42/ MARCH/APRIL 2018 THE RIDER


Top Three Ways To Gain Your Horse’s Trust While Riding


By Kathy Farrokhzad You may have seen many


articles about how important it is to gain your horse’s trust. It’s even more important while you’re riding. Let’s face it - once you’re on your horse’s back, his four legs are your legs, and if you’re lucky, you get to go where his body goes (!!). So the trust factor becomes really important - most especially when your horse sees a terrifying spot in the arena and wants to get out of Dodge. But it’s not only about


you trusting your horse. It’s about getting your


horse to trust YOU! The funny thing about


trust is displayed through the horse’s behavior. So if the horse spooks and runs off, we think the horse lacks trust in the rider. However, if the horse car-


ries on like nothing happened, then we feel that there is a trust dynamic in the horse- rider relationship. (*This ap- plies to ground work as well as riding.) So it might help you to


take the focus off the emo- tional aspect of trust and in- stead, break it down into observable,


reproducible


physical responses that will be interpreted as trust when it all comes together. 3. Work past the scary area. One of the best ways to


trust and horse riding is that develop trust is to project your


confidence to the horse. You have to develop the communi- cation and riding skills neces-


sary to convince your horse that he is safe with you no matter where he goes. Let’s say the horse is


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spooking at an object and re- acts with heart-thumping, sweat producing fear. To him, it’s real danger. It could be something as simple as a bird suddenly flying by, or the sound of people walking and talking outside the arena. He’s ready to scoot. In this moment, you can


either be forceful and aggres- sive, or you can choose to be the calm, confident one. Even if he steps away from the perceived danger, or spooks suddenly underneath you, you can firmly but calmly and quickly re-estab- lish what you were doing. Re- establish balance. Re-establish tempo. Stay tall and supple and balanced in your torso. Don’t tense while your horse tenses. Don’t look at the ob- ject your horse is terrified of (he knows when you’re look- ing).


Just carry on as if there’s


nothing there, as if there’s nothing to be concerned about. Because in reality, there is nothing to worry about be- cause you would never put your horse in a life or death situation. Ride away from the area,


and then ride back to the area, knowing full well your horse might think about spooking again. Don’t push him into the area, just ride past it as close as you can, but far enough away to help him stay calm. Show him there’s nothing to fear.


As your horse relaxes the


third and fourth time through, go deeper into the area until you’re riding right through it calmly, without any fuss. Slowly but surely, your horse will realize that if you’re not tense and tight, he won’t have to be either. One day, your horse will


think about spooking, feel your confident guidance... and just carry on. Trust.


2. Stay in balance. Balance is such a huge


topic. There’s left and right balance (lateral) and forward and back balance (longitudi- nal).


The horse can be off bal-


ance laterally when he is lean- ing too far in one direction. Or he might have his neck turned deeply into the direction he’s going. Or if he has a twist in his poll or neck (you’ll notice that his ears aren’t level). He might be drifting out


or falling in on a circle. Both are indications of lack of bal- ance.


tudinal balance often in the blog. The most obvious is when the horse is travelling on the forehand. Problems arise when the horse is tilted down- ward on the shoulders and forelegs. He might have to brace,


lems. I’ve written much in the blog about the pieces - half- halt, on-the-forehand, circles and more - but the challenge is to put all these together while you ride. What I can tell you,


though, is that once you im- prove your ability to balance yourself and your horse, you will notice a profound differ- ence in your horse’s way of going. He might be more bold, more active, softer and lighter on his feet, more confident in his movement. Let’s face it - if he feels comfortable, he will be happy in himself, you and the world around him. Trust.


1. Be consistent. I can’t emphasize this as-


pect enough for all things re- lated to horses. Consistency is the key to


developing a bond with your horse. Be consistent in your general riding activities, your riding schedule and your ex- pectations of both yourself and your horse. Be consistent in your


aids. If you send conflicting signals time and again, and your horse has to play a men- tal and emotional guessing game each time he interacts with you, he will soon become sour and reluctant. The problem is that real


consistency takes a lot of ded- ication, self-evaluation and discipline. It’s so easy to let things slide and do what you feel like doing whenever. But horses remember. Try to find a consistent


We’ve talked about longi- fort.


rider and see what their horses are like. Are they also consis- tent? Are they calm? Do they know what to expect? Trust. It’s worth the ef-


scramble, move too quickly, or hollow. Lack of balance be- comes a problem when the horse learns that he will be moving in discomfort or pain every time you ride him. You’ll likely need an in-


structor to help you identify and then correct balance prob-


Bio: Kathy Farrokhzad is an EC coach and author of the Horse Listening book collec- tion, and Goal Setting For The Equestrian: A Personal Work- book. If you liked what you read here, check out her blog at www.HorseListening.com for many more articles about horses, riding and life in gen- eral.


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