CORRECTING UNWANTED BEHAVIOR IN HORSES

 

 

 

     In training horses, the optimum procedure is to work with the horse so that unwanted behavior never happens. The trainer hopes that through positive reinforcement and, when necessary, correction, the horse’s responses are shaped into the appropriate pattern that is desired. This can be as complex as one-tempi lead changes to something as seemingly simple as standing still to be mounted.   

     The whole process is fascinating-each problem needs to be treated on an individual basis. There are no two horses that are exactly alike in their reaction to being trained. There are just too many variables. Factors such as age, gender, previous training, soundness, health, and breed have to be considered. Although one has to be careful in generalizing, it is commonly believed that breeds such as the Quarter Horse are a bit less sensitive that a Thoroughbred or an Arabian. In Warmbloods some breeds are considered  more tractable than others.

     It is also very important to remember that the horse has a marvelous memory. This can be very helpful if the horse has been successfully and intelligently trained, but has to be considered when the horse has been abused. Remember that a horse is basically a timid prey animal and can carry almost indelibly” fear memories” if it has been hurt and frightened. Sadly, many of my retraining assignments are made necessary because of rough treatment in the animal’s past.

     A general knowledge of the psychology of horses is necessary in training horses, i.e. shaping their behavior for desired responses. Also necessary is to understand the importance of determining the behavior patterns of each individual. When I first meet a new four-legged client, I must take the time to determine to the best of my ability the energy level of the horse, the amount of trust the horse has in me, the amount of trust the horse has in his owner, and the physical comfort of the horse. All of these factors need to be taken into consideration to get a true “reading” of the animal, and to determine the “whys” of its behavior.

     Especially in retraining a horse that comes with undesirable traits, the “why” is not always possible. If it was trained in a certain discipline that encourages a particular  response, such as a park horse or barrel horse, the energy and alertness level may be very high. These horses are expected to expend large amounts of energy in a short amount of time. Of course the training of a Western Pleasure horse or a trail horse would mean that other aspects of a horse’s responsiveness would be desired.

     Often someone will acquire a horse that has to learn a new “job”.I once had a client call me about a gaming horse she had purchased. This horse had been required to move at top speed around barrels- maximum speed for a short period of time. There had not been too much basic training with this particular horse, He did not understand how to collect, how to engage his haunches, or to respond to subtle aids from his rider with weight aids. This is certainly not always the case with gymkhana horses. Many are expertly and properly trained. The new owner wanted to train him to be a western pleasure horse. Unfortunately,  the former owners had assured her that this would be an easy thing to accomplish. She had owned the horse for about two months when she called me. She was very angry and frustrated with him, not understanding why he was not doing what she wanted him to do.

     I explained to her that almost all of the time if a horse does not respond correctly, it is because the horse does not understand what it is being required to do. It also  may be physically and/or mentally  unable to do what is being required of it AT THAT TIME. The first thing about the horse that bothered her was that the horse was “girthy”. When she tightened the cinch, the horse would pin back his ears, switch his tail, and threaten to nip her. She said that yelling at the horse and hitting him had not made anything better. I explained that this behavior was caused by someone in the horse’s past tightening the girth too fast and too tight and causing the horse pain and discomfort. The behavior the horse was exhibiting was his only way to express his anxiety, the “fear memory” process. Yelling or hitting the horse would only convince him that saddling is indeed something that will always be unpleasant.

     There is a fine l ine at times in training a horse. I so often hear the phrase “teaching the horse who is boss”, and “don’t let him get away with that.” Sometimes it almost seems to be an “us against them” attitude instead of a partnership. In this instance it is important to let the horse know that he is not allowed to threaten his owner; no striking, biting, or kicking behavior accepted.  At the same time the horse’s fear of pain and discomfort has to be gradually alleviated. I also explained that it would take time to change his behavior about being tacked up. I saddled him, taking care to go slowly and quietly. I kept my energy quiet and did not focus my attention on the girth area. A horse can feel this focus and take it as “hard eyes” and become more apprehensive. I kept my gaze soft and stroked the horse’s belly as I very slowly tightened the girth-just tight enough to keep the saddle on if the horse moved suddenly. If care is taken every time a young horse is tacked up, this problem does not happen. If he had threatened me, I would have given him a sharp two syllable reprimand to show my displeasure, and then just calmly continued saddling the horse.

     Remember that the type of reprimand depends on the horse, its past history20and the circumstances at the time. Just last week I was working with a large draft horse who had actually been orphaned at birth and never really socialized with other horses. He had an attitude that was not respectful of his owner. When I was working with him he cow kicked directly at me. That required a vocal reprimand and an immediate hard slap to his belly. Then I proceeded as if nothing had happened. 

     Another method to use to work on this problem is to calmly saddle and unsaddle the horse couple of times a day  without working him. Give him a treat after you have tightened the girth.  Then the whole process becomes more common- place and the horse does not automatically associate tacking up with an unpleasant process, which includes being worked.

     The new owner then explained that the other problem she was having was that the horse was too fast. When she rode him, he would not go as slow as she wanted him to. When she asked him for an up transition, even to jog from a walk, he would often take off at a canter. She was becoming frustrated and a20bit frightened.  This of course was to be expected, but she had thought that the horse would understand that she did not want him to race anymore if she just held him back tightly with the reins. She was using a leverage bit, which resulted in the horse having pain in his mouth which made him even more agitated.

     When I explained that the horse was just confused, and that it was her job to find a way to explain to the horse what was now expected of him, she stopped considering the horse her adversary. She started to become interested in training him in a way that he would understand. She started to develop empathy for her horse. First I taught her groundwork with him. She learned to lunge him correctly and calmly, so that she could influence his gaits and the speed of his movements. The  lungeing helped his jog and lope  become more balanced, smooth, and slow. That is an advantage of correct lungeing-being able to work the horse at the tempo you require of him when you ride him.