ACTHA Monthly | March 2015 | 42
Continued from Page 41
How can you and your horse be better prepared before you go out on the trail?
1. Don’t go out the gate until your horse is left-brained. That means he is thinking and calm.
2. Practice different exercises and simulations until your horse is left-brained and accepting your alpha position. Think of it as your pre-ride check, much like the pre-flight checks pilots perform before they take the plane off the ground. You can use a lot of “spooky” simulation situations, teaching your horse to get braver through repetition.
3. Make sure you can walk, trot, and canter on a loose rein, and can easily bend your horse to a stop. If you or your horse are out of sorts that day and you can’t ride on a loose rein, don’t go out on the trail.
4. Perform an emotional assessment of yourself: No matter how scared your horse got, could you remain totally cool, calm and collected? Most people “spook” worse than their horse — suddenly grabbing with their legs and hands, and getting tighter and tighter. This not only makes your horse spook worse, he continues to spook because he now doubts your confidence and leadership.
Now, here’s the secret: You have to become his alpha. Then he’ll never feel alone or afraid on the trail. If you are calm, he’ll be calm.
Horses vote every day for their leader
Horses play dominance games with each other every single day to maintain their “pecking order.” This is something you need to do whenever you are with your horse. Horses vote every day for their leader. Every day! If your leadership is not firmly established before you go out on the trail, you will lose the vote very easily that day. You can't force your horse to accept you as his alpha. You have to earn it.
Photo by Coco/Firefly Fotos