Training Tips

QUESTION: I know you must get hundreds of questions, but here goes another one. I am 46 yrs old and I have a gentle, wonderful 7-year-old standardbred gelding. He is boarded with 20 other horses in 2 herds. I ride 3-4 times a week spring thru fall & if I am able in the winter 1-2x /wk. I just enjoy trail rides & do arena & ground work. My good friend has a Paso & we always ride together, sometimes a few more people, however late last summer, the Paso, who is far more trained than mine, started refusing to go down the drive. My friend is far more trained in horses than I. Her horse did everything but the dishes. Now this behavior of herd sour has transposed to my horse. Now it's resulting in much effort to get down the drive to trails. Her horse is much hotter than mine, & neither of us want to push to the point of one of us getting hurt. Her horse will pop up refuse, mine will put on the brakes as soon as he sees her horse refuse. Now, she has gotten off, worked, went back to the arena, worked etc., but each time it is a fight down the drive. I have tried every approach known to man, so has she. It has made a simple pleasure ride turn into an emotionally & physically draining day. Most people will tell us, you just have to ride them & make them go down the road. Well, it is hard when the horse is turning around refusing, jumping up on the banks. My horse does not pop up, but hers will. I have gotten off walked mine down the road, but he is 16 hands & to be honest this 46 yr old gal can only get so many dismounts in a day. We have gotten off, worked right there on the spot, but to no avail, get back on, go 50 feet & the refusals start again. They so badly want back in that herd. We had a great summer & its like the wheels just fell off. Any suggestions?

REPLY: Thanks for writing. Your horse, unfortunately, is learning refusal behavior from another he perceives higher pecking order from him and...he's perceiving this other horse the herd leader, not you. I myself would back them both up in training. They're missing some stuff in their foundation that I can see from here. Even your friend's so-called "well-trained" horse. :-) But let's just deal with your horse a sec here, because you're the one who wrote. I personally...would stop riding with that horse/owner for a while, because unless she gets a handle on her horse... well...dare I say it's like letting your teenager hang out with "the wrong kid." But then get busy fixing your own horse, which, in the end, is all you really are responsible for.

If I were called in to fix this problem myself & guide you there in person, I would want to back you up and teach you & your horse some basics he needs down in his foundation. And here's where I would suggest applying horse whispering/natural horsemanship training techniques in a very clear step-by-step program, which you can learn more about in my DVD set, the Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System, and you can order that here: CLICK HERE

After watching the videos, and after learning and applying the methods, you, as the horse's primary teacher, will have taught the horse:

This video set will help you to lay down an even stronger, more solid and trusting foundation under your horse that will then serve you well, tremendously, actually, when you do step up into the saddle. By the time you complete the steps, you will have a transformed horse. The final steps are in the saddle and those exercises will more deeply plant into your horse's foundation the one-rein stop/the "safety zone," and more, that will turn the horse into a far, far more rational, trusting, happier -- and safer -- horse in saddle as well.

And you can do this yourself if you just back up and learn a few things yourself there. This video set will get you there the fastest with your horse, which is why I'm recommending this route. It's designed for anyone on any level, horse or human, to get professional trainer-like results.

And incidentally...my Whispering Way Complete Training Package contains all my videos and training tools that you need to train or retrain your horse yourself the natural horsemanship Whispering Way. You can check out/order the Whispering Way Complete Training Package on my web site here: CLICK HERE

I'm a very strong believer that every horse owner is their horse's primary teacher/trainer whether they realize it or not. Every time you are with your horse, that horse is learning something. You just want to make sure the horse is learning what you want them to learn, not what you don't want them to learn! My natural horsemanship training techniques are gentle, effective, and powerful. Works with every horse every time!

But it's real important to back up and break down all teaching steps in a way that you are releasing baby-gives, allowing the horse to feel the release for the right answers incrementally, so that they learn that's really what you want.

Because as you work your horse in the step-by-step program you learn there, you're going to see the holes flushed out in his foundation that contributes to him not listening to you there and him not following you unconditionally as his "herd leader" no matter what other horses are doing around him. The retraining also deeply bonds your horse to you so that he's so happy to be with you he does whatever is asked by you. That is what you should do there in my opinion. And you can do this/fix this yourself if you just get the "tools" or education to do so now. Then...once you've got all this planted in his foundation -- in an arena first -- you've now got techniques to call upon when he goes on refusal when on ride-out mode outside the arena.

You will learn in the program an exercise that is highly focused and teaches the horse to do a one-rein stop and disengage his hind quarters, draws his head to you to the side in the "safety zone," and you will bond on him there to get him rational again, focused completely on you and only you, and then you have him come out of that maneuver in the direction you desire him to go. If he balks in the desired direction, you repeat.

However...this is all taught on the ground first, in the earlier steps, baby step by baby step. Don't just try this maneuver without planting all the previous foundational steps first. Then, from then on if/when he suddenly refuses to head out, I would do a few one-rein stop maneuvers, disengage the hind quarters (extra work, in his mind!) to focus his irrational thoughts and actions back into rational movement, and very quickly he would decide, "hey...going straight is way easier." Make the right thing easy, the wrong thing difficult. Horses always choose the "easier" choice when given two where one is harder for them IF they clearly understand the choices.

When you disengage a horse's hind quarters, you are essentially putting on the "emergency brakes." All forward impulsion in a horse comes from the hind quarters. The front legs, put simplistically, just keep up with the hind quarters. So.. when you bump the hind quarters over when a horse is balking, and bring the head to the side, the horse is forced to step under himself in the rear, and he can no longer go the direction he desires (which in this case is: back to the barn or herd). You do that enough when they're balking and...they quickly see that going forward the direction you wish is sure easier for them!

Another thing you can do when a horse is balking and backing away, not wanting to go forward in the direction you are asking is: quickly make backing your idea so that you remain leader there. And you don't just back him, you BACK HIM and back him and back him. (Get the idea?) Horses honestly don't like going backwards, believe it or not. It's far more work for them than going forward. Make sure he knows how to back when asked; if he doesn't know how, return to arena work and work on that a while (I teach all that in my video set as well). When you turn something like that around to make it your idea, you are essentially taking back the leadership and also making the right thing easy, the wrong thing hard. You're also "making lemonade out of lemons." Back him fast enough and uncomfortably enough and very quickly he'll decide on his own that, gee, going forward is sure easier, whew! And when he does go forward, release the reins instantly, letting slack in them, put no further pressure on him to show: right answer. All horses learn from the release of pressure what it is you want, not the pressure itself, so get your release timing very quick when he's doing what you want. When the horse is doing what is asked of them, always remove all pressure, making life easy there for them. And work to have quick release timing for right behavior at all times so the horse registers quickly that he did the right thing there. So many people's release timing is too slow, everyone can improve there.

But I have to say...for now... as long as you are riding with this gal & her sudden-problem horse, and she doesn't fix her horse the same way, I fear you are going to continue to have problems for a bit, I think, because your horse is young and he thinks, "Oh my god, this other horse is more experienced than I am and he says there is danger ahead. Aaaaaaa!" And he flicks the switch to irrational mode. So while you are reschooling him and performing these recommended exercises, and while he's still on that learning curve, you don't want him exposed to "bad influences." Because clearly her horse is triggering the domino effect there.

Read these 2 links on my site that deal with somewhat similar problems you're having there to see what you can gain from them as well:

I would also suggest you recommend to your friend that she have her saddle checked for proper fit to see if there is pain involved. Sometimes horses change weight throughout a year and suddenly a saddle that used to fit does not. Is the pad good quality and proper buffer there? A great deal of balking behavior can be traced to pain and what we assume sometimes is a behaviorial problem can actually be a pain problem. The fact that her horse was fine for a long while and then this sudden perceivably irrational behavior that you say seems out of character, well...I'd strongly suspect pain as an issue. She'd need to rule out thoroughly: saddle pain, mouth pain (if she's using a bit), is the bit too harsh she's using maybe? I recommend only snaffle bits. Any back pain when saddle is off? Leg/foot pain? Work hard to rule all those out. If in doubt, it never hurts to call in a vet for consultation. Sometimes they can spot things we cannot. I just, as a rule, like to rule out pain/discomfort as issues first, before assuming a problem is behavioral.

However, regardless, focus on your horse separately and building into his foundation deeper compliance responses, a more connected partnership so that if/when you are suddenly faced with such a situation, you've trained your horse to listen to you, not another horse that is having a problem suddenly. One of the beauties of natural horsemanship, as I see it, is we teach our horses that we are their fair and competent leader via NH training techniques. Then when the time comes for a horse to have to listen you unconditionally, he will, because he's learned you are his fair leader.

After that, until you've ridden your horse out okay by himself or with another (not that gal's) quite a number of times, then you might attempt riding with this gal and testing your horse's concentration on you and only you. She's having a management problem there and I hate to see you and your horse suffering because of that. Take control of your own horse (which is all you can do really, in the end), back him up, reschool him on the ground work and then in saddle exercise that my video set teaches, and this will empower you as well, you'll see. And by the way...I want to warn you....it's potentially just a matter of time before YOUR horse starts "popping up" like hers is, my guess, because he's learning aberrant behavior from her horse, because he's still green. Once you've got full control of his feet on the ground, then in saddle (in that order), and you've practiced it enough, he won't be as likely to copy another horse like that, but instead, will stay fully focused on you and your directives there at all times.

One more note: Ride him quickly AWAY from a horse that is acting up like that. And leave them behind to struggle on their own if that's what they have to do.

That's what I see from here what you need to do now, to plug up the holes in your horse's foundation.