Down Time (or Lameness Blues)

When you can't ride due to a lameness issue, use this opportunity to work on things you don't normally take the time to address. It may not be as exhilarating as a good ride, but can have big pay-offs down the road.

Ground manners are so important for the safety and well being of everyone who is ever called on to handle your horse. If your horse isn't on complete stall rest, and is capable of low level exercise like hand-walking, you can work on mannerly leading. That term covers quite a lot of situations.

1) Does your horse keep pace with you and walk beside you respectfully? Not crowding you, hanging back, or walking ahead?
--I like to play a version of red-light-green-light with my horse. Once he's well enough to do some easy jogging, you can step up the pace of the game.

2) Can you carry a bucket of feed in your free hand while leading your horse, and will he/she still lead respectfully?
--Don't feed from that bucket during the exercise. If you do intend to use that feed for your horse, set the bucket down and lead your horse away from it to a place where you can tie or pen your horse. Then pour the feed from that bucket into a different feeding container before allowing the horse to feed. If you have a real problem with this, start with a bucket that has a lid before moving on to an open-top bucket. I develop a twitch in my elbow during this type of exercise. My horse never knows when that twitchy elbow of mine will poke out at him, so he keeps his nose at a respectful distance.

3) Will your horse back up from a few twitches of the lead rope, making it easy for you to lead him through gates that must be opened and closed?
--This is a classic natural horsemanship exercise. If you're not familiar with it, here's a one-minute "bumper" video, as it's a lot quicker to show than to describe. I'm using a recalcitrant horse (Twister, who is as hard-headed as they come), so you can see not to expect too much in the beginning. It does take time to get your horse to respond respectfully from just a twitch. So this is a good time to practice. Once you have your horse backing up nicely, you can add backing to the red-light-green-light game as well.

Footage taken from camera on bumper of truck parked in pasture. We're pretty laid back these days.



4) Does your horse stand tied quietly?
--After hand-walking your horse, tie him and let him stand while you clean tack or do other chores, or even catch up on some reading. Be sure to leave the immediate area for short periods of time as well so you don't end up with a horse who is quiet only as long as you're present. If you have a horse with a lot of nervous energy, you may have to start with very short periods of tie-time and work your way up slowly. It helps to do all your other low-level ground training first.

If your horse is on complete stall rest, you could try some clicker training or simple pressure and release techniques to teach him to lower his head for bridling, or to pick up his feet (if he's able to do that comfortably). If you have a horse that's a bridling challenge, a stall rest period is a great time to work on that issue by bridling every day, even though he's not being ridden.

If you take this opportunity to reinforce the rules of good manners with your horse during this down-time, your friends, family members, and anyone who ever has to handle your horse will thank you for it.

Intentions

I've thought a lot about intentions over the years. A major stumbling block in human-horse communications happens because humans are so highly verbal and have lost most of their ability to think anything but words. Horses, being primarily non-verbal, are much more attuned to picking up the intentions of others through their movements, expressions, and yes, even their energy. As verbal creatures, we're very poor at reading these signs in others, but most people take notice when someone with high energy enters a room. Horses pick up on your energy the way you pick up on someone giving you a dirty look. No words necessary. As a rider, you exhibit that energy in a number of different ways, from the way you breathe to your posture as you sit in the saddle. Leaning forward, sitting back, slumping, or stiffening, all send signals to your horse, usually without the knowledge of the sender. So even though you may be consciously sending your horse a signal to move forward and to the right with your reins and your leg, your horse may be receiving conflicting signals of your intentions from your posture and your energy. It's not as crazy as it sounds. The next time your horse doesn't want to move forward, try making a mental note to yourself of how you're sitting and where you're LOOKING when your horse balks. Are you looking down at your hands? At your horse's ears? At the object on the ground you want to avoid? Or are you looking off in the distance to where you intend to take your horse? What are you thinking? Are there a tumult of words flowing through your brain? Or are you picturing your horse moving forward, imagining the feeling of forward motion, with the feel of the breeze in your face? No, horses can't read your mind, but they can read intentions -- by feel.


Here's an example. My horse Twister becomes terribly herd bound. I don't know that he's really lacking in self assuredness so much as that he doesn't think the herd can survive without him.  (I don't think he knows he's gelded.) So when trying to ride Twister away from the pasture where "his" mares are in danger of consorting with other geldings, I would run into some difficulty. Generally, a lot of balking, spinning, and even a little popping up in front, but usually, just refusal to move forward in a "departing" direction. One morning as I sat there cursing him, I suddenly realized I was falling into the trap I used to warn my students about:  I was looking down.  I immediately corrected myself and looked off into the distance--and being an extremely verbal creature and practically incapable of thinking in anything but words--I said aloud, "Look at that tree over there Twister; let's go see that tree!" (Mind you, I was looking at the tree, and by speaking the words, I changed my own energy.) Like magic, he started moving forward. It was a wonderful moment. I know better than to look down, but it's so easy to fall into that trap.

Works for more than horses too.

Where do you intend to go? Picture it -- LOOK at it. INTEND it. Your energy changes when you do that.

With horses, your balance (seat) changes too, when you look where you're going rather than where you already are (which is what you're doing when you look down). Have you ever thought your horse was stupid for walking right into that wire that you were staring at and trying to steer your horse around? You were the one who directed him right to that wire by focusing on it. (I think some folks call that sef-fulfilling prophesy.)

I used to say to students, "If you're looking at your horse's ears, he's leading you around by the nose." Where do you intend to go? If you're staring at his ears, you're not sending him anywhere but where he's already at, and you're a follower, not a leader. Look ahead; project your intentions to go up the road, up the rail, across  the arena, over to that tree, through that water--but don't look AT the water--look BEYOND it!

Slowing Down Time

I love working with horses because it makes you slow down and take your time. I rush through the rest of my life, and then I stop and breathe, and wait, and listen, and watch, and think about it . . .when I get with my horse.

I wasn’t always that way. I used to try to hurry and get saddled up so I’d have time to ride. Now I don’t worry about whether I have time to ride or not. If I do, I do. If not, maybe I’ll just do a good job of grooming for a change, instead of that hurry-up-and-brush-the-part-where-the-saddle-goes. Or I might just turn him out and sit and watch him for a while — or clean out my junk box — or get the rasp out and rasp his feet. There’s always plenty of chores to do around a horse that take up a bit of time, and it's important to enjoy the time you spend around your horse doing other things as much as the time you spend riding.

If I’m going to ride –I don’t want to be pressed for time. I might get into a situation where I need to work through something with my horse and we can’t work through it if I’m in a hurry. Little things can become big problems just from folks being in a hurry. Like bridling. How many times have you seen someone trying to bridle a horse who puts his head way up in the air? That’s usually because the horse has been bridled by a lot of folks who’ve been in a hurry. I always act like I’ve got all day when I’m bridling a horse. If he’s an avoider, it may take quite a while, but if he’s convinced I’m going to be there all day to get it done, he’s much more likely to acquiesce sooner than later. If he thinks I’m going to give up pretty soon, he’s more likely to hang in there ‘cause he figures he’ll win. And I don’t ever worry about whether I’ll have time to ride, ‘cause I figure we’ll just do bridling today instead. And maybe that’s all we’ll do that day, but then I don’t have that problem with that horse anymore. It’s so worth the time. Plus, I have more than a feeling of accomplishment when we’re done, but also a feeling of satisfaction, and well being — all of which more often than not are missing from the hurried part of my life.