By Lindsay Grice, Equestrian Canada coach and judge

One could say that to work with horses is to work under pressure: the physical pressure we employ in communicating to our horses, time pressure, and even peer pressure. A wise horseperson has a sense of timing and knows when it’s fitting to yield or resist.

Our goal is resistance-free horse training. A light horse is a joy to be around. He’s attentive and responsive to the most subtle pressures applied on the ground or from the saddle, whether pressure on the halter, pressure through the reins, or pressure on his side with your hand from the ground or with your leg from the saddle.

The prerequisite to leading, loading, and tying is responsiveness to pressure here. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Grice 

THE LANGUAGE OF PRESSURE

We use several types of pressure in working with horses: body language, physical contact, and voice. With each method, we’re influencing the horse to make some desired change.

1. Body language. Horses are fluent in the language of yielding to pressure in navigating their social group. We’ve all observed the equine dance as we lean over the paddock fence; one horse uses pressure to move a herdmate away from the gate or the round bale. The herdmate steps back, deferring their space, and peace returns. Horses learn to avoid arguments by recognizing even the smallest warning signs from a more assertive horse.

When lunging, I use pressure through body language: elevating my whip arm to extend my horse’s stride and lowering it when he does so. And I’ll shape the size of the circle with pressure, adjusting my body position at or behind the horse’s shoulder. 

Related: Is Lunging Your Horse a Waste of Time?

In teaching a horse to back for showmanship, I turn toward the rear of the horse, stepping into his “personal space.” As he steps back, I withdraw my body pressure to resume setup or park position.

Some horse trainers will shake the lead shank to back the horse away, which is another form of pressure.

Other horsemen will describe body language as energy — lifting their energy up to move a horse, and lowering it to slow or calm him. In both cases, the horse is perceiving and responding to even the most subtle postural changes.

If horses are masterful at reading the most miniscule horse and human body movements, it makes sense to be conscious of the messages we’re sending on the ground before we even swing into the saddle. Are you readable as you tack up, lead a horse through the paddock gate, or dismount to move ground poles? How does the horse know to follow or where to stand?

I like to start the conversation of pressure and release from the ground. Here, I’m introducing a leverage bit. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Grice

2. Physical contact is a language your horse learns, with its range of meanings according to:

• Location of aid such as pressure applied to the mouth, poll, sides, or haunches;
• Type of aid including pressure delivered via rider’s leg, rein, or whip tap;
• Technique used, steady, pulsing, or tapping.

At the basic level, pressure is applied through the reins to decelerate and legs to accelerate. The same rein pressure, delivered in a squeezing vs. steady technique, may come to mean flexing at the poll. For some Western trainers, a steady hold with the leg slows their horse and a light pulsing motion moves them forward. Pressure on different locations on the horse’s body will come to represent moving different body parts. A horse learns to bend away from neck rein contact and move his haunches away from leg pressure located behind the girth. As the horse’s training advances, trainers can expand the vocabulary to include directional shifts in rein and seat pressure.

A rider’s leg, used in different locations on the horse’s body, will come to represent moving his haunches or forehand. Photos courtesy of Lindsay Grice

3. Voice pressure works as I use a unique vocal sound to represent the precise response I have in mind and silence my voice as the horse responds. I quit clucking, for example, when the horse accelerates. I quit my long, low waaaalk command as soon as he transitions downwards. Voice commands, taught from the ground or while lunging, are wonderful bridges to understanding aids from the saddle.

I’m a believer in starting the conversation of pressure and release from the ground. When a horse learns the language of pressure, the concept spills into other areas of training.

Say yes to your horse. Horses learn from the release versus the application of pressure. Timing is key. By relaxing my body, voice, or contact at the onset of my horse’s response, I’m rewarding his try: Yes, you’re on the right track! A timely release reinforces his correct answer, making it more likely to happen again.

When there’s no release, or even if the release is late, horses get tense, feeling trapped between pressures. In coaching riders, we work on relaxing the aids as much as we practice applying them. It’s not uncommon to see riders, concentrating on steering around a pattern or course, unaware they’re “holding their horses.”

Related: Back to Schooling Horses - Mistakes, Mishaps, and Misbehaviours

Horses, if held in place, can become tense, feeling trapped between pressures. Training aids, if used, must afford release. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Grice

RESISTANCE

A rider complains that her horse is resistant. Digging deeper, she explains that her horse often says no to a particular aid.

Here are some examples of resistance you may identify with:

• You ask your horse to yield to your outside leg as you canter past the gate and instead he kicks out and breaks to a trot.
• When you ask for the rein back, your horse just stands there, stuck, setting his jaw against the bit.

Reimagining resistance. These horses may be called stubborn or disrespectful. Yet, equine behaviour scientists will tell you that horses don’t possess the cognitive motivation to be willful. They just do what works.

When we attach human intentions and emotions to a horse’s resistance, we may fail to search for the source of the roadblock. And when we counter our horse’s “stubbornness” with our own emotion, the training session hits a wall. Punishment is often the exclamation point after a rider throws up her hands in frustration, thinking You should know better!

I prefer to see resistance as a horse confused or trying to protect himself.

The solution for resistance is rarely in the tack box. Training aids may mask the expression of resistance without addressing the root of the problem. Like a weed, resistance will pop out somewhere else. A tight noseband may restrict and draw reins may restrain, yet the tension remains if its source isn’t uncovered.

Nip resistance in the bud. The first step to eliminating resistance is noticing it. Don’t ignore the little signs — your horse stiffens to your hand or leg aid instead of melting into it. As soon as I swing into the saddle, I’m asking little questions such as transitions and lateral steps. If my horse braces against my aid, I change my lesson plan right there and address it, matching it with an appropriate suppling exercise. My goal is a fluid conversation between horse and rider.

Clarity is kindness. We can’t blame a horse for not responding to a cue he doesn’t understand. Establish your system of aids and deliver them in the same manner every time.

Thoroughly test your aids before taking your horse to a new environment. Is he attentive and yielding to your rein and leg pressures every time, everywhere? As a judge, it saddens me to see a competitor arrive at a show without solid fundamentals. With weak resources to navigate warm-up ring traffic, guide over a trail bridge, or prevent a jumping run-out, they’re sadly rewarding evasion as they’re excused from the ring.

Use appropriate amounts of pressure. Always begin with the lightest signal. Escalate the amount of pressure only if you’re getting no response from your horse. Starting your aid on the low end of the scale will, in turn, keep your horse’s tension low. If you snatch the reins instead of initiating with contact, prepare for a head toss. Change your technique; I’ve found that horses may lean against a firm leg squeeze but lift off a lighter, pulsing action. Like humans, if you open any conversation with a strong opinion in an abrasive manner, the hearer is inclined to brace against your viewpoint.

Neck reining, with its signal on the neck, is a different language for your horse (Figure 1, above).

He may initially brace against the pressure (Figure 2, above) until he learns to find release in turning away from it (Figure 3, below). Photos courtesy of Lindsay Grice 

It is a delicate balance; however, you must be prepared to use an aid with enough intensity to motivate your horse to make a move. For instance, if you fail to escalate your leg aid to energize your horse’s sluggish trot, he’ll become desensitized to your leg and exhausting to ride. In the same way, relentless clucking at your horse on the lunge line, without following through with your whip, will disappear into background static.

Related: Leverage Bits 101 and the Art of Neck Reining

Rule out resistance due to pain or fear. Self-protection from inconsistent rider aids or ill-fitting tack is a justifiable reason for a horse to tune out, block out, or kick out to a rider’s signals.

Resistance can escalate when a horse is stressed, trapped between options, or confused by conflicting signals.

Resistance by the rules. Across equine disciplines, competition rule books seek to define and discourage resistance.

In dressage guidelines, for example, resistance is contrasted with a picture of willing cooperation. “Resistance to or evasion of the athlete’s hand, being either ‘above the bit’ or ‘behind the bit’ demonstrates the lack of submission… grinding the teeth or agitation of the tail are mostly signs of nervousness, tension, or resistance.”

In assessing submission scores, a dressage judge will consider the horse’s constant attention and harmony with the rider.

The reining guidebook states: “A resistance-free ride is one in which every movement is controlled. The best reined horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely. Any movement on his own must be considered a lack of control. The idea for the horse here is waiting and responding.”

Most Western disciplines deduct a five-point penalty for blatant disobedience such as kicking out, bucking, or rearing.

All disciplines direct judges to eliminate horses for major resistance that endangers horse, rider, or anyone else in the vicinity. And most rules direct elimination when a horse says No, holding up the pattern, course, or test for 15 or 20 seconds.

Yielding to pressure is a way of life. We’re always training. I encourage riders to be mindful of each moment with their horse — on the ground or in the saddle. Catch those little resistances and use them as training opportunities rather than letting them slip under the radar.

PEER PRESSURE

Have you ever felt the pressure to push to the next level with your horse, pushing through your sense of caution? Here are some examples you may have heard:

• Just get back on! You don’t want to lose your nerve.
• Why not enter the trail class? You’re at the show anyway.
• Are you coming out on a hack with us?

These are often well-meant invitations, but sadly, they are invitations into situations for which neither you nor your horse are quite prepared.

I’ve been there. I’ve felt the pressure from a client, coach or even a friend. If things go south, is it worth the time I’ll spend rebuilding confidence in myself or my horse?

What about positive pressure? That little kick of confidence we may need to face our fears and take a measured risk? A wise coach or mentor helps you evaluate an opportunity through the lens of reality — offering an honest assessment of both your and your horse’s current strengths, weaknesses, and limitations, including factors such as time and finances.

It’s said that horse training wisdom is timing and feel — when to use pressure, how much, and when to simply… wait.

Related: Resolving Bit Resistance in Your Horse

Related: Does Your Horse Need a Lot of Leg?

Related: The Science of Tack and Training Aids

More by Lindsay Grice

Main Photo courtesy of Lindsay Grice