From: Suzie
Dear Jessica, please please help me with this question, because I am so afraid that I may be doing something bad to my wonderful horse! You are the only teacher I know who always puts the horse first and always can "get into the horse's head" and then explain it to us so that we can understand what the horse is saying. I need to know what my horse is trying to tell me.
Galaxy is four, a QHxArabian, I started riding him last year very very lightly and we now go out on the trail three days a week and work in the arena on the other days, alternating. He gets Mondays off! My problem is with the contact. I use a very gentle snaffle, a French link (and yes, I checked this to be sure that it was a real French-link not some other bit) that fits him well, and I try to work with him always very quietly according to Natural Horsemanship methods. His teeth are fine, they were just floated last month by a very good vet/dentist. Here is the problem. I try to ride him with total slack in my reins at all times, except when I want something from him, and then I use one rein at a time. That is the way I was taught to be gentle and natural. My reins are very thin and light, and Galaxy's bit is very light. But Galaxy is getting more and more strange about his bridle, he throws his head up whenever I move my hand, even if I just move it randomly with the reins still very slack and hanging. Then when I use the rein, he keeps throwing his head even after I release it, which I do almost instantly after giving him a signal with the rein. And I use only one rein at a time. So what could be the problem? I am leaving so much slack in the reins they are hanging on his neck, so I cannot be putting too much pressure on his mouth. I would understand his reaction if I was hanging onto his mouth with tight reins like our local Dressage Queen (sorry, that was catty I know, but I hate to see her horse suffer), but I am leaving the reins totally completely slack and just using them one at a time, very quickly, when I have to. What is going on and what can I do? Am I doing something wrong and hurting my horse? He is so young, what if I have done something really bad, how can I fix it and will he learn to forgive me?
Suzie
We all have an amazing ability to notice the faults of others while overlooking our own - that's human nature. I think I can explain to you what your horse is trying to tell you, but if this information is going to help you, you'll need to stand back from your riding and look at it very objectively, in HORSE terms rather than in human terms.
You ride with a loose/slack rein, and then give a quick pull-and-release on one rein when you want something from the horse. You do this because you believe it to be gentle and natural. You look at the local "DQ" with horror because she rides with constant hard contact with her horse's mouth - and you believe this to be forceful and unnatural. You can't understand why your horse flips his head whenever you use a rein - and I'm going to guess that you are confused by the fact that the DQ's horse doesn't do this. Right?
Here's the thing. "Natural" has become a buzzword, but it doesn't really have very much meaning to the horse when it's used in the context of bridles and bits and riding. It is not natural for a horse to have a human on its back, or a bridle on its head, or a bit in its mouth. It is not natural for a horse to take directions from someone who is sitting on its back with hands connected, however loosely, to a piece of metal in its mouth. "Natural", to a horse, would mean complete freedom to wander around at will, walking here and there, nibbling grass constantly, rolling whenever rolling seemed like a good idea, and interacting with other horses whenever that felt right. Humans don't fit into this picture - even if they only offer pats and carrots. From the horse's point of view, there is no such thing as "natural horsemanship", because nothing about being ridden is natural.
So, instead of trying to do things you have been told are "natural", just relax, listen to the horse, and do what is right. "Natural" is nothing more or less than ONE version of "not natural" (out of the many different "not natural" options available).
Once you get rid of the loaded terms - "natural" and "dressage queen" - you can start to look objectively at the horses and what they are doing (or not doing), and why.
It's entirely possible that the other rider IS hanging on to her horse's mouth with hard, heavy, pulling contact. I don't know whether she has one ounce of pressure on those reins, or whether she has ten pounds of pressure - and I don't know whether her horse is comfortable with the contact. That is her problem - and, sadly, her horse's. I haven't seen her ride, I can't help her (unless she's on HORSE-SENSE, or reads one of my books or shows up at one of my clinics), so I'm not going to spend a lot of time thinking about her. I'd rather think about YOU, since you have asked for help. ;-)
It's a mistake to assume that contact is bad, and that no contact must therefore be good. Harsh, heavy, pulling contact is bad - there's no question about that! But "less is more" only as long as the horse is happy and comfortable. Most horses are happy and comfortable when they are permitted to determine the amount of contact, and when the rider makes it her business to (a) find out what makes the horse comfortable, and then (b) maintain that level of contact until the horse asks for a different level. The horse, by the way, may ask for more contact instead of less. Horses have differing ways of interpreting contact. If the contact is gentle and communicative, as it is meant to be, horses generally see it as security and constant, open communication with the rider. Those are not bad things.
It's not possible to take too much contact as long as the horse gets to decide how much contact is appropriate. Sometimes what the horse wants seems like "not enough" to the rider, and then the rider needs to keep the rein as light as the horse wants it, and keep the horse happy. Sometimes, though, what the horse wants seems like "too much" to the rider, and then it's equally the rider's obligation to keep the contact at a level that makes the horse comfortable and happy. Contact is something that should be measured in ounces or fractions of ounces, but rider and horse have to be "on the same page" - otherwise, a horse that thinks "comfortable contact" means half an ounce will be unhappy with a rider who thinks that three ounces is ideal, and equally, a horse that thinks "comfortable contact" means three or four ounces will be unhappy if the rider insists on saying "No, no, lighter is better, so you can only have half an ounce, I don't care how you feel about this, I'm being KIND!"
Good contact is a little bit like getting your back scratched - "too hard" hurts, "too soft" tickles, and "just right" feels wonderful - but the person doing the scratching can't be the one to decide how hard to scratch. ;-)
I think that your horse is trying to tell you that he is unsure of your hands and afraid of the sudden movements of the bit in his mouth. The no-contact, one-rein-at-a-time school of riding is a Western one (based on a very old Spanish/Moorish one), that assumes quite a few things about horse and rider. One assumption is that the horse is fully trained. Another is that the rider is fully able to communicate with the horse through shifts in weight and position. And another - this is key - is that the horse is wearing a CURB, and that the horse is educated to the CURB, and that the bit and reins are heavy, not light, so that every tiny movement of the rider's hand shifts the balance of the bit in the horse's mouth, and means something specific to the horse.
This kind of riding was never meant to be done in a snaffle, or with very light reins. It's also not something that you would begin with - it's a way to finish the horse's training. In the early stages of training, a horse might wear a snaffle, and would be ridden on contact, with constant communication between the horse's mouth and the rider's hands.
The problem with a loose rein most of the time and a quick take-and-give with one rein whenever you want something is that the effect on the horse isn't a very happy one. The horse does not go along confidently, relaxed, attentive, and able to respond instantly and easily to the slightest movement of the bit in his mouth, and to the slightest lift or drop of the rein. He hasn't reached that stage of his training - and you aren't using that kind of bit or reins. A horse in Galaxy's situation won't be able to relax and move forward confidently with a relaxed jaw and closed mouth, because he will always, at every moment, be worried that he is about to experience a hard jerk from the bit in his sensitive mouth. I know you're thinking "But I would never jerk the bit!" - but from your horse's point of view, and from HIS end of the reins, that's exactly what you are doing whenever you take all the slack out of one rein and apply sudden pressure and release. Because the bit is a light snaffle, and because the reins are light, and because the reins are hanging looped, there is no early-warning system that tells Galaxy that you are about to pull a rein, and because of all these factors, what feels to you like a very light pull - which you knew was coming - feels to Galaxy like a sudden jerk with no warning. For a horse, that movement is painful, and it's also frightening. What you are thinking of as a signal, he is perceiving as an attack. He knows that the attack is coming, but he doesn't know when, or how painful it will be, just that it WILL come and it WILL hurt. His hesitant steps are because of his anticipation of sudden pain, and his head-flinging is his way of saying "Oh no, it's going to happen, OUCH, it's happening, OUCH OUCH it happened!"
So yes, you're doing something that's hurting your horse. You're doing it out of goodwill and a wish to be kind and "natural", but none of that makes sense to Galaxy. Change your style. If you want to ride on a looped rein and move your hand to move the bit, with no direct contact and the reins remaining looped, you're going to need much heavier reins, and probably a nice heavy ported curb as well. If you want to ride on a snaffle, you'll need to ride with consistent, light, reassuring contact, so that all you'll have to do to "say something" to your horse is tighten your fingers for an instant and relax them again, never yanking, but never losing contact with your horse, either.
Whatever provides your horse with constant gentle communication and reassurance, and enables you to give him direction without surprising or hurting him, will be "right". Think about "right", not about "natural" or "classical" - and listen to Galaxy. He'll tell you what is right for him, and that's what should matter most.
Now, back to my first point. HORSES ARE FORGIVING. Your horse will forgive you very quickly. He probably already gives you credit for good intentions. ;-) So make the changes you need to make, listen to your horse, and for heaven's sake don't beat yourself up about past errors. You did the best you could based on what you knew at the time. Now you know better, so you can DO better - so move on! That's what your horse will do.
Jessica
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