fig. 3.11
3.11 A relaxed tail gently swishing at flies as shown here is very different from one that swishes “angrily” from side to side.
fig. 3.12
3.12 Kelston is “loose” and soft as I give him a cuddle at the end of an agility session.
friend. To wake him, just gently attract his attention by calling his name or vibrating the rope (if you’re still working with a lead). Note that if he feels he cannot rest on occasion because at any moment he could be rudely woken up, he will not relax completely. If you go clattering in he may jump into flight mode—your aim is to keep his adrenaline down and have a calm easy horse to handle.
Keep in mind that after a hard or stressful session, a horse may look as if he’s having a quick sleep with his head down, eyes half closed and one leg resting, but it’s possible the horse has “shut down” and is mentally exhausted. When the horse shows this behavior, it is sometimes referred to as “learned helplessness.” This happens because the horse has not been getting enough rewards (see p. 45 for more about rewards). A horse in this state needs very positive, short, fun sessions in which he actually achieves something so that he begins to believe there are things he can do that will be rewarded.
So what does a horse look like when he is happy in his work doing Horse Agility?
• His ears are forward pointing at you, or split between you and the obstacle.
• He looks at you or the obstacle.
• He has a “soft” body.
• He displays an interested expression—meaning that he wants to satisfy his curiosity and not that he’s on the edge of flight mode.
• His tail lies flat, softly relaxed.
• He has soft lips—perhaps licking and chewing.
• His jaw looks loose.
• His neck and head are low—not held high and tense.
• He has soft, round eyes.
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In fact, the whole picture of the horse should be pleasing: not dramatic in any way but soft and ready to work (fig. 3.12).
Human Behavior
Building a Partnership
But what about your mood? We are so busy assessing whether the horse is in the right frame of mind to do Horse Agility, we sometimes forget to look at our own. Before we blame the horse for everything that may go wrong, we need to look at how we, the handlers, may be influencing him with poor communication skills and an inappropriate attitude. I’m sure you know horses that you can do anything with—that is, until the day you go out to bring them in for the farrier or the vet, and you can’t catch them! This happens because your body language changes in some small way and the horse (an expert in reading you) perceives it, becomes suspicious and decides he’ll take the safer route and stay where he is.
Horses are not machines, Because they are herd animals, it is vital to their safety that they learn to read both the physical and the emotional signals sent out by other animals—including people. When you are with your horse you are very simply in a two-horse herd; you are reading your horse while your horse is reading you! There is an Arab proverb that states: “The horse is the mirror of your soul.” Later, when you start having a horse mirror your footsteps in the work you do together, you’ll begin to see this concept fall into place.
A Positive Attitude
Just as in human relationships, a positive attitude plays an enormous role in how the horse reacts to you. There are two sides to the deal: If you expect the horse to be polite and respectful, then you had better be polite and respectful towards him. Leave your emotional baggage at the door—your horse doesn’t want it! Think about the person who constantly calls you to moan about something in her private or work life. It gets pretty wearing after a while, and even the most caring friend stops answering the phone. But your poor horse can’t do that: He has to put up with whatever you throw at him every day whether positive or negative. So, make it positive!
Before you even go near a horse, you must look at your attitude. Ask yourself the following questions:
• Am I patient?
Patience is not something that is taught or encouraged in modern life, but it can be practiced and improved, and you don’t need to be near the horse to do it. Horses do not understand impatience: Punishing them or getting mad only frightens them. Standing in a line or queue, sitting at the third red stop light in a row, and getting behind the slowest
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Clear Your Mind of Doom and Gloom
Many years ago I lost my confidence with a large, gray ex-racehorse called Stanley. If I didn’t ride him every day, he could get pretty spooky, and even when I did, he could be fairly challenging (when he took it into his head to be a racehorse again).
Every morning I would wake up and lie in bed listening to the noises outside to see what the weather was doing.
Is it windy? No.
Is it raining? I couldn’t possibly ride in the rain and get my saddle wet!
I would open my eyes and see a still, sunny day. That meant, I would have to ride, as the weather was no excuse. So, I would start to plan the most trouble-free ride I could.
Should I go through the village? No, it was Thursday, garbage-collection day, with black bags and bins everywhere!
Okay, so I’d go round by the pig farm. But every other Thursday, feed was delivered, so I probably shouldn’t go that way—just in case.
By the time my feet were out of bed and touching the floor, I had imagined causing a highway pile-up, running over a stroller complete with toddler and put myself into the hospital—just think how I would make the horse feel by the time I got down to the stables! Nowadays, of course, I would work with my horse on the ground until he was mentally fit enough to be ridden, but I just didn’t have access to that knowledge at that time.
Try not to run the worst-case scenarios over and over through your mind. It just doesn’t help. Plan Horse Agility sessions so that those nightmares just simply cannot happen.
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driver on the road are all good situations for learning the art of patience. I call these scenarios “practicing my horsemanship.” Everyone can find many such moments in the day when, if you can learn to remain patient, you will get better and better at becoming a great horse handler.
• Am I fit?
Peak physical fitness is not that important for most levels of Horse Agility, though the handler needs a certain level of mobility to move along with the horse. Emotional fitness, on the other hand, is paramount. As I said earlier, horses need calm energy. Even when the horse is providing the histrionics, you need to remain cool and detached: Getting
