…and you won’t need a big stick.

What’s your communication style? Have you ever thought about it? Consider your friends and family: are you a chatterbox, firing off the commentary at machine gun pace? Or are you an observer, speaking only when you have a point to make? I’d bet money that the way you communicate with the people in your life mirrors the way you communicate with your horse (or dog, for that matter). The manner in which you communicate to your horse has a profound impact on the nature of your relationship. There are four common styles of communication: Assertive, Aggressive, Passive, and Passive-Aggressive. Let’s look at these styles in a bit more detail:

• Aggressive riders want what they want when they want it.  The communication between horse and rider tends to be more of a demanding nature, akin to shouting all the time.  The downside to this style is that it leaves no room for conversation.  A successful rider must be able to hear what the horse is “telling” her and adjust accordingly.
• Passive riders are just the opposite:  they don’t want to force the horse to do anything he doesn’t want to do, so they won’t rock the boat.  It’s great to be gentle and kind to the horse, but after awhile you find yourself nagging because they quickly learn they can do what they want. 
• Passive-aggressive riders are a combination of the two.  These are the riders that don’t communicate directly what they want , and when they don’t get it  they try to manipulate their horse into giving it to them.  One such example would be  a rider who is struggling with a horse  to soften and travel on a loose rein, but the horse resists.  The rider then ties the horse in a stall on a short rope (‘hanging it’) to teach it a lesson.  Once the horse is exhausted from having its head elevated for hours, it will travel slowly and with a low head carriage – but NOT because the rider communicated properly to the horse. 
• The best style of communication for riders is the assertive style.  These riders will communicate clearly, softly, and efficiently.  They don’t nag, or ask repeatedly for a maneuver.  They carefully consider their cues and respond to what their horse tells them.  They understand the “reward-correction” model and utilize it.  This is critical to successful riding.  The best reward for a horse is a release of pressure.  For example, if you want your horse to move forward you might squeeze your legs.  Once the horse moves, you release your leg pressure.  This is a reward.  The best correction for a horse is to make the incorrect choice much harder than the correct choice.  For example,  if I want my horse to lope softly around the arena on a loose rein and he drags his hip and falls out of frame - I will gather my reins, increase my speed, and counter canter him, really driving that hip under his body.  Chances are, when I ask him to lope softly after that, he’ll be more receptive. 

If you practice riding assertively, you’ll soon find that your horse will begin to read your more subtle cues.  Your horse will respect you and be more comfortable when you ride him, because he knows exactly what you want from him.  Many times when a horse is nervous under saddle, it’s because that horse is a “tryer” and he just doesn’t get what you are asking him to do.  Be clear, concise, and forgiving and you are on your way to developing a relaxed, comfortable partnership with your horse.

As many of you know, Tiny’s riding schedule over the past few months has been a bit erratic.  Between her foot abcess, my move, and the mostly rainy afternoons our riding sessions have been inconsistent at best.  I’m OK with giving her some down time under saddle, especially when we don’t have upcoming events and I’m not training consistently.  For the past couple of months, we’ve just been exercising – long trotting and some circles but no serious schooling.  Now that things have finally settled down a bit and I have been riding more regularly, I have decided to step it up and resume our schooling drills again.  Yesterday was the first time I practiced drills with Tiny in a few months.  Given my recent posts regarding leg and seat aids, I decided to take this opportunity to discuss my ride and give an example of real world troubleshooting in the saddle. 

My basic riding drills typically consist of a warm up at the walk and trot and then I start throwing in some tests to see how much control I have over Tiny’s body and how responsive she is being to my cues.  Generally I will ask for flexion in the neck and softness in her mouth, I will ask her to bend left and right without dropping her shoulders, I will ask for turns on the haunches and the forehand in both directions.  I will practice her “whoa” off my seat and voice commands – something I always need to reinforce with her.  If she is responsive with these drills at the walk and trot, I will then move on to cantering spirals or circles of varying sizes and work on transitions and softness. 

Yesterday did not go quite like that.  As soon as I started asking for hip movement, I realized that she was “sticky” in her left hip.  When I’d ask her to move over, she would lay on my leg.  When I asked her to stop, she’d kick her left hip out.  Her shoulder control was excellent, she was staying soft in her mouth and back, and she was responsive in her right hip.  She was giving no indication of being sore anywhere and seemed happy to be working. 

My initial suspicion was that she was just a bit stiff on that side after not being pushed for so long.  I continued practicing my drills at the walk and jog, asking her to stop and turn on the forehand to try to loosen her up.  I added in some lateral work, asking her to track right then left at the walk and jog.  She was a dream to the right, but was not improving at all to the left.  In fact, she started getting irritated - stiffening in her mouth, increasing speed.  Tiny does this thing when she’s frustrated where she’ll insist that she’s got an intolerable itch on her ear and she’ll duck her head and just rub on her front leg forever.  I know this is her avoidance mechanism, so when she started doing this I had to re-analyze my session. 

I ran through my mental checklist:  not sore, not showing a similar response anywhere else.  She was certainly showing no improvement with repetition, and I would have expected her to loosen up if it was simply stiffness.  I considered myself as the possible reason for her stickiness.  I rode around a bit more, really concentrating on my seat and legs.  It didn’t take long to note that I was having a hard time sitting hard on my left seatbone.  My left leg didn’t want to remain in the proper position and kept sliding forward if I didn’t concentrate on keeping it back.  The final clue was when I stopped and asked for a turn on the haunches.  To the right it was smooth and fluid.  To the left?  She wouldn’t plant her hind foot and wouldn’t stay in the bridle.  Based on the evidence I decided that I was most likely the culprit for her lack of responsiveness.  I do have an ongoing problem with my spinal alignment and my hips tend to rotate a bit, creating subtle changes in my cues.  I haven’t visited the chiropractor in months and yesterday Tiny told me that it was time to pay him a visit!  After realizing the problem, I backed off the drills and let Tiny relax a bit before cooling off.  It was important to end the session on a good note, especially because Tiny was simply reacting to my body alignment and I didn’t want her being frustrated. 

I wanted to share this story to illustrate a couple of things.  First off, I can’t over-emphasize the importance of using your seat properly when riding.  Even a horse that is not particularly responsive to seat cues will be affected if you are sitting off balance or twisted.  One of the easiest ways to demonstrate this is by practicing turns on the haunches.  It is essentially impossible for a horse to plant the proper pivot foot if you are putting weight on the opposite hind.  The horse will generally switch pivot feet or back out of the turn, but will not spin smoothly.  Also, the horse may not track straight, may lock up in the hip or shoulder, or may not stay framed up.  If you are having problems with your horse and there is no apparent lameness, analyze your body language.  The problem just might be you!  The second thing I want to bring up is the importance of staying calm and remaining in “investigative mode.”  It would have been easy for me to get frustrated with Tiny for not paying attention, not responding, etc.  but if I had immediately gone into “correction mode” it would have escalated into a battle of wills.  The end result would have been the same, because she was SIMPLY RESPONDING TO ME.  If you want a partnership with your horse, be willing to hear what they tell you.  Horses don’t lie and they are mirrors.  If you let them, they will give you valuable information about what is working and what isn’t.  Good luck with your own troubleshooting.  I hope this gives you another perspective to consider.  It took me years (and a great trainer) to figure out that my twisted hips were a big part of the reason that my sensitive show horse refused to hold a hind pivot foot! 

And now I’m off to call the chiropractor…..

If your goal is to create a solid partnership with your horse, a good place to start is by determining your current level of communication.  You can do this by performing a simple self test – the results you get will clearly dictate the path you should take to reach your goal. 

Start with a relaxed horse.  Don’t do this on your first ride after a week-long break, or during a windstorm, or the day that they are replacing your roof.  Warm him up until he’s as limber and responsive as he normally is.  If your horse takes a while to settle in, put him on a longeline and let him play.  The goal is NOT to wear your horse down, the goal is to fairly assess his typical level of responsiveness and your communication skills.  If you need to longe for 45 minutes to gain responsiveness, you probably have some work to do. 

You should conduct the exercises in a quiet place where you can focus on your cues and your horse’s responses.  If you feel comfortable with someone watching, have them videotape your ride.  When you are ready to begin your assessment, gather your reins so you have light contact.  For the purposes of this exercise, you should have enough grip that you can make light contact with your horse’s mouth, but should not be pulling or holding him with your hands.  Remember that your hands are a GUIDE and are not the primary method of communication between you and your horse. 

*Start by walking in a 20 m circle in either direction.  How does your horse respond?  Is his body stiff or his shoulder poked out of your circle?  You want your horse to gently arc in the direction of travel, with his nose just slightly tipped in, his shoulders upright, and his hips tracking under him.  How is your body reacting?  Are you unconciously twisting to coerce him to bend?  Are you sitting harder on one seat bone than the other?  Pulling on one rein?  Take note of the cues that are being exchanged and don’t get frustrated.  You are simply gathering information at this point.  Repeat this at the walk, trot, and canter in each direction.  You will often see varying responses at different gaits or directions.  Again, take note.

*Next, practice halting from a walk.  How does your horse stop?  Do you have to pull back?  Does he hollow his back, lift his head, or shift to the side?  Does he slam on the brakes, dropping onto the forehand?  The goal is to stop soft and round, staying in the frame he was traveling in.  Repeat this exercise at the trot and canter and note your results. 

* Continue walking around the arena.  Practice signalling with your body, concentrating on not using your hands.  For example, squeeze your outside leg on him.  Does he get faster or move over?  Does he even acknowledge the pressure?  Alter the pressure points – squeeze your leg along different points on his side.  Do you get a different response as you move your leg?  Practice changing your seat, shifting your weight to one seat bone then the other.  Shift forward and back.  Are you feeling any response from your horse? 

After you have finished testing out your cues, devote some time to just walking around on a loose rein.  Let your horse absorb things – if you’re not used to riding with your seat and hands, chances are he might be a bit confused.  Use the time to carefully consider the cues your horse gave you.  Is he resistant on one side more than the other?  Does he consistently hollow his back when you cue him?  Is he sticky in his shoulders or hips?  Try to analyze all the information that you were given; when you design your riding program this information will come in handy.

It might be helpful to develop a log or journal of your riding sessions.  When you are practicing new techniques, it will help you clearly track your progress.  In addition, journaling will help you notice trends that can be important in your future training or showing endeavors.  For example, does your horse get stiff in his left shoulder when the weather is cool?  Does your mare get backsore when she comes into heat?  If you note trends and prepare for them, you can adjust your training program accordingly.

Hope you enjoy your ride and your first day of riding consciously!  Next up in the series, we’ll talk about what might be causing your horse’s responses and what might help shift you into a more successful partnership with him.

Are you ready to take a critical look at your partnership with your horse?  The first, and most important, step in becoming a better communicator is to be willing to take a long, hard look at what you do, how you do it, and how effective it is.  Every time you sit on your horse’s back, you hold the power to improve your communication.  Competitively riding horses requires a delicate balance between accepting the best you can do IN THIS MOMENT and striving to become better.  Communication takes a lot of work and a rider must always be evolving to try different methods and learn new things.  Don’t accept mediocrity – if you’re not getting the response you want, change it up!

Have you ever seen a performance that flowed so smoothly that you couldn’t even see the cues the rider gave?  Have you ever wondered if you could achieve that same level of responsiveness from your own horse?  FromTheHorsesBack is launching a new series of tips titled “Perfecting Partnerships.”  This series is devoted to training tips and exercises designed to improve the communication and partnership between you and your horse.  Everyone from trail riders to top level competitors can benefit from improving their relationship with their horse.  Stay tuned for upcoming tips on softening your horse, increasing responsiveness, achieving control of your horse’s body, and many more exciting topics.  To start things off, consider the following:

In my opinion, one of the most critical elements to a true partnership is…having a partnership.  If you are looking for the ultimate in communication, you have to log the hours in the saddle.  Just as in any relationship, it takes time and effort to establish trust and communication.  Every minute you spend in the saddle is impacting your relationship with your horse, either positively or negatively.  You must choose to create a positive, trusting bond with your horse before you can hope to achieve partnership with him.  Ground work is just as important as riding.  Get in the habit of seeing your horse when you are with him.  Know his personality, his likes and dislikes.  Respect him.  Don’t treat him as a machine meant only to haul you around the arena or up and down the trails.  A big part of the enjoyment of having horses is experiencing them – so don’t short yourself on that!  If you would like to learn about how to improve your partnership with your horse, check back soon for exercises and tips to start you on your path.

*These tips and exercises are based upon my own experiences.  I am not a horse trainer.  Please use your best judgement and consult a trainer if necessary.