It is winter again, so of course I have to spend more time out of the saddle than I would like. Which is fine im starting to really enjoy this new world that has opened up. A world were horses have become more than just something to ride and show off on. It also means I have more time to sit down and piece together part two of a series that I should have updated ages ago.
I covered a bit of this in my last article, how you control what your horse can and will be scared of. To a certain degree of course, for we can’t forget that horses will respond to a unknown situation in one of two ways. Fight or flee. I don’t believe you will ever be able to over ride this instinct completely. But you can of course do plenty to keep your horse in a mindset were he doesn’t have to make that decision. You look at a herd in the wild. You obviously have your hierarchy. What is as common knowledge however is that horses right down the bottom of the pack doesn’t associate with those right at the top. They are far to superior to be approached by the lower level ranks. So what im saying is a horse will only associate with another horse that is a rank or two above himself. This is something important to remember when dealing with your horse.
However back to the main point, in a herd situation, the herd relies on its leader to tell them what situation is worth fighting for or fleeing. The horse at the top of the hierarchy doesn’t have the time to go around telling each individual horse how to react to each situation. Its not time efficient and as mentioned before he wouldn’t personally waste his time on those right down the bottom of the herd. Instead what he does, is he reacts to the situation in a way he wishes the rest of the herd to react. This is were good leadership values come into play. The whole herd needs to be able to trust the opinion of their leader completely. One false decision, one bad move, would be enough to prove that he isn’t worth that position/ not worth listening to.
If we take this theory of the herd listening to its leader on how to react in situations. Then we can begin to understand how horses react to situations when under our control. There have been countless times when myself as a rider/handles have been in a scary situation. You tense up, your heart leaps and starts beating faster, the adrenaline starts pumping, your scared and worried. Im sure all horse riders can relate. It’s a common occurrence, especially when a horse makes a quick unexpected move. When they bolt, spook, buck, rear the list is endless. The cause for it is also endless. But I want to look not at the physical cause of it. But what effect this reaction is having on both you and the horse.
When a herd leader gets scared and tense, so does its herd. When a herd leader “flees” so does its herd. So what happens to us as riders when our horse gets scared of something and uses the flee response? We generally out of instinct get scared ourself. We physically and mentally start showing all the signs mentioned above and most importantly we have also “chosen” (unwillingly) the flee response. Now the horse learns that he is controlling our responses. The horse is calm and happy, we are calm and happy. It’s a windy day, the horse is fresh and tense. Then we become tense and worried. Who becomes the leader? It is certainly not us as riders who are being dictated by our horse. Its easy to see how quickly we loose all authority, why would the horse listen to us, when he has to make all the decisions himself. You have failed as his leader. So he is going to snap up that position.
Things we can do to help this situation. Ideally you want to be able to dictate how your horse response to each and every situation. However since we can’t predict the future and horses will always be over run by there instincts that isn’t really possible. What we can do however is react in a way we want the horse to react. It is something that needs to be done every time you are around him. If it is a windy day and you know your horse is fresh. Then ride to your limits, if you know that your going to tense up, then maybe only go for a walk. Do something that you are able to remain completely calm with doing. Its about training yourself aswell. Training yourself to remain calm in every situation. To not react when he does result back to his flee/flight instincts. By letting him spook and run sideways at that yellow bin and not getting tense/ worried yourself. Then you’re not confirming his fears and more importantly your not following his lead. He is no longer dictating your response to the situation. Horses like to follow a leader, it means they don’t have to think for themselves. But first you must prove to them you are worth following. If you keep letting him dictate how you react in every scary situation. Then your never going to be seen as worthy enough.
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Amen. This is something all horse owners, or people who are around horses, need to read. I love all your articles, they're very good.
interesting article! i really like the topic you have chosen, something not much of us get to really learn about. i think it will become very useful :)
your articles are amazing i read them over and over horse sense 1 really helped me with my horse as he is very cheeky andin this article i realised how im his leader not the oppisite whens your next article?
I really liked reading this. It makes me think of all the times my horses spooks and so do I. I will really start watching so I don't spook when he does and stay clam.
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However back to the main point, in a herd situation, the herd relies on its leader to tell them what situation is worth fighting for or fleeing. The horse at the top of the hierarchy doesn’t have the time to go around telling each individual horse how to react to each situation. Its not time efficient and as mentioned before he wouldn’t personally waste his time on those right down the bottom of the herd. Instead what he does, is he reacts to the situation in a way he wishes the rest of the herd to react. This is were good leadership values come into play. The whole herd needs to be able to trust the opinion of their leader completely. One false decision, one bad move, would be enough to prove that he isn’t worth that position/ not worth listening to. 
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