AUGUST 2021 THE RIDER /27 ^Between The Ears^


fear escalated considerably! When I was given the choice as to how I was going to come off the roof and I realized no one was dragging me down, I built up the confidence to do it on my terms. Horses are often robbed of their choices. If you spur, whip, drag etc., and give the horse no choice, just what kind of psychological


trauma is


By Ellie Ross As much effort as we


put into preparing our


horses to learn to be non-re- active to things, sometimes we encounter the unex- pected. It’s fair to say that temperament, health, past experiences and so on, all shape the horse’s bomb proof level’ but bad experi- ences do not always equal the reason to be fearful. For example, I am afraid of heights. If you put me on a roof, I will pancake, my heart will race and it will be quite the production to get me down. I have never fallen from a height. I have had absolutely no bad expe- riences with heights yet I respond in a fearful manner


each and every time. What can make a difference from one event to another? Well for me, the greatest differ- ence was who was present at the time. The person that tried to force me off the roof became the person I trusted the least. It was also one of the worst experiences I had. Same roof, different person and the residual fear was significantly reduced. Why? Because that person didn’t force me. He was patient, understanding and knew just what to say and when, which helped build my con- fidence. Same roof, differ- ent experience. When I wasn’t give the


choice to come off the roof and I was physically being dragged down, my level of


being created? I have seen many trainers use these methods of not providing a horse the choice yet they fail to recognize that the horse that went over the obstacle that it was given no choice about, is not success. It’s learned helpless-


ness. Essentially, horses in these types of training envi- ronments learn to just give up. You will often see the horse looking ‘tired’ or even lop eared but sadly this is a very low state of mind for the horse. So how do we build the horse’s confidence to cross an obstacle they fear or approach something that is scary? You must allow the horse to the choice to leave. By allowing the horse to leave you provide the horse with a choice and not forced. You would be best to be working that horse hard enough that he’s blowing a little hard (away from what it fears) and pro-


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vide the rest opportunity at the obstacle that is the biggest challenge. For ex- ample, crossing water is a common one. If the only place your horse can rest is at the water, your horse will soon be seeking out the water on his own. If your horse chooses to leave, allow him to leave but work a little and return to it while incrementally getting closer


and closer. It’s also important to


not associate bad experi- ences with the puddle (or whatever your horse fears). If you spur, whip, yell etc. every time your horse is faced with crossing water then you are teaching your horse that nothing but bad things happen in the pres- ence of a water puddle. In taking this type of


Overcoming Fear and Building Confidence


approach your relationship with your horse can only improve while building confidence in each other. You can swish a flag around or crack a whip etc and have a horse that does- n’t flinch but often those are experiences that have been rehearsed and the horse has learned to not react specifically to that stimuli. But what about the unexpected events that can pop up? A horse that has learned to trust you be- cause you have provided confidence and choices in the past, is more likely to be less reactive. Recently a hot air bal-


loon operator decided to drop down only about 1000 feet away from my


riding ring and then elevate back up. The size and roar- ing noise of the flame sure caught my horse’s attention and I was relieved that she didn’t take a step back. Nos- trils flared, eyes wide, head held high but she stayed with me, however, had she wanted to leave I would have allowed that choice but it would have been followed


by some tight circles and presented back to the start again. Horses want to rest when they have to work hard. Use this to your ad- vantage. If the only place that I got peace and quiet was on the roof, then per- haps I’d like being up there better.


When you come upon


something your horse fears, ask yourself these questions; • How can I make this a pleasant experience? • Am I allowing my horse a choice in this? • Am I asking for too much all at once? Then you can start to


build something more posi- tive associated with it while building your horse’s confi- dence to know they can leave if they want to, which in turn builds the trust in you while setting expecta- tions low to start. This approach has


been a game changer for me and several horses I have worked with. A horse that trusts you


is a horse that has learned to trust you.


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