Understanding a Horse's Mind

REWARD VS RELEASE

To understand a horse's mind, you have to understand what they ultimately want. While dogs and humans work off a ultimate want of reward, horses work off a want of release. This is a commonly overlooked fact, because it is well known that horses like treats. However, they like any food, and this is not the ultimate goal of the horse. The best reward you can give your horse is release. This means, as soon as the horse does what you are asking, stop asking him or her to do it. Even if you want the horse to keep going, just think about it, and the horse should continue. It is very important not to dull out your horse, so release as soon as he or she does something right!

TOUCH, TAP, NIP, AND BITE

My friends who don't have horses often tell me that it is mean to hit a horse. I tell them that I agree. Then they ask me why I do it. And I tell them I don't. A hit is a very different thing from a touch, tap, or "bite." You need, once again, to think about horse language.

In a herd of wild horses, one horse is calling the shots. This is the stallion. If a mare does something that is not approved by the stallion, then they get a nip. It is also important to note that the stallion nips are immediate, and then forgotten. Horse's remember, but never hold a grudge. Do NOT be passive aggressive with your horse, as this will not help anything and your horse will be ornery or even scared of you. This will not help.

1. A touch is an AID TO THE HORSE, to let him or her know what you are asking. It is a gentle reminder that he or she isn't in the right space. The touch should be rhythmic and have plenty of warning before contact. Warning is the aid (whether it be your hand, carrot stick, crop, etc) swinging or 'stirring' (stirring a pot motion) in the air next to your horse's body, and gradually getting closer. If the horse does not move, then contact is made between the aid (still stirring or swinging) and the horse's body part that is out of place.
2. A tap is a REMINDER. For example, before a jump (even though the horse shows no sign of refusal) it is okay to remind the horse you are asking him or her to do something, and tap 3 times with a crop in the last 3 strides. Taps remind the horse that you are in charge, just like a stallion showing a horse who is boss. If the horse refuses the jump after taps, then the horse should recieve 2 taps and 1 nip in the last 3 strides, and the jump should be taken immediately after refusal. Taps are used in non-jumping as well. Any reminder you want to give should be given in gentle taps.
3. A nip TELLS the horse that he or she did something wrong. It comes after the misbehavior, and is smaller than a bite and has no warning. A bit also TELLS the horse that he or she did something bad, but usually comes after a large misbehavior.

You should NEVER hit your horse.

RELAXATION

Horses relax, and it shows. It is important to know when your horse is relaxed, so that you can tell when they are comfortable and released. If a horse is giving you a relaxed sign, that means that you are giving the horse what he or she wants. Like I've already said, horses want release over anything else. Release to a horse means comfort, and relaxation is the result of comfort.
Signs of a relaxed horse include licking lips, lowering head, drooping eyes, sighing, rolling, or flicking ears to the side. When a horse has done something right, especially when the material is new, allow him or her sometime to display these acts. Do not disturb the horse while he or she is just relaxing, as this will lower your horse's trust in you and he or she will start putting up a guard whenever you are around. This will not help you in the long run, and your horse will actually start to use his or her mind less and less during a work session.
Wait until your horse is done lowering his or her head, licking his or her lips, etc, to continue an exercise.
It is important to not fall into the trap that a lot of people do, and think that a horse with forward ears is happy. This is told in a lot of little children books, and is a common misconception among adults who do not know horses that well. A horse with ears straight forward is actually focusing on something, is not scared of it, but isn't trusting either. A happy (content) horse is one who's ears are drooping and off to the sides, or flicking carelessly around.

STARTING SLOW

Slower is faster with horses. Start slow and low. Horses are more scared of things high above their head than things below. If you are trying to desensitize your horse to a certain thing, start low. Let your horse sniff and touch and explore the thing on the ground before you pick it up. I have taught Zora a cool trick that I use in desensitizing. It is the command 'touch.' When I tell Zora to 'touch', she puts her nose on the object. When the object doesn't hurt her, she becomes more comfortable with it. After she touches it with no hesitation or fear, then I move on. Let us use a flag as an example. Flags are common issues with horses, and are commonly overcome as well.
To get a horse comfortable with a flag at a gallop takes time, but the fastest way to go is slow. What I mean by this is, start low. Ask the horse to sniff and touch the flag when it is flat on the ground. Have the rod of the flag attached. After the he or she is comfortable with this, pick up the flag and, keeping it just at your eye level, have the horse do the same thing. After he or she is comfortable with the flag at this level, raise it just above the horse's head. Next, rub the flag all over your horse's body. Work from the withers to the butt, then back up the body and up the neck to the head. Rub the flag all over your horse's head until he or she is comfortable with it completely. After that, you should get on your horse with the flag and stand still with it on both sides. Same with the walk, trot, canter, and gallop. Before going into a gallop, make sure your horse is okay with the loud snapping sound made by the flag by getting off and snapping your flag until the horse is no longer interested. After this, you can get on and do all four gaits again.

WITH GROUNDWORK FIRST

I've already told you about my bareback and backing habits, and starting with groundwork completes this habit collection (for now). Before getting on or putting the bridle on, put 5 or 10 or 15 minutes into groundwork. This could be backing, working on getting your horse to stay walking at your pace, or turning on the front hand and hindquarters. Groundwork is the base for everything you do with your horse. Improving your groundwork with improve your bond, your riding, and your horse's response time. Groundwork, just like backing, makes a horse think. Thinking is so incredibly important I cannot stress it enough. If you just work your horse on the regular things, like laps around the arena, you will never have a horse that will think. He or she will not be able to remember things, will be less trusting, and will overall be less fun to be around. Make your horse think and he or she will be a safer horse, better when facing problems, and will be more likely to be able to work out a problem instead of run away from it. Especially if you have a young horse, making him or her think will make for a more rounded horse.