Your horse will give you all the feedback you need, if you know how to listen. If, when you march and wave, your horse does not budge, he is telling you that your communication needs work. Turn your body's energy up until the horse moves out of your space sideways.
If, when you march and wave, your horse's head shoots in the air and he tries to run off, he is telling you that you are scaring the daylights out of him and that you need to turn your energy down some.
With my students, I use the analogy of a volume knob to access how much energy is needed. Think of the radio in your car. Thankfully, it has more than just two settings - off and blaring. The joy of a volume knob is that it allows you to turn it a little up at times and a little down at others. Think of yourself as a volume control when working with your horse. Use whatever volume the situation merits for success.
I am a big believer in quality rather than quantity. So when you are teaching this to your horse, reward him for just one or two nice sideways steps. Small successes lead to bigger successes. He has to be able to do one or two with confidence, before he can do three or four with confidence. Ten strides that are motivated from fear are worthless in my mind. Remember, this is a relationship of trust, respect and understanding - not fear and force.
Go Sideways, Then Go Between
Goal: To have your horse travel sideways along a fence and then pass between you and the fence.
Instructions: You will make your friends "ooo" and "ahh" when they see you combine these two exercises with the greatest of ease.
Ask your horse to go sideways down a length of fence. In doing so, your feet will be energetically walking forward (volume up) and you will be standing near the fence. Once you have gotten a few good sideways steps, slow your body energy down (volume down) and begin walking backwards and slightly away from the fence. This is going to create a passage between yourself and the fence, which you can then send your horse through. Once your horse has passed through, disengage him and celebrate a job well done.
As with anything in life, a solid grasp on the fundamentals is an essential part of moving on to higher endeavors. And with most things, practicing the fundamentals, while necessary, tends to lack the luster and fun that the end result brings forth.
Because of that, you have earned a well-deserved "congratulations" for sticking it through the many fundamentals of horsemanship we have covered.
We will be taking a hiatus from groundwork for a while to begin riding in partnership (hip hip hooray!) I want to be clear that groundwork and riding do not have an either/or relationship with one another. I always, always, always recommend doing groundwork before getting in the saddle. It is the groundwork that gets the relationship right each day, so that you may be safe and successful when in the saddle. See you in the saddle next week!
About the author: Emily Johnson, owner of Mountain Rose Horsemanship Training, LLC, located in Broomfield, Colorado, is an accomplished horse professional with a passion for bringing horses and humans together through credible and approachable instruction.
Emily studied Equine Science at Colorado State University before spending the following years traveling, mentoring under many accomplished trainers nationwide, as she developed her own natural horsemanship style. Her training methods utilize a direct approach the horse naturally understands, which she combines with her knowledge of human learning to create the most effective environment for both.
Emily specializes in areas that include young or troubled horses, as well as horsemanship that emphasize the mind and behavior of the horse. Her instruction reflects her passion for equipping both horses and humans for success on their journey toward partnership. She may be contacted at mountainrosetraining@gmail.com.
