Grooming and trust

Using grooming to develop connection and trust

Grooming our horses is a precious and useful mutual activity to get in the moment with your horse, when you encourage the connection physical and mental. So don´t waste it, use it. 

Grooming is another example of conditioning to do something to our horses which we learn as children, and in riding schools and pony club. All too often I have seen a horse fetched in, tied up short and attacked with a brush, all the while the owner talking to her friends. I´ve done it myself in the past, when it hadn't occurred to me. If the horse is an accepting sort they will probably get along fine. But there could be so much more, and we should let go of the idea in human terms, of cleaning a horse of mud and dirt ready for saddling, and think about it from the horse's point of view.

As a mutually beneficial activity in which you and the horse have the opportunity to benefit from our fingers and tools, appropriately and sensitively used, to gently probe and remove annoying ticks or burrs, flies and dirt from ears and eyes and intimate parts, provide scratches and massage,and general health checks. Touch, offer, listen, observe. Never insist, but if you need to treat a wound, ask for permission, go slowly, give the horse time to understand your intent, and wait if they indicate you are going too fast. Wait means drop your intent, relax your breathing and negate your thoughts.

As you groom, do you think about your horse, or are you both mentally elsewhere?

With Lucie and Seraphina we are generally together, physically and mentally, and I like to take my time. The horse which is not being groomed waits quietly and asks when it is their turn. This is how I see it, maybe I am mistaken. Fina is impatient for her scratches and tries to get my attention. She likes her back scratches. Both of them like the underneck scratching, a place other horses can't reach easily. If Fina keeps offering me her chin there is usually a tick to be found there. So this is something mutual between human and horse that they cannot get from other horses. Use it! But don't let them abuse you. You are not a scratching post. I hear people say that they love it when their horse rubs their head on them. They think it is a sign of affection even love. The point here is that if you want your horse to respect you, you must have ground rules. That is how horses view the world. Lower ranking herd members would not come up to a higher ranking horse and rub on them. Not without a ritual of asking, and if the other horse says not interested right now, they will go away, and maybe ask again later.

Asking and giving permission is the key thing here.

I give scratches when asked politely. I encourage my horses to ask permission. They ask permission to graze if I am with them. It is a good leader's job to provide food, move the herd to fresh grazing. I don't try to behave like a horse, I just use some of these things to help them respect me and give us mutual understanding. I try to do the things which as a human I can offer, in a way in which should give them reasons to perceive me as a leader. (Yes, I know, the leadership in herds theory has been challenged by recent studies, I will explain my view on this and the use of the term leader elsewhere!) So if they need a scratch, they can ask and it will be given, but the decision to start or stop is mine, and if they start pushing into my space or leaning on me, I will step them back gently but firmly.

Back to the grooming. Another thing I hear is people saying they can't touch their horses ears, or medicate their eyes, the horse won't let them touch their most sensitive spots. I think this is often because they go too fast or too directly. My horses have no problem with eyes or ears but I wouldn't grab their head and go straight in with the meds. Trying to take less time usually takes more, I think we have all heard that, but humanness will still make us take short cuts even when we know it is probably a bad idea. Our natural tendency for a direct approach with a planned result, our modern impatience to get a job done without wasting time, will make us try it this way, and sometimes it works. But it won't win us points in horse world.

Some horses, like some humans, enjoy the feel of strong grooming, others have more sensitive skin. Observe as you brush, feel as you go. Try to get them in the moment with you. Encouraging your horse to participate in tasks is a great way to connect with them and develop partnership. They may want to sniff the brush you are going to use. Are their ears watching you when you are behind them? Can you find all their scratchy spots, can you touch them all over and are they aware of you and relaxed about what you are doing? These are the things I ask people who are around horses for the first time. This should be their first goal.

I am not suggesting to always take a softly softly approach, what I am saying is you should observe your horse as you groom and both of you behave accordingly. Partly this is approach and retreat, partly about being in the moment and not rushing the task but most importantly, using it to develop the connection you desire in groundwork and then riding. It is part of both and you should use it as such. Don't waste the opportunity to get intimate with your horse. Grooming and preparation is not just to get the horse clean.

The horse isn't really interested in getting the mud or straw off it. As we all know, they will roll in the dirtiest place once left to themselves. So apart from tick removal and scratches, what's in it for the horse? This article is about making sure there is something in it for both of you, and not wasting an opportunity to develop your relationship.

One racehorse trainer I worked for would never allow tails to be brushed, we would go out with bits of straw, because he said they didn't go any faster if their tails were clean. Can't argue with that. His horses didn't go very fast anyway, so nothing was proved. A natural horsemanship trainer I worked with said that cleaning out the feet was of no interest to the horse. It was something the human asked for and wanted to do. I could debate this one, as above, and on the basis that they are in our care,and no foot no horse. Picking feet is beneficial even if the horse doesn't know it, maybe they need to trust us on that one. I believe they only give their feet willingly when they trust us. The more I ask with my thought and focus, for a foot to be lifted, the more trustingly it is offered, for me to clean and check. I think that is definitely in the horse's interest, and that he is capable of understanding that. You shouldn't have to be squeezing skin or poking hock or chestnut, or pulling at the feather, just offer the thought. And never attack this sensitive member with the hoofpick and don't drop the foot afterwards!

I only have the two but the differences are interesting. Lucie is much faster to respond to my intention to clean her feet, she offers each and is light in my hand. With Fina, the wheels turn more slowly, but as long as I am not impatient, it happens, though she could take more responsibility for holding her foot up. When I'm grooming Lucie she is sceptical at first, she does like her mud and is not particularly fond of mutual grooming. When they are in the field together, I see Fina making the approach more often than it is accepted, and even when they start the wither scratching, it is Lucie that moves away after a very short session. Interestingly, I think Lucie has come to enjoy physical contact and scratches more since Fina has been with us. There are several reasons for this, and it is a good thing, I am liking it, and treating it as an honour to be invited to touch or scratch.

Seraphina is a tart, as several people have fondly said of her. She loves attention, scratches, anything physical, and will soon be on top of you asking for attention if not reminded to maintain everyone's space. Lucie is more reserved, she does love contact nevertheless, but on her own terms, and one needs to go much slower with her. When she is comfortable and safe in the moment with you, you see her head lower and lean slightly towards you, and an ear will be offered for inspection. She wants her ears scratching inside, the flies and crusts removing. Gently but then more firmly. Any deviation from the ritual and the head goes up, you are going too fast and she doesn't feel safe. When she has confidence in trusting me with her precious ears I can do anything. Same with her eyes, which often need treatment and drops in summer. You have to see it from the horse's point of view. These are their precious life-saving eyes and ears. They have to trust you to look after them. Developing this trust is an integral part of horsemanship and your relationship and connection with your horse.

Use it, in everything you do. Think about everything from the horse's point of view.

Final long ride for a queen of the road

Jakki with Princesse and Printemps in 2012

My dear friend Jakki Cunningham died of cancer this month. She was President and founder of the SLL Sete-Lorient-London charity which I have helped and supported since they came riding across France and into my life, when the 4 horses and 3 riders including Jakki stayed overnight in June 2005. We remained friends ever since.

The SLL Charity (see website www.sllassoc.com) was set up by Jakki with the idea of buying horses in the  Camargue and using them to change the lives of young disadvantaged people as well as to help people with disabilities. In the 2008 and 2012 projects, known as Caravan of Hope, the horses were ridden and cared for by disadvantaged youngsters both French and English, who rode an amazing 1,800 kms on horseback from the Camargue in the South of France, via Brittany, then on to London. The expedition took 6 months, camping all the way. At the end of the journey, the horses were donated to centres for disabled riding or carriage driving in England and France. Contact with horses improves the physical and emotional well-being of people with disabilities, as practised by the Riding for the Disabled Association and similar groups in France.

Jakki created 4 similar projects, each one became more ambitious than the previous one, with more horses and more diverse aims. She rode or drove carriage horses on each of the projects, earning the distinction of membership of the elite Long Riders Guild, as well as handling most of the administration and correspondence. Latterly she was joined by and had the help of Fred Kermel, her right hand man and French vice president, however, the charity survived and operated through Jakki's energy and enthusiasm, with the help of a small group of loyal volunteers and trustees, and some generous sponsors and supporters.

Jakki died on 22 October 2016; she was living in the Camargue, which she had made her home since 2013.

RIP Jakki Cunningham

Sunset over l'Etang de Vaccarres

Saying goodbye...

www.sllassoc.com

An interesting moment

We have continued to ride out with Dan on Fina and me on Lucie, who seems to be going well and enjoying being ridden, and being my top horse again! I think she was getting very fed up of being lead from Fina.

Dan's few days away has turned into few weeks; a friend came to ride with me a couple of times and Seraphina shamelessly grabbed at everything green in her path as if I starved her, and Cécile was far too nice to stop her or anticipate it. Then Jennie came and rode one day and there was less eating allowed.  We had a nice ride although it was quite a warm afternoon, and the horses are getting their winter coats. Lucie struggled towards the end and I did a lot of walking up the hills and difficult terrain.

An interesting moment occurred with Lucie during the ride, when she stopped and put her head down to scratch a fly near her head with her back hoof at exactly the same moment that I leaned forward dropping the rope rein to swat it, and her back foot caught in the loop of the rein Luckily it was the bad leg that was caught and she was hopping on the good leg, I was riding at the time and in the seconds that pass where you are thinking, shall I get off now or wait and see how this goes, I could feel Lucie on the verge of panic; then those reflexes that are so worth teaching and hard-wiring in, to release to pressure, kicked in and she stopped fighting to free herself and stood still while I released the leg from the rope, still from the saddle. All over in seconds but could have been a nasty accident for one or both of us. Might be that this caused some extra strain or injury to her bad hock, anyway I put her back on the devil's claw.

So with Lucie grounded for a bit, I rode Fina in the paddock working on upward and downward transitions, using the corners as the stopping place (target?), and once the pattern and feel was established, she would stop as soon as I dropped my energy and strike into trot from halt or walk when I brought my life up, and I could mix it up and change where we made the transition with a similar result. Doing this also helped steady her trot and improve the tempo and maneuverability, so really pleased with it  and she seemed happy too; it's always gratifying when an improvement carries over into exterior riding and is more comfortable and connected for us both.

Take care of the emotions

Taking care of the emotions

There have been several articles appearing recently about studies conducted on horses which amazingly conclude that they have emotions, well what a surprise, who would have thought it... Most of us who live with horses every day, and observe their actions and interactions, and strive to communicate with them and understand their behaviour, will need no such convincing.

What I continually seek is the best way to respond to a horse's emotional reactions in order to develop positive and relaxed behaviour enabling me to connect and be with my horses, and if I can influence their behaviour and have them thinking that my idea is theirs, and liking those ideas, it makes the learning fun for both of us and gives my horse  the confidence to put in the effort and offer more. A philosophy not disimilar to the models used for humans in business and leadership skills.

A couple of things have set me thinking this over recently. A demonstration by a natural horsemanship trainer in which he mentioned working with the horse's emotions. An incident with my own mare the other day. Watching videos of other training methods, including clicker training. A conversation with a friend about training methods and how a horse can turn sour.

My incident: I have started riding Lucie again, laid off from riding through lameness for 4 years. It is going well but the other day a friend asked if she could ride with me. She had a time restriction, I didn't do any groundwork prep first as I usually do, and we talked. In short, different routine, I was distracted and didn't give my full attention to the horses. Lucie spotted something out of place (I'd left a saddle cloth on the ground) and not being in harmony with me, she made a thing of it. Normally I would paid attention and I should have been there for her straight away to check it out together and take the time it takes, but I asked her to walk by. Suddenly she is irritated by a fly. She starts to jog, then she stops and shakes herself all over. At this point I realise that all is not well in her head and her emotions are up and it might be a good idea to get off! A few minutes with her quietly reestablishing the relationship on the ground and I remount and all is well in her head, the molecules have settled and we are in harmony. But I nearly let her down and she had to remind me, that trust is mutual, that she needs me to be a strong leader and pay attention to the things she thinks are important.

The old-fashioned idea is to never get off, that is somehow giving in, where do these ideas come from and why are they perpetuated?

I got off because I believe that the relationship is established on the ground first, and this connection and understanding continues anywhere around, near or on the horse. I should have checked it was there before I mounted, and I should have checked in with my horse instead of talking to the friend, at least until I was sure the horse was happy and confident in herself to be left on autopilot.

The trainer I mentioned described his training method as being as much about working with the emotional state of the horse as anything else, and I like that vision.

I am not going to say that my horses or those of others practising pressure and release or comfort and discomfort as part of their training, are never stressed. Or that I and every trainer like me are always correct in assessing the stress levels in the horse in front of them. However, part of the attraction for me of NH methods and in particular Parelli NH, is the acknowledgement that stress happens, the understanding that a stressed horse is not in a learning frame of mind, the observation of horse behaviour and changes, and strategies for dealing with the horse that shows up, how to encourage and reward relaxation and work with rather than against the horse's nature. I cannot agree that NH methods may suit one horse and not another, however there is not one strategy to suit all horses, and advanced skill and experience teaches you to be adaptive and improve your timing, know when to ask for more or do less.

So should we try not to put too much pressure on our horses, never let them get stressed?

To progress, we have to test, ourselves and the horse, sometimes push the boundaries to find out where they are. I see a difference between pushing a horse over its threshhold and forcing it to do something it is clearly having difficulty with, to asking the horse to confront its fear, sceptiscism or resistance, and give something a go. Because he trusts you, and respects your ask. It's playing with the boundaries, finding where they are, letting the horse know there is a safe place to return to, not pushing too hard or too far. Timing and phases and focus, being a strong, calm base for your horse so he can face his emotions and maybe offer a little more than he thought he could. But if you don't ask you will never know what you can do.

Most of us seek to do the best for our horses, whether we term that to be care and love, or respect and responsiveness. To deny that our horses have emotions is to deny them their right to express themselves. Human beings have fought against suppression throughout their history. I prefer not to be an autocratic dictator to my horses, I love to try to read their emotions and to do my best to help them be in harmony with me and themselves. I know when I have got it right in their eyes by the way they come enthusiastically and chose to stay around me.

Reading horses is a complex and unscientific pastime, there can be no proven way to say one thing not another. However there is enough science and proof of signs of stress or relaxation that with a little bit of study, a lot of desire and patience and hours of observation, everyone can take care of their horses emotions. To do so is surely a question of mutual respect and complicity and not putting human goals and values first.

The desire to master a training method or discipline can sometimes blind us to what the horse thinks about it and to overlook or misread the signs.

One question I would like to ask of clicker trainers of horses is, do you think you are taking care of the emotions? Because everything I have seen of CT with horses appears to me to produce stress and not much sign of it being recognised or dealt with in a CT session.

And yet CTers are among the strongest criticisers of NH methods claiming that pressure and release causes stress.

Evidently we are not seeing the same things or someone is in denial.

Clicker training for horses leaves me asking why? I do not believe it is not stressful for horses, or that it is kinder than natural horsemanship methods generally. I have yet to see a demo of clicker training in which the horse wasn't exhibiting some stressful reactions. It may be appropriate with other species but the horse is a herd animal which has survived and adapted for centuries, with a very specific social hierachy. I fail to see why with all the alternatives old and new, this is thought to be appropriate for horses. I can accept that it can serve as a short cut to getting a horse to accept and even enjoy a necessary event like handling feet or in a case of injury. But as a stand-alone or everyday training method it appears totally uneccessary and very distracting and unsettling to introduce clicks and treats. I simply do not see what use or advantage for horse or human.

Summer visitors and hacks

In August, former owners Helen and Ali came to see Fina, and Jennie came over too. It wasn't too hot so we had a play with the ponies after lunch. Nice to see Ali and Fina together again.  Ali rode and even jumped Fina, and in the end everyone had a ride on her, and I sat on Lucie bareback. Helen took these super photos. Super relaxed afternoon chatting and playing with the horses.

It has been hot and I am not good at getting my act together to go out early in the morning. On a cooler day we went for a short hack, with Dan on Fina, me on Lucie. Dan is enjoying riding out in the woods, even managed to take the saddle off himself and brush her a bit yay!!

 

Thinking of what I had seen with Pat and Vision, I tried to have no grey areas with Lucie, be uncompromising, not accept a half effort from her, and I noticed a better expression as a result.

I do feel that I am finally getting reasonably competent with this method, it may have taken long enough but I can now be confident and assertive when I ask, on the ground at least, and the responses from the horses tell me I am doing okay.

Masterclass with Pat Parelli

I went over to the UK for the Pat Parelli Masterclass "Beyond the Basics", in July 2016.  I was a gallery spectator and Pat was teaching 12 students, and everyone got to ask questions, there were about 150 spectators and he was teaching right in from of the gallery. Beautiful arena at Oakridge Quarter Horses in Collingham near Newark. In fact I might not have gone but being just up the road from my brother's house, they bought me the ticket as a birthday present and Istayed with them. I might not have chosen to spend money to see PP himself as there are some great instructors out there who I would like to spectate, but it all fell into place and I have enjoyed it, great atmosphere, a fab 3 days watching and learning and ideas to bring home and practise. There were lots of old jokes but also much humour and help in the teaching and presentation, and some new thoughts.

There were several recurring topics such as push not pull, influence the horse, using positive energy, reins are for shaping, balancing the aids, etc. Also we were told to forget some previous ideas and techniques and move on. More than once, Pat told the students, "I know I taught you to do that, now I'm saying do it differently".

One of the first challenges or groundwork exercises was moving the horse back and sideways without touching the rope or using disengagement as, he said, I taught you to use that, now I'm telling you to forget it, or use it less, only if necessary, because it breaks the connection. This made the participants work really hard!

The level of skill wasn't that high, I mean, I had expected to be watching higher level students and they were my level or lower on the whole, a mix of ages, some quite young, and two ladies looked my age or more and some of the riding quite inexperienced, even allowing for the situation and nerves, I saw a lot of reliance on reins and that dreadful constant thoughtless heels nagging, which was greatly improved by the end and as a result of the teaching. There were some pretty horses, I liked the little appaloosa, and the grey arab type looked good under saddle, and there were 2 handsome dappled greys, and a very nice palomino QH.

Pat with his mare Vision during the first afternoon introductory seminar.

He got a bit boring as I have heard it all before and the old jokes, but he is a bloke, and American... So I had plenty of time to observe Vision and was fascinated by her apparent fascination with him, she was relaxed and had soft body language but was totally tuned to his every movement and mirrored him, if he walked off she walked at his side, stopped when he stopped, as you would expect, but if he asked her something, to demo a point, she responded. For me watching, and he was right in front of the gallery, I could barely spot the change in body language but Vision did. I also observed during the 3 days, and when riding her,that Pat was uncompromising with her, if he askedher to move and she didn't respond with effort, he appeared to reinforce quite strongly, but she showed no sign of offence, so presumably she took it as firm but fair. Hmm, how interesting... I have mares and as some of you know, Lucie and I have had our moments and misunderstandings and she taught me how important leadership is to a mare of this type, no grey areas, they have to believe you are up to doing a better job of leadership than them, if not, they argue. Lucie still argues if I ask her to do something she doesn't think important or isn't in our general routine, although she will stick to me and respond appropriately with that lovely soft look on the everyday moving around etc. Food for thought.

These photos were taken first day first hour, the students had 15' to warm up before Pat came in and I expect they had been able to play with their horses in the arena beforehand, there was no whinnying, no horses trying to sniff each other or be with other horses, none of the usual fuss, shouting and mayhem that you so often see at shows or equestrian events, all was calm and concentration, each couple in their own space as a herd of two. As spectators it was interesting to read the horses' expressions and guess which partnership had a strong connection or which would break and have to be re-established or strengthened, and whether this occurred at different distances or certain movements or change of pace.

 

 

I wrote up about the Masterclass on a forum (A Matter of Horse) and was asked about the teaching level and approach, this was my explanation:
These 12 students were new to him but they were not new to the method and had to be a certain level to participate. So they would have all started with the 7 games on line and progressed to maintaining the connection at greater distances then test the connection at liberty and riding. Each of these horse human partnerships entered the arena either on a loose long rope or at liberty. The tasks that Pat set would test this and provoke questioning and thinking, and techniques to strengthen the connection. So he works on a "can you" as in can you ask your horse to go sideways away from you down the centre of the arena, can you ask your horse to circle round you at liberty at trot, can you send your horse around two cones in a figure 8 at liberty, etc. Then, how can you improve that, how can you get your horse to do that with more effort, or at canter, or with a better look on its face, etc. Always pushing the boundaries, if it breaks down, ask yourself why, which element is broken (isolate, separate and recombine).

Riding Lucie again,at last!

First proper hack for Lucie since she went lame! Dan rode Fina and I rode Lucie!. We did about 4 km and I got off a couple of times, but she seemed fine; she walked out strongly and wanted to be in front and didn't ask to stop or rest and Dan said she looked okay from behind so it is very promising,and such a thrill to be on her again, after nearly 5 years lameness, and the possibility of her being a field ornament for the rest of her life.

She feels very narrow after Seraphina!