In our last article – Pushy Horses And The Causes – we covered four of the primary reasons a horse may become pushy when interacting with people. In this article we will address several methods to help your horse have the confidence, self control, and trust in you as a handler to help overcome pushy behaviours.
Setting Boundaries
It is important to set clear and consistent boundaries for your horse. With blurred lines of what is “acceptable”, or in some cases no boundaries at all, your horse is bound to fail. A great way to develop these boundaries is in a groundwork exercise we call “bubble”. This exercise can be performed in a round pen, arena, or even pasture area and only requires a halter, lead/lunge, and a dressage whip/carrot stick. Once you have your horse in their halter and ready to lead, create an imaginary bubble around you (approximately the length of one arm length). This bubble is for you only, and anytime your horse crosses the boundary of this bubble it is important to correct, and move them back out of your bubble. This is best achieved with a pressure and release system – when the horse is in your bubble ask them to back up, if this fails increase the pressure by wiggling the lead/lunge line, and if this fails as a last resort use the pressure of the whip/carrot stick to push the horse backwards gently. Once the horse has left your bubble space release the pressure, and reward them with vocal praise, and a pat.
Sharing Space
There are various moments in your everyday routine you will want to allow your horse to join you in your personal space for affection and other tasks that require them to approach you. In order to do this effectively it is important to have clear and consistent cues to avoid any confusion. This is best achieved by utilizing a relaxed body posture and using vocal commands to invite the horse to come closer. The key with this approach is to ensure there is a defined difference between your body language for inviting your horse into your space compared to that of keeping your horse at a distance.
Treats
We all like to reward our horses, and some of us even use treats as a sign of affection. However it is time to reconsider feeding your horse by hand. Consider using a bucket to feed treats, take advantage of a boredom buster toy, or even spoil them with a tasty scavenger hunt around their field which promotes play, exercise, and distracts your horse from nudging your pockets.
Unwanted Attention
There are times where we may be in our horses’ presence, but need to focus on other tasks (i.e. talking with someone at the yard, performing chores, or even handling another horse). A great example of this is when we are working in the pastures. It is advisable to only allow your horse to enter your personal space when you have invited them to do so. If you find your horse has begun to enter your space without your invitation it is time to remind them of your personal space boundaries. Unlike the bubble exercise you do not want to stop what you are doing, and
back the horse away from you as this is often counterproductive and can be misconstrued as a fun game by your horse. Instead consider creating a stimulus that would create a discomfort such as a distinct vocal noise, waving your arms, or swinging a lead rope. The aim is to provide a deterrent to your horse entering your personal space without your invitation. These cues should be enough, however some horses will persist and may walk into the line of a swinging rope, or waving hands. This is ok – and may be necessary for some horses to learn the lesson of personal space, but remember the intent of this stimulus is not to pursue striking the horse. Once the horse has left your personal space it is important to stop the stimulus (noise, hands waving, leadrope swinging, etc) as this release will act as a reward.
Movement
To engage your horse, build trust, and develop your communication skills, it is important to use groundwork exercises to move your horse. Asking your horse to walk forwards, back up, step sideways, and turn on the forehand and haunches are some great basic exercises to begin with. Each of these exercises are great building blocks for other activities, and will help keep your horses focus, and establish your leadership skills.
Consistency
Consistency will be the key to your success in building a happy, respectful relationship between you and your horse. Be patient, kind, and remain persistent with these new boundaries. Not staying on top of your new rules will lead to confusion, and likely result in your horse sliding back into bad behaviours.