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Moving Beyond the Basics

The best riders never stop learning or seeking new ways to do things. They continually strive to refine what they know, ask with less pressure, and get in better timing with their horses.

As you advance in your horsemanship, you, too, will find truth in the saying, “The more you know, the more you realize there is to learn.”

This ongoing challenge of discovery, to deepen your understanding of horses and learn how best to work with them, will help you reach the levels of horsemanship skill you seek to attain. These layers of knowledge are what keep expert riders progressing and learning—and loving every minute in the saddle. As you become more advanced, you’ll more) about mental creativity and control as it is about pure physical technique. In fact, the most successful riders may simply be better than the average rider at harnessing these mental aspects of riding.

This chapter offers some topics to get you thinking about the mental side of riding that will be helpful in advancing your skills. But don’t stop here. Use these ideas as a springboard to see what else you can come up with.

Keep Riding; Stay in the Moment

If you’re driving a car and it starts to skid on a slippery curve, do you immediately throw open the door and bail out? Not likely! Unfortunately, bailing out—physically or mentally—is exactly how some riders react when their horses do something unexpected. In a split second, such riders relinquish their influence on the outcome of the situation.

For example, your horse might spook at a dog and then stop. If you are caught off guard by the spook, you might be left behind and end up on the ground. But if you stay relaxed and remain physically and mentally connected to your horse during the spook, which will be over in a second or two, your horse is likely to quickly regain his composure because you haven’t lost yours.

Keep riding through every situation. In other words: Don’t bail out—literally or figuratively. When you only have a few seconds of reaction time, don’t decide you’re going to fall off and start looking for the best place to land. Instead, try to safely help your horse through the situation. (Of course, there are times when dismounting is the best idea, but try to do it as a planned event rather than as an action taken in panic.)

In addition to maintaining your commitment to continue riding—mentally and physically— no matter what happens, it’s important to stay in the moment. However, there’s a fine line between staying in the moment and creating self-fulfilling prophecies of negative outcomes. Every time you ride, work toward the goal of riding with enough awareness to anticipate a problem and to be able to defuse or avoid it. Do not mentally jump ahead to the worst possible outcome. Unfortunately, this is exactly what some riders do, and they bring it about by expecting the worst to occur. Knowing there is always a loose dog at the blue house up ahead on the left, for example, the rider tenses up, certain the dog will come running out and the horse will spook. Feeling his rider tense up, the horse obliges with an enthusiastic spook and bolts down the road!

Instead, strive to ride every step; don’t project too far into the future. Horses are creatures of the here and now, and the best riders help their horses every moment. This isn’t accomplished by micromanaging his every move but rather by staying aware and directing him before he has the chance to take his thought completely away from you.

Staying in the moment will also help if you decide to compete with your horse. Whether in reining, western pleasure, or a cow class, if you make a mistake, you can’t go back and fix it. It will only hinder your performance if you dwell on the mistake. However, if you stay in the moment, you can continue to ride every step from there on and make the rest of your ride as good as it can be.

Leave Out the Emotions; Assume the Best

Have you ever watched someone severely reprimand a horse for a transgression and thought that the rider or handler actually enjoyed getting angry and correcting his or her horse? This is the behavior of an amateur, and it shouldn’t be emulated or admired.

Advanced horse riders are able to separate their emotions from their corrections. They can make corrections without anger, embarrassment, frustration, or other negative emotions. It is done in a matter-of-fact “I’m looking for this, not that” sort of mind-set, with the intention of helping the horse understand rather than forcing him to comply.

When you need to correct your horse, think of it in the same way as correcting a child, which you would do calmly, considerately, and clearly, instead of with escalating anger, a raised voice, and pumping adrenaline. Taking emotions out of corrections can go a long way in training. Your horse stays in a willing mind set, ready to try what you ask, and you are able to evaluate what he is offering and reward him for his efforts.

If you make a mistake, don’t dwell on it. Do what this rider is doing: Move on and make the rest of your ride as good as it can be.

Here, a rider makes corrections in a helpful, matter-of-fact way, rather than letting her emotions get the best of her.

You may have noticed that you’d rather spend time with people who assume the best rather than those who assume the worst and with those who have positive outlooks rather than those who whine and complain. Wouldn’t our horses appreciate this, too?

The next time you’re at the barn, listen to what other riders say and how they say it. How many of them compile long lists of what their horses are doing wrong (and how it’s usually the horses’ faults) and complain about how this or that trick or behavior could be better? You might be surprised at how negative the comments can get!

The power of positive thinking is a proven approach to many areas of life, so why not apply it to your horsemanship? Instead of looking for everything that’s wrong or bad, start looking for the good that you and your horse are doing, then build on that. Often, the more you concentrate on the good and the less energy you spend on the bad, the more likely it is that, over time, the good outweighs the not-so-good. After a while, you may even look back and realize that the problems you used to have are now gone.

Perhaps you can’t do a perfect walk-lope departure yet. That’s OK. Do the jog-lope transition you’re really good at and occasionally try a walk-lope transition. If it’s not perfect, don’t make a big deal out of it; just keep going. Over time, it’s highly likely that you will eventually find yourself doing a pretty good departure because you didn’t make such a fuss over the less-than-perfect one.

If your horse isn’t doing what you think you’re asking, treat him like a friend and assume the best rather than the worst. Assume he doesn’t understand or is confused. Perhaps he’s not able to do what you’re asking because he’s not physically developed or coordinated enough yet. Or he may be trying to tell you that he’s in pain. Doesn’t considering this perspective of what’s happening different from the automatic assumption that he’s being disobedient, willful, or resistant? He may be avoiding doing what you ask but with good reason, according to his thought process.

Instead of dwelling on the negatives, this rider is focusing on what her horse is doing well.

If your horse doesn’t do what you ask, also take a look at how you’re asking. Break the request down into smaller pieces and see if this works.

There are no limits to the ways in which you can improve as you seek to advance your skills and those of your horse. To do so, it helps to reframe the areas needing improvement, not as bad or negative behaviors but simply as areas you need to work on together.

Be Consistent

Many cartoons have depicted horses plotting ways to make us angry, to embarrass us in front of friends, or to make us look incompetent in front of judges. In reality, a horse’s actions usually are not directed toward the rider. He is merely doing what he has found to be correct in similar situations, based on your teachings (or someone else’s). Or he is doing what he thinks is going to help him at that moment.

Your horse’s actions may be the result of miscommunication. Something he considers correct behavior but which you don’t—such as dragging you along to get to a few sprigs of grass—may be behavior you have inadvertently created and rewarded by inconsistently responding whenever he offered this behavior in the past. We are training our horses every moment we are with them. We just may not be teaching them the behaviors we think we are.

It’s consistency—having the same expectations and rules every day, all of the time, no matter what—that helps our horses to learn what’s expected of them and to behave the way we would like them. Being consistent with our horses sounds simple and obvious, doesn’t it? However, it’s all too easy to let our consistency waver. Just imagine yourself in the following scenario and see if you find any similarities to your daily interactions with your horse:

Consider this scenario: As you lead your horse in from the pasture, he crowds you and even scoots ahead, making circles around you. Your mind may be on your upcoming lesson, so you just get out of his way, and the two of you keep up this circular dance all the way to the barn. The next day, you bring your horse in as usual. However, on this day, you are upset. Perhaps your boss blamed you for something that wasn’t your fault, and you’re still steaming about it. Your horse acts exactly as he did the day before: He crowds you, scoots ahead, and makes a circle. This time, you are having none of it. You slap him on the chest and yank his lead rope. After all, he should know better than to do this.

This horse is just being a horse—snatching some grass. His actions aren’t meant to personally irritate the rider.

Who’s being inconsistent here? Your horse is just doing what you allowed on the day before; you taught him that it was acceptable. Then, twenty-four hours later, you changed the rules, but he didn’t know that. He’s not likely leading this way to be naughty; you haven’t set consistent standards and maintained the parameters whenever you’re together—all of the time, no matter what.

Horses are steady creatures, and they thrive on positive consistency. If you are consistent with your horse day in and day out, he’ll know what to expect and what is allowed and not allowed. Because of your consistency and levelheadedness, your horse will start seeing you as a leader he can put his trust in. You may be able to get his attention by smacking him, but, at that point, you’ve stopped being a leader and are just reacting to a behavior.

What should you do if your horse has a behavior that you know you’ve helped create but now want to get rid of? Isn’t this also changing the rules and being inconsistent? Won’t it be confusing or disconcerting to your horse, even upsetting to him?

This is a good observation. You have horses because you enjoy being around them, and you want them to enjoy being around you. There’s nothing wrong with this; the mutual enjoyment of each other’s company is a good mind-set to cultivate. Problems can arise when you interact with your horse based on whether he will like you.

For example: You may feed him treats and allow him to overeagerly snuffle your pockets, which leads to nipping. Or perhaps you don’t consistently ask him to give you a certain amount of space, which leads to him inadvertently running into you. Over time, your horse may see the pocket searching and crowding behaviors as acceptable, and perhaps even wanted, because you are not indicating otherwise. If you try to correct these behaviors, your horse may very well act a little put out and unhappy with you and your new rules.

Keep your rules fair and considerate, be consistent and calm when enforcing them, and don’t second-guess yourself. Before long, your horse will accept the new rules and be fine with them. Your horse will like you and will be happy to see you when you have proven to him that you are fair, consistent, levelheaded, matter-of-fact, and appreciative of his efforts.

Feel Free to Make Mistakes

Even professional trainers make mistakes with their horses from time to time; they just tend to make fewer mistakes simply because they have more experience. Over time, you also will develop the feel, timing, and awareness to know when to quit for the day, when to press for just a little more effort, and when to switch to another task.

Let’s say you’ve been working on walk-lope transitions, and you just nailed one. Your horse is round, soft, happy, and carrying himself well in a balanced lope. You’re grinning at how great the transition was—no swishing tail, no cranky ears. Your horse just collected himself and stepped into the lope without any hesitation.

Even though there’s a little voice inside you telling you to end the day on that perfect note, you ignore it. The transition was so perfect, you want to do it again and be sure it wasn’t a fluke. You bring your horse back down to a walk, wait a few strides, then cue again for the lope. This time, he swishes his tail, raises his head, and takes two strides of jog before loping.

Well, you think you can’t end on that sour note, so you regroup and try again. This time it’s even worse. Now your horse is tight and a little crabby, and you’re really angry at yourself for pushing him through this and negating the perfect transition he gave you ten minutes ago.

This is a perfect example of the consequences of making a poor decision. Would it have been better if you’d simply quit for the day after the flawless transition? To be honest: Yes, that would have been the best decision.

However, living in the past and regretting your actions doesn’t help you or your horse. The good news is that horses are pretty resilient and forgiving of honest mistakes. When you make a mistake, move on and be gentle to yourself and your horse. Embrace your mistakes and learn from them, but try your best not to repeat them in the future!

Be fair and considerate when you interact with your horse, and he will be happy to see you.

Horses without a confident, decisive rider may demonstrate unwanted behaviors such as rearing, as shown here, out of a feeling of insecurity.

If you’re working with your horse and nothing seems to be going right or your work is taking a downward spiral, stop and take a deep breath. You may want to dismount and take a break. You can even just call it quits for the day. There’s no harm in starting over again the next day with a calm, fresh mind. In fact, this approach can help you get to your goal faster than if you were to push through and cause a fight.

You may have heard that you have to win every time you’re with your horse and that he must always do what you’re asking. You also may have heard that he will learn to take advantage of you if you quit before he complies. Actually, you’ll have more ground to make up if you lose your temper and push through an issue or if you frighten your horse and cause him to lose confidence in you. Then you’ll have to go back, fix these issues, and regain lost trust later.

It’s better to approach training at your horse’s pace. Slow down when you feel he’s getting confused or frustrated. By working calmly through an issue, you will figure it out in a way that makes sense to you and your horse.

It can also be helpful to remember that, as with any long-term endeavor, your progress in riding may sometimes feel as if you take two steps forward and one step back. That’s OK; you’re still making progress! Take heart that the learning process isn’t always a straight trajectory. In fact, learning is often taking place during the difficult phases; you just can’t see it yet.

Be Confident and Decisive

Generally speaking, you’ll be fine if you are confident that what you’re asking of your horse is within reason and within his capabilities, that you are acting with your horse’s best interests in mind, and that you and your horse will be OK.

Problems can arise when you start doubting yourself and not following through on decisions. You may also become so paralyzed at the fear of doing something wrong that you end up doing nothing at all. These two scenarios can result in undesirable behaviors from your horse.

If you provide no direction or you waffle about what you’re asking for, your horse might react to your lack of confidence in a variety of ways. He may start making the decisions because he feels safer doing so. He may react explosively to small concerns because he’s not confident you can help him. He may stop doing anything you ask because you lack conviction and he’s not going to do all the work himself. These are just a few of the results that can stem from your lack of confidence or direction.

So make a decision and act on it. If it doesn’t work out the way you wanted, you can always try something different. The important thing is to have confidence in your decision and to move forward.

Practice Being the Person You Want to Be

Who you are in the saddle is the same as who you are out of the saddle. For example, if you spend your day feeling harried and stressed from working at a demanding job and sitting hunched in front of a computer, and if you are unfocused with your family and aggressive toward other drivers on the commute, you’ll bring at least some of these traits with you when you work with your horse. It’s just not possible to flip a switch and become a calm, considerate, patient, thinking person when you go to the barn and saddle up if you don’t practice these traits in the other hours of your day.

If you tend to be angry and uptight, practice being more considerate and understanding of the people (and animals) around you. If you tend to finish other people’s sentences and rush to conclusions, practice being quiet and listening. If you tend to be aggressive, practice being just assertive instead. And if you tend to be passive, practice being a little more assertive. The end result will be well worth it.

Have Fun

It’s a fair guess that you got into the horse hobby because you thought it would be fun. Whether your goals were trail riding, showing, or cattle work, the thought of spending time with a good horse made you happy.

As you become more advanced and seek to continually improve your skills or even start competing, you may find, surprisingly, that you’re having less fun. This may be because you’ve set higher goals or because you expect more from yourself and your horse than you did in the past.

Goals and expectations are good things, but it may be time to take a step back if you find yourself becoming overly serious and not having as much fun as you used to. Sometimes, when things don’t seem to go right, it may mean that you’re trying too hard. And if you’re not having much fun, chances are that your horse isn’t having a great time, either!

Try backing off a little. Just spend time enjoying your horse. Go for a trail ride. Treat him to a great grooming session. Forget your agenda and goals for a few days, and see if you can’t regain the joy you felt when you first started riding.

You may find that, when you keep your dedication to improvement but let go of the all-or nothing approach, you actually progress further and more quickly because the unnecessary pressure is gone. Go ride and smile! There’s no better way to spend time than with your horse.