BLOCKING HORSE?

Each Wednesday I ask for questions that I then challenge myself to answer with a illustration.

Here is the answer to Johanne Taylor Johnston’s problem:

"When working with my horse on the ground and I want to move from the near side to the offside he will move his head along with me as if to block me from moving to the offside. If I don’t block his head from this movement with my hand he will continue to follow me with his head till he has to move his body as well and would go in a circle to prevent me from getting there"

I believe horses do this because they get used to observing and working with us from the near (left) side. Therefore they just feel more comfortable with us on that side. Similar to how we might get used to talking on the phone with one ear or looking down a microscope with one eye. Horse's get used to our orientation on that side and it becomes a preference. Hence, they feel more comfortable with you there and if you go to move to the right (off) side they will orientate themselves to put you back on the left.

To solve this, you just need to give the horse time and practice of observing and sensing you on that side so they feel more comfortable. Another factor is crossing your body across their visual line, where their vision goes from binocular to monocular. Many horseman believe that getting horse good with crossing this change in vision is important and helpful for many horses.

The meme identifies the 3 steps I use to do this.

1. Firstly, I get the horse good with me standing in front and rubbing their face.

2. Then I slide my hand down the side of their face to prevent their blocking attempt and slide my body onto the their right hand side.

3. Finally, I rub on them and find good scratch spots. I repeat this many times and also start resting in training breaks on this side as well.

Let me know if you have any questions and if this helps you please like and share to help others.