Are you having issues with your horse just not understanding what you are asking?
Maybe you have studied how exactly you need to move your leg and where to press and even though you do it as you should, your horse just doesn’t understand.
Would you understand if you were the horse?
Well, think about how does your horse see it. How can he tell what you want?
For example, your horse is standing still and you want to ask him to walk. The way you ask for the transition from standstill to walk is almost the same as the way you ask for the transition from standstill to trot. While you ask for trot, you just use a bit more pressure.
There are a lot of cases when you ask your horse for different things in a very similar way.
It doesn’t matter if you ask your horse in the exact way you have learned you should. A lot of people obsess about learning the exact movement you need to make to ask your horse for something. They want to know every detail.
It all comes down to one thing
If you focus your mind on what you want your horse to do when you ask him to do it, he is going to understand you rather quickly.
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Think about it, your horse doesn’t know what the proper way to ask for canter is. He knows the way you taught him.
If you just think about the precise way you need to move your leg, shift your weight and what to do with your arms, your horse is not very likely to react very well.
More important than focusing on the specific movement is to be focusing your mind on the action you want your horse to take.
For example, a lot of people focus so much on the way they should be moving their leg that they forget to think about “I want canter”.
Usually, when you just keep “I want canter” in mind when you make the move, your horse will end up understanding.
When you know what you want and you are dedicated to making your horse listen, your behavior will naturally change and your horse will feel it. Even if you don’t realize it.
Your horse can tell even slight variances in the way you sit in the saddle and the way you act.
He is going to discover what you want sooner or later.
When he understands it doesn’t mean that you are done
When he understands what you want, it still doesn’t mean that he will listen to you immediately. If your horse doesn’t react, it can have a few reasons.
Maybe he learned that he can get away with not listening.
Or maybe he is just trying out what happens if he does something different.
Either way, if your horse doesn’t react, just ask again, every second until he does what you wanted. You cannot stop asking until he discovers and does what you really want.
When you start riding on a young horse for the first time he doesn’t know any cues.
However, It doesn’t take long for him to understand when you ask for walk, to turn or to stop.
I actually think that a horse can understand some things quicker than a human would in his position. I am not saying that a horse is smarter. His thinking is simpler. Overthinking things doesn’t usually work with horses.
Horse riding is not rocket science
Horse riding is a rather primitive skill. You want your horse to understand? Just focus your mind on the thing you want him to do.
Stay calm and like your horse even when he is not doing what you are asking. Be decisive and your horse is going to feel good with you.
If you want to learn more about how horses communicate claim my Free training series over here.
