Do you ever wonder why your horse sometimes stops dead in his tracks and shoots his neck up and pokes his ears out while you are in the middle of a ride? Or maybe sometimes he keeps his head turned or tilted toward the outside of the arena? Or even sometimes he simply doesn’t do anything when you give an aid! These are all symptoms of a horse not paying attention to the rider!
Sometimes the symptoms aren’t so obvious. Sometimes riders will go for an entire ride and not realize that their horse was never paying attention to them. You might wonder why this is so important. If the rider is having a good time, who cares?
Well, I will STRESS this as one of the most important parts of riding! Your horse needs to pay attention, because if he doesn’t, he’s more liable to spook, and therefore, there is a huge chance of the rider getting seriously injured.
I LEARNED THIS THE HARD WAY! THE VERY VERY HARD WAY! So I wanted to share with you all some ways to know whether or not your horse is paying attention to you, and what you can do to get his attention back if it’s lost.
Warning Signs That Your Horse Is Not Paying Attention
The Obvious
- The horse suddenly stops and puts his head up.
- He turns his head to the outside while you are trying to ride straight ahead.
- He just won’t listen to simple aids that are usually not a problem for him.
- He’s neighing while you are riding.
The Not-so-Obvious
- His ears are pricked forward.
- He is slowly drifting out as you are riding.
- His eyes are looking out, or he is only slightly flexed to the outside.
- His body gets stiff.
- He feels a little “off” in his movement. Reluctance to freely move forward.
So Why Is It such A Big Deal That Your Horse Is Not Paying Attention?
A horse who is not paying attention is very likely to spook. Horses can spook in the form of a small hop to the side, or they can go into a full out bolt that ends in a bucking fit. Learn what to do when your horse starts bucking here!
I learned this the HARD way with my very first horse. I was thrown so many times from his spooking that I finally decided that I needed to figure out the problem fast! Over time I learned that he was actually never paying any attention to me! Ever! His mind was always elsewhere. I learned that this was the root cause for the spooking.
The Psychology Of It All
A horse basically has a one track mind. This means that horses can only really focus on one thing at a time. They are not multi-taskers like us humans. If they are busy playing with their buddy in the field, they are not also thinking about how yesterday’s dinner sucked at the same time. If they are playing with their buddy, they are playing with their buddy. Whole heartedly, 100% in the moment, with their buddy.
So a horse’s mind cannot be two places at once. So when you are riding, they are either with you, or they’re not! They are truly mindful creatures, always present and in the moment.
Why Is This Dangerous?
A horse can be under saddle and go through the motions while the rider is the pilot, even if his mind is elsewhere. So he’s totting along, worrying about what might be lurking behind all the trees to the side. Then a branch falls out of the tree and the horse spooks. But here’s the REAL problem: If his mind is elsewhere, it cannot also be with you, and therefore, he may totally forget that you are right on top of him!!!
When a horse spooks, his natural instinct is to flee. But if he no longer has any clue that you are on top of him, he will flee for his life without a second thought. He does not mean to scare you, or hurt you, or any of that. He doesn’t even know that his bolting off threw you off into the ditch.
Now, not all horses will spook. It depends on the horse. But in worst of situations, a horse who isn’t paying attention is more likely to spook. And when he does, he may forget about the rider entirely and flee with abandon. This obviously creates a very dangerous situation for the rider. That is why it is a good idea to always have your horse’s attention, no matter if he’s normally a snooker or not. You never know…
What Can You Do About It?
Recognize
The biggest thing for me was learning to realize when my horse wasn’t paying attention. So you need to start paying better attention in your ride as well! If we expect 100% of our horse’s attention, the least we could do is give the same in return. Because when our horse is ‘with,’ they are truly with us!
So start looking for the items mentioned above. I think the most common signal is the horse’s ears. When his ears are pricked forward, he is not paying attention to you! Generally his ears should be relaxed, slightly facing to the sides or back. Sometimes a horse will put one ear back on you and one ear off to the side.
You can also test your horse to see if he’s paying attention. Say something to him and see if one or both of his ears come back toward you. A horse will generally point his ears where his attention is, but make sure his ears aren’t pinned back. That an entirely different situation.
Refocus
Once you figure out that your horse isn’t paying attention to you, you need to get his focus back on you! It depends on the horse, but sometimes the only thing they need is to hear your voice. “Hey, get with me!”
In most cases you just need to put the horse to work. Pick something for him to do that requires a little thinking on his part. Leg Yields, Shoulder-in, and good, refocusing half halts sometimes do the trick!
Also try doing something sporadic. Sometimes horses are bored with straight lines and circles. Try being really spontaneous by throwing in a quick turn-on-the-forehand! Then go straight into trot, turn him into the wall and then trot off in the other direction, halt, then canter out of the halt. Then halt form the canter, and then do turn-on-the-haunches. Then trot-halt-rein back. Then do a 2m circle and rein back into a trot, and trot straight out of the arena into the grass! Rein back all the way back into the arena! Jump out of the arena! What ever it takes to get his attention! (Obviously, don’t jump out of the arena if that poses and danger to you or the horse.)
Basically, put the horse to work! Get him thinking a guessing what’s next.
Get Your Horse’s Attention, Get A True Bond
Like I said above, when your horse is with you, he’s WITH YOU! It’s only fair that wee too, can engage and really be in the moment with our horses when they are in the moment with us. WOW! What an amazing thing! For two creatures to really, truly, deeply be in the moment with each other. Only amazing things can happen when a bond like this is formed!
Keep Riding, Keep Refining
The Refined Rider
