THE NO BUTTON !
Written by Alison Short
How many of you have experienced pressing the NO button? The point at where your horse objects to an aid that you have given him in an instantly negative way.
I have lost count of how many times I have been told, “oh poor X they just don't have any luck with their horses”.
Maybe when it comes to horses and their pattern of behaviour we should learn from it, rather than assume this is some kind of oh man. As an example, if a new trainer comes to your livery yard and seems to achieve huge changes in your horse's way of going whilst riding, how long could you expect your horse to work in an outline, ten minutes, twenty minutes, an hour? What proportion of the time that you school him does he work in an outline?
“Is your horse being correctly ridden to the contact by your trainer or being held on the bridle?”
All of these questions need to be understood and answered if you are to achieve a harmonious balance in both you and your horse's learning curve.
We are all aware that horses can be resistant at times, but a horse that shows signs of resistance to the level of repeatedly stopping, napping, running backwards, shaking his head, rearing etc is far from acceptable.
The physical element plays a large part on his ability, although it is often assumed that a horse bred for competition with his correct conformation should excel with more ease against some thing less conformationally correct, this is not always the case. Often the more finely bred the horse the more sensitive he can be to the tiniest levels of pressure or discomfort, when these problems are not diagnosed a behavioural pattern begins.
Try to keep your horse checked regularly for any muscle change, does your saddle slip to one side? Do you have a problem achieving combined straightness; do you have more weight in one rein than the other, resistance to bend equally on both reins, incorrect lead in canter or being twisted in your body when riding on one diagonal?
Of course horses are generally more flexible one way than the other, however if it is greater than two marks out of ten to either rein I would class this as a potential problem.
You need to have a good farrier for the correct balance of the feet and therefore limbs and straightness of their movement. Regular check ups with an equine physio or osteopath as well as a saddle fitter to work together in helping your horse to become straighter, being closely followed by the rider achieving the knowledge or where straight is whilst riding. Many months or years of sitting crooked with your horse can be a challenge to undo.
Without acknowledging these straightness issues they will ultimately “bite you on the bum!”
It be a constant lack of marks and ability to progress, behavioural problems or lameness, as a horse that favours one side to push with will place greater strain on parts of his body than others, these often in turn being passed to there riders such as stiff joints, muscle spasms in the lower back, shoulders and neck pain.
“What level of discipline is acceptable?”
This is I believe, down to the person who sees themself as the communicator to both the horse and the rider, this must be treated with respect for both parties and capabilities. Well educated trainers will asses the situation without displaying aggression, whilst finding out where the horse's boundary of physical ability is and their level of understanding. For example I train a gelding who shows true understanding of leg yield, but when we work towards a walk pirouette because he used to fall onto the left shoulder when first trained he finds it difficult to understand left flexion and stepping away from the right leg, yet round the left.
“In moments of confusion he will occasionally stop just as if the wiring is faulty and the lights have gone out!”
At this point my most important aid is forward and to step out of the problem, this teaches me that my approach to this movement must be to achieve one or two steps and ride away before he becomes confused, this way I will build his confidence and understanding.
If I where to repeatedly hit his NO button what am I teaching him? Try to ride the exercise on his easier rein, rewarding him for all achievements.
“Repetition is a necessary part of training but to what extent?”
It is suspected that a horse who repeatedly works through the same movements in training is far more at risk of injury than a horse who is given a varied work plan, whether that be hacking mixed with sessions in the school or a variety of movements in training rather than shoulder in again and again in one session. This again should be advice that a good trainer would find it easy to help you with.
“Avoiding extreme fatigue for both you and your horse will help progression in training”.
Make sure your trainer has all the facts before they school your horse. An unfit horse will find an hour of training punishing after the first twenty minutes if he is not allowed moments of stretching and recuperation, equally so will you during a lesson, this only fuels the negative and does not produce quality work with a happy horse.
If you find schooling challenging and get lost for ideas ask your trainer to give you a training plan that you could use once a week and then mix this with some circuit training.
Circuit Training
This is a brilliant way to vary your work and yet build stamina and keep training and fitness fun!
This can be achieved in a field or in a school, you may want to shorten your stirrups a hole. Start in walk making sure you allow your horse time to warm up progressing to trot, use only the perimeter of your arena and assess, to start how fit your horse is by returning to walk after several laps and looking at his sides to monitor his breathing. Keep in walk until his breathing returns to a regular unstrained pattern then proceed again on the other rein, this can be done in walk trot and canter, building up the number of laps achieved gradually session by session using walk as recovery time.
Try and think of this as a fun time rising to the trot and staying slightly off of the horses back.
Ultimately
Choose your trainer well they will determining your future, bad training or a lack of understanding are all difficult to overcome.
“A naughty horse is often a very talented one with a lack of understanding!!
Alison Short is a Freelance Trainer and a BD Listed Dressage Judge please call for bookings or advice. alisonshort@bropenworld.com or 07719 900275
