[SYH] 9 – Building a connection

Hi,

You are probably wondering when we’ll talk about riding. But before putting a person on our horse’s back, we want to have good leading skills. So in the next emails, we will build those skills.

Our horse is now self-haltering and knows how to give to pressure, i.e. she yields to pressure without tension instead of opposing with resistance. We can now use this to gauge whether the horse is ready to respond to the next request.

For example, we walk around a circle of cones and I want to turn into the centre of the circle. Before turning, I slide up the lead rope and wait for a small give. As my horse softens at the poll, she may also anticipate something new. Depending on how much flexion I ask, I may get the inner hind leg stepping under more which prepares her for a balanced turn. By the way, the same applies to riding.

When riding, I am using these small gives all the time. For Blondie, these were crucial, so she wouldn’t feel trapped between two reins, but it’s important for all horses.

Let me give you an example: Graya tends to fall on her right shoulder. Asking her for a flexion to the right, redistributes her weight more equally between both shoulders. The outside rein receives this weight and the inside rein is loose, it doesn’t hold her in that flexion. If she looses the bend, I can ask again. My inside leg supports the bend.

I didn’t plan on talking about riding, but as you can see, it is all connected.

Because this series is about starting a riding horse, the communication through the lead rope is crucial as it’s going to translate to the reins once we sit on the horse.

Leading

I like to use a circle of cones as a landmark. It gives direction and I can easily notice if we are drifting away from the path. The cones make it easier to integrate turns and changes of direction. I often place a mat in the centre that I can use for breaks. From the mat in the centre, I measure out each cone, e.g. 4 steps from the mat, to get an even circle.

​This foundation lesson from Alexandra Kurland​ is an excellent way to test how well connected your horse already is. You start off by inviting your horse forward with a hand gesture and after a few steps you fold your hands into grown-ups. There is no need to activate the lead rope. Depending on your training progression, you can decide to click and reinforce when she begins to slow down into a halt or when she is standing in grown-ups.

It’s important to take your time with this. Imagine your horse is a magnet that you try to stay connected with. As you start walking, you want your “magnet” to follow. If you go too fast or make sudden transitions, you risk loosing the “magnetic field”. Walk off in a way that takes your horse along and stop slowly, giving her enough time to come to a halt. Especially young horses may find that difficult. Walk only 2-3 steps to make it easier. If your young horse finds it difficult to stand still, don’t stay too long in the halt, and invite her forward again.

Should your horse overshoot, you can use dynamic food delivery to reset her. We introduced dynamic food delivery during the first targeting lessons.

Start on the side that is easier for your horse. I would work on the easier side until the behaviour is fluent. Then you can try the other side. Return to the easier side often to give her a break.

This lesson is often overlooked but so useful. It will help when you activate the lead rope because your horse is already connected to you, even without the rope.

Here is a video of Malou going through the lesson. We don’t know each other yet in this context. I am using this lesson to build a connection with her.

This was the first time that we had a “serious” training session in the arena. Her buddy “Airus” is present to give her confidence, but she is quite nervous, nevertheless.

Notice that I am waiting for her to start as she checks out the strange environment. When I ask for a halt, I am giving her as many steps as she needs to come to a halt. When I feed, the hand holding the rope releases, so that the snap falls to a neutral position. That is one of many important details of Alex Kurland’s rope handling skills.

In the next video is Blondie in the same lesson with a person she doesn’t know. I was so proud of her that she could do this lesson calmly with a novice handler. In the past, she would have panicked when hitting the end of the lead rope, which meant head tossing and possibly a little rear.

Try this lesson, I bet you’ll find it useful.
In the next email, we’ll look at turns.

Have fun,
Michaela