Anticipation
Approach & Retreat
Bending
Bits
Buying a Horse
Common Sense on the Trail
Curb Strap Tying Info.
Exaggeration
Expectations
Feel
Feet
Focus & Time
Ground Driving
Ground Manners
Ground Tying
Haltering
In the Saddle
Introducing a New Horse
Lateral Movement
Leading
Longeing
Mecate Reins
One Rein Stop
Posture
Pressure
The Process
Progress Strings
Punishment & Correction
Reins
Respect
Reward
Round/Square Pen
Rope Skills
Senses
Slobber Straps
Softness
Support
Tools
Training Home
Training Stick
Trust
Trailer Loading
Trailer Unloading
Tying from Above
Tying a rope halter
Visualization
Yielding

Thinking ahead of your horse is a skill that will help your training. When you're working with your horse and you see or feel something that might cause an impending reaction (positive or negative) you should cue into this so that you can be ready to take advantage of the situation. If you are the kind of person who drives through town and can speed up or slow down your car to match the traffic lights (assuming your town has a traffic light!) you already know how to anticipate a situation.

For example, if you were walking down a trail that had a large puddle of water in it, think about what options the young or green horse has:

1). Walk through the puddle of water.
2). Jump over the water.
3). Walk around the water.
4). Spin and go the other direction.
5.) Stop
6). None of the above.

And you, as the leader, have these options:

1). Anticipate the puddle and support your horse through the situation.
2). Get nervous, pull back on the reins and make a big deal out of the situation.
3). Let the horse walk around the water.
4). Just sit there and let the horse decide what to do.
5). None of the above.

As you know, the correct answers would be: Walk through the puddle of water, and anticipate the puddle and support your horse through the situation. The point being, you just never know what the young horse is going to do in every situation. Every experience that you have with your horse has options for both you and the horse. You need to be able to consider (anticipate) what those options are, think about possible outcomes and then support your horse to the desired outcome. Know what you want to do before you get into a situation where you have to make split second decisions.

Even a calm horse that is dead broke will falter once in a while. You need to anticipate when these types of things are likely to occur and be ready. We were out trail riding near Mt. St. Helens and my horse stepped on a bee's nest. I was riding in a rope halter with a very loose rein. The bees started stinging my horse on the legs and face. The horse’s first reaction was to spin and get the heck out of there. My reaction was to drive her forward (and get the heck out of there). This was a bad situation in a good place, the trail was wide and there was plenty of room to maneuver safely. We had just come off a trail that had a 200 foot drop off the side. My first reaction, not to over react and support the horse through the situation made a potential big deal into something smaller.

Don’t dwell on negative things – turn them into something positive. If you never do something because your afraid or nervous, you’ll never get the horse to experience those things that will help them through its fear. If your horse is afraid of cows (we see this a lot with "city horses") and you won’t go near a cow because of this. What are you going to do if you come across a cow and absolutely have to go by it? You need to challenge your horse and support him through these types of situations. If you know what your horse’s weaknesses are, work on them. A brave horse is a predictable horse.

Your horse wants you to be predictable and consistent. You don’t want to be uncertain or inconsistent and cause your horse to question what you’re asking. For example, if you get into a situation, such as the example of the puddle of water (above), and you opt to let the horse spin and get out of the job. What happens the next time that you come across the puddle? Do you try to get the horse to go forward but let him go around the puddle of water or do you try to work the horse to go through the puddle this time? What’s going to happen when you come across a puddle of water in the future? You wouldn’t know because you’ve been inconsistent with your responses in each of these situations. With training and experience, you can make situations such as the puddle reliable. Your job is to be consistent and support your horse through these experiences. You have the option to either think about what’s happening or just bounce along and let the horse take you for a ride – your choice!

Next Concept: Respect