Learn to ‘Talk Horse’

By Diane Sullivan

It is a wonderful thing that in today’s horse world more and more people are tuning in to the language of the horse. However, what many do not realize is that our language, in contrast to horse language, is far from subtle. I am sure that much of the time, from the horse’s standpoint, it is as if we are shouting. You will understand what I mean if you ever spend time watching ‘herd dynamics’. Just by the flick of an ear one horse can tell another horse to back off, how far to back off, and when they might be allowed to come back! Therefore, when we swing our arms and move our entire body toward the horse, we are truly shouting at them. Oftentimes, this is information overload and it just freaks the horse out and makes him nervous. Then we find ourselves calling the horse ‘stupid’ because he doesn’t react to our language the way we expect him to. What we need to do is take a hard look at what we are doing when we engage with the horse.

Sure, in order to initially convey a new lesson to the horse, we will have to over-emphasize our cues. Once the horse shows an understanding of and compliance with what we are trying to achieve, it is time to begin ‘lightening’ our cues. If we continue to ‘shout’ at our horse, we will always have to shout at our horse. By ‘lightening’ the cue, I mean that we need to start using the least amount of cue that we need to in order to get the horse to comply, always making our cues as light as possible. Thus, given enough time and cue repetitions (a horse learns through repetition) all we will have to do to get our horse to stop is to think about stopping. Your horse will be able to read the cues about stopping that you are not aware your body is giving out. Believe me, the horse will know what you are thinking! This is why an expert horseman can make working with a horse seem so magical. He has truly mastered the ‘language of the horse’.

Have you ever ridden with someone who never seems to have to do anything in order to get their horse to walk calmly down the trail, approach obstacles with aplomb, never speed up when they turn for home, stop on a dime, and stand still until otherwise commanded…..you get the picture. A perfect horse. The reason this person seems to ride so effortlessly is that they not only have put in the time and done their homework with the horse, but they understand the language of the horse and have established a subtle form of communication that suits them both. Believe me, this person is not riding as unaware and relaxed as it might seem. This rider is tuned in and actively riding their horse. They are watching for and aware of the little signals that the horse gives regarding his frame of mind. This rider is aware that the horse plans to start jigging long before he does start jigging. Therefore, he gives the horse another ‘job’ to do before the jigging starts. This ‘job’ might be nothing more than a subtle change in speed or asking the horse to lower his head. The point is, the rider anticipates unwanted behavior and distracts the horse from doing it before it actually becomes an issue. And a good horseman can do all this without you even noticing what’s going on!

So, each time you engage with your horse, whether it is at feeding time, as you approach him in his stall, leading him across the yard, or loading him into a trailer, pay attention to the little things. They may seem little to us, but they are very big to the horse. Do not put food down for the horse who is pinning his ears at you…he is saying very bad things to you! Insist that your horse turn to face you when you approach the stall to retrieve him. He is being disrespectful to you by ignoring your presence. Make sure that you are doing the leading, not the other way around. Being led by a horse is a very dangerous thing! Realize that much homework needs to be done in establishing a ‘go forward’ cue before you ask that horse to go into the trailer (which, by the way, looks like a big box canyon to him).

If you begin to pay attention to all the little things each and every time you are even near your horse you will begin to learn the language that he speaks. This will allow you to better understand him, which leads to better communication and building of trust. If you can say to your horse, "I know that trailer looks like a box canyon to you and you are afraid that you will be trapped and eaten alive if you go in there, but if you will learn to respond to my cues unconditionally, I will show you that you can trust me and there is nothing to fear in that trailer" you will have come leaps and bounds toward communicating effectively with your horse. (The next step, of course, is to never betray that trust, once established. If you ask your horse to go in the trailer and he willingly obliges, you absolutely must drive with his safety and comfort in mind.)

Over time, as you begin to pay attention to all the nuances of horse language, you will begin to be able to anticipate your horse’s behavior. This will allow you to correct unwanted behavior before things get out of hand. And you will be one step closer to being the horseman who makes horsemanship look effortless.