Train to the physical, mental and emotional sides
Several years ago I attended a clinic with Tommy Thompson, a top reining and cow horse trainer from Bakersfield, Calif. His first statement in the clinic was: "Every day when you are training, wanting and needing to get maximal progress from your efforts, you must take into account (train to) the physical, mental and emotional sides of your horses."
My close friend and legendary trainer Jack Brainard puts it another way. Brainard says: "A horse can't make maximum progress if he is sore, hurting or tired, confused or mad or bored."
In this column, we'll look inside the horse. Then we'll think about a days' activities and a horse's physical, mental and emotional sides.
Inside the horse
Physical -- Physiologically it takes about six weeks, six months and 12 months, respectively, to get muscles, tendons and ligaments and bone conditioned for training. During this conditioning process, short-term or long-term injuries can occur. These situations must be identified immediately and steps taken to the fix the problem.
Mental -- This is the learning tasks side of your horse with the learning going on in the brain. We present cues, the horse responds and then we either positively or negatively reinforce the horse. The horse remembers what it learned, either completely or to some degree. We teach horses to do hundreds of tasks. For the most learning progress to be made, we must always start with the simplest tasks and gradually work our way up to teaching the more difficult or complex tasks.
Emotional -- To be able to learn tasks, a horse must be quiet with a positive, trusting attitude, while also realizing you are the leader. As a horse learns in this mindset, he shifts from his right (run/prey) side of his brain to the left (learning) side of his brain. A sign of this brain-sided transfer is when a horse drops his head and quietly licks his lips. When you see this, you know your horse is learning and confident in its most recent accomplishment.
A day's activities
1. Emotional
Turn stalled horses out frequently. Many horses are kept stalled or in small pens or corrals most of the time. If not ridden frequently, they build up normal, playful energy. Trying to ride a fresh horse can be challenging. Fresh horses need to be turned out frequently so they can roll, run and play and get some green grass. Turning horses out together in a large area where they won't fight is good. When turned out, horses are instinctively more like they were in their wild state. Doing this often is therapeutic and helps horses to be more comfortable when put back in their domesticated, confined living areas.
2. Physical
Give horses a preride check -- see my May 2004 column. Trainers usually never talk about this, but they indirectly always check a horse's health and soundness status while preparing a horse to be ridden. They can assess if the horse walked free and loose to the saddling area or if there is any swelling or heat in the fetlocks, knees or hocks or if the horse is extra sensitive over its back or under the belly. These conditions can be assessed during grooming. The horse's resting heart rate also can be checked. Fifty beats per minute means your horse should be good to go, 60 beats per minute dictates that the horse needs a slow, less-strenuous workout that day and 70 beats per minute indicates a no-ride or turnout day.
3. Physical, mental and emotional
Tie horses around each way -- see my January 2004 column.
First, saddle your horse. Then put a snaffle bit on the horse. Leave him in the stall or put him in a small pen or the arena. Tie the left rein up loosely over the horn. Tie the right rein to the rear D-ring of your saddle. Tie it so that the horse's body has a slight bend or c-shape to the right.
The horse will walk around showing several behaviors as it lightly works his body muscles until they relax and lengthen. The horse will soon realize that when he gets all his parts -- head, neck, shoulder, ribcage and hip -- looser and in a uniform bend and he lifts his back which will flatten his neck, it will release the rein pressure. This is rewarding, positive reinforcement and feels good and comfortable. Anytime a horse can figure something out on his own, it is effective learning. Your horse is now memorizing in his mind and body this comfortable frame, which is the exact frame we want him in when we ride him. This exercise also starts training the behavioral resistance out of your horse.
Leave your horse tied this way until he discovers the correct frame. Then reverse the procedure, tying him back to the other side. This "on his own frame learning exercise" may take 30 minutes per side initially and then will require less and less time each day. While the horse is training himself, you need to keep an eye on him, but you can go about your barn chores.
In March I will discuss lounging, warming up, training, cross-training and warming down your horse and the emotional, physical and mental responses or effects of these activities.
• Doug Householder is an educator in the horse industry. His e-mail address is dh-horse@flash.net.
Share this story:
Google
Yahoo
digg
del.icio.us
facebook
Slashdot
