THE HORSE PERSON’S GUIDE TO EQUINE ETIQUETTE AND PROPER BEHAVIOR
We all know what a pleasure it is to be in the presence of children whose parents have taken the time and eff ort to instill in them gracious manners. So it is with horses also. As in all subjects equine, opinions as to what exactly are “proper” manners will vary greatly among owners and even with disciplines. It may not seem terribly important if your horse possesses a couple of less than desirable habits; however, even minor infractions could be downright dangerous if allowed to progress or if a horse needs to be handled by someone who is inexperienced.
H
orses are not capable of judging behavior as good or bad; they only react to the experiences
they have had. T e habits and level of obedience that we create in our horses are the result of consistent communica-
tion skills and leadership. Many forms of ill manners are actually avoidance or evasion measures due to fearful or pain- ful past experiences, drama or trauma. In most cases, curing or fi xing these habits will take longer than teaching them correctly in the fi rst place, so prepare to be patient. Horses learn on a diff erent schedule than we do and are never “off the clock.” In
other words, they learn every minute we are with them, not just during our “training times.” If a horse has a lapse in his good manners and this is not corrected immediately, it will be- come a habit just the same as good behavior that we capture and reward. T is happened to me recently while doing Liberty pat erns with my four-year-
A ring with a breakaway rope on an overhead branch will give slightly if a young horse decides to test it by pulling back. T e breakaway rope will come free, decreasing the likelihood of a horse injuring his neck if he pulls back.
old gelding. I had asked him to make a complete circle around a pedestal just as someone called out to me. As I turned to see who it was, my horse thought he had been released at the half circle and did not fi nish the complete turn. It took me several sessions to convince him this was not what I wanted. It was my lapse, not the horse’s, yet I still had to correct it.
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