Regular riding by a calm, consistent, thoughtful rider is so important to horses.  While we all have hectic schedules and our horses are our pets, it is important that we remind them we are the human with the big brain and they are the prey animal with the little brain with some regularity.

Just ran across some notes from a Julie Goodnight seminar at Equine Affair 2011 when she talked about the stages of learning for animals.  She outlined four steps:

1. Acquisition – Introduction of skills.
2. Fluency – Understands cue and can respond correctly every time.
3. Generalization – Can replicate the skill anywhere, anytime.  Known as “seasoning” in the horse world.  A “well seasoned” horse is more predictable than a young one who is just acquiring the skill. He’s traveled, been ridden in different places, been away from his herd-mates, had a variety of riders, experienced noises and distractions unlike those at his home barn, etc.
4. Maintenance -- Horses must be worked regularly to maintain their skill level. 

People often buy a horse described as “broke,” then neglect it for six months, a year or years and expect it to maintain the skill levels it had the day after it returned from the trainer.  This doesn’t happen.  Horses that are ignored have no reason to respect humans and often “forget” the horse-human hierarchy, which necessitates retraining and can be dangerous.

An aside: I’m hesitant to trust anyone who says their horse is “broke.”  I don’t want a broken horse, I want a trained horse.  The words used as a description often cue the process and attitude used. That may also be a cue that you’re “rescuing” a horse from a bad situation – make sure what you’re paying for it reflects that it’s a rescue, not a healthy, well-trained horse.

If you are an experienced, assertive rider and the horse (like most – but not all) is a gentle, kind soul, you can bring that horse back to the point of “fluency.”  I’ve had good luck buying horses that have been thru this common situation. 

Lisa did this in just a few months of regular riding with our newest horse Tommy who had been neglected at Earlham College in Richmond, IN – even thought he was theoretically part of the “equine program” there. 

If you’re thinking about taking a horse to college or taking riding lessons at college, be sure to investigate thoroughly. The pretty brochure about Earlham’s “program” didn’t accurately portray the unsafe, unsupervised situation where Tommy was starved in Richmond, IN. And when we pointed out  the situation to the college president – as well as his student’s dishonesty and misrepresentation in the face of the school’s “strict values & ethics policy,” he declined to take any action.

Quiet, consistent riding by a level-headed, calm rider gives a horse confidence. 

The “instant reward” of releasing pressure within three seconds of the horse’s response is important too. 

Nothing good has EVER happened from hanging in a horse’s mouth after he’s responded to you. 

People often treat their horses like cars, pulling back long after they’ve responded and stopped – sometimes to the point the horse backs up, trying to figure out why they’re still pulling when he’s done what he was asked to do!