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QUESTION: Hi Sylvia, I hope you can help me. My 3-year horse gelding gives me problems at the Cuarto. He will trot several steps sometimes with his ears back and then will stop. We have been doing Parelli's 7 games and he can do all. Now the opposition seems to be transferred to the saddle. I have been told by a "traditional trainer" that he should have a tie down and spurs. I don't want to do that. There does not seem to be a natural horse trainer in my area. Can you help me with this problem here?
REPLY: Thanks for writing. Regarding your problem there with your 3 yr.. Horse, my two cents worth on it: Tie down and spurs recommended by that other trainer...that's insane. And totally unneeded, so your gut instincts are right there, listen to them. First..your horse is still pretty young and therefore technically still green/immature, I'm sure. And this goes without saying: make sure he's got a well fitting saddle & super well fitting pad, because if he's in any discomfort/pain there, he's going to register that most at the higher gaits.
Want you to see that particular page, because some of the signs your horse is showing there, body-language-wise, is what a horse can look like right before bucking, so you want to be real careful there! So many people never see bucking coming, but often the horse long forewarns there with body language. And if/when it is going to occur, it most often happens right at the gait transition upward. I think that above link will help you a lot, to back him up in his training to make sure all foundation holes are plugged up, & I cover there what you can do to raise his bar there, doing more saddle desensitizing, etc., but safely on the ground first.
Once he passes all those tests, on the ground, and you go back to riding (but make sure you do all that ground work first!) there are a couple of routes you can go to teach him to remain in the trot (though I would sure break it all down and make sure the horse can do a one-rein stop for bonding, head over, the "safety zone," both sides, softly, compliantly, after just one step into the trot, then two, and so on, so he remains real rational there every step of the way)...but when you feel he's ready to remain in the trot, without stopping, safely, try one of these (or both) routes:
1) Get in a round pen or small arena to ride him there, and have a friend on the ground/in the middle of the pen, as backup help there. When you go to ask for the trot, if the horse tries to stop/break gait downward unasked, right as you leg cue squeeze him to keep trotting also have the friend flag him from behind with a training wand with plastic tied to the end, or via tossing a 12' rope at the back feet at the same time you are bumping the sides to keep the gait up (get your mutual timing down so your pressure/release is simultaneous). This is escalating the pressure "up the V" as we say. The second the horse complies, remains in that gait, both of you release the pressure instantly (helper holds the wand down, passive), leave the horse alone, give him his head, no legs on the horse.
All horses learn from the release of pressure what it is we want/what is acceptable to us, not from the pressure itself, so generally we start very low down the V first when trying to teach a new concept/when applying the pressure, then climbing upward with increasing pressure until we get the response we want, then we release the pressure instantly and the horse learns. If you start low on the V every time, the next time, the horse will usually respond lower on the V. And lower & lower until you're riding your horse with just your mind.
Incidentally...make sure when you are asking for him to go at these higher gaits that you have lots of slack in the reins, no contact on mouth (or on NH halter/lead tied into reins if you're using that), giving him his head completely. Sometimes, people don't realize they are pulling back on the reins (or worse: balancing themselves using the reins), taking in the slack accidentally at the exact same time they are asking the horse to go faster! Which means: you're accidentally telling the horse to go and stop all at the same time, confusing the horse. When the horse is doing what we want, quit asking, keep lots of slack in the reins, so he knows: pressure off/right answer! All horses learn from the release of pressure what it is we want, not the pressure itself, so get your release timing split-second quick when you get what you want, so the horse knows the right answer there! And make sure you have lots of slack in the reins when asking for the go-forward (at any gait, but especially important at the higher gaits, trotting, cantering). And get the rhythm of your body communicating you want to go forward faster, don't just sit like a lump on the horse. Begin to post and the horse will generally mirror your body language and pick up speed.
Also...make sure when asking the horse to go like that to be looking straight ahead, between the horse's ears...picking a focal point somewhere off in the distance ahead, where you want the horse to go. The horse will then pick up on your focus and realize where you want to go. Do NOT look down at the horse's head when asking them to go. When you do that, the horse feels it and then wonders inside...hey...if you're looking down at my head, that means: you don't know where you want to go. And if you don't know where you want to go, and I certainly don't know where to go, I'd better just stop here (or take over and decide for you). People often don't realize how perceptive horses are to where we are looking at all times when riding them. They totally know.
For people to truly understand the why's and how's this can be, I tell them: Have you ever carried a small child straddled/riding on your shoulders, you holding the child's legs there? And most people nod, yes, I have. Well...when that child looks off in one direction, you can feel the head turn and know where he's looking. Why? Because the head weighs a lot, between 15-20+ pounds, and when it turns, you feel the weight shift involved there. You also feel when the child wants to turn somewhere/some direction, because as he turns his head and body to look, your body picks up on the weight shift lean and you know where he wants to go. Try this sometime with a child, for fun. But this time: close your eyes and ask the child to "steer" you by simply looking where he wants you to go, and you'll see what I mean.
Well...it's the same for the horse. They "feel" our looks because when we face forward and look straight ahead, or turn to look off to the side, the weight balance shows the horse where we're looking and if we remain looking in that one direction, he picks up on: ok, you want to go there, where you're looking, and, as he is a virtual extension of your body, he complies, to keep things most comfortable for himself. A balanced rider is more comfortable for him. All horses instinctively lean in the direction of what is most comfortable for them. So, remember to always look where you want to go before asking the horse to go, and remain looking in that designated direction until the horse complies, and do so until you get to where you decided to go. Don't just randomly ask the horse to trot; have a goal focus picked out. And have your eyes remain focused on that. This will help to keep your horse going forward as you continue the trot.
2) The other route you can go to get a horse to remain in the higher gait you want: Take your training string if you have one (great, versatile tool! See left sidebar there on this page to check it out) and hold it in your one hand, doubled over in half. Ask the horse to go with leg squeeze (pick your focal point!) and as you get the horse into the trot, if the horse breaks the gait back down to a walk unasked, first squeeze him with your legs again and at the exact same time lift your arm up and reach back and tap his rump with the training string, first starting very "low on the V" of pressure and increasing "up the V" incrementally until as high as you have to go there until you get what you want/the horse complies, then stop asking with the training string and leg cues the nano-second he trots there (the release of pressure for "right answer"). All forward impulsion in a horse comes from the hind quarters and tapping his rump as your "second request" is a reminded there that you need his hind quarters to pick up speed. Pretty soon just the sight of you lifting that training string arm up for your "second request" (after the leg cue) will have him shooting upward in gait as asked, no need to tap the rump with it.
As long as he remains in the gait requested, leave him alone, leg pressure off (remember to keep slack in the reins when he's doing what you want, only picking up a rein if you need to steer/turn!). I would then quickly ask him to stop, before he stops by himself, so that stopping becomes your idea there, not his, and this reinforces that you are the leader, he is to be the follower. But I would stop with a one-rein stop, picking up one rein, sailing down, bumping his inside hind quarters to disengage them, & asking for the head to the side for bonding/rewarding on the face & neck after the stop, reinforcing the safety zone. Remember when doing a one-rein stop: the faster you are going, the wider the circle you make as you snail down to the one-rein stop. Don't just pull the head over suddenly when you're going faster, or the horse can lose his balance and even fall! (That's how Hollywood stunt men bring down a "shot" stunt horse, pulling the head over fast/hard at higher gaits!)
After you've bonded with the horse in the "safety zone," repeat the exercise. Before long, the horse will catch on quickly there that when the leg cues ask him to remain in the gait if he slows down there, and if he doesn't comply, you will go "up the V" of pressure with training string on rump. And pretty quickly, just your hand with training string barely starting to go back, he'll comply. And then before long, you won't need that training string, just your hand raised ready to go back there, if he forgets to listen to the leg cues, has him complying. Soon, just the leg cues and body language reminding him to remain in the gait is all you'll need, and he'll be responding lower & lower down the V of pressure until pretty soon just your mind will tell him what to do. Most horses can get this in just one lesson, if your timing is good there, and you won't have to use the training string again.
Another thing to remember: when you use your legs to ask for the go forward, don't keep kicking/bumping/squeezing him if you already got what you wanted. Release the legs off the horse the second you get what you want, and remain off him there as long as he's complying. Some people keep kicking and kicking (and way too high up the V of pressure often) when the horse is already doing what they asked! But if you keep kicking/bumping/squeezing a horse with your legs (no release of pressure) when you already got what you wanted, soon the horse totally dulls out to leg cues, and ignores altogether. Leg cues (or leg squeezes) should be considered nothing but pressure we are applying. But the second you get what you want, the pressure must be removed instantly so the horse knows he's doing the right thing there, because, again: all horses learn from the release of pressure what it is you want, not the pressure itself. Very important to remember that.
Even with leg cues, always start low on the V first, and build upward from there, so that the horse can learn softer responses (lower on the V compliance). Honestly? I don't have to use legs at all on my horse to get him to go into all his gaits. Just my body language/body shifts and my mind is all it takes to communicate to him where and how I want to go, and that's indeed lowest on the V of communication that you want to aim for.
Try some of those things and you should soon be able to keep your horse in the gaits you request. But don't jump "A to N" there, skipping all the baby-step-letter-steps in between when teaching a horse. Teach him step by step, long way is the short way, as we say in natural horsemanship, and soon he'll be connecting the dots, understanding what you want, and complying softly, rationally, consistently.
Good luck to you there, let me know how it goes, and thanks again for writing!
