Squashing Resistance, "The First Thing I Do"

© 2005-07, Keith Hosman - All Rights Reserved

What's the first thing I do when I meet a new horse?  The same thing you should do with your horse today and everyday: Give them a "resistance test."  If you have the typical horse – whether you'd call him a problem child or a horse with just "occasional challenges" – this is for you.

If you get one thing from reading this article, it should be this:  Any resistance from your horse while he's hanging out, just standing next to you munching grass, will be many times worse when things get hairy.  If it takes one pound of pressure today to get him leading (away from that grass), it'll take one hundred when he gets spooked on the trail.

You have to ferret out those "one pound moments" and eradicate them like weeds.  They're seeds that can grow into major disasters very quickly on the trail.  If your horse "only freaks out once or twice a year but is otherwise great" – then you're fooling yourself.  You're overlooking slip ups from your horse, perhaps on a daily basis, that will sooner or later get you hurt.  Remember, accidents are by their very nature "things we don't expect."

If your horse went ballistic out on the trail last week... it didn't "just happen out of the blue."  He's been telling you for weeks or months that he was going to lose it when enough pressure was applied every time he resisted (however slightly) the pull from your lead rope or reins.

If he walks ahead of you while you lead him, he's telling you that sooner or later he'll blow past you as you go through a gate or knock you on your kiester with his shoulder when something scares him bad enough.

If the muscles in his neck bulge toward you instead of relaxing when you put the bit in his mouth, he's telling you that he'll do mach sixty when he gets spooked on the trail.

Deal with these situations by doing two things:  First establish a zero-tolerance policy; nip bad behavior in the bud the instant it happens.  Example:  If your horse inches past you as you lead, do an about-face and back that horse up.  Keep him moving till he quits pushing back.  (If he freezes, pull on his head to pull his butt away from you.  Getting those feet "unstuck" will allow you to keep backing till he lightens up.)  Be adamant.

Second, get proactive.  The first thing I do with any horse – and what I do each and everyday with all five of my own horses – is to see exactly where they stand when it comes to "resistance."  Luckily the test and remedy are fun.

And having fun with this is a key point.  Realize that every horse has resistance tucked away somewhere.  Like an Easter egg, your job is to discover it.  Instead of chocolate, your reward is a safer, more pleasant ride.  The calmest, coolest, bestest trained horse you have ever seen has a little pocket of resistance hidden somewhere.  Ever see that great comedy "The Ref"?  Dennis Leary needs a cigarette bad.  When he's told that actress Judy Davis has given up smoking, he smiles and asks her where her secret stash is.  Being a smoker, he knows she's got one or two hidden somewhere in the house for high-stress moments.

In a like way, your horse may be a real pleasure 99% of the time, but somewhere inside him he's got resistance tucked away for "high-stress moments."

So let's get started squashing rebellion.  Approach your horse from his left (bridled, haltered, bare naked, it matters not) and place your left hand across the bridge of his nose, about six inches below his eyes.  Look at the horse's neck and pick out the area where the muscle is bulging and not relaxed.  Place your right index finger on that spot and pull a little (toward yourself) on the nose with your left hand.  Your left hand should pull with a pressure roughly equivalent to the weight of three TV remote controls, (might as well use a standard we're all familiar with).  It's important that your horse doesn't feel trapped; you're not wrestling.  He should be able to pull away from your grasp.

He'll most likely pull away and when he does simply put him back into position by pulling again on the nose.  (Your index finger should have stayed in place; don't allow it to fall away when your horse moves off.)  Keep putting the horse back into position till he just kinda "stays put."

The instant you feel the muscle (via your index finger) relax in the slightest let the horse go completely and pet heavily.  Repeat this simple piece of business until his neck looks and feels completely relaxed.

One of the things this accomplishes is lateral flexion.   Lateral flexion is a fancy way of saying your horse bends from left to right (as opposed to vertical flexion, which is "up and down").  Here's the other major point you should take from reading this; underline the following in your brain:  Your horse won't get "soft" vertically (drop his head, collect up, etc.) if he isn't soft laterally.  (And when I use the word "soft" I mean "relaxed.")

Perhaps you've read this many times before, but it bears repeating:  It's not the movements you ask your horse to do (back up, move a shoulder, etc.) that are hard.  What makes it hard is the resistance.  Your horse can no more perform a smooth sidepass when the two of you are fighting then Frankenstein (with his stiff movements) can win "Dancing with the Stars."

Where does the resistance come from?  Lots of places.  Could be years of having his mouth yanked on (go put a spoon in your mouth and let somebody yank on it) or maybe, in the case of a young, green horse, he just resists 'cause nature has programmed him to.  Try this:  Walk up to somebody with your palm facing them and suggest (with your body language) that they place their palm against yours. Now push.  They'll (99 out of 100 times) push back.  Ask them why they did so and they'll have no idea.  Your horse is the same way.

If by some strange quirk your horse's neck is completely soft and Gumby-like from the beginning, skip to the next step, which is:  Apply pressure to the horse's "forehead," asking it to drop, in effect moving closer to his body.  (His forehead will become more perpendicular to the ground.)  When you get that, ask for the head to bend toward you again.  This time place your entire right arm over the horse's neck.  (His neck will be "in" your armpit.)  Be careful not to place your head/mouth directly over the horse in such a way that if he came up quickly he'd bash you in the mouth.  That's a good way to lose teeth.  Keep your teeth.  Don't get over the horse even for an instant.

Initially your horse will resist by pushing his head up in the air or by trying to pull away.  Keep putting him back in position.  Release any and all pressure any time you feel the horse relax, however slight.  (Usually they'll just sort of "drop" below you.)  Your "goal position" should be to get the horse to stand, completely relaxed, with his head and neck wrapped around your chest with your arms virtually draped over the horse.  At this point your demeanor should be relaxed, business-like, non-threatening and with an attitude that suggests "I've got all day."

You're on an Easter egg hunt, looking for pockets of hidden resistance.  You know they're there – find them by progressively moving faster or by bending your horse into more "creative" positions.  It takes time, but as your horse begins to relax for longer moments, hang on a bit longer.  Push the envelope, so to speak.

As your horse becomes more accustomed to you hanging on him, (perhaps in moments, perhaps weeks) your attitude should begin alternating between business-like (as we've practiced so far) and that of the older sister giving the younger brother a noogie.  Playful, a little rough, but not disrespectful or mean spirited.

Keep the sister-annoying-the-younger-brother theme in mind; get creative and have fun.  If others in your barn don't think you've gone a tad loopy, you're not having enough fun.  Jump around, hang around your horse's neck, push him around with your rear end.  Spin around and sing a show tune.  Use common sense here.  After all, the younger sister's gonna get tossed out of the back of the car if she gets too annoying.

Caution:  Only pet your horse when it's emotions go down, never when they're going up.  If he gets excited and his head flares up, put your arm around his nose and apply pressure till he relaxes however slightly.  Then pet. (And you may want to ratchet down your own energy level a bit.)  Petting your horse "to calm him" is like saying "There, there, it's good to be scared."  He doesn't have to be dead calm to get the pet, just "calmer."

Do you realize what you're doing with this exercise?  You're changing your horse's first impulse (when pressured) from resistance to softness.  Think about it:  Hanging on his neck with your hand is no different than pulling on his mouth with a bit.  It's just a bit safer, pun intended.  Practice and build on this until you can jump around, move fast and "be a bit jarring" and you'll be strengthening your horse's "emotion muscle" in a controlled situation.  Remember, if you want your horse to withstand 100 pounds of pressure out on the trail (when a car backfires or the other horses take off), you have to start by making him strong enough to withstand just one pound.

For those of you with scared rabbit horses, you can really build on this.  As time goes by, you can create 20, 50 and 80 pound moments by finding progressively more scary places to do your work.  Today, do what I described (above) in your pasture.  When your horse gives like a soggy noodle, go find an "outside influence" like the local park where your horse will be a bit more amped – and practice the same there.  If you begin today in your own arena (1 pound), maybe next week or month you'll be next to the freeway (40 pounds) and a month after that you'll be walking/riding past the barking dog (80).  In the example I just gave, all the steps between the freeway and the barking dog represents new numbers and places to work.  The numbers, of course, are guesstimates and highly relative, but you get the idea.

This article is part of the "Starting a Young Horse" series. To read more, or to find a clinic or Certified John Lyons horse trainer near you, visit horsemanship101.com.

About the author:

Keith Hosman: If your horse won't speed up, slow down, stop or turn, you missed the latest training methods from Josh and John Lyons.  Have you lost your confidence?  Want a horse to brag about?  Invest one weekend to make big changes with John Lyons Certified Trainer Keith Hosman.  Keith is based near San Antonio, TX and is available for clinics, private sessions and training.  He frequently conducts clinics and demonstrations — with an event coming soon to a town near you. For more horse training articles, or to attend a clinic or find a John Lyons trainer living in your area, visit horsemanship101.com now.  

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