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Training ~ Support ("Printer Friendly" version of this page) |
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When a horse is afraid or startled, you want their first reaction to be to look to you for what to do, this is the concept of support. You don’t want them to run into you or through you to flee from whatever "spooked" them. If a horse has your respect and looks to you for support, they will first look to see if the noise or movement creates a reaction in you – if you are calm they will be calm. If your first reaction is to get "big", grab the lead rope or rein you should expect that the horse will over-react too. Support is more than just getting your horse to perform or respond. Support is a direct by-product of your mental attitude, posture, and timing in a given situation. By attitude I mean, what are your expectations of the horse in this situation. If you think that your horse will refuse, stop or hesitate -- it probably will. And your attitude carries over to your posture. Think about it, a down/dejected attitude by you is a sign of uncertainty. Your shoulders are down, you sit lower in the saddle, and your reactions are slower. The horse senses these things too. Your posture is telling your horse to slow down, stop, or fail. You are inadvertently training your horse to balk or hesitate. In contrast, an upbeat/can do attitude is projected to the horse in your posture with confidence. You carry yourself with your shoulders up, back straight, ready to react. Your horse can sense this too. A horse can feel a fly land on his neck, what makes you think they can’t tell the difference in your posture? Timing is related to anticipation of the horses next move. Do you think that your horse may slow or stop in the corner of an arena? Well, then why don’t you do something about it and keep the energy level up. Drive the horse through the corner with your seat if you think they may hesitate. This applies to any situation were you anticipate the horse may not perform – be an active participant, do something about it! A good example of support would be getting your horse to cross a river or stream. If you just "go along for the ride" and approach the water with a green or untrained horse -- chances are, the horse will stop or hesitate. Your responsibility as the rider is to support the horse through this situation. What does that mean? Well, you should anticipate "new" situations or experiences. In this case you should anticipate that the horse may stop or hesitate and you should drive the horse through the water with energy in your seat. Another example would be jumping over a log, the same logic applies here too. If you approach the log with the attitude/posture that you can’t do it, the horse will probably refuse to jump. If you approach this situation with the attitude that you and the horse are going to jump, you will. You can support a horse through just about any situation if you have the proper attitude, posture, and timing. How would you react if someone threw you a beach ball while you were on your horse? Would you immediately tense up and grab the reins so the horse wouldn’t run away? While that may seem like the right thing to do, you would be teaching your horse to over react to this situation. What you should do is relax, remain calm, pet your horse and show them that this is no big deal. Through positive exposure to new situations you can teach your horse to be dead calm. Sure they may get nervous, but unless you have done your ground work you shouldn’t be on the horse. |
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