Horse Information - Aussie Horsemen

We’ve all seen it and if you trail ride very often, chances are its happenedto you ... the horse that just won’t settle on the trail and who displays the kind of fancyfootwork that’s better suited to the dressage arena. We’re talking jigging here of courseand although it can look pretty, it can also made your leisurely Sunday outing more far morestressful than relaxing for yourself and also for the other riders in the group.

A horse whose energy is so high that it causes him to jig, will generally sweep up the otherhorses into their emotions too. I’ve met many people who tell me they don’t compete or do asport with their horse, they ‘just do trail riding’. Really though, trail riding can be oneof the more difficult equine pastimes to master when so many of our horses have other ideasabout how the ride should go!

Our usual response to try to remedy the problem of a jigging horse, is to take a firmer holdof the reins to try to control the horse, but as most of us have seen, this rarely works andin fact generally just makes the situation worse and even dangerous. There is little fun tobe found in wrestling with a horse who would really rather be somewhere else.

The Cause
There are a couple of causes for horses jigging, all of which are founded in the generalemotional state of the horse. I often hear people saying of their horse on the trail, "hedoesn’t like to be at the front" or "he doesn’t like to be at the back" not forgetting, "hedoesn’t like to be in the middle"! Some horses are okay on their own, others are okay aslong as they have company. Some again will be great on the way out but play up on the wayhome or vice versa. Some will like flat ground but not hilly, or hilly but not flat and thelist goes on. Some horses live in small yards for much of their lives and when they get thechance to get out in the open spaces, they get excited and just want to run and stretchtheir legs. Other horses are naturally impulsive and have a lot more go that whoa, so theysee an open space ahead as a chance to get moving. All in all though, whatever the horse isactually doing – front, back, middle, alone, with friends etc ... these things are not thecause for the jigging.

The truth of the matter is that the horse is emotionally unfit, or in other words, hisemotions are taking over his actions. He is feeling insecure or vulnerable in some way. Whenthis happens with a horse, his instincts will kick in and Mother Nature will tell him toflee or run away and so his feet will start to move. With an impulsive horse, he feels theneed to move because his flight instinct is very strong. Open spaces will make him feelinsecure so he will be quick to go into flight mode.

In either case, as he steps out more and more, the rider then picks up the reins to try tohold him back and then the jigging begins. Temporarily the horses energy is harnessed soinstead of being able to flee he is held back ... physically he is being slowed down butemotionally he is still out of there so his feet keep moving and his energy stays up, evenif he isn’t actually going any where much. The more he is held back, the more emotional hebecomes because he begins to feel trapped and confined (remember this is a big deal forhorses ... their primary survival instincts is flight so when this is taken away they canbecome very agitated and vulnerable) and so the more he feels the need to move. What mayhave started as just a slight feeling of uncertainty or excitement on the horse’s part, cansoon escalate into something more serious if the rider also gets agitated and starts towrestle with the horse. If we allow our emotions to come up when our horse’s do, we just endup scaring each other and the situation spirals out from there.

Why Are Other Horses Effected?
Some will be and some won’t. A lot will depend on the horse and just as much on the rider.When one horse in the group becomes agitated, the emotional fitness of the other riders willbe tested. Nine times out of ten, the other riders will also become agitated because theyare afraid of what their own horse will do. This fear is quickly picked up by their horse,who is very sensitive to the mood and feelings of the rest of the herd (this is one of theirsurvival instincts ... to tune in to the herd) and before you know it this horse too isplaying up. If the rider can stay cool, calm and collected emotionally and be a good leaderfor their horse, the chances are good that even a nervy horse will stay calm. But if therider gets tense and picks up on the reins, look out ... fear spreads quickly like a dominoeffect.

What To Do About It
The first thing is to become a good leader for your horse. If you aren’t emotionally fit and‘with it’ then its not fair nor reasonable to expect your horse to be either. If he getsscared or agitated, the worse thing you can do is to react and gather up two reins. Thiswill only hold him back physically for a time, but in reality, all this does is power him upeven more by giving him two reins to push on (see article on one rein riding for truecontrol) and causing him to become even more emotional. It’s like powering up a time bombthat you are sitting on. If its ever happened to you, you’ll know the feeling ofhaving two short reins but still feeling as if they aren’t connected to anything! You’d befar better off doing the opposite to what your instincts tell you (grab!) and let him go ....give him a loose rein. If you can do that and stay calm you’ll have a better chance of himrelaxing.

The other thing to do is to disengage the horse’s *flight response by disengaging hishindquarters. There are a number of patterns and exercises you can do to help this on thetrail without disrupting the actual ride. Things like circles, a falling leaf pattern,sideways and backwards are all great tools to have on hand when you need them.

Of course ... this will only work if you have done your homework. ##You’re trying toovercome 50 million year old instincts here, so it may take a little while for you to helpyour horse overcome his need to move when he gets scared.

How do you do this? By building his confidence and developing true impulsion. Neither ofthese things are hard to do, but both do take some time, patience and practise.

Begin by working with your horse on the ground and building his confidence to things in hispersonally space and surroundings. Can he handle being touched all over? Can he stand calmlywhile you swing your rope or stick over his head and back? Does he stand calmly while yousaddle up and get on? All these things are good indicators of how he will be on thetrail.

In the Quantum Savvy programme we do impulsion exercises like passenger lessons where horsesget to move around freely with us on their backs, in a safe area. This way they get toexplore their options of needing to rush or hang back. We do them first at the walk then thetrot and also the canter, so the horse learns to keep a steady and consistent gait withoutrunning off. He also gets the chance to move his feet and run around when it’s our idea sowe get to say for how long and at what gait. We do this for a meaningful length of time too,so he’s not full of himself and looking to run when you do get him out of his yard.

In Level 2 of the QS programme we also do a lot of **impulsion exercises that help the horse(and us) to become more emotionally fit in movement. Circles and patterns are the answerhere as the horse gets to move without actually running away. So its constructive forwardmovement and not just running. We give him comfort when he settles and disengages hishindquarter, which in effect takes away the power and urge to run. It doesn’t take him longto figure out that running isn’t the answer and he’ll settle into a nice smooth gait of yourchoice.

All these things give us more tools for trail riding, so if our horses dobecome agitated and start to jig, we have the knowledge and skills to do something about it.For a horse who has done his homework, it won’t take long to settle him again on the trail(if the need ever arises) if you ride a few circles or ask him to disengage his hindquarterwhile going along. He’ll be familiar with the # pattern and soon settle down again.

So ... do your homework and help your horse and yourself to become emotionally fit. Investsome time into your impulsion programs so that your horse can stay calm and relaxed whereverhe goes and at all gaits. This way you’ll develop some handy tools to use if ever the needarises and you’ll resist the temptation to get into a fight with your horse. Best of all,become a better leader for your horse and the two of you will have a better partnership forit. Pretty soon you’ll be able to take him anywhere, anytime and never even have to touchthe reins.

* ** ## See articles on Flight Response, Impulsion Programs, Positive Patterns and SometimesComfort Is To Move And Sometimes To Stand Still in the Road ToHorsemanship series. NB. Some of these will be published in the next few weeks.

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