riding – Horse Listening

Too Good To Be True? Finding Your Horse’s “Happy Place”

Did you know that through riding, you can help your horse achieve a happy, content outlook on life? Sounds ridiculously far-fetched? Too good to be true?

We have already discussed the Top Nine Ways to Prevent Your Horse From Finding His “Happy Place” in Riding in our previous post - so this time, we're going to tell you how to find the "happy place" we all so desire for our horses.* The ideas below are written with riding in mind.**

Try a few of these tips and see the results you get from your horse. Then comment below and share your insights.

The outside of the horse mirrors his internal state.

Horses don't lie. Without a doubt, you can clearly "read" how the horse feels just by watching him being ridden (or riding him yourself - then, you get even more feedback). Essentially, the horse's "outline" tells you his state of mind. Of course, you need to know what to look for, but once you can identify the communication signs, you will know exactly what is going on inside the mind of the horse.

A round, forward-moving, enthusiastic horse is in his happy place. His ears will be lightly forward (occasionally flicking back and forth on and off his rider) and he will be moving with expression. He looks like he is enjoying what he is doing, and moving on his own initiative.

In contrast, the unhappy horse is reluctant, sluggish, ears back (not necessarily pinned), and looking like the movement is belabored. The strides are short, the back is hollow and the horse is not "using" himself well enough to be comfortable under the rider. He will have a tendency to be on the forehand, and inconsistently responsive.

Have a consistent "yes" and "no".

Horses are just like the rest of us: they thrive on positive feedback. In establishing your riding parameters, you must communicate "yes" (harmonizing) and "no" (resisting) regularly and consistently. In fact, you might need to communicate one or the other message as quickly as stride to stride! Be sure to communicate frequently enough so that your horse won't end up wondering - what am I doing wrong?

Many riders use a low, soft "goooood" voice aid to reinforce the correct response from the horse, however, the same effect can be gained by saying "yes" through the body. If you can find a "yes" answer physically (release of your joints, following through the seat versus resisting, or allowing through all your aids), you can communicate the "yes" message faster than you can say it. And this is the way your horse can find his happy place - because he knows where he stands and gets regular and consistent feedback quickly enough to be able to respond to it and find his place of comfort.

Listen for the snort and feel for the licking and chewing.

There is no more obvious sign of the horse in his happy place other than the snort. A little snort is a good sign, a loud, wet, heart-felt series of snorts that rock you out of the saddle is ideal! (Have a snorting contest with your riding partner: who can be the first to get a snort out of their horse? Who can get the most snorts out of their horse?!)

In general, after the snort session, you will find the horse licking and chewing like he just ate something exquisite and tasty - and yes, the horse can do all the above even while trotting and cantering. The final sign of contentment is the saliva that coats around the lips of the horse. A dry mouth usually denotes discomfort or stress of some sort; drool is a key indicator of "happy place" heaven!

Do something fun!

When the "learning" part of your session is over, or if you want to take a brief reprieve after a difficult stretch of work, let the horse do something he likes. One horse might enjoy a stretchy trot; another prefers a lengthen; still another gets a kick (not literally!) out of a flying change! Every horse has one or more favorite exercises - listen carefully to your horse to identify his preference, and then use that movement as a moment of celebration!

Look for any excuse to celebrate!

Everyone loves a celebration! Don't leave your horse out - invite him to celebrate with you at every opportunity; in fact, look for excuses to celebrate! Did he just struggle through a particularly difficult movement? Celebrate! Did he lick and chew and release his topline for the first time in the ride? Celebrate!

I'm sure you're starting to get the idea. Let me know if you gave any of these tips a try, or if you have any other "happy place" tips you can share. Happy riding!

* The assumption is that all the other bare necessities (feed, shelter, etc.) as discussed in the previous article have already been met.

** Note: The "happy place" discussed here is the one your horse can find in the ring, during the lesson/workout/training session. There are many other ways to change up the routine (e.g. go for a trail ride) but that is a completely different topic!

Read our guest post on www.proequinegrooms.com

Horse Listening was invited to do a guest post on www.proequinegrooms.com - read to see our "listening" twist to grooming (and lost more good info on the site too)!

Click here: Zen and the Art of Grooming

************************

Don’t miss a single issue of Horse Listening! If you like what you are reading, become a subscriber and receive updates when new Horse Listening articles are published! Your email address will not be used on any other distribution list. Subscribe to Horse Listening by Email

Top Nine Ways to Prevent Your Horse From Finding His “Happy Place” in Riding

9. Withdraw regular "creature" comforts:

Don't provide shelter and blanketing; don't worry if he gets cold or shivers or overheats - for horses should be out in all elements as they are "creatures of the wild". Ignore the effects of the elements. Above all, pay no attention to tight backs and any signs of physical discomfort.

8. Don't provide nutritional feed and definitely not at regular time intervals.

Worry not about tight flanks, the signs of hunger (pacing, anxiety, pawing) or the lone horse that is regularly kicked off the hay in the field. Ignore any signs of ulcers/malnutrition/lack of worming. Feed only when you have the time - the horses won't die without hay over the course of several hours! Loss of weight and condition means nothing with regards to the riding capacity of the horse.

7. Ignore tack and physical discomforts.

Any saddle is fine - get the cheapest one you can find, especially those "all in one" kits that are on sale for a price that even you can't believe! Use any girth/cinch you can find - if there is a girth gall, just slap on some ointment. Don't worry too much about the length and angles of the hooves - long, low toes might cause your horse to trip a little, but just kick the horse on when that happens.

6. Avoid a regular exercise routine

Life is busy - ride only when you have nothing better to do. Ride at different times on the days you do ride and certainly don't concern yourself with developing a training routine for your warm-up and cool-down.

5. Ride the same way over and over again...

... especially if you are running into problems. Repeat your aids and make them stronger until at some point, the horse finally gives in. It's too much trouble to try something new or improve your own riding skills. If you never "get through" to the horse, or if he becomes too dangerous to ride, sell him. Buy another one with a higher tolerance for your riding techniques.

4. Don't bother taking riding lessons.

Once you know how to stay on and steer and stop, the sky is the limit! Believe in the old adage, "What you don't know won't hurt you." Riding lessons are expensive and only serve to confuse and irritate.

3. Don't use half-halts.

Ignore your horse's complaints about being off-balance. Some horses tolerate being on the forehand better than others; buy those and ride them until they go lame. If the horse is repeatedly lame, sell him off and buy another.

2. Be inconsistent with your aids.

Keep the horse guessing at all times. Instead of learning to work with the horse, make him be the only active partner. Keep changing things up so that he doesn't know when he is right or wrong, and avoid putting in the hard work it takes to develop a kind hand and an informed seat.

1. Don't listen to your horse.

Do your best to ignore your horse's body language, especially if the "feedback" is negative. Also avoid the input of other people who might be concerned for your horse's welfare.

***********************

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy the following:

Speaking "Horse" (a.k.a. "Pushing the Envelope")

What You Ought to Know About Instant Gratification in Horse Riding

6 Ways to Unleash the Power of Your Riding Seat

Stepping “Forward” in Horse Riding

The term 'forward' is used liberally in horse riding but is often misunderstood. We tend to think a horse is forward when the legs are moving and the horse is flying along - but this picture is far from the truth. So if forward is not an increase in tempo (the speed of the footfalls), then what is it?

Imagine a mother/father and child walking along holding hands. There can be several variations in this scene:

- both parent and child are walking along in tandem, progressing through space at a mutually accepted pace, reaching for each other's hand willingly and confidently

- the child is pulling ahead of the parent, thereby pulling the parent off his/her feet

- the child is pulling behind the parent, thereby causing the parent to slow down/stop

- the child is pulling sideways from the parent but the parent isn't letting go; this causes the parent to be dragged left/right, again causing a disturbance in the progression

The only 'forward' scenario is the first. The parent and child move along in tandem while holding hands, matching stride for stride and walking/running in a cooperative, mutually beneficial manner.

Similarly, when a horse is 'forward', it is reaching ahead of itself, gamely assuming a forward space each stride, reaching confidently to the bit, and showing a calm, confident, round and overall happy and willing demeanor. The horse can reach forward for the bit in the same way that a child offers his hand to be taken. Of course, the hand of the rider must be as accepting and gentle as the hand of the parent, inspiring the horse to want to reach even more and settle into a comfortable "happy place".

A horse can be forward while slowly progressing through space - so speed is not a variable in being forward. In fact, a horse can be moving backward and still be 'forward'! Confused yet?!

Even though being 'forward' is primarily a secretly hidden feeling kept between the horse and rider, you can actually see 'forward'. (Click here to tweet that)

What does it look like?

- the horse is round, calm and athletic looking: it appears as though the horse can stop/turn/change gait at a moment's notice

- the horse has soft (not perky), forward ears; it looks like he is eagerly moving to somewhere he wants to go

- the hind legs are freely reaching deep underneath the body (as far as conformation allows)

- there is a sense of graceful power; the horse can float into upward or downward transitions without losing balance

- the horse is off the forehand; he is neither heavy on the hands and heading into the ground nor is he hollow-backed with a 'giraffe neck' sticking upward at an awkward angle

- the tempo of the gait is strong, powerful, supple and almost leisurely - there is no scrambling for speed nor does the horse look like it's stuck in quicksand

- most importantly, the horse looks to be comfortable, confident and enjoying the moment

Realistically speaking, we spend most of our riding time NOT being in a forward state. Many factors contribute to a horse being 'backward' including rushing/being lazy, scary spots (spooking), distractions, uneven footing, and even the mood of the horse or the rider. In fact, being forward results in an improved psychological and physical state - for both the rider and the horse.

Do you have a better word for it? How would you describe being 'forward'?

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – Book 4: 20-Minute Exercises To Add Variety To Your Riding Routine

Stop wandering round and round aimlessly!

Horse Listening Book 4 is a compilation of the best patterns that have been shared on the Horse Listening Blog. The book is divided into five sections: Warm-Ups, Left and Right, Straightness, Suppleness and Collection. Each section has specific exercises and theory based on its topic.

But there's more!

There is a Special Center Section dedicated to only Transitions - something that we can all work on throughout our riding careers. And finally, scattered throughout the book are chapters that clearly explain theory, technique and skills that can help improve the featured exercises of teach Section.

Use these 20-minute exercises!

Available as an eBook or paperback.

Muscle Memory Matters in Horse Riding

Malcolm Gladwell put forth a theory in 2008, in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success that sounds to be entirely relevant to us horse riders. In it, he proposes that it takes 10,000 hours of practice in any task to become exceptionally good at something.

That breaks down to approximately 3 hours per day over a course of ten years. He goes on to explain that it's not just about having talent - less talented people can progress beyond their more talented counterparts through repeated, directed practice.

Another key component to his theory is that one must be in the right place, at the right time, in order to achieve one's highest potential for success. In the horse sense, I have always thought of this as being influenced by the right people at the right time - preferably very early in your riding career so that the correct muscle memory can be created early on (we know how hard it is to undo bad habits - especially physical ones!).

Although not everyone agrees with Gladwell's theory, and the criticism is that he makes broad generalizations based on a relatively small amount of data, I suspect there is something to be said about regular practice. It does not take a genius to recognize that repeating a skill tends to develop the skill.

This could be especially relevant to riding horses, as there are so many small muscle contractions that act within split-seconds in order for us to keep ourselves in the saddle and moving in tandem with the horse. Anyone who has ridden for even a short time can attest to the development of 'muscle memory', or blueprinting.

Things just become easier with practice. Once upon a time you thought you'd never be able to perform a movement, but with regular determined repetition, one day you discover that it just happens. Somehow, you do not even have to think about the movement and your body just performs.

Yes, I imagine that if I could squeeze in three hours of riding a day, I would get to my goal of being efficient and effective in the saddle much quicker. This certainly holds true for riding, as well as anything in life, including success at our daily jobs.

On the horse side of the equation, I have one particularly expressive horse who has distinctly TOLD me that this theory stands true for horses as well. He is the one that thrives on daily anything (insert riding, grooming, tail brushing, lunging - you name it) and if it happens that he gets a day or two off, he emphatically denies that he has ever been ridden. He tells me his slow and fast twitch muscle fibers have absolutely no memory of ever having twitched that way before...!

What do you think of this theory and how it relates to horse riding?

Don’t miss a single issue of Horse Listening! If you like what you are reading, become a subscriber and receive updates when new Horse Listening articles are published! Your email address will not be used on any other distribution list. Subscribe to Horse Listening by Email

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

Available as an eBook or paperback.

If you liked the above article, you may also enjoy these:

3D book 2 Blueprinting – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Blueprinting, in the riding sense, refers to the muscle memory that is developed in both the horse are rider. Going on “autopilot” when riding horses can be a good thing… or not!

How To Be An Active Horseback Rider (a.k.a. Riding With Intention): What do you do when your ride isn’t going as planned? How do you respond when your horse scoots out from under you, spooks at the horse-killing object, or flat out ignores you?

When “Good Enough” Just Isn’t Good Enough In Horseback Riding: We come up with all sorts of excuses to explain why we don’t want to or can’t get past the problem.

The Dynamic Dependency of Horseback Riding: Why is it that riding can become so difficult at times? In riding, nothing can be done in isolation.

Finding Your Comfortable Un-Comfort in Riding: Being uncomfortable is often a good place to be in riding.

Riding (with a capital R)

(continued from the last post)

Trot — Fantastic feeling when it all comes together!

That nagging feeling is urging you to step even deeper into the riding world. Much more awaits aside from just the mechanical steps of the horse. Below the surface level, you discover that you can in fact influence your horse beyond your wildest expectations - you realize that through riding alone, you can create the horse's attitude, comfort, self-confidence, and even the way your horse carries himself. You can affect his coat shine, muscling, the quality of his movement when he is turned out in the field.

You discover that you can be a prime factor in developing his personality.

And at this point, your riding efforts go through a transformation. You now use your technical skill to improve the horse - his way of going and his mental outlook. No longer is it sufficient to get the horse moving from point A to point B. Now, your focus changes to getting there with more balance, a little lighter on the forehand, with more enthusiasm and expression... and you search for the intangibles that become the true essence of riding.

Thus you move from the pure mechanics of riding to a soul-stirring, relationship-creating effort that involves not just a rider and a horse but two partners giving of each self to create a new whole.

This path from the lower-case 'r' to the upper-case 'R' is what keeps you coming back for more....

In the Beginning (riding)

In the beginning, you must focus all your energy on just riding. This phase includes learning all the basic skills - how to balance, how to manipulate and coordinate your various appendages, and how to use your various 'aids'.

You discover that you have a 'seat' and that it is the crux of all things in riding, and if you are lucky, you are blessed with an instructor that is willing to lunge you to develop that seat.

You learn about the gaits, the surge of energy when a horse proceeds with an upward or downward 'transition', and distinguish between your inside and outside reins and aids.

You differentiate between go and (not 'stop' but) halt.

You negotiate patterns, movements, and figures.

You graduate from the walk to the trot ('posting' and in a while, with 'diagonals'). Eventually you take your first canter steps and you wonder what the horse world has waiting for you after all these accomplishments.

You begin to jump, rein (spins, slides and stops), fly over jumps in cross-country, get 'test'ed in dressage, complete the pattern in western horsemanship or trail, run the barrels, or maybe even head for the hills during a 30-mile long competitive trail.

You develop your ability to listen to the horse, maintain safety, and be a good leader for your horse.

You might learn to jump higher, spin faster, go longer on the trail.

At this point, riding is a pleasure, a recreational sport, a chance to enjoy the company of the magnificent horse.

But at some point, you realize that there is something missing - but you can't put your finger on it. Yet the feeling continues to pick away until through some catalyst (watching someone ride, or learning something new), you take a bite out of the proverbial apple... and discover Riding (with the capital R).

(click to read on)

Ask 25 Horse People One Question….

... and you get 25 different answers!

This phenomenon is a well-known fact in the horse industry. Over the years, I've been approached time and again by people new to the horse world, in a mixed-up state of frustration and confusion. Who do they listen to? How can EVERYONE have a different way of doing something? Isn't there a 'standard' method in the industry?

New horse owners go to look for a boarding barn and discover that every barn has a different feed program, turnout routine, barn rules, and so much more. Or, they take lessons from one instructor and then watch a clinic and discover that there are many ways to train one movement. Turn the horses out 24/7 or leave them in most of the day? Ride with contact or go 'on the buckle'? There are so many extremes to horse keeping and riding, and then there are all the gray areas in-between. Where is a newbie to start?

For example, look at the variety of disciplines found in the horse world. Although every horse has four legs, a head and a tail, you find such a huge variety of activities from riding (so many sub-classifications in just riding) to driving (almost as many possibilities as riding), vaulting, ski joring (look that one up!), line/breeding classes, trick training, and so much more.

And you can't stop there. Feeding horses can be as varied and emotionally-laden as the discipline you choose. With the huge variety of 'complete feeds' as well as the old 'tried-and-true' grains, it can be hard to make a decision - especially when even in one barn, there may be as many different types of feed as there are horses!

After you get past the information overload, you will realize that the various points-of-view are in fact, often helpful and inspiring. However, you may not agree with everything everyone says, and you may find that you are attracted to certain 'types' of horse keeping and riding over others. Part of the appeal of the horse world is in fact that you can find your own niche among a variety of options that matches your wants and needs.

The trick is to find a mentor, or instructor, who is willing to take you under her wing for your first few years of horse ownership. You should find this person to be knowledgeable, competent, honest, and most of all, interested in seeing you progress into becoming a self-sufficient horse owner. This person should be willing to explain his or her reasoning and teach you how to make an informed decision among the various options. She should be willing to listen to other opinions and then capably explain why she either accepts or rejects that opinion. Finally, your mentor should be interested in seeing you grow and meet your own goals.

Try to stay with that person for some time. Switching from coach to coach will only serve to confuse you and cause a disservice to your horse. Learn all you can before heading off to "greener pastures" because although it may be tempting to jump on the next (band)wagon, too many differing opinions too early in your understanding of the horse world will cause another well known syndrome: "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing". Be sure that you stay with the person long enough to have a complete understanding, at least from their perspective.

There is another part that you must play too - you must read (books and magazines), watch videos, attend clinics and seminars, take courses, and find a good boarding barn and lesson situation that helps you acquire the knowledge you need to be a responsible, educated horse owner. In essence, you need to 'study'. No one else can do that for you.

And finally, we go back to the original question: what about the multitude of answers to that one (seemingly simple) question you asked? You have two points of reference to weigh the answer against. First, how does the answer balance with what you have learned to date (and ask your mentor for his or her opinion if you don't know). Second, just listen to your horse! He will always be honest!

What do you think?

Horses. Riding. Life.

Tag: riding

Too Good To Be True? Finding Your Horse’s “Happy Place”

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

Read our guest post on www.proequinegrooms.com

Top Nine Ways to Prevent Your Horse From Finding His “Happy Place” in Riding

Stepping “Forward” in Horse Riding

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – Book 4: 20-Minute Exercises To Add Variety To Your Riding Routine

Muscle Memory Matters in Horse Riding

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding

Riding (with a capital R)

In the Beginning (riding)

Ask 25 Horse People One Question….

Finally! The Ultimate Rider-Centered Program!

Buy the book for many more riding tips! Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding