Proper Use of the Flag: Training your own horse, part 2 of 6

by Alice Trindle

What is the purpose of a horseman's flag, that small piece of fabric or plastic attached to a stick or dressage whip?

This is such a critical question. Often, I believe people see wonderful horsemen such as Ray Hunt or Dennis Reis using a flag, but don't see the reason or misinterpret what they are witnessing. If you watch one of Mr. Hunt’s colt-starting clinics, you may well think he uses the flag to scare the colts around the pen until they are so tired that they have to settle down. What you may have missed were Hunt's many years of working with horses, understanding herd behavior, and recognizing just the right time to release the pressure with the flag so the horse begins to search for that release.

The flag needs to be handled with a very clear purpose in mind; otherwise, it will create fear, intimidation, and negative reactions such as pawing or rearing. On the opposite side, if a flag is overused or applied without clear vision and understanding of the horse’s nature, you may develop a creature that is non-sensitive, lacks enthusiasm, and disappears inside himself.

What are the over-arching goals the flag can help a horse and rider team achieve?

1. Ability to read intentions
The flag is a visual extension of body language, along with the vision you have in your mind's eye. By going through the Horseman’s Protocol of becoming present, breathing, then picturing what it is that you are about to ask the horse to accomplish, you can then add the flag to reinforce this picture. Because the flag is visual, it helps connect to the eyes and ears of the horse quickly. Then, with the application of a little pressure or clear intention, it is easy to influence the feet.

2. Confidence and self-carriage
Your ability to learn how to handle a flag with clear intention, from both the ground and atop your horse, will certainly build confidence in you! It helps the horse with his bravery too. As he separates the movement and sounds of the flag and becomes sensitive to your intentions, this works a part of the brain that builds self-confidence and in the process develops his posture and athleticism. Many times, I ride a more timid horse while working a herd of horses at liberty. The timid horse quickly learns that the flag is not intended for him, personally, but it is helping him become the prima donna leader, driving the flow of the herd!

3. Awareness and sensitivity
Here is where we may get into a war of semantics, but I am firm on this point: I have no desire to "desensitize" my horses. I want them to be aware of their environment with their flight instincts intact and all their natural abilities on call. So often, with mindless use of the flag, I have seen horses become truly non-sensitive, dull and numb to their surroundings. In a natural setting, they are the horses the cougars would eat!

Proper and mindful use of the flag, and knowing when to quit or release, will build on your horse’s awareness and ability to read your intentions. It can also heighten his intelligent sensitivity to the environment.

4. Multitasking skills
The ability to separate a mental picture from the rhythm and timing of the flag as you direct the horse with your aids--while breathing with a smile on your face--is not easy! For the horse to separate the movement and sounds of the flag from the intentions of the rider, and still accomplish the true job at hand with posture and athleticism, is frankly amazing. The flag can be a great tool to help us separate body parts while maintaining a clear focus, ultimately making both horse and human handy.

Caution: Don’t overuse the flag; rather, see it as a tool to fix, refine, adjust, enhance and sensitize. You do not want to get the horse to a point where the only way he will react to your intentions is with the flag.

With the purposes outlined above in mind, here is one of my favorite flag exercises and the qualities I am looking for that constitute the release or reward:

Sideways “No Smoking” Exercise
This exercise asks the horse to move sideways, away from the bend, in a leg-yield posture with little forward movement. You can also ask him to perform a leg-yield on the diagonal or circle. Your horse should have a horseman's halter and 12' lead.

Start with your horse’s nose to the wall. Take a deep breath. Picture the horse moving sideways, softly away from you, but still having a slight bend around you. Put a slow rhythm in your mind’s eye for your flag to follow as it traces a "No smoking" sign (that red circle with the diagonal bar) on the side of the horse…from eye to foot, then foot back up to eye.

Start walking toward the middle of the horse while you paint your "No smoking" sign. You may need to spend a little more time at the eye or at the hip to get the sideways movement in the horse started. He should move sideways, remaining almost perpendicular to the wall.

Reward by stopping your feet and flag when the horse moves softly sideways with a rhythmic flow and no pull on the lead rope. As he understands the exercise, you can carry the sideways a little further each time before the reward, and even change the gait to a trot.

Caution: If the eyes and head pull away from you, the next body part to come toward you will be the hindquarters! Keep a feel for the eyes and head on the lead rope, but do not get so close that you can’t freely extend your flag arm (the one closest to the horse’s tail) in a nice, rhythmic paint stroke. Also, make sure you are moving your feet with rhythm.

Rest and Reward
Let the rest time be longer than the work time. When you first start this exercise, do only one side, and remember that if it takes you a week to get up to 90 miles an hour, that’s okay! Slow and right beats fast and wrong. Once your horse understands this exercise on both sides, put it in the bucket for a time and bring it back out in a month or so. Do not overuse it or you will lose what you are after, which is to build on your horse’s desire to read your body intentions.

For variations on the "No smoking" exercise and other ways to use the flag, visit www.tnthorsemanship.com.