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LATEST NEWS |
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20/06/10
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After so many years of efforts...
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The following article is an excerpt of
'The Code' - HD Encyclopaedia |
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~ Ring Sour Horses ~ |
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(from The Ruined Horse - The Trainer ) |
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One of the things I'm very proud of about the horses I’ve had in training is that after a while they CAN'T WAIT to get into the ring! The problem seems to be downright jealousy among the horses for who's going to be tacked up next - which brings me to why horses become ring sour: fear, memories of strain, fatigue, boredom, bad riding, pain, rider aggressions and the like.
Long ago I bought a very special mare, Dafne, for the equivalent of $800. No, she wasn't ill or old or useless, she was only... crazy. She was the most difficult horse I had ever sat on to this day, although she passed away in winter 2004, unfortunately at only 22 yrs of age.
She was a 17.2hh Belgian ex top-level jumper, although she used to compete at speed classes up to approx. 1,40cm, the so-called lower categories at international level. She had so much ability and know-how... to the point that she never had to learn to tuck her legs under her chest whilst in mid-air, for she just solved all problems simply by jumping higher than needed.
She HATED any rider on her, period. She HATED anything in her mouth. She hated blacksmiths, vets, and people in general. She hated dogs. She hated other horses too. She only liked pizza ;)
She was also ring sour. Now, if ever there has been a horse that has taught me more than any other, it's Dafne. I think that 80% of the problem-solving techniques I have developed have come from resolving her fights. She had every fault under the sun, and every single one was man-induced. But she wasn't just 'ring sour' - she was every imaginable type of ring sour!
Some horses go well at home and refuse to enter the ring at shows. Some hate the practice ring also. Some just won't cooperate in the arena at home, and some connect 'NASTY' to any type of sand, even on a beach. This reminds me of another great mare I had the bliss to work, Golda, another international jumper - she was super on grass, but impossible on sand.
So, there are different levels of ring sour. You begin with the horse not being particularly enthusiastic when he sees you with a saddle on your arm, and that develops with the horse slightly slowing down his walk towards the arena, or even stopping before going in - whether ridden or in hand. Then it develops into a dullish horse when you work him in the arena (or lungeing ring), to horse that will be disobedient or intolerant towards the rider/the lunger/other horses.
One thing to remember is that some horses pin their ears back at others in an enclosed space because of fear, not because they want to attack. They fear being run into, they are upset that their territory is invaded by an intruder. Only by building trust in his rider will the horse feel secure enough to stop worrying about the other horses around him, for he'll know that the rider will protect him. Of course, the rider must do so!! If the horse has a fierceful attitude towards other horses, most times nothing shall happen if the rider calls him by his name before passing another horse. Horse feels he has been anticipated, and if he has respect for the rider he won't be rebellious and lash out. If he does, he's traumatized from his past and needs to be ridden with a red ribbon on his tail, at shows too - some horses won't change this, and will act the same way in the paddock also. Mostly, geldings and mares will kick with their hind legs, stallions with their forelegs.
Back to ring sour, the horse goes from bad to worse until you reach the limit - which is complete refusal to comply to anything the rider requires of him, by going behind the bit, behind the leg, stepping backwards, rearing or standing rooted to the ground and bucking if urged to move on. This situation is quite tricky, but not impossible to resolve.
All the above are induced by the horse's connection that tack/rider/work is bad or hurts. Muscle fatigue, boredom, discomfort from bad tack or bad riding, unappropriate surroundings - all work together against the horse's natural will to please.
If you have to resolve a ring sour horse, first determine to what point he is nauseated by work. Determine if he isn't traumatized by an accident in his past (my best horse himself once lived through a trauma and wouldn't go near a ring with jumps in it to save his life - but he willingly worked if there weren't any jumps set up. One could have easily misunderstood his reluctance to enter a ring for ring sourness, but it wasn't so), and make sure he has no pain.
The ideal routine is to take horse, fling horse to paddock for six months and start all over again then. First vital step is to establish at least partial trust with you - there's no getting out of the problem if the horse doesn't trust you at least a bit. So that'll take whatever time. Done that, you ride the horse outside, on trailrides, anywhere but the ring - and move in such a way that he is praised for cooperation and enjoys his time with you. The final bridge is taking the horse to the ring, walk around ONCE, halt, pat him and walk out, full stop. No work. For a while, you'll use the ring to relax after your ride, so that the horse associates the ring to peace, quiet, relaxation and back to the stables soon after. If you get to this point, it's done.
Unfortunately not always is possible to have all this available time, and they have to be sorted out faster. First of all, get rid of any bit that actually gives you control - yes, you want something in the horse's mouth that he can literally bolt with you if he wants, say a really soft straight rubber snaffle. This resolves the stepping backwards procedure, or rearing - he'll probably take a yank or two at your hands, and run - which is EXCELLENT! You can always handle him if he's going, not if he's stopping. One has to have the guts to praise the horse while he's tearing around with you on him, and it never lasts long anyway. They are usually bewildered that you're actually having fun with him, and you build precious complicity in the process.
If the horse steps backwards, it's ok - as long as you keep it going. Normally, a rider will shift forwards with the upper body when a horse does so, and lets go of contact. It's instinctive, you let go=horse might move on better. Wrong - if you place your upper body in front of the vertical, you open the door behind and shut the one in front. He can ONLY move backwards. No contact? Horse feels lost altogether, plus sensing the rider's nerves or irritation about the matter - which he understands not. So horse steps back - fine, let's go back. He'll go a few steps, and stop. This is where you ASK him to continue to step backwerds, and more, and more, and more. Walking backwards is extremely tiring for a horse - it is a two-beat gait like the trot, without the elevation. The back and hind end soon tire, and he'll be PLEADING to walk forward. This is solved also. Reminds me of another horse, Houston, a Polish AngloArab who just reared all the time - we walked backwards for almost a mile once - and he never refused to INSTANTLY shoot forward when asked to, after that!
If you have a rearer, bring him down by keeping one hand around his neck and the other rein wide open low to the side. This makes him loose his balance, and come down while taking at least a step to regain posture. Be quick in praising him for that single automatic step - he'll understand soon enough. If the horse has to learn he cannot rear, say it will be ridden by a novice, you have to bring him to the ground. Get feet out of stirrups, one rein firm onto his mane while you quickly bring the other across over the withers and under your other arm - lifting his nose sideways a little - and ram down with all your might onto the rein across the withers. Be ready to jump off. When horse stands up again, he'll wonder what in the world had him down, and he'll be unlikely to rear ever again. If ever you do this please PLEASE do it only in a thick sand arena, and only if it's really needed. Be clever and be compassionate for him once he'll be getting up, so that he associates you as his comforter in this time of trouble. In fact, if you ever watch a western movie, check how all horses curiously always fall down onto their left shoulder (most stuntmen are righthanded!). This technique came into use when using ropes and similar gadgets to get the movie-horses to trip were banned.
In these cases, a lot of horses are 'leg' or 'spur' sour. Their reluctance to move forwards is expressed in shortening their entire frame and just root to the ground. Ever tried sticking a straight finger in the middle of the ribs on the sides of a human? He'll automatically cringe and fold the body over the pressure, he certainly won't stretch out and lift his arms! Same for horses - spurs (and legs) are often misused, and a lot of horses refuse to accept any leg aid at any moment, perhaps because of misuse of spur or leg by previous owners/riders.
The best thing one can do with a ring sour horse is, in any case, spend some time going into rings and do NOTHING except praise the horse for a halt, or a simple turn at the walk. Praising the horse for the smallest of things is a habit I always adopt, and it brings tremendous results. After a while the horse will stop associating the ring with torture and start cooperating again - they all do :)
RR
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