If you landed on this page it’s simply because you feel you didn’t earn yet your horse’s trust.
It’s well known that horses are highly intelligent animals. People who’ve ever spent any time around them will tell you that they can read your mind. Did you know they can smell fear and can feel your heartbeat?
Are you still wondering why after a certain amount of time your horse doesn’t give himself as a whole to you? The reason may be because he still doesn’t trust you enough.
You know that trust develops gradually over time and it’s not something you can rush into.
You know that you need to earn a horse’s trust before you can have a healthy, long-lasting relationship. But understanding how to gain your horse trust isn’t always easy.
I will guide you through the most important ingredients to help your horse see you as a trustworthy partner.
Be present
The first ingredient for a healthy relationship with your horse it’s you. When you are with your horse, it doesn’t matter if you are riding, doing flatwork or just hand walking him. You need to be completely present in what you are doing and with a clear intention of what you want. Presence is a profound quality, which is obtained by combining attention and intention within each movement and thought.
Horses are much simpler minded than us humans. It’s impossible to gain a horse’s trust, connect with him and become the person he wants to follow while you are still thinking about your personal things.
Being present doesn’t just mean not looking at your cell phone or not chatting with your stable friends while you’re working with your horse. Although of course not doing these things is already a good starting point.
Learn to see
Horses are prey. In order to survive in the wild, horses have learned to observe the surrounding environment in search of signs and inconsistencies.
Unlike horses, we are not used to consistently paying attention to what surrounds us.
It is fundamental for us to be attentive to everything if we want our horse to rely on us. It is necessary for us to understand what a horse is thinking or spooking at to become his leader in dangerous situations.
A horse communicates constantly, with us as with his fellows. The little details of the posture, the way a horse moves, the expression of the eyes, the eyelids, the muscle contractions, the movements of the ears, all have meanings.
A horse does not fake emotions, the behavior you see corresponds exactly to the state of his mind at particular that moment. Whether a horse is scared, nervous, confused, depressed or relaxed, you can rest assured that you will see him exactly as he is. Learning to see and read these details means learning to hear and understand it.
Our task is therefore to train with perseverance and patience to learn to see everything around us that could attract a horse’s attention. We must learn to see and understand what the horse communicates to us through his body language.
Listen to your horse to gain his trust
The stimuli that horses use to communicate with each other are very subtle. The sensitivity that distinguishes horses is a really fine one. In order to gain your horse’s trust you must learn to approach this finesse to open a deep communication channel with him.
There is no connection with a horse if you don’t learn to deeply focus on him by getting rid of all that overwhelming emotions. Yes, it really takes so little to blur the thin line of communication with your horse. It is precisely for this reason that patience and consistency remain fundamental elements in the personal journey that you must face in order to get closer and closer to your horse.
This new level of sensitivity is what allows you to know which stimuli to use, with what intensity, at what moment and when to release them to reward the horse.
Great equestrians are capable of rewarding the horse’s intention in the exact moment in which the horse understood or decided to do what was asked of him. You need to reduce the time between the information perceived by your senses and your reaction to that information. Your reaction should be immediate.
Very often, opportunities to advance in the training process and in the relationship with horses seem impossible to achieve. This is because big changes are expected from horses. On the contrary, too often the positive reactions (that mean everything to them) are not rewarded because sometimes invisible to the trainer.
Learning to “feel” and reward every little step the horse takes, is what will lead you to the right direction.not
Learn how to manage your body
Managing your body seems like bulls**t: after all, who doesn’t walk, talk, pick up objects, or otherwise move, every day?! I want to encourage you to learn to manage your body consciously, just like a horse does: where no movement happens randomly or without meaning.
To be able to do this, you must first have developed the ability to feel and listen to your body. Pay attention and recognizing the small muscle contractions, the exact position of the joints, the pressures and the distribution of your weight on his back. All those little sensations are often covered in the background noise of your life and lack of attention.
It is precisely these little things that make the difference in communication with the horse. Controlling and coordinating our gestures is essential in the saddle to ensure independence of the aids (reins, legs, balance). During flat work, our body language is the main communication tool.
Learn how to manage your emotions
This is perhaps the most involuntary and least controlled element in us as human beings.
However, what great equestrians have in common is the ability to manage their emotions without ever taking things personally.
They know how to remain calm, fully present and soft in their spirit even when things don’t go their way. Top level equestrians are able to remain solid points of reference for their horses. They know how to set limits to the horse’s behavior, sometimes decisively but always without any abuse of power.
In order to teach the horse to be calm but at the same time responsive, you must first have shown him that you have those same qualities. You can’t just pretend you have them hoping he won’t see the mask you wear to hide your inner fears.
Balanced behavior is the outward manifestation of an internal, emotional and mental balance.
To achieve this balance when you are with the horse, you will first have to look for it in everyday life. Learn not to react to situations like a puppet. A horse asks you to be relaxed, animated by a calm and soft force, to be empathetic and always present.
Are you having a hard time controlling your emotions around horses? Do you feel like you are about to yell or get angry? I suggest you read this article for help.
A horse’s trust will be earned through consistency
Your behavior should be either black or white, horses don’t like gray shades. When not sure about what you’re asking, a horse cannot be sure on how to answer correctly. A horse doesn’t like surprises and uncertain situations in which there is no clarity on what is required of him.
A horse learns very quickly if you make the right thing look easy for him and the wrong hard. You must be extremely clear in the way you are communicating a request. Always use positive reinforcement on what is right.
Remember to keep calm, be sure of what you want and think well beforehand and how you plan to ask for it. Ensure firmness and precision in your requests. Fix in your mind the educational boundaries that the horse must not cross and keep them fixed at all times. The rules you decide to adopt must always be valid.
Making unclear requests. Releasing pressure at different times or only partially. Having a body attitude or an emotional state that is not consistent with the request (one day you allow something and the next you don’t). These are behaviors that generate insecurity in the horse.
