Dysfunction Junction
When things go wrong, and horses misbehave, riders search for the reason and the remedy outside themselves. The truth is that in most cases the answer lies within the rider and nowhere else.
Unless there is an underlying physical or mental issue, bucking, rearing, bolting, shying, etc. are the horse’s desperate attempts to tell the rider that he cannot deal with the way he is being ridden. Instead of analysing what they themselves might be doing wrong, however, riders immediately start looking for the reason and the solution outside themselves.
If they can just find the right saddle, the right bit, the right auxiliary rein, the right instructor, the right farrier, the right trainer, the right vet, etc. the problem will be solved. In the end, these riders sell their horses and buy others, who quite soon turn out to have many or all of the same issues.
Intelligent horses have a strong sense of fairness. They happily accept their role in our lives if the handler/rider does not take advantage of them, if he only demands things that are within their physical and mental capabilities, and if his requests/cues/aids are precise, to the point, and free of contradictions - especially if the aids and exercises are designed to make the horse’s job of carrying the rider easier.
Horses come to trust and respect an individual like that and they are happy to work with and for such a person.
If the rider/handler is unfair, demanding more than the horse can give, or when his instructions are full of contradictions in general, it can frustrate even the most willing horse. When a position of authority is undeserved due to a lack of leadership and competence, horses become uncooperative.
They respond in one of two ways:
1. Naturally easy-going, phlegmatic horses choose an “inner emigration” - the horse will withdraw his trust and respect, and become incredibly dull and lazy.
2. The spirited horse will try to understand these demands for a period of time, until the inability to make sense of it creates frustration, then anger, and finally rebellion.
Therefore, increasingly dangerous behaviour is often an indication that the rider has not been clear, consistent or fair. These changes never occur out of the blue. There are always warning signs.
Warning signs Warning signs can be very subtle, like a change in attitude, crooked transitions, a hesitant, delayed response to the aids, lack of concentration, inventing things to spook at, etc. Many riders don’t recognize the warning signs. They are caught by surprise when the horse shows some blatant disobedience, 6 months or a year after the first warning signs appeared. By that time the situation is already established. What further compounds the problem is that the rider often punishes the horse for not doing what he is asked, although the aids were simply unclear or flat out impossible to carry out.
If the rider fails to recognize what is happening and does not make fundamental changes in the way he rides, the horse enters a downward spiral and becomes un-ride-able, a rogue.
The horse has become so frustrated that he is no longer interested in a productive discourse with any rider. He has given up and assumes that all riders give incomprehensible, contradictory aids. He now responds even to correct riding with anger and resentment. The horse’s trust and respect are now so thoroughly destroyed and the dangerous behaviour so deeply ingrained, that it is difficult, time consuming and dangerous, even for a very competent rider to undo. The original rider who caused the behaviour is by now far out of his league and will in many cases send the horse away to a professional for several months.
Even if somebody else manages to correct the horse, the bad behaviour will reappear as soon as the original rider gets back on – unless this rider changes his riding drastically. And even then, a horse who has (unbeknown to the rider) been “trained” to bolt, buck, rear, shy, spin, etc. will never forget how to do it. These horses are like recovering alcoholics – going one day at a time. They can only be trained not to use their dangerous evasion as long as they are ridden correctly. But the bad habit will always be there; ready to surface, if the rider makes the old mistakes again.
Often, these junctions are “forced” upon us by a particularly difficult (for us) horse who does not allow us to cheat and lie our way through, and who brings us face to face with our insufficiencies. At this junction, the rider has a choice. He can either muster the courage and the strength to face himself, or he can continue to lay blame and look for answers outside himself.
The rider who decides to undertake the difficult and painful task of analysing everything about himself honestly will be transformed by the experience in more ways than one and gain a much deeper insight on more levels than he can imagine. He will also learn how to ride, almost as a by-product. The rider who keeps looking for answers outside of himself, will not find knowledge or competence.
It will be the rider who misses out, but the horse who pays the price.
