Horses Naturally - Home > Jay O'Jay > Horse Training Articles > Q and A with Jay O'Jay
Q and A with Jay O'Jay
Q: I’ve been taking riding lessons for about ten years. A year ago I got my first horse – a nine-year-old Anglo Arabian gelding. He’s a good-natured fellow and I’ve had no problems riding in the outdoor rings and the indoor arena where I board him. Last fall I took him out for our first hack and he spooked (very dramatically) at the first mailbox. We went the other way instead and he did the same thing at the sight of a metal garbage can by the side of the road. He would not go by it and became extremely upset, veering sideways blindly and almost taking us both down a steep, six-foot ditch.
Around the barn area he doesn’t appear bothered by anything, such as tack boxes or the tractor and he rides around jump standards in the ring just fine. But, I bought his horse so that I could enjoy hacking in the country. There are miles of great trails around my area and I don’t want to just ride around the ring. I don’t know how I can accustom him to strange objects on the roads without risking our safety. He might dump me and then be loose on the road where he could get hit or injured. Can you suggest how to approach this problem?
- S. Gunn, Bolton ON
The Plan
From the safety and comfort of home, in one big leap of faith, there you were. Too much enthusiasm, not enough preparation and an overexposed horse!
Together, through a process of working with your horse’s natural instincts and behaviours, we can build a foundation whereby your horse learns how to deal with his fears in a way that allows him to become more confident and braver - naturally! Just as important, by learning how to be more consistent with both our attitude and our actions, we will prove we can be trusted. A respectful relationship and connection is formed.
Expanding the comfort zone
By starting in your horse’s comfort zone, you can “progressively” desensitize him to a wide variety of new and scary things. In fact, the more fears you desensitize him to, the more comfortable his expanding world becomes. This process simply means introducing frightful objects like garbage cans, tarps, and such things in a way that keeps the horse emotionally balanced. The more you can keep your horse in left brain, the more he can think – and the more he can think – the more you can teach.
There are only two places that a horse can go when he leaves his comfort zone: the “unsure zone” or the “flight zone”. We need to do most of our teaching in the “unsure zone”. We raise the fear level just enough to send the horse into this learning zone – wait for the slightest try – then release the pressure and allow him to come back to his comfort zone. If we were to allow him to come back before there was any “try” we would only be teaching him to be wrong. Remember, pressure motivates, but it’s the release of pressure that teaches. The more times you wait for a positive try before releasing the pressure, the more comfortable his expanding world becomes. Your horse’s confidence and trust in you will grow as he learns how to deal with his fears in a safe, positive and constructive way.
While there are many things you should desensitize your horse to, for the sake of this article, let’s work with a plastic tarp. Our mission is to get your horse brave enough to willingly step onto, and then with confidence, stand quietly on the tarp.
To achieve success, you’ll be teaching him three of the exercises found on both my DVD, and On-line Course - “Earn Respect & Gain Control”. These exercises are Personal Space, Small Circle, and Approach & Retreat.
Personal Space
To start, hold the rope in your left hand, coils hanging from your thumb to prevent tangling should the horse bolt. Without making contact, place this hand up to and close to his eye. Your hand will act in the same way as blinders do with harness horses; if the horse can’t see there, he won’t go there. This is like a stop sign, saying “Don’t run me over!” Then with the tail of the rope in your right hand, slowly and rhythmically add pressure to his shoulder until he moves sideways and away from you. This step is crucial if we expect to keep the horse out of our personal space and stay injury free.
If your horse can move or push you around by dropping his shoulder in towards you, in his mind, he’s dominant. This is where you need to be assertive, “proving” to your horse, that you are dominant and that he is not! The more times we can move or drive a horse out of our personal space the more respect we will earn.
The Small Circle
You’ll need to teach your horse to walk past you on a small circle in preparation of him stepping onto the tarp. Your lead rope, from hand to mouth, should be no longer than your arm. If a horse is in a straight body alignment, from head to tail, he is in his most powerful position to take advantage of you. Walking a small circle makes it easier for your horse to relax and bend, creating more of a natural arc through the body. This alignment weakens his position of power and puts him at a disadvantage to be in control.
Approach and Retreat
As my horse gets more comfortable and relaxed with this exercise, I will keep circling him as I slowly inch my way towards the tarp. You will know when your horse is leaving his comfort zone – he will start to get quick and drop his shoulder in towards you every time he goes between you and the tarp. Spend some time here as you break the circle down into two parts - leaving the tarp and approaching the tarp.
When your horse goes past, and is leaving the tarp, make this section of the circle uncomfortable by bumping his nose with the lead rope. When your horse is approaching the tarp, make this section of the circle comfortable by giving him relief of pressure, no bumping! This is where “feel” comes into play; too much pressure, and your horse becomes fearful. Not enough pressure, and there will be no reason for him to try.
As your horse gets more relaxed about being near the tarp and he gives you even the slightest indication that he is interested in looking at or smelling it, reward him with praise, and let him check it out. Remember that horses live in the moment, so your timing is important – if your horse is not paying attention to the tarp, circle him!
Horses are comfort seekers by nature and we can use this to our advantage in training. By making the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult your horse will soon discover that comfort is the easy way out. Spending time at the tarp is “comfort”! Circling and bumping is “discomfort”! Discomfort is a motivator for a change of attitude and it creates a desire to try.
Repeat this process until your horse is spending more time investigating the tarp than he is circling. When you think your horse is calm, relaxed and ready, ask him to step onto the tarp, making sure to reward the slightest try. Eventually, ask your horse to put all four feet onto the tarp. It is very important that you allow him to back off anytime he feels the need to. Always give him somewhere to go – taking away a horse’s freedom of movement will only cause him to panic. However, if he does back off the tarp, make it uncomfortable by repeating the circling exercise.
First ride away from home
Once your horse is comfortable with the tarp, as well as a variety of other scary objects, it’s time to venture out. To help ensure a positive experience for the both of you, I’d suggest that you go with a friend who has a quiet and experienced trail horse. This is very important, as this companionship will instill confidence in your horse, helping him to feel more secure and braver. Start out with short positive rides to build confidence and trust. We do this in preparation for future rides that will take us farther and farther. It is important to continue with the exercises of “Earn Respect & Gain Control” at home. Remember the better he gets at these, the better he will be outside!
Horses learn best if they are respectful and focused. We communicate through body language and we gain the trust of our horse by moving in a slow consistent rhythm. The combination of respect, focus and effective communication skills has a powerful effect on any horse. These qualities along with a well-timed release of pressure will give you the necessary tools required to expand your horse’s world, making him a braver, more confident and safer horse – and this is our ultimate goal.
The success of any techniques or strategies will always be directly related to the understanding, feel and ability of the person applying them. Remember, success with horses, truly does start with us.
This article was written for the March issue of Horse Canada magazine.