From: Kellie
Dear Jessica, please help me fix this problem!
My horse behaves pretty well when we are in the arena, especially if we are having a lesson, but whenever we go on a trail or even just ride in the pasture he does things I don't like, like leaning on the bit and not listening to my leg. He will start out okay and then get worse and worse and after about half an hour I might as well just go home because I have to yank the rein to get him to stop and I have to kick him really hard to get him to turn (either direction). He doesn't buck or run away or get mean, but it's like he just tunes me out whenever we're out for a while. Here is an example, I will set him to going down the fenceline and after a while he will begin to cut in and if I don't stop him he will cut in more and pretty soon we are heading back the way we came from. Sometimes if I am thinking about school or cheerleading or anything he will get himself away from the fence and get turned before I even notice. I want to be able to trust my horse to just go around the field and follow the fenceline without me having to be pestering him all the time! Here is another example, sometimes he will start trotting and I didn't ask him to. My trainer says if I don't get my horse's attention I will get into trouble, but she doesn't want me to change my bit or use spurs. What can I do instead? I don't want to use spurs either and I know it's wrong to use a severe bit, you always say that and I believe you. I want to be a gentle rider. But just exactly how can I get my horse's attention so that I don't have to pull and kick? Kellie (p.s. I am eleven)
It sounds to me as though you've got a good instructor there - listen to her! You're right, spurs aren't the answer, and you should NEVER yank the reins. It's important to be a gentle rider, and it's also important to be a consistent, attentive rider - that's what you need to work on.
Why do you think your horse behaves better in the arena, and even better during lessons? You're expecting more of him in those situations, you're asking him to pay attention to you, and... you're paying MUCH more attention to HIM.
You can't ask or expect your horse to pay close attention to you if you don't pay attention to him. When your mind is elsewhere, and you're thinking about something that has nothing to do with your horse ("school or cheerleading or anything"), you aren't paying attention to your horse. As far as he knows, he's on his own, and he's responsible for making all decisions about where to go and how to get there. Then when he begins to drift off the rail, or turns back towards the barn, or begins to trot, you suddenly "wake up" and say "Ack! No! Go THIS direction, go at THIS speed, move over HERE!" When you finally notice that he's making the decisions on his own, you get rough with him - pulling the reins and kicking - and that's unpleasant for him. Since you want to be a gentle rider, it's also unpleasant for you.
The good news is that you don't have to do that - but you're going to need to change some things about the way you ride. Don't expect your horse to go on auto-pilot. He won't. He needs to be getting direction and encouragement from you, and if he gets those things, he will be focused on you. In fact, he'll focus on you exactly as much as you focus on him. So the way to get his attention on you is to put YOUR attention on HIM. When you're riding, think about your horse, not school or cheerleading.
The reason you "have to" pull and kick is that by the time you notice what your horse is doing, he's already been doing it for a while, and he isn't listening to you. You won't need to pull or kick if you notice what's happening as soon as it starts - or, better yet, BEFORE it starts. Good riders can feel what their horses are about to do, and then they can either use their aids gently to encourage the action, or - also gently - to discourage it, or to substitute another action. Sometimes it can look as if a good rider isn't doing anything, and you assume that the horse must be working on its own, but if you watch closely, you'll see that the rider is always communicating with the horse. The difference is that the communication is constant, quiet, and subtle - almost invisible. The way to develop that kind of quiet communication is to pay attention to the horse all the time, so that the horse pays attention to you all the time. That way, instead of suddenly realizing that your horse has drifted halfway across the arena, or that he is now trotting, and having to make a big, obvious correction, you'll feel the tiny movement or hesitation or shift when your horse says "I'd like to drift left now", or "I'd like to trot, I think I'll trot now", and you'll be able to say "Let's stay on the rail" or "Let's keep walking" by using your legs and seat very quietly. Someone watching you go around the field might think that your horse was automatically following the fence, but YOU would know that there were at least twenty or thirty moments when the horse thought about doing something else and you gave a tiny, invisible correction followed by praise.
If you get into the HABIT of paying attention to your horse, you'll become a good rider, and you'll feel the shift before it happens - that's what I call feeling the horse THINKING about starting to do something else.
Think about your horse when you're riding him. You should always know whether he is balanced (and if not, why not), where he is looking, whether he is relaxed or tense, and - if he's tense - just HOW tense he is. You need to be aware of everything about your horse. If you're always asking him for something and then rewarding him with a pat or a kind word, he'll be much happier about everything you do. Asking him for a hundred little things that he knows how to do and saying "Thank you" each time he responds will make him happy - that's not pestering him, that's paying attention to him and keeping his attention on you.
You'll find all of this is much easier if you can do more than just follow the fence around the edge of the field. Make circles and turns, change directions, do transitions - keep the ride interesting for your horse and yourself. It's easy to become distracted or bored if you're just sitting there thinking of other things and expecting the horse to follow the fenceline. ;-)
One warning: Since you and your horse are both used to mooching around instead of working when you're out in the field, start slowly - try to stay really focused on your horse and practice riding attentively for ten or fifteen minutes at a time. Don't try to go out the first day and ask your horse to do focused work for an hour. Start with short sessions and build up your time as you become more comfortable staying focused on your horse.
Finally, the reason I haven't said anything about your horse is twofold - first, he sounds like a very sweet horse, and second, you'll find that his responsiveness and attention span will improve automatically to match yours, each time YOU improve YOUR ability to focus on him.
This is going to make him a better horse by making you a better rider. Now, both of you go out and have fun!
Jessica
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