Working With the Water-Wary Horse

Ditches and mud puddles. Liverpool jumps and trail-class water boxes. Obstacles most horses will avoid, if given a choice.

Your horse’s aversion to water around his feet is understandable. Compared to you, his limited visual depth perception and cognitive logic leaves him with no guess as to whether the water is three inches or three feet deep. Moreover, water moves and reflects light. It looks alive!

Instinctively, to a horse, trapped feet means he’s lunch for a predator. Essential to a prey animal’s survival is avoiding unnecessary risks. Your task in training your horse is to convince him that crossing this particular water IS necessary. And that it’s safe to do so, too.

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It’s necessary

As the decision-maker, you must communicate there’s no other option than the fair and doable one you’re providing. Don’t reward evasion. Unintentionally, that’s what happens when we circle away from an obstacle to line up and take another shot at it.

It’s safe

Lower your horse’s fears by making him feel safe in your presence. Keep the emotional temperature low. It’s frustrating and often embarrassing when your horse is stuck – particularly when you’re short on time, others are watching or the judge is waiting.

Heightened emotions incite us to overreact in the moment. At best, getting ruffled muddles the clarity of our aids. At worst, it amplifies them like a megaphone. A rider’s emotion ignites her horse’s emotion. And a horse in an anxious state stops learning anything, except this is SCARY.

Do your utmost to protect your horse from slipping, sliding or stumbling. Once learned, fearful experiences are not forgotten. To make matters worse, the adrenaline rush of the incident can frame a scary snapshot in your horse’s mind, retrieved when similar circumstances arise.

Horses practicing walking through water.

(left) Approach toward “home.” Your horse will be more apt to cross going toward his buddies or the gate; (right) Lower your horse’s fears by making him feel safe in your presence. Keep the emotional temperature low.

Ready to Cross?

Do you have the tools in place to persuade your horse’s feet to go where his instinct tells him not to?

As a judge, I wince when I see a competitor whose horse’s training isn’t beyond the “head-steering” stage before entering the show ring. There are missing links in their training. And with few tools to navigate through the water box or prevent runouts at the liverpool, they’re inadvertently rewarding evasion as they’re excused from the ring. I wish I could quietly counsel several competitors at every horse show, “Please, for the sake of your safety and your horse’s well-being, don’t go to the ring before you’re ready.”

When your horse responds to a cue “most of the time,” he hasn’t thoroughly learned it. Are your go-forward and lateral cues reliable? Wait to tackle crossing water until your horse is yielding to leg pressure – every time, everywhere. Side passes, leg yields, turns on the forehand and haunches. These are the tools you’ll need to override his aversion to water.

Don’t push through the comfort zone. Ride up to the water, feeling how close you can get before sensing your horse’s wariness. Stop just on the edge of his comfort bubble. Be alert to the point of hesitancy: stiffened muscles, alert expression, elevated head. Stop before he chooses to stop or step off your track. Use too much pressure to send your horse forward and he’s likely to fly out the back door.

Use the pause to relax. Easing the pressure and tension keeps your horse’s flight response from kicking into gear. When he softens, try another step or two. Reward every try from your horse with release, letting him know, “Yes, you’re on the right track!” Then give him time to process before asking again.

Reward focus. Soften your rein pressure every time your horse lowers his head to focus on the water, or even tries a test splash. My hunter coach used to say, “If they’ll eat it, they’ll jump it!”

Break down into small tasks. Small wins build confidence. Leading over an obstacle is a less overwhelming first step than being ridden. Crossing lots of different things – low trail bridges, mud puddles, tarps, a stall mat – on his home turf will make for an easier water crossing attempt on the trail.

Carefully expose your horse to scarier obstacles than you’ll encounter on the trail or in competition. Just make sure your obstacles aren’t trappy. If your horse’s legs slip, get tangled or stuck, you’ll withdraw any training deposits you’ve invested. Approach toward “home.” Your horse will be more apt to cross going toward his buddies or the gate. Follow the lead of a friend’s horse through the water or stand on the far side of the obstacle. (Though not directly in your horse’s flight path should he rush through the water).

Anchor yourself. Once your wary horse does make the decision to venture in, be prepared for a less-than-graceful leap through the first crossing. Stabilize your core so you won’t be left behind. Keep your rein connection elastic, ready to follow the motion with a supple arm, so you won’t grab your horse in the mouth.

Use “wisdom.” The wisdom in riding competitively is knowing when to push and when to wait.

Pushing to the next level involves risk. I think of measured risks as those 80 per cent likely to succeed.

The horse-training proverb is true: slower is ultimately faster.