the same—every day, in every location. And no matter what else is going on.

You need to carefully decide what changes to make, and choose those you can enforce consistently. Once you make the decision to change, your response and expectation needs to be the same—every day, in every location. And no matter what else is going on.

What to Expect

When you look at behaviors as actions you’ve inadvertently trained your horse to do, instead of thinking your horse is willfully misbehaving, it helps you make corrections without anger or frustration.

Still, when you first change the rules, your horse may raise his eyebrows, figuratively speaking. A cartoon question mark might float above his head.

“What?” he asks. “I’m just doing what we’ve always done. I ask if I can graze on the trail, and you always say yes! What’s going on? Why is today different?”

Your horse may act confused or even seem angry and he may try the old misbehavior again and again. After all, he’s just trying to do what he knows has been right and what you’ve said was OK in the past.

Once again, you present the new expectation: “We don’t graze on the trail, thank you.”

It may take a few tries, along with being super vigilant in noticing the question and responding before the action takes place. For example, if you respond after his head has started diving for the grass, it’s too late.

Intentional Training Begins

With awareness, you can shift inadvertent training into intentional training. With consistency, this can become your new way of being and can stop horse misbehavior.

Like any habit, once it’s installed, it will take less effort to maintain. Instead of putting a lot of energy into correcting unwanted behaviors, you can use that energy to practice new abilities and create a deeper partnership with your horse along the way.

This article originally appeared in the June 2019 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post How Riders Create Misbehavior in Their Horses appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.