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When We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:11:56 +0000

By Chris Irwin

I remember a long time ago in high school seeing a sign behind the desk of my algebra teacher that read: “The older we get the more we realize how much we don’t know” . I also remember that at the ripe old age of sixteen that I thought this was a “stupid” statement. I naturally assumed that this was just another example of false humility designed as a politically correct manipulation of young rebellious minds like mine in yet another attempt to coerce us into minding our manners and conforming to the standardized norm of the educational system. That was thirty years ago when I was 16. However, it didn’t take me all these thirty years to realize the profound truth in the statement that I had once assumed in the wisdom of my youth to be so ridiculous. Years later, while coaching in a clinic, I heard myself spontaneously uttering the words “the more I work with the horses, the more I realize how much I don’t know”. That realization suddenly dawned on me when I was about 40.

When I produced my first 2 training videos back in 1997, one on round penning and the other on riding, I was very fortunate to receive rave reviews in the horse industry magazines. But it was only 5 years later that I started realizing that I needed to re-make those initial videos because I had learned to work with horses more effectively, “softer”, more proactively instead of reactively, and as a result, more humanely. By 2004, seven years since my first videos were released, I couldn’t stand to see them being played at the horse expositions and my conscience wouldn’t allow me to produce and sell them anymore. In fact, it was time to start reproducing my entire video line. Why? Who did I meet that changed my perspective so much that I had to start all over with a “new and improved” methodology of horsemanship? The answer may surprise you as much as it did me. I met the true mind and nature of the horse.

The awareness for the reality of the cause and effect between humans and horses and the realization that horse trainers tend to want to “fix” or “train” problems and behaviours in horses that we, as humans, aren’t aware of our roll in causing in the first place, slowly began to dawn on me as I stepped out of the circle of influence of doing with the horses in the name of training and began to teach or coach from the outside looking in as a so called expert. In other words, I had very little awareness for the fact that I had become a master fireman who did not know that he was teaching people how to put out fires with horses that we had inadvertantly started in the first place. It wasn’t until I had spent more then a few years on tour as a clinician that I finally began to realize how much I didn’t know about what was really going on between people and horses.

Today, as I travel the world teaching what I have learned since I started teaching, it is not uncommon to witness people experience a myriad of emotional roller coaster reactions as they see with their own eyes what they have never seen before and they realize that they have unknowingly been causing so many of the undesirable issues that they have with their horses. Reactions commonly range from giggling with childlike delight on the upside to the extreme downside of sadness, guilt and despair, or sometimes an emotional meltdown complete with rivers of tears.

It can be a bitter pill to swallow when we are face to face with the glaring reality that a good trainer knows how to fix problems with horses but that a truly great trainer has learned how not to cause problems in the first place. It can pull the rug out from underneath our self image and our ego can have a very hard time accepting that a good trainer has the seat and the courage to ride the buck out of a horse but a great trainer rides a horse that has no need to buck. The older we get, the more we find out that so many of those old sayings are so true. We get in the way of what we want. We are our own worst enemy. We get ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. We so often create a situation of no-win, damned if we do, damned if we don’t. Then we want to shoot the messenger. And here’s the rub – somewhat like us, the horses do not know that we do not know our role in what we are causing.

Here’s an example. Let’s say that we are in the round pen or working with a horse on the longe line. As I’ve demonstrated in so many of these columns in the past, a horse will “read” our angle of approach when we are moving on the ground as a signal of our intent. Now, if the center of our body (meaning our belly button) is aiming at the shoulder or girth of the horse as we step in from behind to say “go forward”, then we are interpreted as herding the horse from behind and it is clear that we are simply moving the horse around us in a turn or a circle. This “shape” of body typically leads to a comfortable way of going and does not typically stress the mind of the horse. However, at least 95% of the people I meet are aiming at the head of the horse with their body while they work the horse from the ground. It is indeed human instinct to “confront” and to talk “face to face” so we think nothing of it. However, the horse interprets this as “bullish” body language and sometimes even as more of a threat to capture then a signal to herd. This stresses both the body and the mind of the horse and, depending on the confidence of the horse, will initiate fear, annoyance, frustration or even angry aggression. Then we need to “fix” the horse that is timid or “needs to be shown who is boss”. Most often, if the horse is merely annoyed and is saying so by constantly swishing his or her tail, then people don’t seem to see, or care to listen, to the message coming from the horse.

This is just one example of hundreds of cause and effect issues that are commonplace in everyday horsemanship. My point here is that when we unknowingly send signals to the horse that cause it to become stressed it does not know that this is our mistake. The horse does not know that we do not know our role in causing it to behave the way it does. The horse is a sentient being that lives in the moment and when we make it feel confused, frustrated, frightened, angry, sullen or any other feeling that does not feel good, then the horses associate that feeling with us. The horse looks at us as, “uh oh, here comes the guy that makes me feel bad” and they do not know that we do not know that we are causing this feeling. Here’s an example without horses that we’ve all seen that we can all relate to.

Imagine a young child holding a kitten in its arms. The child is enjoying “loving” the kitten. We see that the child is happy and simply wants to show the kitten affection. However, we see very clearly that the kitten is not enjoying how the so called loving is being communicated and while the child is having a feel good experience the kitten feels trapped and mauled. We find this scenario somewhat cute because we know how innocent and niave the child is as to how the kitten is perceiving the experience. The child does not know what he or she does not know about the reality of the situation. The kitten also does not know that the child does not knwo but then the kitten says “enough is enough” and claws and scratches at the child in order to break free of the human being causing it distress. Then the child cries out in pain, releases the kitten, and then most often feels sad or angry at the “stupid cat” that does not appreciate the love it was receiving.

Now exchange the word kitten with horse, the young child with almost any human being of any age or background, and exchange the kitten clawing and scratching for horses that are biting, striking, kicking, rearing, bolting, bucking, jigging, pawing, refusing to stop, refusing to go, won’t stand still for mounting, can’t be caught, won’t pick up their feet, refuse to load in trailers or wash racks, will not “accept the bit”, will not “respect the leg”, the list goes on and on.

The performance and behaviour of your horse is a direct reflection of how it feels about your performance and behaviour. Fact: If you keep repeating the same techniques over and over again, believing that practice makes perfect, but the methods are not working and getting for you what you want from your horse, then you’re missing something and you need new information. Practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect. Perhaps Einstein put it best when he said: “Problems can not be solved at the same level they are created.”

While it is indeed true that “there is not a horse that can’t be rode or a cowboy that can’t be throwed” it is also true that nobody is perfect and none of us know everything there is to know about what the horses truly need from us in order to be the best that they can possibly be. My point here is not to give you a practical tip to fix anything about your horse but simply to remind you that we are supposed to be the one who leads the dance between human and horse and a horse can only follow as good as it is lead. If your horse has even the slightest issue such as his or her tail swishes even when there are no flies around, or it carries itself just slightly inverted, or not quite engaging and tracking up enough, or any number of little things that all add up to a less then ideal experience with your horse and for your horse, then please remember that “the buck stops here” and it is up to the human, not the horse, to acknowledge “there must be something I don’t know that I need to figure out in order to resolve this issue with my horse.” Knowledge is power and the more we know the softer, kinder, gentler and more satisfying our relationship with horses can be.

In closing, I could sum up this column with “ask not what your horse can do for you – ask what you can do for your horse”.

To Let A Horse Go Or Make A Horse Go

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:01:56 +0000

By Chris Irwin
When it comes to the relationship between people and horses the old saying of “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey that counts” couldn’t be more true. Horsemanship is a sport, a science, and an art, all rolled into one very challenging experience.
While I often write practical “how to” training tips for these magazine columns that focus on the techniques or “science” of the bio mechanics of how to train horses I also feel the need every now and then to address the issue of the art of horsemanship. Often, it is the quality of the art of horsemanship that seperates those who are merely “in the ribbons” from the champion who is sipping champagne as the red ribbon, belt buckle, trophy or gold medal is awarded to them in recognition for being “the best of the best”. If you and your horse are in the ribbons but not consistently winning then you probably have a fairly good understanding of the science of equestrian sport but most likely have room for improvement in the art of empathy for horses. Similarly, if your horse is “broke” enough to ride down the trail but he or she demonstrates occassional “issues” then, again, perhaps it’s not necessarily that what you’re doing with your horses is technically wrong but that your horse is telling you in the only way it knows how that it would prefer that you do what you do even better.
Getting back to the show ring, all politics aside, if you placed third at a show then a white ribbon lets you know that you did what you were supposed to do with your horse “correctly”, and that is fine, but the blue ribon in second place and the red ribbon in first place did it better. Like a baking contest where everybody bakes the same cake, some just taste better then others. I mention this because deep down inside we all want to have our cake and eat it too. Anyone with a heart would want their horses to demonstrate that not only do they do what we want them to do but they do it willingly, they do it well, and they do it with style and grace. Do we want a horse who is a mere beast of burden or do we want a beautiful dance partner?
The science of horsemanship involves knowing the technical aspects of how to fly the equine plane or sail the equine ship. The technical aspect of horsemanship is knowing where all the different buttons are and how to use our body aids to “push” those buttons correctly to communicate what we want from our horses. Like a computer, we need to know the difference between the “save” button on a horse or the “delete”. However, it is the art of horsemanship that involves empathy and psychology with a determined focus to always find the perfect balance between respect and trust so that a horse sees his or her rider as a force to be reckoned with but nothing to be afraid of. When a rider knows how to not only push the buttons correctly on a horse but also knows how to read and feel the energy and emotions of a horse well enough to do so with just the perfect amount of pressure in just the right place at just the right time, so as to be neither too hard or too soft on a horse, then a horse begins to dance instead of merely obey.
When we ask our horses to do something with too much pressure, speaking too loudly with our body language when a whisper would have sufficed, then our horses don’t trust us enough and their bodies become tense. Conversely, if we are too soft with our horses when they require us to be assertive then they can not respect us and they lose focus and responsiveness. The real magic begins when a horse knows that you not only know how where the buttons are but that you also know where the horse is at emotionally and that you adjust yourself to their psychological needs. Having said that, perhaps the most dramatic example of this concept is when it comes to the difference between “making a horse go” or “letting a horse go”.
Whether we are working with our horses on the ground or in the saddle if we “let a horse go” when we needed to “make a horse go” then the horse will not respect us. On the other hand, if we “make a horse go” when we needed to “allow a horse to go” then it will not trust us. Knowing the difference between “letting go” or “making go” is just one of many examples of empathy and psychology in the art of horsemanship.
Imagine you are with your horse either on the ground or in the saddle and you’re wanting to just stand still and quiet but your horse moves. Suddenly pulling or jerking on the head of the horse to “whoa” may or may not get your horse to stand still but it does nothing to develop a willing partnership. Jerking a horse to whoa is bullying and forcing yourself on an innocent. A horse is a prey animal and they are willing to stand still and quiet when they have no stress. If your horse needs to move when you don’t want it to then rather then forcing the horse to stand still perhaps we could ask the question “why doesn’t my horse feel comfortable enough with me in this environment to be willing to stand still?” Sure, you could blame the distractions in the environment, or find all kinds of reasons why the horse doesn’t want to stand still, but these are actually symptoms of a gap in the relationship with your horse not causes that justify an inability to stand still. If your horse both respected and trusted you then it would feel that being with you and NOT leaving you was in its best interest.
If you’re wanting to stand still and not go anywhere and you have a horse that both respects and trusts you then it is more important to your horse to stay with you then it is to react to the environment and leave you. Like Richard Bach said, “if you love something set it free and if it comes back to you it is yours, if it doesn’t then it never was yours.” The answer is not to set someone or something you love free and then jerk them and force them to come back and demand that they stay with you if they don’t want to be with you.
So the art involved here is not to use bullying tactics to force a horse to be with you. You can’t really force anyone to want to be with you. Your horse, your family, your friends should want to be with you because they respect, trust, admire and, yes, love you, not because you threaten them if they leave. The horses will give themselves over to us willingly if we care enough to read “why” they need to leave us and to respond appropriately. If the body language of a horse indicates that it is frightened and or leaves respectfully then we should simply allow the horse to move otherwise it will not trust us. Soon the horse will trust us and be relaxed enough to be willing to stand with us. On the other hand, if the body language of a horse demonstrates aggressive or rude body language when it needs to move then we should definitely “push” the horse to go or it will never respect us.
For example, if while you’re standing with a horse it walks forward through your space on the ground with a high head pulling on the bit while you are in the saddle then you have been “walked through” and pushed. If you “push back” by telling the horse to do a turn on the forehand then you have met “push with push” and by pushing the hindquarters of the horse away from you during the turn on the forehand your push not only disengages the movement of the horse but it also brings the horse right back to you. You essentially said with your response “since you pushed through me I’ll push you right back to me”. You might be surprised just how quickly doing two or three turns on the forehand with a pushy horse will get it to make it his or her idea to stand still willingly. On the other hand, a horse backing up away from you is offering “passive resistance” and yes, it is moving and it is leaving you but it is not being rude to you when it is leaving. Backing away from you is more often then not the way a horse says ” nothing personal, but I’ve got to go.” If you try to stop or push this horse it will only become stressed and worried and it will not be able to trust you. However, if when the horse backs up you actually back away from it yourself while on the ground, or simply turn the horse without any aggressive push forward, if you meet passive with passive, more often then not the horse will then engage back to forward movement and come right back to you. A horse will trust you if you let it go when it needs to go and before long it is willing to stand still.
If we back away from the pushy horse we are too passive and it will not respect us. The greatest contradiction we see with people with horses is the passive-aggressive response of people who do not stand their ground and back away from pushy horses while at the same time they aggressively use their hands on a rope or reins to the head to jerk a horse to stop. The horse sees this mixed message for what it truly is – a pushee who is a sore loser – and this never works and it only serves to further stress horses. If your horse is always pushing you around and never wants to stand still when it is your desire to stay in one place it is almost a given that this is happening.
We have an expression in our culture called “bowing out” and it comes from the horses. Naturally, within the herd, when a horse wants to move but it can’t go forward because if it did it would be intruding upon the space of a dominant horse, then that horse will lower its head and back up, bowing out to say “with all due respect I’m in over my head here” and you never see a dominant horse get aggressive with a horse who is bowing out. When a horse bows out, “let it go” and it will trust you, start to relax, and soon not feel the need to bow out and will be ready to stand still. We also have other expressions such as “uppity” or “cold shoulder”. When a horse moves towards you flipping or twirling its head at you or has its head turned away from you but is bumping into you with its shoulder then it is time to “make it go” or it will not respect you. How assertively we “make a horse go” should be determined by the “tell tale signs”. A horse pushing you with a curled calm tail needs a mild push back as it is merely testing your self esteem and boundaries. A horse with a swishing tail is more intrusive and will need a slightly firmer push away while a horse who is “high tailing it” with his or her tail held high like a flag in the wind is feeling very playfully competetive and needs yet a firmer and more determined push away from you and a horse with a wringing tail is aggressively challenging “who pushes whom” and needs a serious “get away from me with that attitude”. Adjust your push accordingly and you’ll balance a newfound respect with trust. But never push away a low headed horse with a closed or tight tail. This horse is sullen and overwhelmed and if it needs to move it needs you to “release it” and allow it to move or it will never be able to trust you.
When horses find that we care about them enough to stay in the moment and not only know where to push the buttons but also how often and how much or when not to push the buttons then they see us as shepherds looking out for their best interest and they want to be with us. Yes, we all love our horses, but it is the fine art of empathy and awareness for the true needs of a prey animal that helps them decide to love us in return. Remember, ask not what your horse can do for you – ask what you can do for your horse.

What is body condition scoring?

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:52:41 +0000

Body condition scoring is a method of evaluating body fat in relationship to body musculature. The system developed by Dr. Don Henneke assigns a numerical value from 1 to 9 based on the deposition of fat on horses in the areas of the loin, ribs, tailhead, withers, neck and shoulders .

The system works by assessing fat both visually and by palpation in each of these six areas. This body condition scoring system is a helpful management tool that can be used across breeds and by all horse people.

The horse’s body condition measures the balance between intake and expenditure of energy. Body condition can be affected by a variety of factors:

* food availability

* reproductive activities

* weather

* performance or work activities

* dental problems

* feeding practices

The actual body condition of a horse can also affect its reproductive capability, performance ability and health. Therefore, it is important to achieve and maintain proper body condition.

Excessively thin horses may be ill, heavily parasitized, underfed or have dental problems. As a rough guide, the ribs of a horse that is carrying the right amount of fat are easily felt but not seen. Feeling for the ribs is especially important in the winter. A long, thick winter hair coat may disguise a thin horse.

Ideal condition scores for breeding stock and performance horses

Mares

Research has demonstrated that the reproductive performance of non-lactating mares is best when they are maintained at a condition score of 5 or higher. Establishing and maintaining pregnancy becomes increasingly more difficult when the body condition score of mares drops below this level.

Gaining weight while nursing is very difficult for the mare. They simply cannot eat enough. Most mares will experience a small to moderate weight loss during lactation. To ensure mares are at a condition score of 5 or more at the time of rebreeding, they should foal at a condition score of more than 6. This degree of body fatness should be established during the first eight months of pregnancy, since digestive capacity is considerably reduced during the last trimester.

Research has shown that obesity (condition score 9) is not detrimental to reproductive performance and does not increase foaling difficulty. This degree of body fatness, however, severely limits a horse’s performance capability and is considered unhealthy.

Stallions

Research has not demonstrated a relationship between reproductive performance and condition score in stallions. However, an extremely thin (condition score less than 2) or an extremely fat (condition score more than condition would be unhealthy.

Some stallions are quite active during the breeding season. As a result, they lose a considerable amount of weight. For these stallions, establishing a high degree of body fatness (condition score of 6 or 7) before the breeding season would ensure that they would not become too thin during the breeding season.

Performance horses

The level of body fat has been shown to affect performance in human athletes. The effect of body fat on the performance of equine athletes has not been studied in detail. Thus, the optimum body condition score for performance horses is unknown.

Horses competing in strenuous and demanding activities, such as racing and endurance riding, require a high degree of fitness. Horses participating in these types of activities are usually maintained at a body condition score of 4 to 5.

By comparison, activities such as pleasure riding are less strenuous and require only a moderate degree of fitness. Horses competing in these activities usually have a body condition score of 5 to 7.

The Importance of a Dental Maintence Program

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:20:46 +0000

Grant D. MacKinnon C.Eq.D.

To understand the importance of dental maintenance you have to first realize how the horse’s jaw moves while under saddle or masticating his food. Understanding the structural requirement for full and free movement of the jaw (forward/backward and side to side) is imperative if you are seeking to have a comfortable, willing riding companion.

A horse is designed to tuck and draw his chin to his chest as he collects or backs up, when he turns, his jaw moves forward and to the side he is being asked to turn. Therefore, any protuberance or irregularities in either the incisor table or molar table will impede full and free movement of the jaw. By preventing the jaw from moving, it makes it difficult to move freely without pain.

Hooks, ramps and protuberant teeth, sheered molar tables and wedged incisors are all causes of pain in a horse’s mouth when he attempts to collect, back up or turn. I believe there are varying degrees of pain tolerance that is unique to each horse which provide every rider with a collection of subtle clues as to how he handles the pain in his mouth when asked to perform. Unfortunately, the answers are disclosed when the horse is in a pressure situation. A couple such examples are (1) the need for the horse to compensate for the level of his head prior to performing the task requested by the rider can be very costly especially in timed events; and (2) judged form events, grade on consistency and cadence, both sacrificed when comfort is compromised.

Generally, horses that are not afforded free and full movement are compensatory to the restriction. As the horse’s head goes up, and/or the nose tips out, the jaw slides back. Conversely, as his head comes down, the head collects and the jaw slides forward. Therefore, tie downs and cavesons increase the resistance of the horse by forcing marginal compliance. The more resistant your horse is, the less capable of immediate compliance he is able to provide. Restoring full function through regular dental maintenance, will provide your horse with an opportunity to answer with a soft, subtle and immediate response.

A horse lets us know when his mouth is uncomfortable by forcing his head up, stiffening his neck, tipping his nose, rooting-out on the reins, or moving heavy on his front end. If a horse does not have balance in his mouth he can not get balance in his feet. I am a firm believer that the potential can be realized in each individual horse, when they are afforded full function and complete comfort, and that only comes with a regular dental maintenance program.

Remember, all undesirable actions are compensatory to some point of pain and attributes to a horse’s balance and ability to perform. If you are experiencing undesirable behaviors while riding your horse, have a certified equine dentist take a look, to get the answer straight from your horse’s mouth.

If you have a question about your horse’s teeth and how they might relate to his health or performance call 1-306-747-2724, 1-403-936-5394, 1-208-420-2701 or e-mail mackequine@sasktel.net.

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