Harness Your Horse's Mind

In this article, we will be talking about how you can influence your horse to choose the thinking part of his brain, rather than the reactive side, when faced with everyday decisions. The mind of the horse is very powerful, and is a key component in creating an all-round partner.

In the last article, we talked about aspects of creating ‘try’ in your horse. We used mostly physical examples of how to create some of these situations. In this article, we will talk more specifically about how we try to mold a horse’s mind in order to create a willing partner that is connected with his rider.

Adjusting for Instinct – Opposites Don’t Attract

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Our predator instinct is to hold on to and control situations, while the horse tends to be a ‘drifter’ who prefers to search around and go with the flow.

For example, when things get tough or confusing, most people want to physically stop and deal with the issue. A horse, on the other hand, will want to continue, or even increase, his motion (by moving his feet) to avoid the issue.

These two instincts are opposite reactions to the same stimuli. The keyword here is ‘reaction’. When either we react, or our horse reacts, we tend to do the opposite from each other. This becomes difficult to manage, for both horse and rider, and these reactions are often the result of a lack of focus and knowledge.

When we are with our horses, we constantly face decisions about how to react to situations, and respond to our horse’s reactions. If we are not thinking and planning ahead, we will want to react, which, in our case, means stopping whatever we are doing. This will create an unplanned reward for the horse’s reaction, since stopping and releasing pressure are very similar.

The key to getting in sync with your horse’s mind is to resist the human instinct to stop when faced with something unexpected.

Instead, try to allow the horse to search for an answer by moving his feet and working through the reaction, until he starts to use the thinking part of his brain. Eventually, the horse will skip the reaction part, and opt to think through the situation.

Just remember, this is a process and it can take some time, particularly if you have been having issues with your horse. It is always much easier to work through a tough situation with a partner that is thinking and looking for direction rather than one who reacts without warning (and then having to manage that behaviour).

The horse is a creature of comfort and once he finds comfort in this process you will have a better partnership.

Using the Mind to Develop Circles

I would like to introduce you to one of my favourite exercises to help get a horse, not only focused on you, but making positive decisions as well. The exercise is called ‘Find the Circle, Own the Circle’. It helps the horse to become more focused on the rider. It also helps the rider to stop micromanaging, allowing the horse to search for answers instead.

For years, I have watched riders work on circles with their horses. Some riders have had great success and many others have struggled. I too have struggled and it has been my experience that the more I focused on only the circle, the more disconnected I felt from my horse.

It was not until I relaxed and allowed my horse to drift off the circle and search for options, that I felt he understood what I was asking of him and “owned” the circle.

To help you picture the difference between “ownership” of a circle versus no “ownership” of a circle, think back to the last article where I gave you the trailer loading example as a concept. At first, the mare did not load well and I had to convince her that stepping into the trailer was a good option. At first, she did not “own” the decision, though. With practice, and by allowing the mare to make mistakes, she soon loaded at liberty and took ownership of her own decision to load.

If you took 100 horses from a variety of disciplines that are circled regularly, and then asked the riders to put the horses onto a designated circle on a completely loose rein, steering only with focus, seat and legs (the primary aids), you may find that most of the horses would immediately leave the circle. You would see even more inconsistencies if they did this with distractions, such as an open arena gate or another horse cantering in the arena etc.

Our goal in training is to develop a connection. We want the horse to be focussed and connected with us, no matter the distraction.

This exercise will help develop that focus and connection, with the rider guiding the horse toward a desired outcome, giving him a chance to find the right answer.

How to Find the Circle, Own the Circle

Place one cone in the middle of the arena and then place another cone in the middle of your circle. The cone in the middle of the arena will be the edge of your circle. The cone in the middle of your circle will be one of your targets for this exercise.

Start your horse out on your circle, either trotting or loping. Take him on a couple of laps, steering him as much as necessary to show him the circle that you want. Once you feel that the circle has been established, set your hands down and go into what I call “guiding mode”. This is where you are using mostly seat, legs and focus to stay on the circle. The reins are just a small suggestion at this point, they should be no more than two inches off center towards the inside of your circle, down on the mane.

You may find that your horse will circle the back side of the arena just fine, but as he approaches the center, he will tend to be drawn towards the other end – especially if there is a gate or another horse at that end.

This is where the center cone becomes necessary as it lets you gauge whether or not you are still on your circle as you approach center of the arena.

If your horse chooses to go wide around the cone, let him commit to this mistake for a few strides, then turn him 90 degrees up the middle of the circle and speed him up a little with your legs. This is where the center cone is important. It will help to guide you in a straight line across the middle of your circle. Once you get to the other side of the circle, simply turn back onto the same size circle and go back to your guiding – not steering – posture. When you get to the middle, your horse will normally go wide again. Simply repeat and direct him up the middle.

After a few repetitions, your horse will look for a different answer and will eventually come across the middle, attempting to stay close to the actual circle. If he does, continue for only another quarter to half circle and stop quietly.

Allow your horse to rest for a while and to enjoy a nice release for having chosen the right answer.

Repeat this exercise just a few more times for the day. Repeat it at a later time during your next few rides. You will find a huge change in how your horse circles. Once your horse is holding the circle pattern on his own for a few days in a row, you can then adjust for any issues of head or body position. Since he is now on the circle and has ownership of it, he will be more likely to listen to your other signals for head and body position.

On occasion, the horse may start to lean into the circle. If this happens, allow him once again to commit to the mistake of coming in too far, stop him and then roll back to the outside of the circle, loping off in the opposite direction.

Once your horse decides to recommit to the circle, rest him just past the area where he was leaning in. It is important to fix the lean-out first, then the lean-in and soon your circles should shape up nicely.

This exercise should help get you one step closer to the process of going with your horse, having your horse go with you and then ultimately going together as a team.

In the next article, we will be discussing the emotional aspects of developing an all-round horse and rider team.