Train confidence and independence

Last week Maria wrote about her clinic experience with Ed Dabney. Last Saturday it was my turn to organise a demonstration and lesson day with Ed, this time in Vallentuna right outside of Stockholm. More than 30 people attended and they all went home with new inspiration and practical tools to achieve a better relationship and communication with their horses.

At dinner we discussed the difference between training the horse's confidence and its independence.

Train confidence
When you are training your horse's tolerance, it is simply to get him/her used to scary objects, sounds and so on. When you train the horse's confidence, you teach the horse to dare to stand still and not run away. To run away is of course the horse's first response when something frightens it. When the horse gets used to the saddle/plastic bags/wash rack/horse trailer etc. the flight response will no longer be triggered, instead the horse remains calm, and a calm horse is a horse that is safe to handle for us humans. Your horse will have gained self-confidence.

The horse's reaction decides
To train the confidence of your horse you gradually introduce a frightening object, like a plastic bag. At first you fold the bag in your hand and caress your horse with the bag. The important thing here is that it is the horse's reaction that determines when you remove the bag. When the horse stands still, you remove the bag. The behavior your horse displays when you remove the scary object, this is the behavior your horse will repeat. The learning for the horse is in the release. If you remove the bag when the horse steps away, this is what the horse learns to do. So it is the horse's reaction that determines what you do and when you do it. Gradually you unfold the bag and move it with more intensity until the horse is completely confident.

Train independence
You train your horse's independence when you teach the horse to leave his herd. Horses may react strongly when they are left alone inside the barn, or outside in the paddock, or when she/he is separated from other horses when you are out riding. Here it is the horse's need to belong to a herd that determines the horse's reaction. What your horse needs to learn is that his/her herd members will come back.

The clock decides
When you train your horse to have greater independence, that is to be without his/her herd, then it is not the horse's reaction to decide what to do, but the clock. A horse that has difficulties with, for example, being left alone inside the barn, you leave him/her alone inside the barn for a predetermined period of time. Whatever happens, you do not bring the horse's friend back until the deadline is up. You can start with 30 seconds, two minutes or 10 minutes. The important thing is that you do not bring the horse's friend back into the barn until the time is up. When your horse learns that his/her friend will come back your horse will learn to accept to be left alone. Gradually, you can then increase the time that your horse is alone.