One of the biggest differences between training methods are the concepts of working with a horse’s mind versus working on their body. I’ve heard it described in multiple ways. Some people say that if you have control of the horses feet, then you have control of the horse. Others talk about biomechanics and chase ideal movement. To be certain, there are people out there who have such a high mastery of correct biomechanics AND good timing AND good feel, that they are able to keep their horse mentally feeling good while thinking through things biomechanically.

The way I see it, horses are sentient beings with a brain. They have the ability to complete movements on their own, control their own physicality, provide input and follow direction. The majority of people I meet are not struggling because they cannot master the perfect leg yield (insert any other type of movement here). They are struggling because their horse is exhibiting emotional behaviors that are prohibiting their ability to successfully get along together.

One of the things I do is help people reframe problems – explaining how the manifestation of a physical problem is simply the result of their horse’s mental state (anxiety, confusion, etc) – not directly a biomechanical issue to be solved. For example, a common issue that I reframe is the issue of a horse’s barrel bulging in toward the center of a circle. This could be a riding circle or a lunging circle. We can talk about this as if it is purely a biomechanical issue. Sometimes people will tell me that it is happening because their horse is unbalanced and needs strengthening. Others will tell me that their horse doesn’t understand how to travel with correct bend – needing to gain flexibility and suppleness. A common solution advocated here would involve applying pressure towards the horse’s rib cage in order to push it out onto the circle. The horse needing to learn to bend around the rider’s leg, and lean into the outside rein in order to not fall to the outside of the circle (“inside rein to outside leg” could be a whole other post).

Another way of looking at this issue is to ask mentally what is going on with the horse – causing it to travel in an unnatural manner. If the horse wants to be on the circle and is mentally engaged in the task, it would not tip its head to the outside of the circle, causing the rib cage to push inwards toward the center of the circle. Just look at any horse, making a tight turn in the paddock in order to push another horse off of a pile of hay. If they want to make the turn, they will get their own hind end up underneath themselves and biomechanically maneuver their bodies in an efficient manner. A physically sound horse can generally turn on dime, leading with its head, and creating a perfect arc through its neck and barrel. In our example on the circle, the barrel pushing in is simply a symptom of the horse’s thought being outside of the circle. Bringing the horse’s mind back to the circle will fix the bulging rib cage. The horse can fix the biomechanical problem better themselves than we could ever hope to for them.

Of course, the challenge is learning how to bring the horse’s thought back and deal with any emotional challenges (screaming herd mate, dinner time, scary end of the arena, etc) that are impeding the horse from being mentally on the circle. ***What I have found, and truly believe, is that the only way to create lasting change is to understand and learn how to work with the horse’s mind in order to create emotional changes, which will result in desired physical changes.*** Otherwise, one will continuously have the same problems with their horse over and over again, often escalating – requiring stronger tools and predictable riding environments in order to maintain physical control.

We have all been there. Riding around the scary corner in the arena, holding our breath while we try to push the horse’s rib cage into the scary corner and get them to bend their head and neck away from the corner. All the while, hoping that the horse does not bolt away or “shy”. No amount of strengthening or “suppleness” training is going to fix what is going on here. But if we can get the horse to mentally let go of the scary corner and change their emotional state, they will make that turn just as beautifully and naturally as possible.