Can your horse stand still?

When you are training animals, one important button to teach them is the ON/OFF button.

Things can quickly spiral out of control if stress responses or even excitement run too high for too long. Many inflammatory responses happen in the physical body over time if the horse remains too alert, nervous or tense and they can lead to unwanted and unhealthy scenarios.

Posture is also affected when we speak about nervous tension and posture affects all the muscles and how we move and carry ourselves. The same thing happens to horses and often the top-line becomes affected by the nervous behavior causing the horse to hollow his back, and this can ultimately lead to back issues and loss of back muscle.

Training horses to relax is also difficult if the rider or handler doesn’t know how to quiet their bodies and mind.

Many times, we want the horse to stand still and if they don’t, we end up moving our body around in an attempt to stop them either on the ground or from the saddle. This movement distracts the horse and if we’re in the saddle we are moving the center of gravity around, which causes the horse to lose balance and actually urges him to move more.

Horses often reflect our energy back to us. For example, if you’re stressed and moving around a lot, usually the horse will pick up the same nervous energy and do the same action.

The horse doesn’t know that you’re frustrated because the horse is moving and all you want is for the horse to stand still. He just picks up on your frustration which makes him nervous, which then makes him move, which ends up exacerbating your frustration and the whole cycle starts all over again.

In the end, it’s a bit of a mess and doesn’t lead to standing still or relaxing.

The best way to teach a horse to relax is by first taking a few breaths yourself, feeling your own body relax and try to stand still on the ground first, just standing next to the horse and being together.

If the horse moves, try not to move your feet. Keep your arms close to your body and simply allow the horse to move until he becomes more conscious of what you are doing and stops moving. If he stops moving for a few seconds or puts all his attention on you (perhaps displaying signs of relaxation like sighing, blinking, licking and chewing or lowering his head), then you can tell him “good boy” immediately after he does the desired behavior and then reward him with a treat.

Continue to stand still to make sure the lesson sinks in and that the relaxation has time to set in.

Leave the area where you were standing in a calm relaxed walk before any tension or impatience pops back up again. In general, I don’t force relaxation or standing still for more than 10-20 seconds to start off with.

However, before I quit, I want to make sure that the horse isn’t just physically standing still but that he’s also mentally relaxed and not thinking about a whole lot or stressing about what’s next.

Getting the body in the right position can sometimes be the start, but the exercises don’t finish until the mind is in the right place as well.

An example is the mounting block.

Horses sometimes learn to back away or move sideways away from the mounting block to stop the rider from getting on.

 Most of the time when I come across a horse with this avoidance behavior, there can be different reasons:  

1. The horse doesn’t like being mounted.

2. The horse doesn’t like being worked and knows work is coming when the rider tries to mount.

3. The horse has pain.

Mainly, my experience is that riders don’t take the time to teach the horse patience and relaxation in the mounting process. Riders often lead the horse to the mounting block, move the horse around multiple times (which is stressful), hop on whilst the horse is still moving, immediately leaving the mounting block to go somewhere else.

Horses learn by association, so when you rush through everything the horse learns to rush through everything. Why should they wait patiently at the mounting block when there is no payoff for doing so and when you don’t do it either?

In other words, if you want your horse to do something, give him a reason to want to do it.

1. He has to learn that the mounting block is associated with something positive instead of something negative and that he’s not forced to go there, but rewarded for approaching.

2. He has to learn that when he tries to do the right thing, you reward him with a treat and give him a break, then ask him to do a slightly better version of the same thing again.

3. Once he does that consistently and actually ends up standing quietly at the mounting block, don’t immediately get on. This is your chance to remove the stress and just have him enjoy standing relaxed by the mounting block. getting treats (only there) without expecting you to get on. Reward him even more by leading him away from the mounting block and letting him forget about it for a while, but don’t give him any treats.

4. Lead him back to the mounting block and once he stands still, give him a treat again. Now put your foot in the stirrup, but don’t get on. If he tries to back away, try to keep your foot in the stirrup if possible, and with your other aids ask him to step up again. If he steps up even a little, take your foot out of the stirrup and reward him again with a treat and relaxation. Do this until you can put your foot in the stirrup and weight it slightly without the horse stepping away.

5. Once you can do that consistently, then go ahead and swing your leg over. Have the reins short enough that you don’t accidentally pull him backwards, but you can stop him from moving forwards.

6. If he doesn’t move, give him a treat without leaning forward. Perhaps turn his head with one rein and then feed him the treat. Wait a few seconds and if he’s still standing, then give him another treat. Then dismount, if possible, on the mounting block, step down and reward again with another treat for the horse continuously standing next to the mounting block.

7. If he moves when you get on, stop him where he is. Don’t move him back towards the mounting block until he has stopped moving where he is. Give him a pat but no treat, then ask him by pointing with the direct rein and using the opposite leg to drive him one step closer to the mounting block. If he takes one or more steps in the direction of the mounting block, then praise him and give him a treat. Make sure he stands still here for a while before asking for the next step to align with the mounting block. Do this until he’s as close to the block as possible, then keep rewarding him, returning to step 6.

8. Once you’ve practiced mounting, standing still at the block for several seconds, rewarding the horse and then dismounting, you are now ready to either put your horse away or go for a ride.

9. If you choose to go for a ride, get back on and treat the horse, but then pause for 10-20 seconds before asking the horse to step away from the mounting block. This way the horse will always wait for you nicely by the block before, during and after you get on without being impatient or walking off.

10. The longer you want the horse to wait at the block, the longer the pause between you getting on and the treat being given. But extend the time gradually so you don’t lose the interest of the horse.

11. Learn to dismount on the mounting block to give the horse the idea that you getting off is also associated with the mounting block and a treat. This will reinforce the whole process.

Teaching the horse to relax and line up perfectly with the mounting block can be achieved very quickly within one session, or even within just a few minutes if you’re relaxed and reward every try the horse gives you with a pause and a treat. If you skip the pause, the horse might take the treat but will still rush.

The pause and the treat must be connected in the horse’s mind for it to stick.

If you move your feet or arms around too much or wiggle around in the saddle, the horse will feed off of your example and do the same thing.

For a calm horse, be a calm person and show him the way in a clear and concise manner, followed by a pause and a reward. From here, make sure you’re consistent and always pause and relax/reward the horse at the mounting block. Never rush the process or leave the block before the horse is relaxed.

Happy training!

Ride with Lightness

Celie xo