Riding Outside the Box, Part 2

by Alice Trindle

Last month, we examined several obstacles you could build to add to your arena or riding area to create situations that help you connect to the feet, body, and mind of your horse. This month, let us look at some unusual ways to use the environment to connect to the feet, body, and mind of your horse while we prepare to expect the unexpected! Let’s think outside the box to get inside the horse and rider team.

Facing the Alligators
How many of you have approached a puddle, a creek, or a river and suddenly the reaction from the horse is: “WAIT, that is water and if it's not 50 feet deep, at the very least it IS wet and maybe even muddy!” Or, “What makes you think getting my feet wet is a good idea?” And my personal favorite, “Whoa partner…the only way we are crossing that HUGE ravine filled with water--and probably alligators--is to jump it, and I mean J-U-M-P!”

Would you step into an apparently cold, dark, gooey environment just because the captain directed you to the edge? Water obstacles offer a great opportunity for us to connect with our horses, but we first need to have some empathy and awareness of their assessment of the situation. See it from your horse’s perspective first, and then address how you can influence his feet, eyes, and body to reach his mind. As a reminder for every encounter, review your Horseman’s Protocol:
· Make sure you are present, in the moment, and breathing
· Think and picture what you are about to ask the horse to accomplish--remember to acknowledge that his fears and reluctance are very real, but the reality is that you are about to offer him a better way
· Focus, which prepares your posture
· Allow it to happen: set it up, wait, and patiently discourage the wrong answers; time is NOT a factor!
· Reward the slightest effort toward the right answer

Okay…given these reviews, let’s look at a couple of new ways to use water to gain self-confidence in both horse and rider.

Backing Through Water
Most of us have worked with horses to go forward over water obstacles, but how many of you have worked on going backward? It is one thing for the horse to learn to trust the leadership of the rider when he can see the alligators, but this trust soars when you develop the type of partnership where the horse has confidence in you even when he can’t see where he is going! Here is the sequence you might use to get your horse to back through water in due course. (Note: the depth of water should be shallow to just above his knees.)

First, get him comfortable with moving forward, a step at a time, into the water. Next, try stopping him with one foot in, and then back out. Continue this procedure until you have all four feet in water, then back out. If you have enough room, next try riding forward into the water; disengage the hindquarters ¼ turn, and then another ¼ (you should now be facing the direction from which you started). Wait, breathe, then ask the horse to back out. Last, try riding up to—but not into--the water, moving the hindquarters ½ turn, stopping, then backing all the way through the water–slowly!

A fun activity to add to this exercise employs a friend be the director. Position your pal on one side of the creek, facing the water. You ride between the water and your friend, facing nose to nose. Now, turn yourself over to the other human to direct you through the water. (Talk about trust!) By focusing on your pal, your body will be in the correct posture and balance. The friend should assist you with small directions regarding which way the hindquarters need to move. Without thinking, you will use the correct aids to influence your horse. It is fun, and it creates great empathy within you for your horse turning over his eyes, feet, and body to a leader.

Bushes and Other Scary Things
Part of riding outside the box is seeing obstacles, either natural or non-native to the environment, as opportunities to practice all sorts of exercises. Oftentimes we find ourselves needing to ride through some bushes or over a log, and all of a sudden the purple horse-eater (perhaps a large blackberry bush) appears and things go south real quick. No matter how much we may have prepared ahead of time with the green horse-eaters, it may not prepare us for the purple variety! I see this as an opportunity to use the exercises that the horse and I have practiced to act as comfort in an effort to work with the eyes, down to the feet, to finally influence the body and mind.

Ride the Perfect Circle
After the initial spook at the rose or blackberry bush, or that sagebrush the grouse just flew out of, try working on a perfectly balanced circle around the obstacle. You may first end up with a leg-yield or go sideways on a circle because the horse wants to keep both eyes and both nostrils on that scary bush. Use this to your advantage and school the shoulder-in on a circle. Work on the balance moving from the inside hind leg to the outside rein with no casting of the shoulders. Next, stop the sideways flow using your outside leg, shift your balance slightly back, and bring the shoulders through with a turn on the haunches. Shoulders will flow the opposite direction from which you were moving sideways; the bend in the horse remains the same, and the nose continues to look at the bush. Try this in both directions.

Now, attempt a perfect circle around the spooky bush. If you still have bracing and fear, try backing around the bush, first with his nose slightly tipped away from the bush (pretty easy), and next with the horse’s nose tipped slightly toward the bush in a half-pass posture (kind of difficult). Next, try riding around the bush in a forward half-pass posture where the haunches will be toward the bush and the shoulders are on the outside of the circle with the nose tipped in the direction of travel. Remember, you are riding the energy from the outside hind foot (outside of the bend) to the inside shoulder (inside of the bend and the direction of travel). Your balance or weight should be over the seat bone on the inside of the bend.

“Ok It’s a Log and You Want Me to Do What with It?”
Logs are another great tool to work with to get right down to the feet of your horse and ultimately right back to his mind. However, convincing the horse that the log could be used for other exercises besides jumping may be a challenge and truly test your patience! Again, remember your Horseman’s Protocol and particularly have a vision or picture of what you are asking clearly in your mind’s eye. Then reward a slight effort. Give yourself and the horse time to think and digest why you are trying to accomplish these maneuvers.

Start by seeing if you can get your horse to go over a small log (not higher than his knees) one step at a time. Try to stop the forward progression just as the foot leaves the ground and nanoseconds before it hits the ground on the opposite side of the log. Give lots of time for searching by letting him put his head down, smell--even taste--and look the situation over. Try to do as little as possible with your hands and reins, using them primarily to keep the horse perpendicular to the log. Use your legs to create a tunnel for his body. Close the leg with a slight caress when the horse’s hip needs to be realigned. Your seat stays neutral as you get him to step over with one foot and stop. Can you set it up for him to back over the log one step and stop? Because the horse has four feet and can move forward, backward, and sideways, the exercise possibilities are nearly endless!

A final maneuver would be to practice side-passing with the log under the horse’s belly and perpendicular to his body. Keep in mind here that your weight or shoulder and seat bone balance is in the direction of travel. There is no need to physically open the leg or rein excessively. Simply sit the direction you wish him to move, give pressure with your leg on the inside of the slight bend, and relax the leg on the outside. Add a slight feel in the outside rein to suggest the movement and wait.

Riding outside the box requires a little thinking outside the norm. To be prepared for the unexpected and build self-confidence in yourself and the horse, consider looking at your riding environment with fresh eyes. Use the same ol' tools in new ways. In the end you will receive the gift of having your horse’s feet, body, and mind with you in a willing partnership, ready to conquer the unexpected.