Studly - isn't short of energy

Solving Energy Problems

What's Broken - When people have problems with a horse they usually describe the issue in terms of what the horse is doing wrong. I listen carefully for one thing – to figure out what the rider is doing wrong. Every time you get on your horse they learn something - for better or for worse. Sometimes the horse is training the rider more than the rider training the horse. These quarter horses are the easiest horses in the world to train and keep gentle. So what goes wrong?

Pecking Order - Horses are very conscious of pecking order. When we train them they find a great deal of comfort in knowing who’s boss. If you convince them you’re the boss right off the bat there’s a laundry list of problems you’ll never encounter. The problem I see happen with intermediate riders is they miss opportunities to keep themselves on top of the pecking order. When I train them everything I do reinforces that I’m the their loving daddy always in control and always the boss. Here’s a few of the ways I send that message.

1. When I halter break them, I always tie them off solid, the younger the better. The weanlings that are 3 – 5 months old quite often turn themselves upside down… then they learn that’s not a good idea and I have a horse that won’t pull back for the rest of his life.

2. Equipment - I never get on a horse without spurs and the right bridle. A mature horse has to have a bit with 2-5 inches of shank length and a chin strap that makes contact. I like to use chain link chin straps and training spurs so the leverage is always there if it need it to settle a pecking order dispute - quickly. I personally won't waste the time trying to convince a horse to do something without a pair of spurs. It can be done. It just takes 10 times as long.

3. The first time I go riding out of the coral, colts always find things to spook at. So, we always face the ghost and stay with it until they get close enough to smell obstacle and decide it’s OK after all. After 10-15 of these episodes, the horse starts to trust my definition of what’s safe. Horses don't spook only because they are scared. Mature horses make it a game... an excuse or game to see if they can leverage the situation to run the show (top in the pecking order). Having raised both kids and horses, they have a lot in common when it comes to testing boundaries.

4. Up Hills - Most colts want to run away or run home as part of their natural instincts. So I always find a big hill to let them run up as fast as they want to until they’re tired. I also slow lope almost every hill we encounter on rides. They get the idea that running doesn’t buy them anything but “tired.” And, they naturally give me a slow lope first when I ask for speed.

Haven’t ridden in a while – Studly is a great example of a gentle horse with lots of gas. He “can” run so fast it’s scary. When he’s in good shape, has lots of groceries, and I haven’t ridden him in a few weeks, he always offers to be the boss and I politely but firmly turn him down. I walk him for a ways until we get to a little hill and then we lope up the him. He nearly always offers to speed it up to 45 miles an hour or crow hop a little. Now if I don’t keep his head up and his speed under control, things can go south in a hurry. It’s so subtle that most people wouldn’t even notice what’s going on. My daughter Heather is pretty good with horses. So a couple years back she rode Studly and we got out and loped up that first hill (of course I forgot to remind her to watch him a little and keep his head up). Of course Studly sensed an opportunity and took a couple of hops and Heather lost her balance and fell off. Studly stopped and turned around as if to ask if she was OK. Now, some people would conclude a horse was dangerous and would sell them over an incident like that. Here's the reality - When we take Studly out to move cows, he's nearly always the most well-behaved horse in the bunch. Quiet, compliant, and focused on his job in spite of the fact that he's a stud with all those hormonal temptations. He's a pleasure to ride and his energy is his asset. Also, If I'm riding him a day or two after a good ride, none if this applies; he's like a big house cat gentle enough for any kid to ride.

Here’s a few things you can do to keep your horse from giving you problems if you haven’t ridden them for a while.

1. Nature - Realize it's natural for a horse to want to run and buck. If you've ever turned a corral full of colts out to pasture, they all walk or trot out until somebody farts and the race is on. It's their way of having fun.

2. Groceries – If your horse is on a high protein diet (lots of grain and alfalfa hay) you’re asking for trouble. Match his diet to his exercise level. If you’re using him hard give him more protein.

3. Weather - Everything is a little more touchy in cool or cold weather. Horses feel more energetic.

4. Untracking – After you saddle up and tighten the cinch horses feel bound up or “cinchy”… some more than others. Always lead your horse around before you get on. Some lunge their horses after saddling and before they get on. Just give your horse a change to warm up a little before you hop right on.

5. Walk first – Very few horses can go without riding for weeks or months, saddle up and lope off. When you start your ride continue to warm them up for a few hundred yards before you kick them into a lope. Then when you do lope them and they want to act up and offer to crow hop, just keep their head up. You may even want to jerk it up a little as a reprimand for even thinking of such a thing.

6. Point their nose – Horses that haven’t been ridden enough will also offer to go in a direction they want instead of being nice and compliant. You just to have to keep their nose pointed in the direction you want to go. If you let them turn around, they will interpret you lack of control as a giant permission slip to do what ever they want to. You may also want to figure out what they want to do and head them off in the exact opposite direction until you regain your position at the top of the pecking order.

   1. Example – Sue rode a horse of ours one day and on the way home he wanted to trot. It scared Sue and he kept it up until I decided to trade horses and straighten him out. Since we were going down hill on the way home, I turned back up hill and loped him to the top of the hill until he was tired. When we walked back down hill I still had to hold him back and he was still offering to trot all the time. So back up the hill we went… It took 4 times up the hill before he figured out that it was smartest to put his head down and walk home with offering to trot.

   2. Hard Rides - All horses feel peppy and act a little different when they feel good and only get used for short rides. If they find out they can bluff you it’s a leaned behavior that you have to discipline. They are bred to be athletes you can ride hard all day without getting tired. Part of their on going training is once in a while you have to ride him hard enough to really wear him out. Convince him that you will turn his energy into a marathon if he acts up… and then do it.

   3. Arena work - Another trick that will bore the energy right out of flighty horses is arena work. There's no place to go, nothing to spook at, and the soft dirt in a groomed arena is like backpacking in mud - it really tanks the energy out of them. Loping circles in an arena is a great way to manage energy.

7. Give them enough exercise – Horse learn good habits by what they do most. Make your rides long and hard enough to get them out of the adrenaline phase. Your horse learns to be calm and quiet if that’s the way he get’s handled. If you go on infrequent, short rides all the time he’ll always be keyed up and a little hard to handle and he’ll learn a bad habit. Arabs and Thoroughbreds are breeds that are much more prone to these kinds of problems than quarter horses.

8. Running – While we’re on the exercise point… good horses like to lope and need to lope as part of their exercise routine. Don’t ask them to just stay in a walk for the whole ride. If they want to run too much, point them up a hill and wear them out until they are happy with a nice, controllable, slow lope… and then use it often.

9. Perspective – You don’t want an old nag with no energy. Learn to channel your horses energy into good things… a fast walk, a willingness to break into a lope from a walk, and a good days work. He’s been bred for a 100 generations to give you every thing you ask for.

----------------------------------------

John on Sugar Bar (First Ride with a Bosal)