Welcome to this issue of the “Performance Through Partnership”™ Newsletter!

Happy New Year!

In this issue you’ll find:

The Exclusive "PTP" Newsletter Tip: Is it ok to hit a horse?

Information for Contributing to Our Favorite Horse Rescue Organization

Answers to Your Questions about Horse Behavior and Training:

1. How Can I Quiet Down My Nervous Reiner?
2. I Have a Horse that Rears. What Should I Do?

Do you have a question for me? Please, send it in! I'll choose at least two to answer in each issue. This is only available to you, newsletter subscribers, so ask away!!

Go to the ask questions page and type in the password you received when you subscribed to the newsletter.

Also, if you missed any past newsletters you can find them on the newsletter back issues page. Type in your password, and enjoy!

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It is Okay to Hit a Horse?

This is a very difficult question to answer...and a controversial one to say the least.

Let me begin by saying it's never acceptable to hurt a horse for any reason. It's also never acceptable to become angry at a horse. Horses don't understand anger. They do not hold grudges. They do not seek revenge. If you feel your anger rising when you're working with a horse, it's time to walk away.

Let's look at how horses discipline one another. They use their body language, as well as their their hooves, teeth. Horses hurt each other to get their point across. It's a language horses understand and live with every day.

We can get our point across without causing pain or damage. If a horse is not paying attention and we snap lead line, it bounces the halter against his face. That gets the horse's attention without creating any discomfort, as long as the halter is a flat nylon version that is.

If I'm leading a horse that wants to get ahead of me, I will apply light rearward pressure on his face by holding back on the lead. If he doesn't respond, I might reinforce the pressure with a slap of the leadrope across his chest. It's a way that I can mimic the bite of kick of a dominant horse that's telling a subordinate to "back off." Since the leadrope is thick and I'm not swinging it hard, it sends the message without inflicting any pain.

Furthermore, I'm remaining calm throughout the correct process. I don't get excited or upset. If I did, I'd be sending another message...I'm unpredictable and not to be trusted. That's a message I never want a horse to receive.

The goal is to create an environment in which your horse feels trust and respect for you, and loses his need to challenge your authority and consistently focused and relaxed.

Once you've achieved that, it shouldn't take more than a look, tone of voice, or the softest of correction to gently remind your horse that all is well and that you are the leader of your herd of two.

Want to Help Horses?

If you are interested in horse adoption or helping abused and rescued horses, please visit the Volunteer Equine Advocates website.

This organization is made of a group of dedicated volunteers that work very very hard to improve the lives of equines in need of help. They've been very busy saving a lot of lives lately.

They will appreciate anything you can do to help them out.




Your Horse Training and Behavior Questions and Answers:

I have a finished reiner that is very well trained. She performs well at home but gets pretty wound up at shows. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can keep her calm?

There are a couple of reasons why your horse is better at home than she is in the show pen. She may not be as broke as you think. Consequently, under the pressure of competition in an unfamiliar setting she loses her confidence. Shoring up her foundation by improving her balance, suppleness, and flexibility will strengthen her connection with you and make her more responsive, focused, and confident.

You may be riding her differently at the shows than you do at home. Some horse’s become rattled if they asked to do more than they are used to.

You may be the one who’s getting nervous. That happens to the most seasoned competitors. Anxiety can cause you to become quicker and harsher with your cues than you may even be aware of. That scares your horse. She acts up and you get more nervous. Even if you’re cuing isn’t changing, horses pick up on nervous energy and become nervous. That’s part of their natural flight response. If someone around them is nervous, they think that there’s something to worry about.

To combat your horse’s show ring nerves, take her to a few schooling shows and use the classes to practice instead of compete. Give her plenty of warm up, working on keeping her calm, supple, and relaxed. Lunge her first if you need to, and then ride a lot of slow circles at the walk, jog, and lope. Bend her and ask her to back softly to reduce stiffness and increase her connection with you. Don’t work on maneuvers during the warm up to decrease anticipation. Keep it simple. When you enter the show pen, ride the pattern slowly. Focus on precision and relaxation.

If she becomes stressed or makes a mistake, such as anticipating what comes next, leave the pattern and calmly work on the problem. For example, if she’s anticipating the lead changes, ride an extra circle and ask her for a few strides of counter canter in the new direction before you ask for the change. Do as much as you can to make the show pen a relaxing place for your mare. Also, be aware of the time you’re taking in the arena. You have paid to school, but you don’t want to overstay your welcome.

If you think you need to work on your own nerves when you go to a show, my best advice is to ride your horse exactly as you do at home. Don’t put any more pressure on her than you would during any normal training session. If you ask her to give you all she’s got every time you compete, she’s going to find the experience stressful and unpleasant. Instead, allow her to show her strengths and shine where she can, and do her best in the areas of her performance that aren’t up to par.

Look at the shows at an opportunity to reveal the areas in which your horse needs improvement and learning what to work on at home. There is always a next time. The best thing you can do for your horse is to keep her confidence and connection with you intact, and remember that progress is the result of perseverance and patience.

I have a horse that I’ve become really afraid of. He’s fine to ride out on trail, but once we’re heading home he gets so nervous that he’s started rearing. He’s flipped over with me twice. I’m not sure what to do. I lead him back and try to keep him calm, but he doesn’t listen. It’s really gotten out of control. Can you give me some advice?

I really hate to hear about problems like this, because there isn’t an easy solution. There could be a number of reasons why your horse has developed this behavior. Pain, confusion, habit, unsuitable tack, rider error and more can all lead to dangerous behavior. What’s interesting is that two horses can be exposed to the exact same emotionally and/or physically uncomfortable situations, yet their reactions can be at the opposite ends of the spectrum. While one is flipping over the other is stoically forging ahead without complaint.

That’s because every horse is a unique individual. Each responds to the world in a unique way. I’m going to categorize your horse as the more sensitive and reactive type. These horses can be wonderful to ride and own, but you have to be a very experienced horseman or woman to have one. That’s because they don’t forget anything and one mistake can send them over the edge. If you don’t know how to bring them back right away, then it become part of who they are much more quickly and easily than a more tolerant horse.

I would say that this horse would need to be started from square one and retrained. Retraining is always a more difficult process than starting from scratch. It will take time and money to get your horse to a point where you could determine IF he’s going to be safe for you or not. There’s no guarantee that he could be safe for you even after he receives training. If you’re willing to put in as much time as he needs and as much money as it will take, then you might end up with the outcome you’re looking for. However, you also need to be part of the process so that you can learn how to maintain a positive relationship with your horse.

The bigger question is whether this is the right horse for you in the long run. Based on what you’re telling me, I would say that at this point in time he is not. I want to fix every horse and make them all happy and useful, however sometimes it’s better for everyone to go into a different direction with him, and find yourself a horse that matches your personality and skill level. There are so many good-minded horses out there, that you could be enjoying. Be honest with yourself about whether or not you’re trying to make something work that just isn’t destined to, and do what you need to to keep yourself safe.