Horse Information - Aussie Horsemen

Squashed toes, broken ribs, cracked heads, bruised butts ... many of us haveexperienced a horse that barges straight through people. It is one the most common ‘vices’ aroundhorses and one that in most cases, is caused by humans. Fortunately it is also one of the mosteasily fixed.

Barging is simply the act of a horse running over a human when it gets a scare or a fright,particularly when the horse is in a narrow or confined space, although it can even happen with thehorse on the end of a lead rope. It is incredibly dangerous in that the outcome of a 500kg horsecoming at a 70kg human, will generally end up with the human either getting knocked out of the wayif they are lucky, or knocked down and run over if they are not.

Horses who learn that it is okay to run over people are a danger to have around ... they do notdiscriminate between a 90kg burly man or a small child, elderly person or pregnant women. If youhave a horse that barges, do something about it pronto ... it is only a matter of time beforesomeone gets seriously hurt by this horse.

Horses that barge fall into two general categories ... those that are pushy and dominant and thosethat are nervy. Many people put up with having pushy horses that crowd their space and walk all overthem. For some reason it seems acceptable to have a horse behave in this way, when in fact byallowing it they are teaching the horse to disregard humans and also creating a horse that is veryunsafe to be around. Nervy horses that barge often also have trouble standing still and being tiedup, because they are scared and tense much of the time. Often people get away with having a horselike this as long as all is calm and quiet and they have plenty of room. But as soon as the horsehears a sudden noise, sees something out the corner of their eye, the wind picks up or their friendsleave, things go bad very quickly.

The Cause:
There are a few things that exacerbate it, however there is only one cause and that is a lack ofrespect for the personal space of the human. As we have discussed in previous articles, horses areflight response prey animals, which means that when they get a fright or scare of some kind, they gointo flight mode ... they have to run somewhere. Different horses have differing flight responsesdepending on their level of confidence, or whether they are a long or short horse (long or shortflight distance). This will determine how flighty they are and also how far they will run to.Despite this, they all have one thing in common ... when they do get a scare and take flight theywill not run into Alpha horse to get away. They always know where the boss horse is and will find aclear path to escape, avoiding the personal and physical space of the Alpha horse.

Humans on the other hand are frequently run over by horses.

Some horses barge when going through narrow spaces because they feel confined, therefore moreinclined to flee and yet others will still barge through humans even when they are in the open andhave plenty of other options.

How a human behaves when a horse comes at them, either from fear or in a dominant way, will shapethe way the horse responds in the future. How we act and react around our horses when things arecalm and left-brained will reinforce how our horses respond when they become right-brained(listening to Mother Nature). Lets take the flighty horse for example. Often you’ll see the owner ofa nervous or tense horse, rubbing, cuddling and reassuring the horse when it is scared. They treatit like a child or another human instead of like a horse, so they go to it and put their arms aroundit, giving it comfort. The horse, being a prey animal, doesn’t understand the reassurance ... itjust knows that it was scared and it found comfort in the lap of the human. So ... where will it gowhen it gets scared? And how quickly will it go there? People who molly-coddle their horses areoften the first to get trampled as they have taught the horse that they can come right into theirpersonal space when they get scared. So ... the horse takes fright and jumps right on top of thehuman with little or no regard as to whether the human survives the onrush. The good news with aflighty horse is that if you are quick enough, you can still protect your personal space before youget trodden on, simply by using some rhythmic pressure to fend them off ... a bit like the MexicanWave.

Not so with the dominant horse. A dominant horse will always be looking for signs of weakness onyour behalf. Most times he will do so in a quiet and peaceful kind of way that you will hardlynotice. He’ll take a little step toward you and without even being aware that you are doing it,you’ll step back out of his way. He’ll try it again, stepping at you, and again you step away.Pretty soon this horse has you trained to move where ever and when ever he wants ... so he findscomfort and release when he comes toward you. Now add some pressure like you actually asking him todo something (perhaps going onto the float or over a jump), or something scares him a little and allof a sudden he is on top of you, through you, or over you, as if you weren’t even there ... becausein the past you weren’t ... you taught him that there was a clear passage right through you! If youhave taught this horse that its okay to stand on you and have acted like a marshmallow in hispresence, little will help you when he decides that your space should be his space. In fact, themore you try to fend him off the worse he will get. He will become confused and listen even moreclosely to Mother Nature who tells him that previously, comfort could be found by walking at thehuman.

The most dangerous of horses is the one who is scared and dominant. This horse will take frighteasily, move faster than you can see him coming and will go straight through you and you won’t beable to fend him off. All you’ll be able to do is dust yourself off and learn your lesson for nexttime. And cross your fingers he doesn’t do it to your little daughter, your grandmother or yourpregnant sister!

The Cure:
This one is an easy one to fix ... as long as you stop thinking like a human and start thinking andacting like a good leader for your horse. Respect your own personal space first ... if you don’t,there’s no point expecting him to do so. In Quantum Savvy we have 3 basic principles that guideeverything we do. One of these is that horses always have options. The one and only exception tothat rule is that coming into the personal space of the human is not optional. It is neveracceptable for a horse to be allowed to invade the space of the human ... even in a quiet and slowkind of way. This is because what may be just a small and quiet step one day, can be a huge leap orsudden rush the next ... for which the horse gets into trouble even though it’s the human thatcaused it.

Don’t ever give your horse permission to step into your personal space. By all means, if you want tohug and kiss him, do so ... as horse lovers we can’t keep our hands off them can we! Just make sureit is your idea to do so and that you go to him rather than letting him creep into you. Whateverhappens slowly when things are left-brained will happen 10 times quicker and with more force whenthings are right-brained, so a little common sense and preparation will make a big difference here.If you do ask your horse to come to you, make sure he does it politely and with manners. Horses willreprimand each other if they approach too bossily so make sure you do the same. Just a wave of yourhand, rope or stick will do. Set a perimeter to your personal space (a metre or two is good) andmake sure you stick to it. Your horse will soon learn where he can go and where he can’t go. If youare inconsistent with this ... keeping him out some times and letting him creep in unawares at othertimes when you are distracted ... don’t blame him if he stands on top of you. Just put him back outof your space and be more aware next time. Don’t let him get into trouble because you have beeninattentive.

If he gets a scare, keep him out on the end of the rope until he calms down. Being on top of youwon’t help him ... if you aren’t scared then he shouldn’t be either, so be a good leader for him andbe calm and confident and he’ll take his example from you. If you get sacred too you’ll make himworse, so work on your own emotional fitness and help him become more brave too. If he wants to be apeanut and get scared over nothing, let him do it in his own space and not on top of you. Prettysoon he’ll wonder why he is the only one getting scared and he’ll start to listen to his instinctsless and you more.

For dominant horses, be aware of what your feet are doing. Every time you walk backwards or yieldfrom him, you are giving him permission to walk on top of you and under pressure he’ll come straightfor you. In a tight spot, when push comes to shove his first thought will be to take you out andonce he has learnt this, it can be very hard to overcome it with out getting physical. Whenever hesteps toward you, rather than moving away from him (which puts him in charge!) protect your personalspace. Do this either by using *rhythmic pressure if he is far enough away, by waving your arms orrope toward him, or if he is up close, use steady pressure with your hand, stick etc and just askhim to step back away from you.

You will be surprised the difference just these couple of things will make. Your horse will becomemore calm, more respectful and have a lot better ground manners and respect for you as his leader.This one simple thing, respecting and setting your own personal space, will make the biggestdifference for most horse owners than any other single thing ... and it may well save your life!

Once you have your personal space protected at the halt, practice it when you are walking around andleading your horse. Allow him to walk alongside you and if he comes into your space, just yield himout of it again and continue. Pretty soon he’ll lead peacefully and respectfully everywhere you goand barging will be a thing of the past.

In Conclusion:
It is a real shame to see horses allowed to behave in this manner. These horses end up extremelypushy, unsettled and unsure of themselves as they lack the leadership they need to feel confident.They are the result of being spoiled or molly-coddled by humans and are those who have found comfortor release in the space of their handler.

There is no excuse for allowing a horse to barge through your space. Its disrespectful to the horseas its he who gets the blame and the reputation for being a nutcase or a mongrel horse for pushingpeople or running them over. He becomes extremely dangerous and ends up getting into big troublewhen he behaves in this way ... all because his owner lacked leadership for him, disrespected theirown space and allowed him to become bad mannered. This type of horse very often causes seriousinjury to humans and ends up in a dog food can ... all because humans didn’t treat him with therespect and dignity he deserved.

Respect your horse and teach him some manners ... it doesn’t mean being hard or tough on him. On thecontrary, it’s the kindest thing you can do, to establish some boundaries for him so he knows wherehe can be and where he can’t be. All you need to do is respect your own space first and be a goodleader for him. It’s the very least he deserves.

*see the QS program for more details. Free videos can be found on the QS Horsemanship Forum.

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