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| Schooling gymnastics on Suki with Denny (Photo: May) |
Fact
1: Most of us have ridden a horse that rushes fences.
Fact
2: Trotting fences is one of the primary exercises used to torture riders,
second only to sitting trot, no stirrups, on the bounciest horse in the barn.
Unavoidable
fact that we all try to ignore because of the first two unavoidable truths:
trotting fences on a rushing horse, on a loose rein, until the horse jumps
consistently from a relaxed trot without catapulting or bolting afterwards is
the best way to condition a horse to not rush.
This is something you probably already know, and if you don’t already
know it, you do now and have no excuse for ignorance.
Now, I am a rider that has a strong
desire to know why something fixes a problem so that I can own
it and tinker with it.* So, why do horses
rush? Anxiety. Horses that are anxious about jumping have
two primary responses at their disposal, stopping or rushing, with variations
there of. Rushing can occur to the fence or bolting after fences.
Stopping, when it really comes down to it, tends to be followed by a
horse trying to "get out of Dodge" or shutting down, using the tried
and true, "if I don't acknowledge it, it isn't there" also often seen
with the "reluctant loader," and for similar physiological reasons.
The primary structure in the brain
responsible for anxiety is the amygdala, home of the infamous "fight or
flight" response. This center releases hormones, molecules used to
signal the whole body it needs to react in each part's assigned way. Anxiety can be a very useful response. For a horse, it would save them from the
infamous catamount lurking in the dark.
For a modern human, it is that call to action during an emergency. However, for all parties involved in riding,
the same hormones that send you from the start box like a cavalry charging to
battle can cause your horse to panic, jump you right out of the tack, and land
bolting across the field… causing a whole new kind of start box anxiety the
next time out.
What all of this means is that as a
rider, you need to condition your horse to experience commonplace situations
without anxiety. This requires a lot of
patience and repetition. In terms of
rushing fences, this means the tried and true hop–and–plop exercise, repeated
until a horse’s automatic response to approaching a fence is “oh, I need to get
from here to there, no big deal, no rush” rather than “ahhhh, if I get it done
it’s over, then maybe my rider will quit asking me to do this scary
thing.” The anxiety can be further
heightened by a rider that clamps up approaching a fence, nit picks, holds, or
catches a horse in the mouth over the fence.
So, don’t do that.
And how do you, dear rider, just not
do that? There are many ways, most of
which require… you guessed it… practice.
Now, we have two parties that both need to practice the same thing. How?
Set all your fences to small heights, it’s okay, no one is judging (and
if they are, they aren’t worth having around).
Acquire a neck strap, a belt or stirrup leather will do, you don’t need
to use it over every fence, but they are very useful to have just in case. Now, pick up a trot and keep your hands at
the very start of where the rubber of the reins meets the leather. Yes, I mean loop your reins. No matter what. And yes, it might make you feel completely
crazy, out of control, and get that little bit of anxiety going in your own
stomach. You’ll thank me.
If you have to, start trotting poles
on the ground until the rhythm does not change.
How do you keep it from changing?
Think about the rise and fall in the trot as sinking and gently bumping
up. Let your hips loosen, your shoulder
blades slight down your back, and, for goodness sake, let all the tension in
your elbows go. When you’re ready,
continue onto small fences. Go until you
horse can reliably trot to a fence, hop over it, and depart in a quiet, relaxed
manner. If your horse takes a mega–leap
over an itty, bitty fence, he earns himself several more jumps.
Amazingly enough, I found that the
more I did this, the more I was conditioning myself to relax in front of
fences.** Why? Humans are animals, when you get right down
to it, and do not always have logical response to situations. Sometimes, your anxiety (or your horse’s
anxiety) level may start high for unrelated reasons and be raised by the
activity at hand. Conditioning yourself
to respond to anxiety inducing situations in a relaxed manner will improve not
only your riding, but if you take it a step further, your life.
**Denny
prompted me to do this… over… and over… and it has subsequently occurred to me he
was forcing me to relax more than my horse.
