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The Unwilling Horse: A
Matter of Respect?

by Connie Dwyer, MS, CABC of The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants

Our thanks to: Eternal Sun Stables

Your mare runs further away from you when you go to get her from the pasture. She baulks, bucks, rears or tosses her head when asked to move forward up into the trot or jog. Your gelding pins his ears when you approach his stall at feeding time. Do YOU have an unwilling horse on your hands?

These behaviors are sometimes described as a lack of respect. So what is respect? From the dictionary: RESPECT: A feeling of appreciative, often deferential thought or attention; esteem.

We often use human words to describe our horse’s behaviors yet these words are meaningless to our horses. Although our horses do not go about there daily routine with planned vengeance upon us, it certainly can seem that way to us as we observe their behaviors.

Live in the Present

Our horses live in the present moment and respond to their environment at that time: they hear a rustle in the woods – they gallop off and then look back to see if they are safe from a potential predator. They do, however, also remember things they have learned through association and react to those in addition to instinctive responses such as flight. So for example, if they have learned that when you come out to get them from the pasture they will be tacked up and worked hard, you can probably figure out that they are doing what is in their best interest – staying clear of you! And if you feed your horse while he is pinning his ears you can be sure you are further reinforcing this seemingly “nasty” and unwilling behavior. Pinning his ears at you gets him his food!

These examples touch on the world of behavior modification, which is much more than what we do when training our horse to jog, canter or to stand at the mounting black. We are developing a relationship between ourselves and our horse. – which if done correctly is the first step to a great partnership and what you most definitely need before you attempt to train them well and respectfully! Hey…there’s that word again…but this time we are supposed to respect our horse??

Yes! Respect is a 2-way street. Let’s look at the definition again

and now ask ourselves how we can achieve this? How we can get our horse to see us with appreciation, deference and high regard? Respect is not fear and intimidation. Respect is not dominance or use of force! We gain respect of our horse by teaching and communicating in a clear and reinforcing way, by making it worth their while to do as we please so they look forward to interacting with us. But what if we come across a behavior problem?

How to Correct the Problem

A great way to correct a problem is to follow this simple 3 step plan.

1. Know what you want from your horse and describe it clearly. If you don’t know what you want your horse certainly won’t either.

2. Devise an intervention plan that uses training techniques to get the behavior you desire from your horse.

3. Work with your horse EVERYDAY! Even if it is only 5 minutes a day, a little bit everyday is always more effective than once a week for an hour! They say it takes 21 days to make something a habit. So if we compare everyday sessions with your horse to once a week sessions you are looking at getting a consistent change in behavior of less than one month versus more than 5 months!!!

Real World Example

Let’s look at a real world example to help illustrate this program and inspire you to work towards this wonderful relationship. NOTE: Be sure to click the link below to submit your individual questions for help with your horse behavior problems if you need extra help!

Behavior Case Scenario

You bought a horse that looked great at the seller’s barn but now that you are home you find that lunging him can be a life threatening experience. When you swing the rope or use a whip to encourage your horse to trot around you, instead of a nice jog he bolts off at top speed pulling his 1000 lbs hard at the end of the line nearly sending you into orbit. Something has put him over the edge. Did he do this at the seller’s barn? His emotions have blocked the correct trained response which is to trot off at a safe speed around you. So what do you do?

The 3 step Plan.

1. Describe what you want

I would like my horse to respond promptly to me pointing the whip towards his hindquarters by moving at a walk around me in a circle. He should do this at a moderate, safe speed, with ears forward, a quietly swinging tail and on a loose line.

NOTE: You can add to this for all gaits eventually but it is always best to start at the beginning and build on that. Always remember to break what you want down into the smallest step necessary to keep your horse calm and under that emotional threshold.

2. Devise a plan.

Be sure he is calm with the use of the equipment so you can rule out any emotional problems associated with it. If the sight of a whip upsets your horse you should work to desensitize him to it. Be sure you can touch him all over with it and he stays calm. And then through positive reward, eventually counter condition him to look forward to the whip.

Work at this one step at a time at the walk. Reward him for staying on the circle a certain distance from you. You can do this through use of negative reinforcement (pressure and release) and also positive reinforcement (food rewards). Now you can work on the next gait. Do NOT progress to the next request until your horse is performing well at the level you are at as you have defined it in your first step.

* Keep a journal of your progress. This is such a beneficial tool for a horse owner. *

3. Work with your horse!

This is crucial to rapid success in rehabilitating emotional problems as well as training in general. A little bit everyday will get you so much more and take your relationship to the next fabulous level.

For more tips on horse behavior please visit my site link in the resources below and please also post your individual questions here on HorseIceCream by clicking the comment link below.

Other Resources

Eternal Sun Stables

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About the Author

Connie Dwyer is Certified Horse Behavior Consultant (IAABC) and specializes in working with clients to solve their equine behavior problems. She is a published author and creator of the Equine Excellence Award (TM) Program, a program designed to reward equines and their humans through demonstrated teamwork. Connie has her own animal training and behavior consulting business in upstate New York. She is also very active in 4-H activities, helping to educate the community about building lasting relationships through positive animal training methods for their companion animals. She has been the Chair of the 4H Dressage Division for the Broome County horse program development committee for the last 3 years. She also helped found the current 4H dog training program in her county where she teaches Canine Good Citizen and Puppy Manners and Socialization classes. Connie is available for private behavior consultations as well as training clinics and workshops.

Connie ‘s Contact Info
Web site     Phone: (607) 693-5007