A common challenge faced by riders and professionals alike is enhancing the responsiveness in your horse. Horses like this exhibit a lack of engagement or enthusiasm in their tasks. In this blog, I will be describing ways you can adjust your riding and training routine to help pull out more forward and enthusiasm from your horse.
The Core Issue
A “dull” horse often presents with a tendency to lean on the reins, exhibit reluctance in forward movement, and generally display a passive attitude towards commands. This behavior must be corrected or it will lead to the horse becoming progressively duller and the rider progressively needing to use harder and harder cues the get the same result.
Strategic Approach to Improving Responsiveness
To counter this core issue riding regument must be adjusted the horse is rewarded for effort after a maneuver. Below I will list several maneuvers and how to perform them while encouraging effort from the horse.
1. Rollback to the Fence: A Foundational Exercise
A rollback on the fence is a common maneuver in training several different classes to get the horse to use its body in a certain way. This maneuver however done correctly requires effort which can make a dull horse duller if adjusted for a dull horse.
- Methodology: Prompt the horse to execute a rollback towards the fence. The emphasis here is on fluidity and ease rather than forceful execution. You will enter the roll back with soft light hand and leg cues. When the horse is more than 90 degrees into the rollback, you will firmly ask for a lope departure with effort and push from the back end. Lope for just a few strides then reward with a walk. By doing it this way the horse anticipates the lope so it follows through with the rollback better and then gets the reward for the effort.
2. Encouraging Effort In The Spin
- Enhancing Spin Techniques: Trot a small circle into a spin step-around. Step around for a few steps then trot out of the spin into a circle slightly larger than the circle used to bring the horse into the spin. Then allow the horse to walk. Just like in the rollback exercise the anticipation of the trot will bring out the forward in the maneuver and the horse will learn the reward always comes after effort.
3. Enhancing Stops With A Dull Horse
- Optimizing Stops: Stops are particularly hard because a dull horse usually falls on the front end in the stop leading to additional problems. I talk about this specific fron ent stopping problem in the article, Front-End Heavy Stops in Horse Training. If you do this correctly though, you can correct both issues at the same time. After asking for a stop immediately trot forward into a very small counter-bent circle. In this circle, you should be asking the horse to lift his shoulders and engage his hip. After, allow the horse to walk. This way the horse learns to keep his body in the correct position for stopping and the reward comes after the counter-bent circle instead of the stop.
4. Other maneuvers
- Circles, backups, and other maneuvers: Apply these same techniques to all other maneuvers. Always ask the horse for forward effort after the maneuver and reward that forward effort. The key is in the reward because that is what the horse is looking for.
Psychological Considerations in Training
There is always more than one way to teach something and a good rider or trainer adjusts to what suits the horse best. Often early in training, you are encouraging the horse to slow down to learn something correctly then as he learns it you gradually speed him up. Addressing the horse’s mental state is as crucial as physical training. The objective is to foster a mental willingness to perform maneuvers, achieved by recognizing and rewarding the horse’s efforts. When and what efforts you reward is the key. This approach not only enhances the horse’s physical response but also builds a positive mental association with the tasks. Often a horse that is dull in the movements is also resistant to cues. I talk about softening this resistance in the video, Softening A Resistant Horse
Professional Insights In Horse Training
- Equitable Effort Distribution: Ideal equestrian practice advocates for an equal division of effort (50-50) between horse and rider. An imbalance wherein the rider is overcompensating indicates a need for training reassessment.
- Acknowledgment of Progress: It is imperative to recognize and reward even minor improvements. This positive reinforcement encourages the horse and fosters a conducive learning environment.
- At this stage of training, I am nearly always working in a leverage bit like this one. This type of bit helps a dull horse to use its body correctly when practicing these maneuvers.
- Progressive Training Model: As the horse demonstrates increased responsiveness, gradually introduce more complex maneuvers to continually challenge and develop its abilities.
- If your horse is just flat-out telling you no when you ask for something then you have a different problem. Then you need to read the article, The Importance of Recognizing Disrespectful Horse Behavior.
Conclusion
In conclusion, transforming a passive horse into an engaged and responsive partner is an intricate process that demands patience, strategic training, and a deep understanding of equine psychology. The outlined methodologies aim to create a balanced and effective partnership, emphasizing the importance of consistent training that holistically addresses both the physical and mental dimensions of the horse’s development. You can find more information on this topic in the article, 3 Advanced Techniques for Teaching Softness.
My horse training journey has brought me from winning world titles to now trying to make every horse the best they can be and to help you improve your equestrian knowledge.