Re: Ground manners revisited

From: Nina Sala

Hi Jessica, I've been observing the postings on the list with much interest. My name is Nina Sala. I live southwest Missouri (near Springfield) and raise Arabian horses. We keep five wonderful stallions ages 1 year to 22 years. The two older stallions came to me in their teens, and the three younger ones I have raised. All five are easy to handle and get along well with each other. They live in stalls with 24 hour turn out and are used to seeing each other and the little band of mares over the fence. They are protected from harming each other but still afforded companionship. Consequently, they don't know they are not just "regular guys" and behave quite well in hand....with one notable exception, which is why I am writing for advice.

The three younger stallions do not respect my space. I have handled them as hough they were geldings, and perhaps I have allowed them to get to close to me. Whenever they are feeling threatened (read: in the show ring in hand) hey want to come over on me. How can I keep them moving to the right in hand. I'm tall and have long arms, but it's hard for me to "cross over" to pull or push them to the right. I do carry a crop but am loathe to whip my horses. I have made a concerted effort to show these Arabian stallions without any whipping or shanking or any of the other "halter ring abuses" that one sometimes sees in Arabian competition. Any simple (for the simple minded

You are probably right about the cause of the problem -- the "bottom line" here is that these horses do not respect YOUR personal space. Stallions are very conscious of the social hierarchy, and right now they feel that you are a source of friendship and comfort, but not Someone To Respect. ;-)

They need to learn that your space is your space, and that they aren't to come into it. Have you ever noticed what happens in a group of horses when the alpha mare walks through? Everyone shifts aside. There's no panic, no fear, no running away, but somehow, magically, a corridor appears and the alpha mare can walk down it without bumping into any other horses. That's because those horses respect her, and make it their business NOT to be in her way at any time. And that's the exactly the feeling you want to inculcate in your young stallions.

One key to this is body language. Stand tall, and take up as much space as you can. This is the same "don't get too close" posture that you probably automatically assume in an elevator or on a subway -- use it with your horses! It works. If your horse leans in toward you, make yourself even larger (deep breath, head up, shoulders back) and lean slightly TOWARD him, rather than shifting away. You've just told him "Hey, get out of my space!" If you had shifted or leaned away, or exhaled and dropped your head, your message would have been "Sorry, boss horse, I'll get out of your space now."

Another key is to keep your horses' attention on YOU -- you never get pushed, crowded, or stepped on when your horses are very aware of your presence. Those things always happen when the horses are paying attention to something else and forget that you are there, OR when they simply assume that they can go where they like and it's YOUR job to get out of the way. This doesn't mean that the horses should be watching you in fear, wondering what you will do to them next -- that's the sort of "training" method that you want to avoid, and rightly so! But the horses DO need to be aware of where you are and how you are moving, so that they will be able to shift out of the way when YOU move in their direction. If they expect YOU to move when they move, they won't have to worry about where you are or what you are doing. But if they know that THEY are expected to move when YOU move, and in the direction that you indicate, they will pay attention to where you are.

Since you carry a whip, USE IT -- but not in the usual way. I agree with you that the lash end of the whip isn't needed, except perhaps as an occasional -- visual -- attention-getting device. The butt end of the whip, on the other hand, is going to be your best friend for a while, as you teach your horses to turn smoothly to the right without crowding you. You shouldn't have to push them to the right -- after all, you don't pull them to the left, or jerk the line to halt! They can learn to move smoothly to the right just because YOU are moving to the right.

At home in your arena, practice working your horses in hand, and keep a strong whip (about 3" long) in your hand (left hand at first). Hold it horizontally across your body, with the butt end pointed at your horse's shoulder but not touching it. As you walk, keep your eyes FRONT -- look where you're going -- but be aware of where your horse is in relation to your space. Practice turning in both directions. If he crowds you at ANY point, have that whip ready -- you are NOT going to hit him, but you ARE going to hold it in position, butt end toward him, so that if he gets too close to you, he will bump into it with his shoulder. This is something he will do to himself AS he is crowding you, and it will be an infinitely more effective lesson because he'll teach himself not to do it.

Practice this until the horse learns to keep his distance when moving to the right, and at all other times. Then, if you need to, repeat the work with a shorter whip, held in your right hand along with the line. The important thing is to stay positive and cheerful, and keep showing the horse that moving sweetly along with you is comfortable, and pushing into you is NOT comfortable, not because you are angry, or nasty, or punishing, but because it doesn't FEEL good to bump into you.

Practice at home until it's smooth and automatic, then go to a friend's arena and practice, then go to a show and practice there. Give away a few classes if you must -- the important thing is to create a new habit and a new set of expectations in your horses. Your horses will learn to pay attention to your body language. Soon you won't need to put out the butt end of the whip, or even your elbow, because the horses will respond to the slight lift and shift of your shoulder, and remember that this is "Big Mama" moving to the right, so they need to move to the right also, and maintain the distance while they do it.

If you're ever in a situation where you need the whip and don't have it, your right elbow will serve as a reasonable substitute -- again, you don't hit the horse with it, you just put it where he will bump into it if he crowds you.

Jessica

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