As originally published in the Oct.
6th, 2007 issue of The New Falcon
Herald
FALCON CREEK FARM NEWSLETTER
(October 2007)
GREEN AND GREEN: NOT A GOOD MATCH
In my
years as a riding instructor, I've seen many examples of mismatched horse and
rider pairs. But the most common seems to be the novice rider and the untrained
horse.
Several
years ago, I had a neighbor who owned four older, well-trained horses. Her
young daughter had ridden these horses since she was very young, but she had
never had lessons. When she was around 14, she decided to buy a young horse and
train the horse herself. Within a couple of weeks, the horse had thrown her
several times and she had completely lost her confidence. Instead of selling
the horse to a more experienced rider, she turned him out to pasture and never
got on him again.
When
I moved, the horse was still there, 10 years old and still untrained. This
story is a good example of why "green plus green equals black and
blue," a common expression used in the horse world to describe what often
happens when an inexperienced or "green" rider pairs up with a green
horse.
A
rider and a horse that both know very little can't be expected to learn from
each other. It's like expecting two elementary school students to teach each
other a college course. Injuries often happen when the well-meaning owner
unintentionally scares the horse and the horse spooks suddenly or loses
control. An experience like this can seriously affect the confidence of both
the horse and rider. The resulting emotional scars can take longer to heal than
a physical injury because the experience has rattled the foundations of
confidence for both horse and rider, and confidence can be difficult to
replace.
If
you ask 100 people to define "green," you will probably get 100
different answers. Certainly someone who has never ridden a horse before is
"green." But "green" can also refer to a novice or beginner
rider who has some experience in the saddle, some ground handling skills and basic,
rudimentary horsemanship knowledge. An inexperienced rider does not have a
balanced seat, does not understand the nature of horses and doesn't know how to
control a horse's behavior. An inexperienced or "green-broke" horse
can be any age and has usually been trained to accept a saddle and maybe a
rider as well. But a green horse is not mentally or physically proficient with
any specific training concepts and does not respond readily to rider requests
such as yielding to rein, leg or seat pressure.
How
do you know if you are ready to ride a green horse? Even a rider who has had
several years of riding experience can still be green. Riding competency is
affected by the number of practice hours in the saddle, the number of effective
riding lessons and the rider's natural ability. Knowing when you are ready to
ride a green-broke horse may not always be accurately self-assessed. Often a
rider thinks he is more experienced than he actually is. But no matter how much
experience you have on well-trained horses, working with a green horse is a
whole different ball of wax.
Here
are some tips that will help you decide if you are ready to climb on a green
horse.
·
Ask a
qualified trainer or instructor to assess your riding and training skills.
·
Ride
horses that are more than green-broke but less experienced than the horses you
are used to.
·
Attend
or audit clinics that teach riding skills higher than your own or that teach
colt-starting. The feedback you get from them will help you find deficiencies.
·
Watch
videos or DVDs. Practice what you learn on the horse you usually ride. If you
have trouble, you aren't ready to ride a green horse.
·
Ride as
many different well-broke horses as you can. Do you see the same problems in
all of them? That is a reflection of your skill level.
When you get on a green horse for the first
time, all the usual cues you use to direct a horse won't work. An inexperienced
rider will wind up frustrated and angry, which will in turn frustrate and upset
the horse. It's a downward spiral from there. To train a horse to respond
calmly and correctly to your legs, seat, hands and weight; you need to develop
timing, balance, patience, consistency and confidence; and you need to know how
to use pressure, when to release it, when to push for more and when to call it
a day.
Training
an inexperienced horse is more of an art than a science and learning any art
takes time, patience and sensitivity.
Happy Riding!!!
Comments and feedback are always welcome!
Leslie Laing @
Falcon Creek Farm
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