Sometimes Refusals Are OK

Green horses are going to refuse jumps.  It's part of the learning process, as they develop skills like how to read questions & how to organize their feet.  Eventually they learn to do both of these things at the same time, but they don't start out that way.

Case in point:  about a month ago, I took Echo next door for his second official jump lesson (the first one was back in April) with Trainer Neighbour (TN).  He was growing much more confident with my single "jumps" in schooling, with far less drunken approaches & less hesitation at the base. 

We'd mastered a whopping 18"

I had just started introducing canter poles to our rides the week before.  I wanted him to see some different colors & shapes, as well as work through some more simple gymnastics, which are more challenging for me to do alone since my ground person is, uh, me.

Echo, being all legs & distraction, is still very green in terms of figuring out where & in what order the limbs should go to create a jumping effort.  I try my best to get him very balanced on approaches, stay in the middle of him, & let him sort out the rest on his own.  He is an unfailingly earnest trier & really wants to please, making my job of directing him to the right answer much easier. 

Easier, but also often hilarious.  For example, as we began working the lesson gymnastic, he had definitely retained the lesson about "poles are for trotting over."  A little too well.

Exceptional pole trotting

We paused that & worked over a few canter poles to get him thinking about bringing his hinds together underneath him & pushing over an obstacle in a true jumping motion.  As I mentioned, he'd only done canter poles a couple times, the week prior, so it took a few tries over these larger ones, but he finally figured it out:

Figuring out takeoff - uh, ignore my leaning, sigh

We went back to the gymnastic to try & translate that motion to the jumps.  TN suggested we try some extra trot poles in front of the first jump to see if we could encourage him to step closer to the base.  She also added an empty flower box to make it look a little more like an actual obstacle.  I suspected this might be a bigger complexity jump than he could process all at once, but we'd give it a shot. 

My suspicion was correct.  Echo's little brain (much of which he had apparently left at home that day anyway) went, "Oooo, look at all the new things, waiiiiit, I must inspect!!!"  He was sucking back hard by the time we go to the first trot pole & despite my squeezing, he came to halt in front of the fence.

In years past, I might have gotten upset.  I might have grabbed a crop or, at the least, considered it a failure.  But I have learned a lot about nuances in training since then.

If a green horse has what I call an honest stop, that is, they don't understand the question or they truly don't feel comfortable in their ability to complete the task, I'm ok with that.  They're not trying to get out of work or communicate pain or simply be contrary, they're just trying to figure it out.

What's more, I would rather be on a horse that stops when he's unsure than one who hurls himself thoughtlessly into anything.  I think both of us are safer in the first scenario - a little self-preservation is an important thing.  The nuance lies in what the horse tells me & how he responds to what comes next.

I also want Echo to enjoy jumping as a positive experience.  I don't want him to jump something just because he's afraid I might hurt him if he doesn't.  I want 100% of his focus on doing his job safely & well, instead of having 50% distracted by fear or anxiety.  I'm sure I'll need that extra focus at some point when I need to rely on his footwork & balance to get us out of trouble.

Soft, relaxed, focused

This doesn't mean I'll never give him a solid kick or a pop with a stick.  It just means I'll only apply those things if I am certain that I have asked a question well within his confidence & experience levels.  In this particular lesson, this particular stop clearly said to me that he wasn't completely sure of what he needed to do, but he was thinking hard about the question.  He was trying to learn & I absolutely don't want to punish him for that. 

After a brief examination (& some giggling at his adorable baby-ness) of things, I just calmly circled him around to try again.  He was still hesitant, but with encouragement, gave it a shot.  The third time, the light bulb was beginning to glow.  Here's the series of attempts.  Giggling commentary included.


He was also beginning to figure out how to make a jump jumpy.  The canter pole translation was happening & it was getting significantly easier for me to follow his motion as it became more predictable.

Less trotty, moar jumpy

And through it all, Echo was trying & learning, all while his ears stayed pricked & his attitude positive.  This is what I want for his foundation, along with a clear understanding in him on exactly how it all works.  I want him to learn how to jump over things, not how to demolish them with this legs in an uncomfortable scramble (although I'm sure we'll inadvertently practice this too). 

Gears turning

He does have to learn to keep his feet moving WHILE he thinks, this was an important tenet of jumping training I learned from past lessons -- but that's not the same as keeping the feet moving WITHOUT thinking.  And that's a journey of more than one step.

In the meantime, I sure am enjoying getting to spend more time on what I have discovered is a lovely canter.

Want infinite amount of this

Categories: jumping, lesson, young horses