.Respect. These seven letters are essential to a happy, healthy and enjoyable
relationship with your horse. Whether your vision with your horse is of precise
dressage circles, long ambling trail rides or eventing, if you don't have
respect on the ground you won't have it in the saddle. Gaining your horse's
respect is a simple and essential part of horse ownership that helps you build a
strong relationship with him, and it starts with understanding why your horse is
the way he is.
Understanding Your Horse's Needs
Horses belong in a
herd; speaking evolutionarily, horses are prey animals that reap the benefits of
numbers. In a running herd, predators have trouble concentrating on and
decreasing an individual animal in a combined band of 20. An essential section
of this herd is its hierarchy. In the event that you spend a complete day
watching your horse in the pasture with other horses you will notice constant
movement; initially this movement might seem random and aimless, but if you look
closely you will see that all movement begins with one horse that sets off a
chain reaction among the others. Horses will move and shift constantly, from
patch of grass to piles of hay to watering trough, moved around by the boss of
the pasture; while your horse may favor one section of grass or area of the
pasture, the boss can move him off at will, pinning her ears and lowering her
head, perhaps with a snaky, swaying movement or teeth bared, moving towards what
she wants with very pointed energy. If your horse does not move when presented
with these obvious physical signs, the boss will proceed with more physical
interventions, kicking or biting to have the reaction she actually is looking
for. If you can find horses low in the hierarchy compared to the horse that has
been moved off, that horse shall check out move another horse, and another then,
and so forth until they will have all moved to a new patch of grass or pile of
hay.
The hierarchy of the dominant horse is fairly stable but can change;
even something as simple as putting on a fly mask or a turnout blanket can shake
up the herd and result in squeals, kicks and challenges until things settle down
again with a (sometimes) new boss. As uncomfortable as it can look from the
exterior, horses feel safer if they understand who's in control and where they
fall in the ranks of the herd. A lead horse not merely says who eats what, when
and where but additionally keeps an optical eye out for predators and monitors
new foals; this horse also controls the speed and direction of movement when the
herd must run from a predator.
A Herd of Two
A horse's need to
feel safe as part of a herd's hierarchy does not diminish when it is just you
and your horse, and there is only one safe way for you two to form your own
herd: you must be the boss. If you do not assert yourself, you will become the
owner of a horse who is (or becomes over time) pushy during feeding time,
eventually you will have a dangerous horse that cannot be trusted on the ground
and certainly should not be trusted under saddle. Your horse needs direction and
guidance, and if he does not get it from you he will assume he could be the one
in control and act accordingly.
The place to start
If your goal would
be to create a relationship together with your horse that may last their
lifetime, the initial step is building respect, we shall assume your horse's
most elementary needs are increasingly being met in order that he is receptive
to this type of basic training. and even if you have adopted or purchased a
horse that is weak from hunger or illness, you can address some basic respect
issues without harming your horse still. In case you are unsure,
For
several exercises that follow, which is what you would like: a thoughtful horse.
If that is your first-time doing groundwork, understand that you are training
yourself, as you work with your horse, your body language and cues will become
clearer and better to understand, and your horse will relax and follow your
lead.
Basic Exercises
The purpose of these first exercises is to
show the horse that you control their feet (direction). Going back to the
exemplory case of the boss horse moving the herd from their food, understand
that the boss could obtain the other horses moving with eye body and contact
language. So that is where we'll start. You want to to obtain maximum response
from minimum pressure, so start small and boost your motions until you get a
result, then back off instantly.
Many professional trainers recommend
using a rope halter with two knots over the nose, and a ten-foot lead rope. The
reason for the rope halters as opposed to a basic web halter is that a stubborn
horse can lean against a web halter, effectively resisting your cues and
rendering it impossible that you can feel their slightest try nearly. In a
shoving match, your horse will win, which is not the target to begin with. You
want to to obtain maximum response from minimum pressure (a "light" horse), and
a rope halter allows you to give smaller cues first and have the response
quicker when compared to a nylon halter. Usually do not wait to start out until
you have a rope halter; groundwork for respect should begin the second the first
hoof hits the property! You can always get a different halter
later.
