FALCON CREEK FARM NEWSLETTER

(December 2003)

MOLE HILLS TO MOUNTAINS

How many times have you thought about the particular problems you have with your horse and wonder how those problems got there in the first place? Ever wonder why your horse ignores you, walks ahead in front of you while being lead, tries to graze while being lead or ridden, swings around into you while being groomed or is more interested in everything else going on around him instead of paying attention to you? There are a myriad of problems that can develop between you and your horse and some of them can get quite out of hand or become downright dangerous. Many of these problems most likely started out as small, imperceptible, behavior modifications the horse developed over time that were actually encouraged by the handlers, although, they were most likely not aware of it. Yes, many people actually encourage their horse to “misbehave” or disrespect them. How can that happen? Don’t we all want perfectly behaved horses?

Any time, and I mean ANY time, you are around or working with your horse, he is constantly reading you, trying to figure out where he fits within your hierarchy and what he can and can’t do. This is true even when you are not actually touching, handling or riding the horse. In many ways, they are just like kids. He is always aware of you, where you are, what you are doing and what might be expected of him right then, and even minutes later. He is always testing you, too. It’s these constant daily behaviors we display to our horses that encourage, or discourage, certain behaviors from our horses. Consistency (or lack of it) is a big factor in the results we see (or don’t see).

For example, if you do not let your horse eat grass while leading him out to the arena to ride, but then, every now and then, you do allow him to graze because you stop to talk to someone and let him eat while you are talking; when does the horse know he’s allowed to graze? The answer is that he doesn’t. He has to guess. This is when he starts to guess if he is allowed, without your permission. If he gets away with it, even just once, he will always try, just in case you decide to give in and let him. Now you have a horse on your hands that will pull and drag you wherever he wants to go. See how easy it is to can train a horse to do that?

Another example of creating bad behaviors is through the use of hand-fed treats. Feeding treats by hand seems like a nice thing to do, after all, you love your horse and want to give him something he likes, right? Makes you feel good? Give a horse a few treats and he will want more. When a horse wants more, he usually does something, like paw, kick or dance around to make sure that you see him and that he has sufficiently made his desires clear. When you give him another treat, in hopes of calming him down or making him feel better, all you have done is re-enforce the pawing, kicking and dancing around. Now, every time he wants a treat, all he has to do is act up and chances are good he will get one. Now you have a horse that is on his way to becoming dangerous and destructive.

Here is yet another example of creating a bad behavior: Many people bring their horse into the barn after riding and promptly unsaddle him and then feed him. What undesirable behavior do you think that encourages? Right……pretty soon, when you take him out to ride, he will always be taking you over to the arena gate or back to the barn. The best way to prevent this type of behavior is to tie the horse up for at least a half hour after riding and before feeding.

Most of these bad behaviors our horses learn are intuitively obvious to us with respect to how they were created, but many times we cannot see what we are creating with our own behavior and how it influences our horses.

Just as it takes consistency and time to train a horse to do something we want him to do, it also works in reverse by “teaching” him something we don’t want. Take time to examine your daily routine and your daily interactions with your horse and you may be surprised at what you find. You might find something you can change in yourself that will ultimately lead to a change in your horse’s behavior.

Happy Riding!!!

Comments and feedback are always welcome!

Leslie @

Falcon Creek Farm

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