by: Chris Irwin
In the horse industry, we now live in an age of political correctness where there is an unwritten law that professionals should not be critical or outspoken of the training techniques used by other horse trainers with which we may disagree.
In other words, if we can’t say something good about how a trainer works with a horse, then we shouldn’t say anything at all.
Go to a horse exposition with more than one “natural horsemanship clinician” giving presentations and the underlying message is often that we trainers should just agree to disagree and not criticize each other because we believe in using a different technique.
The underlying message is that since we all ultimately want to do right by the horse, then what does it really matter how we do a specific exercise with a horse as long as we are not abusive and we get the job done.
I couldn’t agree more because I have personally been on the receiving end of jibes and criticism by other trainers and clinicians because I appear to work with horses somewhat differently than they do.
I have also readily admitted in my recent book Dancing With Your Dark Horse that I have often, in the past, become far too righteous and opinionated about how people work with horses and perhaps it is time for me to “come down off of my high horse.” After all, we all know that the horse industry is very fragmented and that there is far more division among horse enthusiasts than there is unity or commonality.
While it is true that “a horse is a horse is a horse” it would not be true to say that dressage riders, reiners, jumpers, hunters, Western pleasure riders (or whatever discipline you choose to play in with your horse) all agree on how to back a horse up, or how to lunge a horse, or even how to load a horse into a trailer, or … on and on go the differences of opinion on how to do the things that we all want to do with our horses.
Now, the point here is that while it may be politically correct to say that there is no one way to train a horse, this does not address the issue of how a person should decide which technique is best for them.
Answer? Listen to your horse. Be aware of the body language your horse uses to express how it feels about the techniques being used.
While trainers and clinicians often do not agree on how to, for instance, ask a horse to back up, there is not a horse trainer in the world who will tell you that when a horse lays its ears flat back that the horse is anything other than angry.
The tail of a horse can tell us up to six different messages. Ask any horse trainer worth his or her salt what it means when a horse has its tail puckered up tight against its hindquarters and the answer will invariably be “fear.”
While a swishing tail is annoyance, a wringing tail is very irritable. A curled tail is calm and relaxed, while a stiff tail pointed on an angle down towards the ground is suspicious or apprehensive, but not yet frightened. A stiff tail sticking straight out or up, the classic “Arabian” tail, is the “yippee, I’m hot stuff and I feel frisky and playful” message.
While most people these days know that a horse licking its lips is “calm” or “okay” this does not mean that your horse necessarily respects you.
A horse can indeed be licking his lips while being rude and bending its barrel into you or cocking a hip at you in a challenge as to “who pushes whom.”
In other words, the horse is saying “I’m calm, but let’s see if you’re bold enough to try and herd me around.”
When a horse “faces up” to you and “bows” by dropping its head low to the ground the horse is passive and respects you. However, if the bow is quick and then comes right back up to a high headed horse with an inverted back (hollow backed) then the respect is based in fear. However, if the horse bows and then slowly comes up to level-headed then the respect is balanced with trust.
A low-headed horse licking his or her lips and blinking is relaxed and enjoying a stretch through its topline. However, a low headed horse with a blank stare on its face with little or no movement in the eyes or lips is sullen and shutdown.
My point here is that, while there will be no shortage of opinions on how you should train your horse, let’s not forget that this is supposed to be about the horses. How our horses feel about us is based entirely on how we make them feel when we are working with them.
So, please, learn to read the body language of horses and pay attention and listen to your horse. While there is no one way to ask a horse to back up, depending on how you ask your horse to back up will directly relate to how your horse feels about you.
If your horse has its head up high while its tail is clamped tight or busily swishing, then how you are backing your horse up is not very user-friendly to your horse.
If how you back your horse up creates a level-headed, or low headed, or softly, well-rounded collected frame in a horse with a quiet curled tail, and your horse is licking its lips, then how you are backing up your horse is best for your horse.
And what’s best for your horse is best for you. Remember, ask not what your horse can do for you; ask what you can do for your horse.
Chris Irwin has become one of North America’s most respected horsemen. As a coach, author, and clinician, Chris travels extensively throughout Canada and the United States offering non-resistance coaching for both horses and riders. To find out more about upcoming training clinics, certification programs, or to order books or videos, visit www. chrisirwin.com.
