The lazy horse

"He's really lazy!" Or stubborn. Or dull. Take your pick, we hear it all the time in regards to horses. Don't get me wrong, there are horses out there, just as people, who just don't naturally have the greatest work ethics or who naturally are not as responsive as we would like. But partnerships with said horses don't have to be frustrating and fraught with conflict.

It is not about the horse. You, as the rider, have the choice of creating either a soft and light horse who is responsive to your aids, or a dull horse who ignores you. What people a lot of times do not realize is that a horse being lazy has more to do with them than the horse. The horse might be more inclined to be lazy or stubborn, but if you are working in partnership with said horse, they're working in partnership with you...which means they're working in harmony with you rather than resisting you.

Lack of impulsion is a lack of respect. The respectful horse says "yes sir, how fast, how far?" rather than "do I have to?". This is not the horse's fault though, because respect cannot be expected until it is earned - by you, the rider. Build a higher level of respect between you and your horse, as well as a higher level of responsibility in your horse, and you get a higher level of impulsion. Build up your partnership and they'll do what you ask of them because they want to and not just because you said so.

So, how do you solve the problem? Under-saddle, here is what I do with all the horses I work with (...from the Parelli website - in blue, with my comments in boring old black italics...):

Most people are told to kick a horse to go, which is ridiculous when you think about it from a horse's point of view. Imagine if you were kicked in the ribs on the way to the dance floor... what would your attitude be towards that dance partner? Would you even want to go?

Kicking a horse to go is one of my pet peeves - it's got to be one of the rudest things you could do to a horse (in my opinion). Kick any of our own horses and you will either have a horse bolting because you just applied a lot of sudden pressure (unnecessarily), or a horse giving you a sharp little warning buck because he's ticked off you "spoke" to him so rudely. I remember John Lyons instructing the rider to spank in lieu of kicking and I could never agree more.

By using four distinct phases of polite assertiveness, the horse can quickly become a willing partner; happy to take our lead to the dance floor.

Phase 1 – Smile with all your cheeks! Take a long focus, stretch your hand out in front of you with the reins, and tighten your cheeks. If the horse has not moved forward from this suggestion, continue through the phases and be ready to release as soon as there's forward movement.

Phase 2 – Squeeze with your legs, starting at the top, then all the way down to your heels (turn your toes outward to make smooth contact). This is not a strong squeeze. If you are straining or getting cramps, it's too strong! Remember, a horse can feel a fly land on him.

Phase 3 – Smooch while holding the squeeze, do not let go with your legs.

Phase 4 – Spank. Start by spanking yourself lightly slap your shoulders from side to side with the end of a rope.

Allow the rope to grow longer and keep up the flapping rhythm until it starts touching your horse on the sides of his hindquarters, letting it get progressively stronger if he has not responded.The moment your horse responds, release your legs, quit spanking, and keep smiling. If he stops or slows, repeat the phases again. Always begin with Phase 1.

At first, release when the horse gives you the slightest try. It's the release that teaches, so it is absolutely crucial to release at the right time so as to teach the right thing and to reward the horse for the effort given. Expect a lot, accept little. Progressively ask for more. Also, when you're first starting, use long phases - as you progress with your horse, you can use shorter/quicker phases as you ask/expect more responsibility of your horse.

Some common mistakes:

- Probably the most common mistake is kicking out of habit, quickly losing whatever respect you just earned, so really keep a watch out for this.

- Another mistake is to keep squeezing and/or spanking after the horse has made the effort to go forward. This feels unfair and confuses the horse because they don't know what the right behavior is.

- Be sure to put slack in the reins. It's a common habit to put contact in the reins when the horse goes forward. This is sometimes enough to confuse a horse trying to do the right thing. This is where the Level 2 Harmony Program techniques can really help.

Begin each time at Phase 1 and be prepared to go to Phase 4. Finally, be sure there's enough 'life' in your body when you ride. Think about how fast you want your horse to go and bring up enough life in your body to stimulate that... then let the squeezing, smooching and spanking support it. Your horse will learn very quickly how to get in tune with you.

I also do a lot of patterns with the unmotivated horse, including one I learned in a Jonathan Field clinic - Point to Point. I start at one point in the arena - Point A - and halt. I turn the horse to another point in the arena - Point B - and go through my phases quickly to get a w/t/c (depending on where the horse is in its training) to Point B. Between Point A and Point B, I only correct - first with leg and seat, then with hand - as necessary, and I don't nag. If the horse is moving at a sluggish pace, I leave him alone unless he changes gait - I don't correct him as he is about to make a mistake, I only correct him once he actually makes the mistake. As soon as we get to Point B, I ask for a woah (relax my body, then use reins if necessary). The horse has to stop on the exact point I picked out - if not, I move her back to that point. The horse knows where that point is (you should have your eyes on it and your rectangle of aids - composed of your hands and legs - should have kept the horse in a straight line toward Point B), so expect them to stop on that exact point. If you don't care, the horse won't care - the lack of precision will reflect in all aspects. We rest a moment (depending on the horse, the really unmotivated horse gets to rest the longest - reverse psychology), I pick out a new Point B, and so we continue. Rest is a huge motivator, particularly to the unmotivated horse - I use it in everything I do; whenever the horse does something to my satisfaction, she earns a rest break. Essentially this game does a number of things:

- it teaches the horse responsibility and earns their respect (ie. do as I say when I say or I go through these particular phases, stop when I ask where I ask, etc)

- teaches snappy, light departs and responsive, light halts (I relax, horse stops) - great transition work (which is a result of respect). The horse soon starts offering more.

- motivates the horse to work for you!

Another thing to keep in mind is to do something the horse enjoys! Mix your patterns and games up in the arena, hack out, send your horse over ground poles and cavelleti, heck, even work on your patterns and exercises outside in a field. The best thing you could do: give your horse a job to do. Everything improves when you do, including respect level, because the horse wants to do what you ask. Pretty soon that carries over to areas they're maybe not so psyched about (like arena work) because you've set the precedence of them wanting to do what you ask and so they do as you suggest anyways, even if the activity is not all that enjoyable to them.

On the ground, you can earn a higher level of respect through playing games horses play out in pasture together. Personally, I use the Parelli 7 games as well as the patterns: I have the horse navigate patterns in increasing levels on the ground, have them move their front and and hind end around, have them circle responsibly (without my micro-managing) around me, etc. Get your horse moving her feet more than you move yours. Be fair but assertive (but never aggressive). And...be your horse's friend and act like a worthy partner they want to work for.

Lazy

Continuing on the "problem horse" issues...laziness. Keep in mind the following is assuming pain or discomfort is not an issue, and that the horse understands the request to move forward but simply chooses not to obey this request.

A few weeks ago someone was in the arena, raving about their "bomb-proof" 4yo draft mare. Nothing seemed to scare this mare much...but her owner couldn't get her to move out into a canter, never mind the trouble it took to get a trot! Lots of kicking and frustration and a horse deemd "lazy".

"Lazy" horses are labeled as such for one reason: lack of motivation. It is also a sign that you have not adequately earned that horse's respect - you have only earned so much respect as he's willing to dish out at that exact moment. Think about it: when boss horse comes around and pins his ears at your lazy gelding, your gelding most likely gets out of there pretty fast! He's got a high level of respect for that horse. On the other hand, a horse that sloooowly moves off from the more dominant horse, ears pinned, is displaying his displeasure toward having to submit to the other horse. His reaction toward pinned ears from another horse depends upon his respect level for that specific horse; so while he might move off fast when one horse so much as glances in his direction, he might display some resentment with a tail swish, hindquarters in the other horse's face, and ears pinned, as he slowly moves a step or two away, toward another horse. The key then is clear to a) motivate your horse and b) earn your horse's respect.

Motivation
A lot of lazy horses absolutely love rest - so use it! I'll work on a particular pattern, transitions, etc and when the horse does it well, he is permitted a quick rest break (longer if he does especially well). Ask a lot but accept little at first and increasingly ask for more from your horse before rewarding him. By rewarding with rest, your horse is constantly tuned in to you to see when you're going to ask for that downwards transition and a rest break and as such he'll be more responsive, particularly with downwards transitions. You can also use treats or even scratches to reward a horse for trying for you; just be careful with treats that the horse is always respectful taking that treat (ie. not grabbing it along with your hand). If a horse is disrespectful toward me in regards to taking a treat, I will either take my hand away and not give him the treat until he is calmly submissive (standing quietly outside my space - designated as such by me - and not grabbing at me), or I will remove treats from the program altogether until I have earned a higher level of respect from that horse. Providing motivation for a horse provides him incentive to have impulsion and to try for you. I will also work on patterns that have a definite end to them (such as riding from one point of the arena to another, and continuing on in such a fashion - along "long" lines for the unmotivated horse, say from the long end of the arena to the other side of the long end) - that way my horse responds with a "how far how fast?" because he knows that he has a rest at the end of the pattern to look forward to.

Lack of respect
Respect is not something that can be forced. Often people seem to think that by "showing the horse who is boss" through physical force, they are earning respect. They're not. Physical force is going to do one of two things: create a fearful horse or a resentful one. The fearful one is not going to trust you in a partnership, let alone your leadership out away from the herd or in a challenging situation. The resentful horse is going to be constantly looking for ways to fight you, he's likely going to respond aggressively towards you, and he's certainly not going to do what you ask (or at least not willingly). This is a 1,000lb animal. I don't know about the next person, but I don't want 1,000lbs of pure muscle bunny rabbit exploding one day in fear, or charging at me with pinned ears. It's just not on my bucket list. I've ridden some great horses who were quick on their feet - they seemingly had a load of respect for their rider. But their actions were too quick, they did not trust their rider and were afraid to step wrong for fear of physical force. It wasn't respect but instead it was fear. As soon as they felt they were beyond the reach of that human, they were in pure flight mode to get away as fast as physically possible. I've also been in pens with stallions that had been trained using physical force who you could not trust - I was constantly watching my back. Those stallions were resentful and were just looking for the opportunity for my guard to be down (I represented any human, to them) to get in and dish out what this other trainer had been dishing out to him.

The primary point though is that respect cannot be forced if one wants a true partnership between horse and rider. It must be 100 percent earned. Play games that have that horse moving his feet more than you are moving yours (watch a herd of horses, the more dominant horse always moves his feet less), both under-saddle and on the ground. What you have on the ground is always halved in the saddle, so earn a 10/10 level of respect from your horse on the ground so that you have a 5/10 in the saddle. Think of it as a partnership - you have to prove to your horse that you are deserving of his respect. He has to earn your trust and respect just as you have to earn his. He has to willingly give it to you. Ask everything in phases, providing your horse the chance to respond to a cue at a lower phase of response (ie. to move forward: squeeze with all four cheeks, move that squeeze down your legs, squeeze with your heel, hold, spank yourself then move that rhythmical spank - rhythmical so as to be predictable to your horse - down to the horse and increase the pressure until the horse moves off; stop as soon as you get a response!), always be rhythmical in everything you ask, and be assertive but never aggressive. Frustration begins where savvy ends, so if you find yourself becoming frustrated, the horse will not "win" by you walking away or dismounting and ending the session. Walking away prevents frustration from transforming assertiveness to aggressiveness. Walk away, figure out a different way to approach the problem, and return when you're calm and better prepared (ie, more knowledgeable and/or in a better state of mind). It's discouraging and difficult to walk away from a session on a sour note, but it's important to do sometimes.

The horse is a reflection of its rider. If you act (body language, games with your horse, etc) in a manner that deserves respect, you will earn it. Horses do not naturally want to be the leader, they're prey animals and would prefer the next horse to be leader...but someone has to be Leader. If you are not offering up adequate leadership, your horse is not going to place his trust and respect in you and he's going to take control of the situation to ensure his own safety.