Have you ever thought about what we unconsciously transmit to our horse? We all know that when we are in a bad mood, our horses are often also in a bad mood, and we know that the very best riders are able to put aside their own issues and focus solely and calmly on understanding and helping their horse.
However, what we often forget is just how much our horses understand about how we feel towards them. I'm not only talking about when actually in the saddle, but also how we feel about them on the ground. When we are riding and we get frustrated with our horse, we see immediately that the horse becomes tense and unwilling. As we relax, so too our horses relax and are more wiling to help us get our message across in a subtle and gentle manner.
Stll, if your horse knows that when you dismount, you release all ties to him, he will become distant and the work unexpressive.
I noticed this and the power of this concept recently with my two horses. One horse, is my star and I talk about him constantly. My other horse, is older and a little bit more of a worry wart and I sometimes forget how special he is.
So, one day, I went into the stable after the training and looked into his eyes. He was sad with me and not because I was unfair or frustrated with him in training, because I work very hard to always keep the “calm relaxed me” on the go. He was sad because he knew that he was number two and that perhaps I didn’t love him like I love the other. I felt awful, but he was right and the next day I went into his stable, and I told him that I was going to make an effort to show him that he was just as special as the younger horse, and that I did love him and I did very much want him to be happy. And that day I gave him the first, and biggest carrot!
Batialo was a little bit curious, “peeved" you might say, but something in Ulisses changed that day and he became a new horse, in and out of the stable! His work was more focused, he tried so much harder and I found that I enjoyed riding him so much more, riding a happy little man!
Nuno Oliveira used to say that "to be a good rider you must love your horse!” Does this mean that our horses can understand what we say, perhaps not, but does it mean that horses pick up on our attitudes and our state of mind, of course!
When I went to my first big competition, little but big to me, with Batialo, I spoke to him before the warm-up. A horse that has the tendency to spin when windy, and away from oncoming rivals, aka horse and riders, I told him that I needed him to forget all the other people and just listen to me. From the minute we stepped into the warm-up arena, he stayed completely and totally focused on me, and even when a buckskin out of control looney crashed up my rear, he didn’t bat one eye lid in any other direction.
No I'm not the magical horse whisperer and no I didn’t bribe my horse with carrots. I used my common sense. It seems obvious to me that if dogs can smell fear, than horses can feel what you transmit to them and if you know you will fail and your horse will become tense, than you surely will! So instead of pulling your horse's head off when he tries to take over, have you ever thought of asking him nicely if he would like to listen to you instead?
Have you ever thought about approaching him before a training session, and telling him what is expected, or visiting him post bath to discuss what could have gone better? Of course the non-horsey’s will think you are mad, but chances are they don’t even noticed when people discuss their lives with their canine or feline friends.
If you don’t believe me, then try it, but believe in it, or of course you are just fooling yourself and your horse. A horse with a rider that loves him, will show it, and a horse with a rider that has a negative disposition, and an unfriendly manner, will produce the same emotion in the dressage test.
“The best judge to appreciate the quality of the riders aids is the horse. Look at his attitude, his ears, his eye. If the rider who just won a dressage class dismounts and his horse has a miserable appearance, we can say that the rider is a savage. The work was some kind of sport and not equestrian art,” said Nuno Oliveira.
In my opinion it is equestrian art, not science. So even if we can’t prove something works, it’s simply magical when it does.
-- by Sarah Warne