Evaluate Your Horse

From time to time I am asked to evaluate a horse that needs training or has run into difficulty during the training process, and perhaps one that someone is looking to buy.

It is getting to the time of year when we start riding more diligently, our young horses are ready to be started, or we are ready to help our horses deal with some issues. In order to set realistic goals for yourself and your horse, you should first evaluate where your horse is right now. Once you have a goal, you need a plan to achieve success, because with the right approach success is just a matter of time.

A big part of evaluation is accurately interpreting what your horse is telling you. It’s important not to jump to wrong conclusions because you are blinded by blatant gestures; you must also pay attention to your horse’s subtle actions. The blatant gestures are your horse yelling at you; the subtle ones are him carrying on a polite conversation. I try very hard to understand the intention behind each action and not to judge the action by itself.

There are many good horses that behave badly. That does NOT make them bad horses! Judging intention rather than action takes a great deal of trust in your own instinctive understanding. If you do not trust your own sense of what is going on, you will misinterpret what your horse is saying. Remember, you and your horse are speaking different languages so misinterpretation is very common.

Cause and effect are a constant part of evaluation. If I apply pressure, the horse will respond in the way he feels necessary. If I use too much pressure he will likely overreact; not enough pressure and he may not react at all. Reaction is relative to the initial action. I must remain aware of what I am doing because it causes the horse’s response.