SOLVING YOUR FRUSTRATION WITH YOUR HORSE

DEVELOPING INSIGHTS & SKILLS IS THE KEY TO SOLVING YOUR FRUSTRATION WITH YOUR HORSE

I was able to capture this great footage today of Belle, a young quarter horse who can be difficult to work with. With any horse there is always an underlying reason that can make them difficult to deal with. In the majority of cases the horse is just confused and its behavioural issues can be solved by educating the horse and allowing the horse to get confident in working with you.

In some cases like Belle’s, the problem tends to come from a physical issue. Belle is very stiff to the right. All horses tend to have a natural asymmetry or bend to their spine. However, some horses like Belle, either due to conformation, environment or injury can be quite overtly stiff to one side. This means that biomechanically she finds working with people physically difficult. Needless to say she get easily stressed and her behaviour can be difficult. This is because she experiences discomfort and that then impacts her attitude.

Here is some footages that demonstrates Belle’s issues. Belle flexes well to the left (please see video in first comment). The actual flexion is correct, her ears are level and she is flexing at the poll. Her behaviour is calm, her eyes are “soft” and her overall response can be described as “calm, yet responsive”. The video of her flexing to the right is a different story. The flexion is incorrect, it is not flexion but more a neck twist. Her behaviour is agitated. You can see her not wanting to stay in that position. Her eyes are rapidly active and are not “soft”. She is obedient, but she is not comfortable.

Therefore, to solve Belle’s issues and transform her into a willing riding horse we need to not only educate her and gymnastically train her but involve a good body worker to support her progress. Also, her progress needs to be monitored in case she needs veterinary assessment.