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You Are Here: Home > Training > Guidelines/Principles > Patience, Consistency, and Attitudes
Patience, Consistency, and Attitudes
by Cheryl McNamee Sutor, MHG
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The Horse's Best Interests
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Every second of every interaction with your horse should be questioned... "Is this
really good for my horse?" If he is not healthy enough to jump him, then don't jump
him. If he is even slightly lame, don't ride him. If he's not conditioned for a 2-hour
ride, don't do it. If it's too cold to give him a comfortable bath, don't bathe him.
If your horse runs away from you or is hard to catch, find out
why your horse doesn't want to be with you. If you find yourself becoming upset at
your horse, calling him names,
or becoming aggressive in your cues, stop what you're doing and get professional help.
If standing in a stall all night is not good for him, or he is showing boredom or bad
habits, then get him out of the stall. Period. There is no excuse for a lack of
common sense and compassion.
Make sure that everything you do is in your horse's best interests and he
will begin to trust you even more. It doesn't matter if I'm training my own backyard pet
or a show horse for a client, the horse's best interests are a higher priority than
any selfish convenience or training goal that I or a client wants.
Love your horse and care for him properly, and think about how each thing you do (or don't
do with him) affects his body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Being caring and considerate
is the base for building good communication, pleasant experiences, and training
success.
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"Even if that is not the ‘normal’ or the ‘easiest’ or the ‘most socially acceptable’. When we do what is best for our horses, the horses will give more to us, in return, than we could ever begin to imagine!"
- Dan Sumerel
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Lose the Temper or Bad Attitude
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A horse will not trust an unstable personality.
If you find yourself upset or angry at your horse or his behavior, STOP.
Take a step back, put your finger on your chin and say "Hmmm, how interesting".
If you need to end the session, do it. Go home, think about the behavior and
what might be causing it and write out a plan to correct it (see Setting Goals and Journaling).
Realize that every time your horse refuses to do what you are asking
him, or exhibits bad behavior, it is only a result of your lack of training, preparation, or
ability to communicate clearly to him. Don't get mad at the horse. Instead,
look at the situation as a learning experience, get professional help, or
study the material you need to study to better yourself. Use these experiences to
become the best possible horse-person that you can be.
If you can stand back calmly and analyze the situation, you may find
the answer to the problem.
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"For what the horse does under compulsion, is done without understanding; and there is no beauty in it either, any more than if one should whip and spur a dancer"
- Xenophon 427–355 BC
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Use Patience and Consistency
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"There are only two emotions that belong in the saddle; one is a sense of humor and the other is patience." - John Lyons
Patience...
Let it take all the time it needs. It is said that slowly is often the quickest way. Take your time, and don't get discouraged by a lengthy lesson that accomplishes a small goal. The small goals eventually add up to big rewards and excellent communication between you and your horse. Slow down and appreciate how important they are.
Many people tell me that they are not patient enough to train their horse. I ask them, "Are you patient enough to get bucked off, or stepped on?" Hmmm. If you are not patient with your horse, he will not be patient with you, and the end result can be a severe lack of safety.
Most training exercises take less than 15 minutes per session. Do you have 15 minutes a day to greatly improve your horse handling skills and to improve your horse's behavior and training? If you have enough time to ride, you have enough time to train.
Training exercises and proper communication takes practice! You may not get desired results the first few times, but realize that you are attempting to teach your horse something that you are in the process of learning yourself. Be patient and don't give up, your horse depends on you!
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"What I really want people to know is that you can make some really big changes if you have some patience and take the time."
- Denise Lesnik
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Consistency...
Consistency goes hand-in-hand with patience. What does it mean to be consistent? It means to use the exact same cues and rewards every single time. When you apply steady pressure to the rein and your horse gives to the bit nicely, you release. Let's say the next time you apply pressure to the rein, your horse ignores it. What is the consistent thing to do? Hold pressure on the rein until your horse figures out that his nose needs to give to the bit every time you apply pressure to the rein. If you are not consistent in your cues and rewards, your horse will not take you seriously and will begin to become dull to your requests.
I cannot stress this enough, patience and consistency are two extremely important principles of good horsemanship and training. For more lessons on becoming patient and consistent in your actions, cues and rewards, read Sensitizing & Desensitizing and The Patience Game.
Realize a Horse is Never "Bad"
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Horses are not purposely naughty. Yes, there are things that horses do all the time that we do not like or that are not safe. However, horses only do the things they have been taught (or not taught) from their own individual life experiences, and encounters with other horses, animals and people. Every horse is a direct reflection of his past.
When I see a terrified horse rear up and try to strike at a human, I do not think "Oh, naughty horse!" Instead, I think about how dysfunctional this horse's life must have been to cause him to act like this. I look for the cause of his aggression, and I help the horse and owner fix it so that the horse can begin to act functional and safe with people again.
Horses have very short memories, short attention spans and their brains do not allow them to think in a very complex manner. Horses do not think to themselves, "She smacked me with a crop yesterday, so I'm going to rip up my blanket and make her buy me a new one". It just doesn't happen.
However, horses do learn from repetition. If a horse has experienced something repetitively, through trial and error, he may come up with his own solution to a problem (which sometimes results in a repetitive naughty behavior). The horse can easily learn (and unlearn) good and bad behaviors through repetition.
The horse is not naughty... the behavior is. When the naughty behavior is eliminated, what are you left with? A sweet, pleasant horse.
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"I don't want a horse to step on me, but if I haven't taught him to step away from me, it's not his fault that he lands on my foot. It's unrealistic to expect a horse to know something that you haven't taught him."
- John Lyons
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