From: Peter
G'day Jessica
I really appreciate your newsletters and your attitudes. I hope they both help you survive in this modern commercial world… they somehow seem a bit too good to be commercial. I also hope that you enjoy your letters and questions as they seem to come from people … not just customers.
I would like to introduce you to my two horses and myself, so that you know how to communicate with us. I am terribly long winded and I don’t expect you to either take the time to reply, or print all the background, but you may answer the shorter questions at the end…
I was taught to ride by a scruffy fifteen-year-old stock horse when I was 18. I never had lessons and I just jumped on and learned to stay there… mostly. Within a year we did a 400mile ride in three weeks and came back very good friends, but I still had no lessons from humans and had no idea about formal training.
Many years later I acquired my present "Old Grey Mare". Literally… Collie was (ten years ago) a beautiful fifteen year old grey Anglo-Arab who was so psychotic that her previous owner wanted to pay me to bury her. Instead I paid him $150.00 for her and took her home. As I had learned to talk a fair amount of horse language over the last forty years (most of it from horses rather than books about dressage, I am afraid.) I had a lot of pleasure over the next two years tuning her into a happy if still somewhat unusual horse. Unfortunately, although she responded to love and consistency she could not, for a long time, explain light hands to me. However, I finally noticed that, she tended to "pull" when ridden by either my twenty-something son or myself, (she isn't a bolter, she just likes leading the group and has never, even at 25, lacked impulsion). However, she would never never never pull even a little bit when ridden by my twenty-something-else office girl who has no arm muscles at all. Well the muscles are there, they just don’t have much strength.
The conclusion had to be that the horse was being consistent but the humans were not. Hard hands made her pull and soft hands did not. I humbly changed her from a snaffle to a rubber-coated bit, with a soft leather-covered curb chain. My son and I started with the reins direct on the bit ring and the girl (that is a term of endearment btw not a derogatory word) uses the reins on the cheek bars with absolutely no force and great responses from the OGM. After months of practice, I can now also use the reins on the cheek barsas well, but with great care.
The plot thickens; but we are still not up to the question yet:
About three years ago, my wife bought me an Arab colt for Christmas. No I still haven't really learned how to ride properly and in fact I probably never will have the time, interest or money before I die, to get into the "horsy set", but after retraining several spoilt horses we thought it would be nice to have one that only had faults that were his, or mine, or ours, rather than fixing someone else's mistakes. Besides one more good horse will probably see me out.
So far we are getting on fine and enjoying the process, but I am starting to realise how much I don't know, and without wanting to back out I am surely not over-confidant and do appreciate all the help that I can get. I can see more questions coming up than I dare to ask.
At just over three, Shasta is now being ridden (gently). We had a rider (me) in the saddle for his third birthday but he had done a lot of work before that. And no there were no traumas just a progression from his previous lessons. In fact I am sure he looked up at me and thought "Oh so that is what it was all about." " Why didn’t you say so before?"
Now I will ask two related questions. I have checked the archives and haven't found these ones specifically.
As I have already had one failure with bits and hands I have tried to be extra gentle on Shasta's mouth. Before I met you (in spirit via the newsletter) I had already taught him to lunge, in the round yard, on a light flat rein on a ring attached to his halter or a ring on a leather strap passed through the bit rings. This has been pretty much standard down here for bush horse breakers for two hundred years. Before I read your old letters and answers I had never heard of, let alone seen, a cavesson and although I would hate to have him tread on the lunge rein we have not had any major difficulty so far. He normally has a good attitude that I could describe as "his bit, my hands, our reins". Lately, however, when we first start lessons, or when he is loosing concentration, (bored, I think, rather than distracted) he has started lifting the bit and chewing it… Not the lovely "tasting the bit" that I read about but a distracting crunch crunch (and then I think I hear him chuckle). Is this a common one and what, if anything should I do about it?
Second question relates to changing the signal for stopping from voice to the bit. We are getting this together a bit better now, but in order to achieve it we had to use walk-trot-whoa rather than just walk-whoa. We can do transitions from whoa-walk-trot-whoa and walk-whoa now, but I fear you may not approve of the trot at his age and my 200lb weight. How do we normally achieve light responsive stops from a bit when the horse doesn't know that this is what we want?
I promise never to write such a long letter again, but I am already looking through the archives and all of my books to find out if my legs have been as bad as my hands for forty years. Hasta la vista Jessica , I fear I may be back.
Peter
First, I like your description of having had "no lessons from humans" - it's always best to have a helpful human interpreter, but in the end, the horse is always the first and last and best teacher. ;-) Ditto for your description of learning horse language from horses rather than from books! Books can be terrifically useful if they're the right sort of books; many books aren't very useful at all, and some are so full of misinformation and wrong assumptions about horse nature that they are downright dangerous. I expect you were much better off with your own experiences and thoughts and perceptions... but if you'd like some good books (from Oz, as it happens), I would recommend to you the ones by Tom Roberts.
Your experience with Collie led you to exactly the right conclusion - the mare was indeed being consistent, and the humans were not. Or rather, the humans were being consistent in their own way, and Collie offered light contact to the rider who offered HER light contact, and offered a pull in return to those riders who were pulling the reins. ;-) You are so very right: soft hands don't create pulling horses (especially since horses aren't actually pulling but PUSHING to get away from painful pressure).
Your Arabian colt sounds like a dream. As for more questions coming up than you dare to ask - don't be silly. Ask away - don't short-change yourself or your colt. And as I said earlier, there are others in your situation, and they will be interested in both questions and answers - as will those who are NOT in your situation, but who might someday be.
Shasta's reaction to being backed is just what a well-started young horse's reaction SHOULD be: "Right, there you are then, now what do we do today?" When horses are handled properly, backing is just one more step in a calm, easy progression, and no one, horse or human, makes a great to-do about it. Well done you!
Now, in answer to your questions:
First, re the longeing. If you haven't a cavesson, I'll suggest a slightly different way of attaching the longeline to the bit. I still don't recommend longeing in a halter, just because of the way halters are designed: If you make it sufficiently snug that it can't pull around on the horse's face and perhaps rub against an eye, it's bound to be too snug to permit the horse to flex at the poll and carry his head comfortably. That's one of the main advantages of a longeing cavesson, actually - there is no strap around the horse's throat, just one that fastens under the jowls. However, here's what I'll suggest for you. Instead of running the line through both bit rings, run it through the inside bit ring AND THE NOSEBAND OF THE BRIDLE, and fasten it back on itself. This will accomplish several things. It will hold the bit a little more steady in Shasta's mouth. It will keep the bit from pulling through Shasta's mouth. It will distribute the pressure between mouth and nose, instead of putting all the pressure on his mouth. And, last but not least, it will not create a "nutcracker" effect - the bit will be kept reasonably straight instead of bending (if a jointed snaffle) and pinching Shasta's tongue and bars.
You say that he seems to be losing concentration - that's possible, but I would suggest that you may be losing YOUR focus first. In my experience, any horse, regardless of its age or training level, has an attention span that is exactly, precisely the same length as that of its rider/handler. ;-)
I can think of several reasons for him to be lifting and crunching the bit. Here they are - perhaps one of them will ring true.
First, have your vet take a close, careful look at his teeth, and do whatever needs doing. Points, edges, retained caps, emerging wolf teeth ... all sorts of things can make a young horse uncomfortable and fussy with his bit. Shasta is three years old! Think of what this means: He is getting rid of baby teeth and getting new, adult teeth, and he will be doing this very actively for another year. I've always said that it's quite bizarre how we insist on introducing young horses to bits and bitting at just exactly the time when they are teething and most likely to be uncomfortable in their mouths.
Second, take a close look at Shasta's bridle. Begin with the bit. Look with your eyes and then look again with your fingers (with a silk scarf between you and the bit if you want to be dead accurate about what you're feeling). Bits can develop sharp edges and rough areas, and riders need to keep track of the condition of their horse's bit. If the bit is in lovely condition and Shasta's teeth are too, then look at the type and size and style of the bit. Most of the Arabians I've met have had smallish mouths - not just narrow from side to side, but mouths with very little room inside them to accommodate bits. Arabians tend to have short mouths, thick tongues and low palates; this combination of characteristics means that they are excellent candidates for gentle bits without a nutcracker effect. Most Arabians will go very sweetly in a French-link snaffle, a mullen-mouth snaffle, or even a short-shanked curb such as a Kimblewicke, provided that its mouthpiece is a mullen-mouth or low-port mouthpiece rather than a broken one.
Third, look at Shasta himself, especially at the corners of his mouth. Sometimes we forget that horses' heads grow along with the rest of their bodies, and as a result we may forget to lengthen the cheekpieces of the bridle. If this happens, then the horse will begin to experience more and more pressure from the bit, even when the rider isn't touching the reins. Adjust the bit so that it just barely touches the corners of Shasta's mouth, then let him tell you whether he would like it adjusted a little higher or perhaps even a little lower. At that point, it's a matter of personal (equine) preference.
Finally, loud, dramatic chewing can be an expression of anxiety - and sometimes backing off a little in the training, and repeating things that the horse already does well, can be sufficiently reassuring that the horse will stop chewing. (But, as I said, in this case I would strongly suspect that you're dealing with three-year-old teething issues.)
I don't disapprove of the trot at his age, as long as most of it is done on straight lines and the rest on wide, gentle curves. Your weight shouldn't be much of an issue as long as the saddle fits well, as long as you're a balanced rider, and as long as the riding sessions are brief and not every day. The key to light riding, especially with youngsters, is partly balance and partly the ability to lighten your seat and carry very little weight on your seatbones, and much more of it in your stirrups and in your thighs.
Take your time with this horse! He sounds like a good one, and it would be a great pity to strain him with too much work, too soon. It sounds to me as if you're doing a lovely job with him - just resist the temptation to ask for or expect too much from a baby. Three is not even quite halfway to full-grown, and his skeleton is still developing, especially the larger bones including his hips and spine. Too much asked of him NOW, no matter how sweet and willing he is, will cause trouble for him later in life. If you want this horse to see you out, go easy on him now - you might even want to turn him away for six months and then start again. He will NOT forget anything he's learned, but he'll be physically more able to do what you want him to do.
Stopping will become easier as Shasta becomes stronger and more coordinated. At three, he's like a young boy who can never be sure that his body will obey him on Tuesday in the same way that it did on Monday, because it's constantly changing! For now, your stops are likely to be through quite a few steps of walk. That shouldn't be a problem.
The answer to changing the signal from voice to bit is simple: DON'T. The signal for "stop" should NOT be from the bit in any case. The signal for "stop" is you stopping your body and letting Shasta stop with you. Light responsive stops will be your goal - light responsive EVERYTHING will be your goal, really - but all of that will take time.
What's involved when you ask your horse to stop? 1. You think "I'd like to stop." 2. You signal the horse to stop. (see below) 3. The horse's body receives input from YOUR body (and perhaps voice as well). 4. The horse filters this input through its brain and says to itself "Right, I remember, that means he wants me to stop." 5. The horse's body responds to the signals from its brain, and it stops.
When a horse is fully-grown and fully trained and ridden by an excellent rider, this process can all take place in the space of a heartbeat.
When a horse is half-grown and at the start of its training and under-saddle work, EVEN when it is ridden by an excellent rider, this process may take five seconds, or ten, or fifteen, or the length of a paddock. ;-)
What's your signal for "stop", then, if it's not pulling the reins? Try thinking about stopping and putting your body in a position to ride a stop: Your eyes are still looking ahead, over your horse's ears; your back remains straight, your lower back and hips stop moving with the saddle and the horse, your legs cease to ask for forward movement, your elbows come back to your sides and remain there, your fingers remain closed on the reins. You hold yourself immobile AND YOU WAIT. When the horse begins to slow and stop, you relax your fingers very slightly as a reward, but you change nothing else; when the horse stops, you praise him immediately.
As to how to achieve any action/reaction from ANY signal when the horse doesn't know what you want - you do what you've done all through the course of the horse's training: You ask, relax, wait for a response, and if you get even the merest HINT of what you're after, you praise, take a break, and then begin again. If you don't get even a hint, you ask again, being sure that you are asking in a way that makes it physically easy for the horse to respond, and that you are asking at the right time (when he CAN respond), and that you aren't interfering with the answer by your movements or your balance shifts. Eventually, the horse begins to understand that you appreciate certain responses, and then you can begin to ask for more response, and for a more refined response. After a good deal of this, you'll be well on your way to eliciting those generous, quick, balanced responses, and you'll have the lovely feeling that riders get when they whisper a question and the horse immediately shouts the answer. ;-)
Do let me know how you and Shasta get on.
Jessica
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