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Training Before Schooling by Chris Irwin |
When it comes to developing a truly “willing” mind from a horse there is a critical difference between training and schooling. Focused schooling for specific tasks as to exactly when, where and how the rider wants the horse to perform should only begin when the horse consistently chooses not to fuss, challenge or search to find a way out from between the legs and reins of the rider. Once the horse has had enough training to willingly choose the easy path of staying balanced with a rider and is no longer testing the boundaries of their aids, then and only then is the horse realistically ready, willing and able to go to school. Too often people try to “school” a horse for a specific purpose such as a dressage test, a reining pattern, to jump or to navigate trail obstacles, while the horse still has obvious issues of resistance to maintaining consistent respect, trust and focus for the rider. Not to leave out the harness horses and driving enthusiasts, this could also be known as putting the cart before the horse. Of course, when the issue of training before schooling is most likely to happen is when people are starting young or green horses, or re-starting their horses in spring and conditioning after a long winter layoff. For example, and perhaps most notably, this means that before a horse can realistically be expected to be straight and calm and collected it would first and foremost need to be calm without being straight or collected. Straightness and collection in a horse is to focus and compress, or coil up and thereby amplify, the energy of the horse. If we straighten and collect a calm and supple horse he or she will develop greater athletic ability while remaining calm and willing. However, if we attempt to straighten and collect a stressed horse showing any signs of fear, anger, distraction or defiance, then we defeat our purpose in the long run because we inevitably find all the athletic ability of the horse working against us instead of for us.
In photo one we see that while Kathryn is attempting to lunge this horse she is aiming her center, or her core (bellybutton) at the head of the Warmblood, gelding Geordie. Note that although her whip is held low and passive, it is the approach of her body language that is causing Geordie to invert his head and hollow out his back. This causes adrenaline to be produced through his spinal column as the vertebrae are pinched in distress at what he sees as a threatening approach by Kathryn because she is aiming her pushing energy at his head. Also note that Geordie is rolling his eyes into the back of his head, that his body is stiff and straight and that while his tail is not clamped with panic or fear, it is however sticking out with the stiffness related to suspicion and apprehension. Unfortunately, aiming impulsive or pushing energy into the front of the horse is the single most common miscommunication in groundwork with horses and is why so many horses get so stressed and upset, or lazy and defiant when working on the lunge or in the round pen.
In photo two we see that with a redefined approach Kathryn now lunges Geordie, and he has become “level headed.” He has even stretched and lifted his back and is now enjoying the endorphins that are released into his brain as the vertebrae in his spinal column are stretched open as he stretches long and low. Also note that Geordie is now carrying his tail curled with the sign of relaxation and has a soft bend throughout his entire body. His head and nose are to the inside of the circle although Kathryn is holding the lunge line so softly that she is not at all pulling his nose in but blocking the nose from turning out of the circle. This dramatic change in the shape, balance, movement and behavior is because of the visible difference in how Kathryn is now using her body language to push, block and draw. We see that while approaching Geordie from behind his girth Kathryn has her center (bellybutton) clearly moving or pushing impulsively into his shoulder while her left hip and shoulder are advancing or “herding” his hips and flanks forward. Her right shoulder is “open,” meaning pulling back and away or “drawing” the head of the horse into the circle. In fact, Kathryn is working Geordie with impulsive “herding” energy from “back to front and inside to out.” No push whatsoever is aiming at his head. As Geordie is demonstrating, and for at least 95 percent of horses, their “behavior” and performance potential is most often a reflection of the trainer. Where to begin? We can begin by simplifying the potential for action by both human and horse during groundwork, riding or driving into three fundamental categories or energies of pushing, blocking or drawing. Blocking is a solid boundary energy. A wall, fence or closed gate that does not allow forward or pushing energy to pass through it. A red light and the plug in your sink are examples of blocking energy. Now, most importantly is to never forget that horses are physiologically hard wired so that their body, mind and spirit work together as one. Simply, the frame of the body of the horse is also the frame of the mind. The truest definition of training the horse to give to the aids would literally mean that we use our body language and our aids of pushing, blocking and drawing energies to shape or sculpt our horses into a frame of body that corresponds to their feeling good in the mind. Some shapes of their bodies feel better than others for horses. In fact, some shapes feel heavenly because they create endorphins through the central nervous system of the horse while other shapes produce adrenaline and feel like hell. The idea is that when “in good hands” a horse is supposed to be “aided” into feeling “better” with endorphins. The bottom line is that the vast majority of both good and bad, positive and negative behavior and performance from a horse is a direct reflection of the body language or pushing, blocking and drawing energy from the movements of the human. With both our groundwork and riding we must always synchronize and communicate all three energies of push, block and draw, every moment we are with the horse so that our body language is understood by the horse and it aids the horse in feeling better with us than it does on its own. However, on the other hand, problems flare up with our horses when the energies from our body language become too confusing for the horse. For instance, when people don’t realize that they are pushing a part of the horse where they should be drawing this often translates into a problem horse full of adrenaline that people then label as defiant, lazy or perhaps as nervous and/or lacking in confidence. For example, when we are inadvertently drawing with the reins and the bridle, when we truly needed to be blocking, that horse goes “off track” and seems to take us everywhere except where we want them to go. It’s when we don’t realize how we are pushing, when we need to draw and then block, that causes so many horses to have head issues with regards to difficulty when catching, haltering or bridling. In the coming months this column will stay focused on the theme of training before schooling. We’ll begin next month with interpreting the “tell tale” signs of the many gestures that horses use to communicate with their body language. We’ll then move on to the fundamentals of equine psychology before beginning to deconstruct the cause and effect of how training before schooling relates to basic groundwork such as leading, work on the lunge line, long lines and stall manners, before defining how training before schooling relates to work in the saddle. All of this is focused on what it takes to train a horse to discover a willingness to learn how to learn so that eventually true “schooling” can begin. Meanwhile, all the best to you and yours for happy and healthy trails and remember; ask not what your horse can do for you – ask what you can do for your horse.
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