Thinking Outside the Box: Becoming a Horseman

It was a beautiful, sunny spring day in Lexington Kentucky when I decided to explore a big field with my horse.  My trusty steed was my four- year- old OTTB gelding who was just getting back into work after a few weeks of vacation.  With all the shows cancelled, and sale trials on hold because of the worldwide pandemic, I decided to try some new things with my horse.

A while back my mom and I came across a horse challenge; walk 100 miles a month on foot with your horse.  The goal of the challenge was to build confidence and trust with your horse.  Walking on foot rather than on their back gives you and the horse more comfort in challenging situations since the handler isn’t in the saddle.

You are supposed to map out three zones of your property to walk on.  The first zone being the comfort zone; think, around the barn, in the arena, in the paddock, etc.  The second zone is the “not-so-sure” zone; areas that make your horse a little uncomfortable, but not frantic or out of control.  Places that he might brighten up while walking through, but not panic.  And the third zone is the “danger” zone.  Zone three is all the places that your horse feels the most uncomfortable, and possibly dangerous to handle.  The idea is that you spend most of your time in zone one, often crossing into zone two.  If your horse seems tense as he walks into zone two, you take him back to zone one until he relaxes again.  Eventually your zone one will span across your zone two, and your zone three will become your zone two.  You get the idea…

I was walking my horse in zone one/ two; a large field with a creek running through the center.  He was a little brighter and more enthusiastic than he normally is in zone one.  I didn’t feel as though I needed to take him back to zone one, however.  He was still walking politely next to me, letting out the occasional sigh or sneeze.  We meandered over to the creek after a while.  I was curious what his reaction was going to be.  He was a generally brave horse who always loaded onto the trailer, jumped jumps, and didn’t spook much.  The creek quickly turned into zone two, borderline zone three.

As soon as my horse balked at crossing the creek, I decided to try a few things to coax him across.  The first method was simply sending him across.  I used an opening hand toward the creek, and a light driving aid of my flag at his hind quarters.  I rewarded the slightest try.  Mostly his slight tries were a shift in weight or a lowering of his head, but not movement of his feet like I’d hoped for.

I kept at it, increasing my driving pressure.  That didn’t help.  His feet got more stuck.  When he finally started moving his feet it was in the opposite direction of me, down the side of the creek.  I followed him and started applying my aids again.  Doing this was only making him more nervous and distracted.  I was creating a horse who wasn’t in a relaxed state of mind.  The total opposite of my intentions.

Back to the drawing table I went.  I decided to try making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.  A more extreme version of what I tried at first.  I sent my horse in a circle around me until I felt I got my point across that staying on this side of the creek was harder.  After a circle or two, my horse decided that the easiest thing was to drag me toward the gate where his friends were peacefully grazing in their paddocks.  I quickly stopped what I was doing, because the last thing I wanted was a loose horse.

I took a little break.  We just stood by the creek.  I was thinking.  He was probably thinking too, just not about crossing the creek.  I decided to try to coax him across with a cookie.  All I wanted was for him to be a little bit curious of the water.  I figured if I could get him curious, I could get him to explore it further.  At that point he had no interest in the creek as he planted his feet three feet from the creek.  I gave the cookie thing a shot.  He barely lowered his head.  He might have one time, but he wasn’t too curious.

At that point, I was frustrated but determined to have him cross the creek.  I had run out of things to try; things I’d used in the past anyway.  That’s when I decided to try something unconventional.  At that point, I didn’t have much to lose.  I had an idea of walking on the opposite side of the creek as I led him.  The creek would then be in between us.  I chose to walk toward his friends in the pastures since that’s where he wanted to go.  I started walking on the opposite side of the creek, no intention.  I figured eventually he’d want to be with me.  We had been spending a few weeks going on walks and bonding with one another.  I thought that we had a certain degree of trust that would play in my favor.  I walked along, my horse walking along on the other side of the creek.  Eventually the creek kind of split into two, and I was walking down the center.  And just like that, my horse walked straight into the water and was walking next to me!  He sloshed around in the water for a few steps as I pet and praised him.  I immediately went back to his safe zone and gave him more pets.  He let out several big sighs and sneezes.  He loves getting praised for a job well done.  He definitely was proud of himself after walking through the water.

Sometimes the best way to handle conflict is to try something new.  I had never been in a situation like that before, but I had a feeling eventually he would want to be by my side.  Thinking outside the box in certain situations can be the best solution.  There is no rule book on how to get something accomplished.  Using a few basic principles and a little imagination, I managed to give my horse a positive experience.  Next time you run into a conflict with your horse, give something creative a try.  It might just work.  I won’t judge!