31/01/2023
𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞...
There's a shift in the thinking in the equestrian world, and a lot of people are verbalising it. It's great. But maybe we need to stop verbalising it, and start living it.
A big part of accepting the reality of learning to listen, REALLY listen, to our horses - is that we won't like what we hear. Another part, is that we will need to put aside years of our own conditioning. Years spent being told to "just ride through it" or "if you get off, he's just learning to get away with it". And then on top of that, layered in the mix of ego and truth, is frustration - if we start to accept our truth as lies, do we ACTUALLY know how to help our animals? Can we actually achieve what we aim to achieve?
For me, it's been an internal battle for many years. Parts of riding, horse ownership, or - perhaps at the pinnacle of the conundrum - competing - have felt so forced. As if there is only one path, one clear answer, one clear outcome, and only tradition.
This may sound a bit ironic, coming from someone who predominantly uses classical methods to train her horses - built on a foundation of tradition and centuries of "this is how it is always done". But one of the reasons I so passionately follow some (not all) of the masters - is that it makes sense. The physics, the biomechanics, and even some (not all, for sure!) of the psychology makes sense. Xenophan wrote about how we should lead horses fairly, and should they spook, we should approach the thing which spooks them and touch it ourselves to demonstrate the safety. It was a method, from a herd psychology perspective, that was ahead of his time.
Horses do not think like us. The biology of their brain is quite different, and so we need to step out of our human skin to think in a way that actually helps our four legged friends. The horses frontal lobe is quite underdeveloped compared to our own, and this is the part of the brain that is responsible for abstract thought, strategising, forethinking, and a lot of what we would consider makes us "human." This does not mean horses don't feel emotion, quite the contrary - the limbic system in the horse (a system of our brain responsible for some of our most primitive emotions such as a need for friends, food and safety) is quite similar to our own.
What this means is that when a horse reacts, they are just reacting to a stimulus. They are giving you feedback about how they FEEL about it in that moment. Not what they think might happen tomorrow if they do or don't react how you want.
We can shape an animals reaction to a stimulus through training, absolutely - classical conditioning using positive reinforcement is an example, as is negative reinforcement (pressure/release). These are common methods of psychological training that applies across most species - humans included.
But, what I find interesting, is how us humans think we can "train" all of the "horse" out of horses. Or, at least, we used to.
If the horse feels safe, finds what you're asking relatively achievable (i.e: you're not asking too much), and understands what you're asking (you've taught them via a form of conditioning the correct response to the aid) then they have no reason not to respond to the stimulus you've put there for them to respond to.
When they don't, though, you need to be prepared to go "oh, what happened here, what's wrong?" instead of "oh, they're being a total A***e today." Why? Because, as I just explained, they do not have the biology to think that way. All you're receiving is FEEDBACK - that the stimulus you've applied is wrong, that they CAN'T respond (for whatever reason... and often this is pain related, sorry to be brutally honest) or another part of their neuro system isn't firing right (i.e they are trigger stacked).
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨?
The photo of me riding my horse ba****ck isn't to brag about the fact I can do it. It's to (somewhat) illustrate a point.
At the end of last year I noticed Dash starting to get a bit grumpy about the saddle. I booked the saddle fitter and added a half pad. The issue resolved, and I didn't worry too much. Saddle fitter came, assessed the saddle, and took it away for reflocking and a check up. Due to weather events, we weren't able to have a follow up appointment - but she knew I'd listen to my horse and be able to tell if it was suiting or not, so dropped it back off for me to try. I chucked on the saddle. No drama. I sat in the saddle. My horse wouldn't go forward. I asked again - NO. It was a clear, resounding, NO. I got off, chucked on the half pad. Got back on. Exact same answer - NO.
Now my horse knows the aids to go forward. He knows the aids for all three paces, he knows lateral aids. He's green, but he's not that green. He UNDERSTANDS. So I knew this issue wasn't a lack of understanding, I knew this was an issue to do with comfort, and the only thing that had changed recently was the saddle.
I jumped off, pulled off the saddle, and jumped back on ba****ck.
Immediately, I had an entirely different horse. He went forward, his shoulder was free, his ears forward, I didn't need to ni**le him about things like bend, he just did it off my body position.
Had I, at the point of him saying NO, pushed it - I would have either ended up with at least one of us getting injured, or a despondent horse that wasn't interested in trying for me. Instead, I ended the day with a happy horse, quite relaxed, happy to give me cuddles and wonder around after me while I tidied up after us.
𝐒𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲.
If you've read this far, I applaud you. That was a lot. But it's a shift I want to start living and not just talking about. It's a big part of what I see for the future of the sport - not just because it's what "consumers" are asking for these days, but also because I think we, as horse lovers, need to be better accepting of how their biology differs from ours and how that works in relation to training them.
What this means in relation to my guides is that I'm going to be going through them with an additional fine tooth comb. How can we ensure, while teaching our horses to use their bodies correctly, we're also honoring how they think and learn?
I'm always learning, there's so much more to learn. The greatest teachers I've had in this space is the horses. So, if you want to learn - I urge you to listen to what your horse is telling you. I can only guide you, but your horse can well and truly educate you.
