Yesterday I had a riding lesson. The horse was afraid of a plastic moving in the wind. It happened every time I passed. Then I got off the horse and passed without any problem. Seems that the horse trusts me when I go in front of him but not on his back.
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Interesting observation Rudi. Do you think your heart rate was higher while in the saddle than on the ground?
Unfortunatly I can't measure the heart rate. But the horse was much calmer when I was walking.
On trust....This is what happened a couple days ago....
Title: How do you make a horse back up when you are at its back?
Story: The stable where Willos lives is an old stone barn divided in two areas: on the right is her stall and on the left we have some rabbits in cages (they keep her company) and her hay and tools etc..
Once, she went into the wrong area and made a feast of all the hay and alfalfa and I don´t know how my husband got her to back out but the other day she did it again.
She wanted to see what she could play with, I guess, and went into the left area. But because we have bales of hay and the cages she was in with no way to turn and me at her back. I had to climb onto the remaining bales of hay in order to reach her halter. Now there are tarps and ropes to keep the hay covered in case of rin (very old barn with leaks) and we all know horses don´t take to tarps. So, keeping well our of her way and always in her sight and talking softly i climbed over the hay and tried to pull the tarps out of her way gently. All the time she was looking at me... I tried for her halter, got a hold and told her to back up but she got caught in the cords/ropes fronm the beam and got uneasy. Now, I say "uneasy" and not "scared" because she didn´t buck or bolt and although she wanted to get out of there her ears were not flat nor her eyes wide open. She just wanted to establish that she wanted to get out of the situation, she didn´t want to tangle in the ropes and she expected me to get her out.
So, I moved in over the tarps and hay, lifting them well out of her way - she is looking at me all the time, she trusts me- I reach for her halter, this time i can move her head away from the ropes and softly tell her to back up, cajole her rather. And she just does! She keeps her eyes on me and her ears listening to my soft words and backs up gently and neatly never looking any where but at me and then she is free and into her part of the barn eating happily. Incident forgotten.
I am amazed at yet another sign of her trust in me, and so happy.
Thought you would smile to read this.
Christy
Christy,
That definitely put a smile on my face! It's always special when you find that a "dumb" animal gives you all his/her trust and wait for you to get them out of the pickle they're in.
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Rudi,
I'm not too surprised you're horse found it easier to follow you on foot. I've found that most horses are happy if someone else takes the lead, so they don't have to be the first to confront the "danger" ahead.
A funny example is the two yearlings we had in the yard a couple of years ago. The leader of the two always pushed the other fellow up to check out possible threats to their safety (like a piece of tarp that blew into the field one day!) and once he had survived initial contract, the leader would chase him off and play (or eat) with it himself.
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So, for trusting the rider while under the saddle, I believe the horse needs to trust you and your undisputed post as leader first. And maybe need several rides - even years - to reach the point of experience where the horse thinks that you won't ask it to do something dangerous.