In my last article on May 13, I talked about what softness was and wasn’t, the benefits of your horse being soft, and how I go about it. If this topic interests you, you might want to go back and read it before you read this one. In this article, I’ll give you a few suggestions on simple ways to increase softness and responsiveness in your horse.
One thing that makes a horse softer and more responsive is being more ambidextrous. Your horse will be better able to respond to your aides and will be more supple doesn’t have one side stiffer or more hollow than the other. Imagine how much more fluid and coordinated we’d be if we didn’t favor one side more than the other. I’ve written several articles on this in the past, because I think it’s so important for everything we do with our horses to be equally flexible and balanced on both sides.
First, it’s important to understand that about 80% of horses are stiff to their left and hollow to their right side. It’s easy to feel because when executing a symmetric circle to their stiff side, they don’t want to tip their nose to the inside as easily and they tend to collapse that circle by trying to lead with their shoulder. The opposite is true to their hollow side. They’re too bendable bendable and tend to drift to the outside of that circle. Also, it’s harder to move their shoulder in to keep them on it. So, first try to walk a perfect circle both ways making it very round and see if you can tell. Once you’ve figured that out, the next thing is to make the stiff side more supple and the hollow side a bit stiffer until they’re as balanced one way as they are the other.
Another way to tell is when you’re walking a circle to the right (if they’re more hollow that way), you’ll feel their hip cocked to the inside. In other words, their hind feet don’t follow in the tracks of their front feet.
Once you’ve determined which side is which, I’ll give you some ideas on how to even them up. I’d love some guidance from all of you regarding what problems you encounter and areas that you could use some suggestions for also.
I was ruminating the other day about what it is about a really broke horse that makes everything about them look so good, so comfortable and so effortless.
We all know what it’s not. It’s the absence of stiffness, nervousness and fear.
Ok, but what is it? For me, it’s a beautiful blend of a horse who knows his job and is confident in his rider. One that is physically and mentally capable, plus enjoys what he’s doing.
This kind of horse isn’t a 90 day wonder who’s been forced into compliance without time being taken to condition his body and mind, but rather the product of great genes for the event that he’s to be trained for, a compliant, forgiving mind, a big heart, the physical capacity to do the job, plus his rider has explained things in bite sized pieces until he offers them at the slightest suggestion.
If we’re lucky enough to have the kind of horse, who is that trainable, they almost train themselves…but what about the horse who barely checks those boxes? Is he still worth the effort? For most of us mere mortals, that’s the only kind we’re ever going to have! I believe that most horses can develop into better moving animals and we can help build desire in them to do what we need them to by knowing what we want and breaking it down into small “chunks”, being consistent and fair, and as Greg Ward used to say, “improving them 1% a day and in 100 days, they’ll be 100% better!”
That may not be enough for today’s competitive world, but it surely a start that will help ensure them a better life if you have to move on from them.
The single most important ingredient is to help your horse be soft and responsive. When I first get on a horse, I don’t have an “agenda” for that ride, but rather I try to feel for stiff spots. When I find one, I rub on it like water on a stone, until the sharp edges of fear and resistance get smooth. It’s often a long process and patience is a prerequisite. It’s like massaging a sore muscle, you start off finding the area, then working on it a little deeper each time, until it bends and shapes like you want. I work on their face as well as their ribs and shoulders until they’re capable of moving the way I need them to. It will go like that all through their training process, because each time you introduce a new thing or add speed, resistance occurs. No horse can learn when speed increases or lack of understanding their adrenaline anymore than we can learn something when we are in the throes of an adrenaline rush.
In my next few articles, I’d like to go into this more and give you some ideas how to get your horse softer and keep their adrenaline in check.
Please let me know if you have any things that work well for you!
I was recently playing pickleball with a friend who is far better than I am at the game and when I’d hit a really good shot she’d holler, “feast on that one Sandy!” What she meant was not to pat myself on the back, but rather to savor the feel of the shot, replay the way it felt when the ball left my paddle, the sound it made, the effortlessness of it. So, I actually started to take a moment when I hit an exemplary shot (though they were rare) and recreate it in my head, my body, in my self-talk. I’d even start telling myself “Hey, if you got that almost impossible ball and returned a great shot once, you can do it again! And guess what? I did. I started hitting more and more good shots!
Taking that to our riding lives, when you execute a great stop or turn on the fence or have a higher scoring run than usual, take the moment to “feast” on it. It’s been proven that it takes 30-60 seconds of savoring a moment to create a pathway that can be followed internally to duplicate that more and more often, in other words to make it “stick”.
Likewise, if we mess something up, “Forget about it”. We don’t want to deepen that moment into a rut in our subconscious by ruminating on it and having that be what “sticks”. It’s fine to be honest with ourselves though, if we understand what didn’t go well and replace it with what we’ll do better next time. That’s what the great tennis players do when they miss a shot. You’ll see them swing their racket a time or two like they should have to “replace” the error with the correct stroke. If we dwell on the error, we just make it stronger in our subconscious rather than making the desired motion get more firmly entrenched. So, forget about those errors or better yet replace them and feast on those good ones for a minute to make them stick!
In my last article I talked about letting your horse help you decide which event he’s most suited for, and now I want to share the factors I believe are most important when selecting a trainer (if you don’t plan to do the training yourself).
1. Shared Values The most important consideration for me is ensuring that my values align with those of the trainer. If I value honesty and open communication, I need a trainer who returns calls promptly and provides honest evaluations of my horse’s ability (or lack thereof). If our values don’t match, I’d likely become frustrated trying to track my horse’s progress. Similarly, if I prefer a high-standard facility where the horses and grounds could pass a military inspection, I wouldn’t be happy with a trainer whose facilities leave my horse standing in the mud during winter.
2. Training Methods Next, I consider whether I appreciate the trainer’s methods. Are they sensitive to each horse’s individuality, or do they follow a cookie-cutter approach? Is it a rigid “my way or the highway” attitude, or does the trainer offer flexibility to accommodate different horses and clients?
3. Proven Track Record and Horse Care It’s also essential that the trainer has a proven track record in both training and showing for the event my horse seems naturally inclined toward. Even better is if they have a proactive program for maintaining their horses’ soundness. Do they take horses for regular soundness checks, nip potential issues in the bud, and ensure proper deworming and vaccination?
4. Facility and Staff Qualifications I always check if the facility is safe and if the staff are qualified. A well-maintained environment with knowledgeable support makes a significant difference in the training experience.
5. Geographical Location Finally, consider the trainer’s location. How often do you plan to visit your horse or observe its progress? If you’re a very hands-on owner, sending your horse to a trainer in a different state might not be ideal.
You might not get every box checked, but it’s important to know what matters most to you. Much like choosing a life partner, it helps to discuss your expectations openly so that everyone is on the same page.
I’d love to hear what other factors you consider important when choosing a trainer!
Believe it or not, spring is coming soon and if you have 2-year-olds, you might have to start deciding what route to take with them. How do you decide whether you should go cutting, cow horse or reining with them? It’s really important that the horse has the aptitude and physical ability to do the event that you want them to do, so sometimes it’s best to let them make the choice. Young horses usually show interest in cattle very early on if they want to cut or be a cow horse, but they can fool you and not get really interested in cattle until later. Caylee Wilson just wrote a really good article for the NRCHA news called “Aptitude Test”, and I’d like to quote him in a few places regarding this.
He said, “If you have a horse that’s a good, balanced mover, is cowy, stays light on its front end while using its hocks, and has a very appealing overall look, it makes it easy to do the cow horse on that particular horse. On a horse that can’t do these things naturally or isn’t a very pretty mover, it’s going to take a lot of work to get it to do what the natural horse can do easily, and it’s probably never going to be comparable to the natural moving horse. If that less appealing mover is cowy, has good footwork and is quick to get to the ground on the stop, he might be make a great cutting horse prospect. A smart owner will let the horse’s strengths dictate the horse’s career rather than pushing the horse into a predetermined discipline.”
“Here’s Cayley on a good moving, well balanced horse with lots of eye appeal, and the IT factor!” photo credit Abigail Boatwright
Some things you want to observe while starting him are; does he travel out comfortably, naturally, balanced and want to use his hocks? Is he feely or is he a horse with low energy vs perhaps having a Ferrari’s engine under the hood? Does he have a fragile or fractious mindset vs steady and forgiving? How interested is he in a cow? Does he take guidance from his rider easily on a cow? If he’s athletic but doesn’t like to be interfered while working a cow, cutting might be a better option. The reined cow horse has to be willing to take direction from the rider. Sometimes hotter horses make good cutters if they have athletic ability and enough interest in cattle where it would take a lot more work to make that one a cow horse. If he’s pretty, well balanced and a good mover without much cow, reining may be the best option.
Caylee also addressed a horse’s build and body balance. He said, “smaller horses can end up being really good cow horses. It has more to do with strength and power and whether the horse is strong enough to run and stop and get around for the fence turn. Usually, a bigger horse will be stronger, but they can also be a bit slower across the turn, however, that small horse might have more heart and try and can outperform the bigger horse even though he’s not as strong. Heart is a desire from within the horse himself to perform. I’ve learned over time you can have a perfectly balanced, conformationally correct horse that just doesn’t move well or have the desire to want to do it. I’ve learned that horses can defy their confirmation and size. This is typically an exception and not the rule. That innate drive in the horse is the key element,” Wilson said. I completely agree with Cayley on that!
Kaylee also addressed bloodlines, saying, “it’s nice to have a pedigree with desired bloodlines. The horse must also be a little bit special to make a career as a cow horse. Does it have presence, its own charisma and will it be crowd pleasing?”
Those are all important considerations when evaluating your 2-year-olds potential.
Then, will you be sending it to a trainer? If so, which one? I’ll be covering that in my next article. Also, a full set of x-rays before you get started is important so you know what potential issues you might face and be sure they’re manageable.
