MARCH/APRIL 2013 THE RIDER /31
When things go wrong in the show ring…
This March I’ll be pre- senting this theme at the Can Am horse expo – I had fun doing a similar clinic at last year’s show, along with two accomplished judges – one from the hunter/jumper discipline and another from reining. We fed off each other’s energy as we highlighted various mistakes judges note on their cards and how to prevent them. I asked riders to look beyond the usual fixes, which focus on rider mechanics, to consid- er WHY things go wrong in the first place. Why do horses do what they do so predictably?
From the minor errors – a chip before a hunter fence or a slight overspin in reining, to major blun- ders – a refusal, or a spook (after which everything disintegrates), the source of the problem can often be found through the science of equine behaviour.
When the judge’s card says CC (cross canter), the post-class coach’s com- mentary usually includes “you should have used your outside leg.” But let’s dig deeper into what caused that horse’s hind end to slip off the track, resulting in a lost hind lead in the first place. Common- ly seen at the in gate, the magnet of the barn and buddies is a powerful draw for the herd oriented horse. The rider may steer his head, but the remainder of the horse fishtails towards home.
soon loses his composure at the centre of the ring in a reining pattern because that’s where all the transi- tions, flying changes and spins start. And if they start with a nervous rider abruptly stepping on the gas pedal, he’ll scoot out of place faster than a teen driver burning rubber out of the Dairy Queen.
on the judge’s card in lots of ways. Horses are creatures of rou- tine and learn by trial and error or operant condition- ing. Now, while the research indi- cates that it takes an average of 5-7 repetitions to learn a skill, any routine learned by fear is learned in only one or two repetitions. Think about it – in the wild you don’t get multiple repeti- tions to learn to flee from a cougar! A horse
Riding clinics and seminars take her through- out Canada, teaching for equine associations, riding clubs and at private farms, creating thinking horsemen of her students by teaching the “hows” and “whys” of riding. “Most training problems are just commu- nication issues between horse and rider,” she says, “solved using the science of how horses think and learn.”
Lindsay teaches Equine Behaviour for a course offered by Universi- ty of Guelph.
She also draws regu-
larly on sports psychology principles. “Handling show nerves, distractions, and disappointments is as much a part of a success as the technical riding skills.” She is an Equine Canada and AQHA spe- cialized judge as well as a Provincial Hunter/Jumper judge as well as a certified Equine Canada coach and an NCCP level 3 coach. Her students have won at major shows in the United States and Canada. For more informa- tion, visit her site
www.lgrice.com.
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To a horse, there’s safety in numbers. Riders can counter-act the draw to the herd, by doing the opposite of what the horse is inclined to do at the gate. Here are some
ideas...In the practice ring, leg yield away from the gate with every pass. Don’t stop to rest or dismount at the gate. School in the gate – make it part of your routine by trotting in and out, backing out – use your imagination. If the judge records HH (high head), in the approach to the jump or a run down to a sliding stop, the source of the issue is an animal, claustrophobic by nature who feels trapped by a rider who, for the sake of balance or nerves, is hang- ing on the reins.
Anticipation shows up
And the hunter who starts to jig in the hack class at the sound of the announcer’s microphone clicking to call for the can- ter? If a rider has startled him once or twice with a hasty outside leg cue, he’ll start to dread the transition like the boogie man. Upon hearing the call to canter, a better plan would be to take a deep breath, collect your horse, slide your leg back, and then ask him to step softly into the gait. “But he never does that at home!” A horse hasn’t thoroughly learned the “system” unless he answers correctly to your aids every time, every- where. A horse show is a scary environment for a prey animal. Like asking a kid to do a few math equa- tions on the park bench at Wonderland before going on the roller coaster, the atmosphere of the show makes it difficult for a horse to concentrate. A wise rider will systemati- cally test all the buttons thoroughly in the warm up ring, before going in the class. If any are rusty or stuck, don’t compete! When things go wrong in the show ring, you can’t stop the class and reschool the problem. Exiting the ring without fixing it, begins a downward spiral of “untraining” your horse. When we’re working with an equine partner whose native language and world view differs from ours, we’re bound to have things turn not turn out exactly as we’d hoped in the show ring. Learning what makes him tick is a key to winning partnership!
Lindsay Grice Bio: Coach, judge, speaker and equine behaviourist, Lind- say Grice has trained hun- dreds of horses and hun- dreds of riders in her 25 years as a professional.
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