Ep 170: Winning the Daily Battle of Building Confidence
Horsemanship is a daily battle of building confidence. Every time you interact with your horse, you are either building confidence or destroying it. There is no in between. That’s why you’ll hear me talk a lot about the importance of incremental growth – 1% better each day.
Confidence is a trait that is not naturally instilled in horses; it is a quality that is earned. As trainers, we must be intentional about balancing between encouraging our horses to progress and pushing our horses too far too fast.
Managing Our Expectations
I believe that one of the biggest things that gets in the way of developing our horses’ full potential is our innate tendency to assign a timeline to everything. Whether that is due to pressure from clients, upcoming futurity events, or our own personal goals, we are prone to seeking immediate gratification from our efforts. We want each horse to progress as far as possible, as fast as possible.
This desire to improve quickly is not necessarily a bad thing; however, if we are not careful, we can easily destroy a horse’s confidence by putting it in a situation it is not prepared to handle.
Focusing On Quality Over Quantity
In my opinion, there is no trainer out there that has an outlined program over a specific period of time that will work for every horse. 30 days of training on one horse might look completely different than 30 days of training on another. That’s why I tend to focus less on the number of days and more on the quality of exposure my horse receives.
For example, the past few weeks, I have been introducing some colts to cattle for the first time. I’ve shared more about why this process is part of my training routine in an earlier episode; however, I want to talk more about how I control the quality of exposure they receive throughout this process.
Controlling the Quality of Exposure
I am very methodical in how I introduce these colts to cattle. It is one of those things that I believe can be a very effective confidence-building tool when applied in the right way. When I expose these colts to cattle in a controlled environment, this helps them build confidence in an otherwise uncomfortable situation.
When I put these horses in the arena with a calf, I always try to match the calf to the horse’s current level of training, ability or tendencies. For example, if I have a horse that is strong and a little flighty, I’m going to put them on a slower calf to help them focus and lock onto a slower moving object, which in turn, slows down the mind. If I have a horse that is a bit more ratey and hasn’t found that next gear yet, I’ll put them on a stronger calf to help them open up and get comfortable at that next level of speed.
Teaching a System of Pressure and Release
Another thing I am very mindful of is when I introduce a horse to the box. I never run a calf out of the box until they are rock solid in the field. The bang of a gate and being confined in a box often triggers a flight response, which can quickly destroy a horse’s confidence.
When I feel that a horse is ready to take that next step, I am not worried about them standing in the box perfectly. Instead, I am focused on establishing release points within the box. For me, this is in two places: the mouth of the box right next to the chute and in the corner. If I have a horse that is standing flat on all fours but a few inches off the corner, I will still go ahead and provide that release rather than jamming them into the corner. I put my hand down, relax my legs, and let the horse know they are in the position I want them to be in. If you wait until everything is perfect and force them into it, they will learn that the corner is associated with pressure, not release. Teaching this system of pressure and release is what allows you to have control over the horse’s mind and body before you put them in a situation that lends itself toward triggering reactive tendencies.
Answering Your Inbox Questions
“I’m looking to buy a horse that is running bred, and it is going to be a lot more horse than I’ve ever worked with. What can I do to keep the horse sane and safe as I’m training?”
The fact that you are asking yourself this question means you have won half the battle. You are aware of what you are dealing with, and you are seeking out ways to adapt your training program to fit the needs of that horse. I always tell people to listen to their horses. But when I say to “listen” to your horse, I don’t mean to listen with your ears. I mean to watch what they’re telling us with their behavior and mannerisms, and that will tell us what we need to work on. If we listen, they’ll tell us where they need help.
“Would you trail ride and haul them to low pressure settings for their first year before introducing them to that next level of speed?”
I’m not going to go trail ride a horse that I don’t have a lot of confidence in, and I’m not going to introduce them to that setting unless I already have excellent control over their speed and direction. If, later on, you want that horse to do any maneuvers with speed, you need to help that horse collect and understand from the start that they need to put their body in a position to be balanced and ready to take that next level of speed.
Trail riding is great for the horse’s mind and to teach them to be aware of their surroundings and where they put their feet. The only thing I would caution people on is making sure that you have complete control of their feet and have enough of a foundation on them to be able to safely and confidently take them into that setting. If something spooks them and goes wrong, you need to have some basic triggers already established so that you can bring that horse back to center.
Resources
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