When the Struggle is Real

How easy does your horse find dressage? How about learning in general? For some horses, things come naturally. For others, only certain things come naturally. Others still seem to struggle with most things we try to teach them.

Photo Credit: A Sharper Image Photography

I’m sure we’ve all met those humans who seem to be naturally gifted. You know, the ones who are insanely talented, who never seem to have to work at anything? They may play a variety of sports successfully, or perhaps they’re a “triple threat” and possess the gifts of singing, dancing and acting. Or maybe they coasted their way through school with honours, never seeming to struggle with math or spelling.

There are horses out there who are like that, for example the ones who are born to do dressage. They come out of the womb looking like a miniature version of the finished product: graceful, proportionate, floating across the ground as we watch them with starry eyes. There are horses who seem to pick up new things effortlessly, are always happy and eager to work, eager to learn new things.

On the flip side, there are horses who seem to struggle constantly. Maybe they specifically find lateral work difficult, or possibly their challenge is more general such as learning the meaning of new aids. Perhaps they always hop or invert in their transitions, struggling to engage their hind end, back, and thoracic sling. Some of these individuals aren’t bothered by struggling; they just carry on and keep trying to figure out the answer, or they continue to do it the way they think it should be done. Others are more rattled by the difficulties they’re having. These horses can quickly become frustrated, anxious, or shut down.

The latter are the ones who often develop so-called behavioural issues or evasions, which are really coping mechanisms or responses to not understanding a) what’s being asked, b) how to do what’s being asked, or c) how to do it comfortably. Bucking, rearing, bolting, spooking, spinning, and balking can all develop as a result. Oftentimes these horses aren’t lacking talent, they just haven’t learned how to learn, and as a result, they don’t have coping skills. Their fight or flight instincts become triggered and they react accordingly.

Whether your horse doesn’t have a natural talent for what you’re teaching them, or whether they struggle to learn new things and perform them without becoming anxious or frustrated, it is up to you to work with them in a way that helps overcome these physical or mental learning challenges. So many children in the school system get labeled with various conditions and learning disabilities, when really, it’s the system that has failed them.

The school system caters to a certain type of learner. If a child fits into the mould, school is easy for them. Most of school is geared toward visual and auditory learners, so individuals whose learning style is visual or auditory will thrive in a school environment. Kinesthetic learners, on the other hand, learn from doing. Sitting at a desk while listening to a teacher talk and looking at a blackboard or textbook are not ways they can absorb or grasp new concepts. These individuals need a more hands-on environment to learn, and without it, they might be labeled as ADHD, learning disabled, disruptive to classmates, etc.

This environment is not only not conducive to learning for these students, it also can damage their self-esteem. They start to feel dumb or inadequate, when really it is the system that has failed, not them. So many horses end up in similar situations, where they are unable to learn from the system that is being used. It might be a great system for some horses, but if the individual doesn’t fit that mould, then they may struggle to learn. Like the child who starts to act out in class, the horse may develop unwanted behaviours such as rearing or bolting.

So many times, horses are trying to tell us they are struggling, but we don’t truly hear them. We think they are being naughty, when they are really just frustrated or confused. Sometimes it goes even further than emotional difficulties, and the training methods are causing physical pain. I have witnessed many horses get frustrated with their riders when the rider is both asking the horse to do something while simultaneously being the reason the horse cannot perform the task. Quieter horses might just block out and ignore the aid or shut down, while higher-strung individuals will resort to more dramatic outbursts and evasions.

When the rider, not realizing that they themselves are the reason the horse will not/cannot do what’s being asked applies a stronger aid, the horse will go to further extremes. But instead of adding more pressure, what we need to do is figure out how to allow the horse to room to perform the task or learn what’s being asked.

“Ask, allow, ask, allow, ask, allow” needs to be every rider’s mantra. We not only need to ask clearly in a way the horse can understand what we want, we need to allow them to give us the correct answer – we need to create the space then get out of their way. If the horse isn’t understanding what we are asking, we need to find a different way to ask that makes sense to that particular horse. Then we need to get out of their way and allow them to find the answer.

When we are working with horses that are naturally talented at what we are training them to do, we merely need to create an environment in which the horse will offer what we want. We apply the aid at the moment in which we have set the horse up to offer the movement, then praise them and release the aid when they perform it. The horse will connect the aid to the movement, and the praise/release will teach them that the movement is the desired response.

If we are training a horse to do something that does not come naturally to it, on the other hand, we need to get creative. One of the greatest advantages I’ve had as a trainer in my career has been working with a lot of “average” horses. To train these horses up the levels, I had to learn far more about biomechanics along with a multitude of training techniques that I wouldn’t have had to tap into had I only worked with horses that were bred and born for the job they were doing. I don’t just train horses, they train me; every horse I work with teaches me something. The hardest ones to train have taught me the most over the years.

When you encounter a problem with teaching your horse something, it is an opportunity for you to learn more and create a better schooling system. This is where creative training comes in. Since horses can’t speak English, we aren’t able to sit them down and explain what we are asking them to do, or why. We also can’t tell them that what we are asking of them will help them to feel better in the long run. Therefore, we need to find a way to show them what we are asking, and make the answer feel good and/or provide a reward that feels good (physically or emotionally).

Just like when we first start going to the gym or increase our workout regime, the things we ask of our horses are often physically challenging for them in the beginning. That’s where rewards become important, since the correct answer might at first feel more difficult. Rewards can come in many forms, including a release of pressure (release of the aid), praise, a scratch on the neck, or a treat. Rewarding the horse for finding the correct answer helps the horse to feel good about the task, even when it’s physically challenging in the beginning.

Rewarding also helps the horse to understand what is being asked of it. Since the movement might feel awkward, without a reward, the horse has no way of knowing that you want them to do the thing that feels difficult or counterintuitive to them.

I often feel like horses think we are crazy because just when things are feeling good and easy to them, we find a way to make it harder. To a horse, who’s all about energy conservation and working smarter not harder, this makes no sense! We can, however, motivate them in the same way we motivate ourselves. We show them how fun it is to learn new things, and teach them to enjoy challenges the way we do. Horses that find learning fun get excited instead of stressed about hard work. They develop “try” and want to find the right answer, instead of mentally checking out or freaking out.

For the horse that is less gifted naturally, building that desire to try and the enjoyment of the learning process is even more critical than it is for a horse that finds the correct answer naturally. Horses that want to try will work through the challenges and physical disabilities happily. These horses are often the ones that luck out in the owner department, they have humans that adore them and are willing to go at the horse’s pace. They may still have goals, but to them the relationship with their horse comes above the goal.

Interestingly enough, the super talented horses are often the ones with the most holes in their training. These horses do the movements so naturally that the basics are often overlooked or skipped. Even if they are not developed with good posture and biomechanics they can still do their job, often earning high scores from judges simply due to their natural abilities.

Unfortunately, their bodies and minds pay the price. The strain on their bodies from weak biomechanics increases the risk of injury and soreness. This in turn often leads to them being highly emotional and becoming either shut down or explosive in their reactions. Instead of looking to their rider and asking the system for help, they disconnect and react. They don’t feel safe. This is why there is so much criticism around the current state of dressage in the world. People who recognize the emotional and physical toll this takes on the horses are advocating for better methods to be used.

Talented horses also are more likely to end up being a means to an end. They might get the best treatment in the world while they’re on the track to stardom, but if they don’t fulfill the goals, some of them get bumped out and a new horse takes their place. The relationship is secondary to the goal. This can have an emotional toll on horses, as they feel the pressure to perform versus building a connection and relationship with a person. The horse that’s less talented might struggle more physically, but may be at an advantage emotionally if they are happy in their work.

So, how do we help the horses that are disadvantaged physically? By becoming more creative in our training methods. It’s up to us to find a way to help these horses understand what we are wanting. Often, this means breaking things down into more steps. Voice cues can really help, especially for horses that get flustered when they’re confused. So many of the aids we use feel the same to horses in the beginning, until they learn the nuances and how to read the intention of the rider. By adding a voice cue, we can help them to differentiate between the cues that feel “the same” to them.

Lacey is not a horse that has a natural passage. She’s bred for hunters, and has the low, sweeping trot of a classic hunter. Most horses will passage in the field when they’re excited, but Lacey never did; she would just fling her legs straight out without adding any suspension, tail flagged. In order to teach her to passage, I ended up having to first teach her the Spanish walk. Once she understood the idea of passage under saddle, she surprised me – she actually started to passage in the field as well! Her passage is still very much a work in progress, but the concept is there mentally now.

Lacey’s full sister, meanwhile, had completely different movement and would default to a passage naturally. We had to spend a long time teaching her piaffe before even touching on the passage under saddle, so that she wouldn’t have a passage-like piaffe that didn’t fully take the weight behind. She struggled to learn the piaffe, but we took the time to work on the basics repeatedly until she had a lovely piaffe and could sit well while staying soft through her back.

It can take years! I have been working on passage and piaffe with Lacey for nearly a decade. Her body has to be feeling 100% for her to give me some semblance of either, and even then they are nowhere near the level they need to be for the show ring. After she learned the passage, the bit of piaffe she knew disappeared for years. She decided powering forward was far easier than sitting on the spot, and would charge up, up, and away any time I tried to ask for half-steps or piaffe. Her pelvis naturally tilts forward since she’s built bum-high and long backed, so tilting it back to bring her hind legs under her is very challenging.

Bodywork has been a game changer for her, as she defaults to disadvantaged posture if she isn’t in tip-top shape. Regular massage, osteopathy, and chiropractic care have made a huge difference for her. Since the FEI movements aren’t as natural for her as they are for some horses, she has to work a lot harder at them. To be fair to her, I have her worked on weekly to ensure she is comfortable performing the challenging movements.

Another thing that has proven to be surprisingly challenging for Lacey are multiple one-tempis. She has always had a knack for flying changes and used to do them free lunging just for fun – including some ones. Once I had to string more than a couple together under saddle, however, I discovered it wasn’t going to be easy for her like I had originally thought. Because she’s built so downhill with a very long back (she’s 15.2hh and wears an 81” blanket) and is slightly camped out behind, she struggles to lift her shoulders. She needs to be way stronger through her back, thoracic sling, core, and hind end to leverage and lift her shoulders up than a horse with ideal conformation.

As a result of her conformation, she finds it difficult to stay that engaged to do continuous one-tempis. She can do 15+ twos in a row with no problem, because that extra stride in between gives her time to regroup. But we’ve never made it past 6 ones in a row. To improve the ones, I keep going back to basics and finding new ways to increase her strength and develop her ability to sustain the engagement for longer periods of time. This also is the key to improving her piaffe and passage. Repeatedly going back to basics is what strengthens horses’ bodies and understanding of what’s being asked.

With horses that tend to be late behind in their changes, strength and symmetry are often the root cause. I’ve had a couple, however, that simply didn’t understand to start the change with their new inside hind leg. A method that worked with one was to teach half-steps first, and leg lifts from a touch of the whip. Then we used that to cue the horse from the ground as the rider asked for the change under saddle. The horse went from only changing in front to being clean or even changing first with the hind leg. Sometimes the road to success is a winding, scenic path that takes you through steps you never would have expected to get to the destination.

When we take the time to help our horses truly understand what we are asking, as well as to build their bodies up gradually in a way that is not painful or stressful, they get to the destination with stronger biomechanics and happier minds. They may not ever be the top competitors of the sport, but they will have something far more important: joy in their work and a partnership with us that means more than a perfect 10 from any judge.