Jessica Bryce

Tag: behaviour

  • Bi-focal Vision and Environmental Familiarisation

    Did you know the horse’s eye operates kind of like bi-focal gasses? Unlike our human eyes, which have muscles that pull our lenses into different shapes to adjust our focus from near to far, in order for the horse to adjust his focus he has to raise or lower his head.

    By raising his head and looking through the bottom of his eye, the horse uses his long distance focus (think about that “periscope up” impression they do when there’s something way over there that’s caught their attention).

    By lowering his head and looking through the top of his eye, the horse focuses on what’s closest to him. (Think about how they put their heads down and snort when there’s something of concern nearby.)

    What does this mean for your horse when you take him somewhere new? The horse’s first concern is always for his own safety, and as flight-animals safety comes from being able to run away. From being able to spot danger at a distance, so that you can either get a head start on the running away, or avoid it completely by running away before it gets here.

    One of the things we always do at my Young Horse Social Days is allow time for arena familiarisation. For some of the horses who come along, this is their first outing away from home, and we want to make sure they’ve had ample time to explore and become comfortable with the arena/work space, before we try to do any groundwork or riding.

    What we often see is that the horses are first very interested in looking out of the arena. Many stop to look out the open side of the indoor, or are looking around at the other horses to see what they’re doing.

    It’s counter-productive to try to ask anything of our horse while he’s in “giraffe mode” because he’s far to consumed with being on watch for danger to be able to focus on anything else. What he needs in this stage is just time. Time to take it all in, time to process the new environment and time to reassure himself that he is safe.

    How much time, you might wondering? It can really differ from horse to horse, depending on all the obvious things, like how used to going new places he is, how many times he’s been to this venue, or how the other horses are behaving around him. It also depends on what baggage he’s carrying, his personal history so to speak, and the relationship he has with the handler. (Like children, horses will often behave differently with someone they don’t know, than someone they know well.)

    (It goes without saying that we always need to maintain our own safety, and measures can be taken to keep the out-ward looking horse under control and handler safe, that is a given.)

    After a while, we begin to see during the arena familiarisation time, is that the horses start to bring their attention and focus closer to themselves. Investigating the arena itself, sniffing the dressage letters on the wall, stopping to check out the mounting block, or pawing and sniffing at the sand.

    At this stage, when the horses have satisfied themselves that the larger environment is free from danger, and they’re feeling safe enough to lower their heads to adjust their focus to their immediate surroundings and things that are close by; that’s when we can successfully begin to ask the horse to bring his attention to the handler’s requests.

    We can now start to ask the horse for some simple tasks to see if he’s ready to move into a frame of mind that’s open to receiving learning/training.

    The value of arriving early enough to give your horse plenty of time for environmental familiarisation cannot be underestimated. It also includes workspace familiarisation time if the arena and yards/stables/float aren’t close to one another.

    For horses that are well-travelled and seasoned competitors, the process of going from high alert to a calm and ready to work state may only take a few minutes. For the young/green or nervous horse, allowing him enough time to go through the process at his own rate, before expecting any kind of work from him, can make the world of difference to his (and your) experience having an outing away from home.

    Understanding the horse’s bi-focal style of vision helps us be more patient and compassionate when our four-legged friend is going through his process. It develops the bond and trust between us and shows the horse that we see him, hear him and are willing to work with him.

  • Recognising Insecurity in the Young Horse

    and 3 principles for growing self-confidence

    Horses are herd animals… there’s safety in numbers… we’ve all heard this so many times that it’s easy to brush over it, without considering the practical implications in our everyday horse handling. Could It be, that some of the things we think of as “normal” or “basic” or “not-that-hard” could actually be making the young/green/anxious horse feel extremely vulnerable and insecure?

    It’s easy to take the simple things for granted, especially if we’re used to more seasoned horses who already know the job. Standing quietly in the tie up, lifting their hooves on request, being groomed, leading safely through gates, being washed… the list goes on. Any one of these “normal” every day tasks that we expect a riding horse to do routinely, can be a big deal for a youngster. Signs of insecurity are sometimes mistaken for naughty behaviour, and we sometimes miss the message and get frustrate d or cross with the horse, right when he needs us to be his rock of support.

    Here’s an example, I’ve just started working with a 3yo gelding I bought last year, who has been hanging out in my paddock being a horse in the herd for a while ,and is now ready to begin his foundation training. I won’t start him to saddle until he’s 5yo but there’s plenty we can get going with now that will help that process go smoothly when the time comes.

    For the past week, I’ve been bringing 3yo Oliver out of the paddock (where he lives in a herd of 5) and up to the stable/yards for familiarisation sessions. On the first day I made sure he had an equine support crew in place; our 28yo grandfather of the farm was in the yard to one side, and the dominant herd member from Oliver’s paddock on the other side. I knew both of these horses would be calm in the stable, and happy to munch on some hay without getting rattled by little Oliver’s nervous behaviour between them.

    In situations where there’s no equine support crew available, the human support crew become a critical source of comfort and leadership. By leadership I mean, example of calm and confident behaviour. Showing the young horse that you’re not worried; that you see his concerns but don’t join him in them. That you’re grounded and reliable. Staying nearby is important, so the horse can see you all the time and doesn’t feel like he’s been abandoned all alone in an environment he’ feels uncomfortable and in.

    Picture this: you’re a horse who relies on his flight response, long legs and speed to keep yourself safe. You’re used to having your horse friends around you, and you pretty much live in the same paddock/property your whole life, without any opportunity to explore new places or see new things. (There’s a lot of “same old, same old” in the lives of modern horses!)

    Suddenly the human, who you mostly like, but sometimes gives off confusing messages, takes you into the tie up/yards which is an unfamiliar and often changing environment. (Think rugs hanging up that might be there one time and not the next etc). You get tied up, which makes you feel vulnerable because now you’re in an unsettling situation and your normal method of keeping yourself safe has been taken away. (Flight response.) Then your human disappears into the tack room out of sight and now you’re feeling insecure and all alone.

    Can we blame the young/green horse for pawing at the ground, chewing on whatever he can reach, panicking and pulling back, fidgeting, calling for his friends, refusing to pick up his hooves (can’t give away control of my legs when I might need to run away any moment now!) and not being able to “behave” or stand quietly, or cooperate or receive training, in this situation?

    My 3yo Oliver has been coming into the stable every day for a week now, and that’s all it’s taken for him to be chilled out and okay in there on his own now. He’s eagerly waiting for me at the gate each day, comes in to hang out and munch on some hay, then goes back to the paddock again. Low-fuss familiarisation session in areas that will later become your work space are a great place to start for any horse, even with less young or less green horses that you’ve just bought and have come to live at a new property.

    Using these three principles of environmental familiarisation, equine support crew, and human support crew, we can help grow our horse’s self-confidence so that he can learn to be calm and independent in the work space. These principles can be valuable for all kinds of scenarios, big and small. Only a calm horse is ready to listen, learn and receive training, so there’s no gain in trying to work with a worried or insecure horse as the work won’t sink in, and both parties will feel dissatisfied with the situation.

    Taking the time to monitor and manage how your horse is feeling is the main ingredient to any successful horse training recipe. Being a grounded and reliable human support crew, someone who doesn’t get rattled or become stressed about the horse being stressed, takes practice and intention, but it’s well worth establishing the habit and the relationship you have with your horse will flourish for it.