Picture this: your kind young horse that has been going really well under saddle so far, and seems to be taking everything in stride, suddenly starts having explosive “tantrums” and freaking out, even when you’re just trying to lead him. You don’t feel comfortable going into the paddock anymore, let alone trying to saddle up for a ride.
This is exactly what happened to one of the riders I coach, when her young Thoroughbred went from being an easy, straight forward horse that was a pleasure to work with, to something her owner didn’t feel safe to be around.
The rider asked me about “joining up” with the horse in the round yard, because her friend had suggested it as a solution, a way to get the horse respecting her and listening to her again.
(If you’re not familiar with joining up, you may have heard it referred to in another way, as many trainers use the technique in their own terms. The underlying concept comes from emulating wild/natural horse behaviours, where a dominate herd member will drive another horse away from the her
after it displays anti-social behaviour; only allowing it to return to the safety and comfort of the group when it shows signs of submission. Signs that include following the dominant horse and matching its movements, which can happen with a human too).
5 Reasons “joining up” doesn’t work for every horse
1. Horses know we aren’t horses
We, humans, have complex brains with fast-moving thoughts, that we often get distracted by. How many times have you ended up thinking about one thing while doing another? Our horse recognises when our focus has gone elsewhere, when our attention is no longer with him, and he can seize the opportunity. In these moments we’ve dropped the connection and we no longer “mean what we say” because we’re busy in our heads, rather than staying present with the horse in every moment.
2. Horses that are used to being worked on the lunge/long line
The concept relies on the driving pressure making the horse feel uncomfortable, and his desire to stop moving becoming the motivation for him to adopt the submissive behaviour. “please let me rest and return to the herd, I promise I’ll be good, see how good I am!”
For horses that have been trained and exercised on the lunge or long line, there is an understanding of this as “the job” they have to do in this situation, and they may just drop into autopilot and carry on going around for ages without any attempt to do anything differently to normal.
3. Movement is easy for horses
Horses are made for sustained movement, while we, two-leggeds, can tire out well before our four-legged friends do. The effort required on our behalf, to keep the horse moving in a manner than is uncomfortable for him may be unsustainable. As soon as we take the pressure off the horse knows we aren’t serious, and that our follow-through is gone.
4. We may feel uncomfortable being that assertive
All kinds of reasons exist why we may not want to apply significant pressure to the horse to make him uncomfortable: we have an emotional attachment and want the horse to see us as a friend. We’re still kind of scared of being so close to a fast moving horse. The horse is valuable and we don’t want to risk damaging his legs. We’re worried about stuffing it up and don’t want to create more problems, or make the horse fearful. It doesn’t align with our beliefs, or just doesn’t feel right.
5. Our expectations of how it works
How do we know when it’s worked? When the horse follows us around the round yard, matching our movement as we walk, turn, stop etc. But then what? How long does this last? Will I have to do it every day? Will this be the answer to all undesirable behaviours in all situations?
There are no “magic wand” solutions, and the horse might only behave this way when he sees you as the “biggest bad” in his environment… what happens when you go back to being his friend? or an even “bigger bad” comes along?
The Pizza Game
I remember when the joining up concept became widely known in the mid-1990’s, back when Natural Horsemanship methods were taking off in popularity, as a modern alternative to the old school way of “breaking” horses.
I used it with many horses of all ages, from pre-starting for young ones to re-training difficult horses… until I learned a better way. A classical trainer I studied with in the early 2010’s introduced me to the principles she used, that were based on two-way communication, on reading the horse via his body language and posture, and offering choices as well as giving directions. These principles eventually became the foundations of the “Pizza Game” that I continue to use and teach to this day.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to a concept that helped countless hundreds of thousands of horses and humans learn to work together, back in the times when we were looking for a different way than the traditional methods that came before. Natural horsemanship was a game changer for many people when it came on the scene, especially as it offered a follow-along-at-home system that we didn’t have access to before.
Like science, technology and social norms, things change as time passes. Newer, more modern, tools and techniques are discovered, taking the place of the ones that came before.
If you’ like to know more about my Pizza Game just drop me a line at jembriahpark@gmail.com
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