Its the wet season and all of us horse enthusiasts are bound and determined to keep our saddles broken in and our horses in shape. We refuse to take time off.
Which of course leads us to the age-old question that never ceases to arise, “Hmm, thats a lovely stream up ahead, I wonder if I can get my horse to cross it?”
We can all relate: you’re out on a beautiful sunny trail ride with your friends after a couple days of rain, and you come across a puddle or stream. Your horse decides it would rather fight to the death than walk through the deep, dark, wet, scary abyss ahead. You beg and plead, kick and squeal, but your horse simply refuses to cross. You reluctantly turn around and head back home.
For those of you who can relate only too well—dont worry! Your horse has a good reason for being frightened and your can work this problem out together. It might take a few minutes, a few days or a few training sessions every season, but you can create a trust between you and your horse that will allow you to conquer anything that crosses your path.
The most important thing to understand is that this is a very common problem, which also means that horses have a good reason for being frightened. Seek first to understand the horse, before attempting to communicate with them. After all we are the more superior species, right?
A horse is genetically built to survive in the wild, and because of this they have extremely large eyes; in fact the horse’s eye is the largest of any land mammal. Its visual capabilities are directly related to its behavior, and the fact is that the horse is a flight animal.
Both the strengths and weaknesses of the horse’s visual capabilities need to be taken into consideration while training. The horse’s eyes are located on the sides of their head, giving them an almost 360-degree-field of view. They see a much broader range of their surroundings than humans do, but they do not have the ability to perceive the same level of detail as humans can. This leads to the horse having little or no depth perception.
Now you can understand why that two- inch-deep water crossing is a potential crack in the earth that your horse is trying to save you from, we can begin working to earn trust through good communication from their trainer.
For a horse to be able to willingly enter a potentially dangerous situation, they must TRUST their trainer. While working with your horse as a trainer, you must take over the role of being the alpha or leader. Your horse will then sense and thrive off the confidence you are giving to them. If you have not already established this bond, you cant possibly expect your horse to have any reason to decide to trust you beside that stream.
Horses are herd animals and will follow the alphas lead, whether they are fleeing or crossing a creek. This doesnt mean that you should resort to a heavy hand or beat your horse into submission. Lead by example and work with, not against, your horse’s natural instincts. Nothing gains a horse’s confidence better than a seasoned horse leading a youngster through potentially dangerous situations and showing them what they should and shouldnt be afraid of.
Use your resources to find a good baby sitter horse and take it slow! The trainer must remain the alpha and leader, but let the babysitter facilitate instilling the trust between you and your horse. Make the adventure fun for the two of you, take your time, then take more time!
As a trainer you must send the right communication signals to your horse. This consists of being very calm and understanding. The second you get frustrated or nervous and start clashing signals, your horse senses it, and will begin to refuse because it senses danger instead of trust and patience.
Let your horse sniff the water, give it one or two bites of grass, but only one or two! Usually your horse will want to put their nose down to look and smell whatever they are scared of; let them do it. This allows your horse to use binocular vision with which they have better depth perception.
Next, make sure they have a positive experience associated with any form of training. This is something that often seems to be executed in the arena but neglected out on the trail. Make your expectations clear and reward them for completing the task you asked of them. Horses have extremely good memories; dont end on a bad note or that is the only thing they will remember. Most importantly, practice makes perfect! Dont expect to show a nervous, green horse one water crossing, get them hesitantly across it and then expect that they are fully trained. It didnt take one ride to break them, did it?
If you are still unsuccessful with training your horse, please dont continue down a dead-end road and create even bigger issues. There is just a communication error somewhere between the two of you that needs to be addressed. Seek out the help of a trusted professional and have fun with it; after all, thats what we’re here for!
With lots of repetition, patience and understanding you’ll soon be the one riding the seasoned trail horse, leading out the next bunch of youngsters!
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