GOT TRAINING PROBLEMS? ASK THE HORSE FIXER! © 2002 by JP Giacomini
Copyright ©2002, PUBLISHED 2002
"I received an Email from "Deborah Peterson" following my interview of JP Giacomini last month. Deborah had a problem with her Appaloosa named Kimball and she wrote to HorsenAround asking for JP’s help. Here is his analysis of her situation. Deb.’s email is presented in it’s entirety, but JP separated the issues so as to make his answers more understandable." -
Rahn Greimann
D: I have a complex problem. I have a 7 year old Appaloosa gelding that has multiple behavior problems. I am hesitant to give up on this horse because I believe that there is a really great horse inside. I guess that I just need some guidance. I saw your article on J.P. Giacomini and was intrigued.
JP: Thank you for asking and sharing your problem with all of us “fence riders”. Everybody you know probably already has an opinion about your horse and what to do about his behavior. So here is one more!
D: Is there hope for this horse?
JP: Yes! There is nearly always hope for a misbehaving horse, as long as somebody can help YOU face the problem squarely, determine if you are up to the task and give you some practical solutions and support. As promised by the title of my other column, I will “...Tell It Like It Is”, without sugar coating. The first thing you need to get yourself out of the bind is to take an honest look at what part of the problem is your responsibility, what part is the horse’s, what you can fix yourself and what help you need from a QUALIFIED professional.
D: I purchased him last spring knowing about these problems and hoping that with time and riding, the problems would fix themselves.
JP: You have bought every problem of your horse that somebody couldn’t fix. That might be why he was for sale in the first place! If you want to succeed with a new horse, it is really essential to evaluate the seller’s riding ability, then look at yourself with the help of an HONEST and CAPABLE trainer/instructor in order to fairly determine if you are more up to the job than the previous owner. Only GOOD riding based on a sound training method can help, not just riding! As for time, it does not fix anything, ever. Rather, it just amplifies what is there: good horses and riders become better, but bad riders and horses only become worse (and more stubborn with age!).
D: “Kimball” is a smart, strong minded horse. When you are not riding him he is like a big pushy dog.
JP: Good place to start: you need to explain to him in no uncertain terms that your space is *yours* and his space is what YOU determine it to be. The first principle of any training method is to UNCONDITIONALLY elicit the following from the horse (in this order):
1. HIS ATTENTION: that’s when the horse focuses on you at all times. This requires a consistent “Look-At-Me attitude” from the trainer.
2. HIS RESPECT: the horse must “give you ground” by moving backwards or sideways while you cluck and advance towards his head, shoulders or quarters from both directions. This requires a powerful self-assurance from the trainer.
3. HIS TRUST: the horse follows you when you move backwards. He must behave quietly with a happy look on his face. This requires tact (measure), calm nerves and consistency in all actions, so the trainer becomes a reliable indicator to the horse of what is right and wrong.
~ This basic work sounds simple but is indispensable to any further progress. It will require real determination on your part, a convincing pretense that you are bigger than him and a little skill that you will acquire as you practice. You will find the best example of how to act by observing a dominant horse/mare in the pasture. Then come back to dear Kimball and imitate ‘nature’.
D: Once you are on him though, it is a contest to see what he can get away with, even in the ring. His biggest issue with respect to "the contest" is that he bucks when you ask for a canter.
JP: Bucking usually starts because of back discomfort (ill-fitting saddle) or simply because the horse was never taught from the start how to relax his back under the rider. The problem is more apparent in the canter because that is the gait in which the back needs to lift the most (hence potential conflict with the saddle). Only after the horse has understood that he can unseat you or simply scare you, will he start to use bucking as a deliberate evasion. So, if the saddle is okay and the back free of pain (ask the opinion of a specialist), then the horse bucks because it is fun to scare you and it has become a resistance. Bucking, like rearing, happens when the rider cannot prevent it by creating forward motion.
WILLINGNESS TO GO FORWARD at any time is the first goal of horse training. The simplest technique for it is to work in the
round pen with a lounge whip and practice a vigorous canter, then a strong trot. Later, you can work on the lounge line without a rider, but with a helper to push with the
lunge whip. Finally, get an experienced rider on the horse (with a helmet) and repeat the lounge line exercises. The point of this classical approach is to back the still uncertain authority of the rider with the more powerful aids of the trainer on the ground
(lunge whip for movement, lunge line for control). You will require the help of a trainer sufficiently familiar with these methods in all 3 steps. Eventually, ride the horse off the lunge, first with the trainer present, whip in their hand, and then without. Contrary to popular belief (and the natural reaction of most inexperienced riders), forwardness is the best safety net of the rider, because a horse going vigorously forward is less likely to buck, rear or even run away.
D: Some of this might be the way that I ride him. I ride with contact on his mouth (I rode mostly English) and I am told that most Western horses like to have their head. Kimball's training was Western. I have tried giving him his head when cantering and have had this work some, but a lot of times, he still runs out, stops or
bucks.
JP: Riding with a contact only works if the horse accepts to go forward from the touch of your riding whip or your legs.
D: He may also buck when he has had enough of something.
JP: Bottomline, good ‘ol’ Kimball has got your number and somebody needs to give him the opportunity to learn how wrong it is to abuse the nice person who pays his bills. How long are you prepared to suffer those indignities from your “big pushy dog”?
D: I have ridden him on the trail and most things do not bother him, meaning water, mud, hills, dogs barking etc. Yet he still spooks a lot and he is deathly afraid of traffic so you have to be on your toes constantly.
JP: Don’t you believe that he is truly afraid: he actually amuses himself by acting scared while scaring YOU.
D: Trailering is also a problem. It can sometimes take an hour to get him into a trailer although he is getting better with this.
JP: Deb., the first ESSENTIAL goals of horse training are : WILLINGNESS to obey in general and READINESS to do it NOW. When that is established, trailer loading and other small problems can be taken care of as a matter of course. There is no shame in deciding that the horse is too much for you right now and letting somebody else deal with it if you feel overwhelmed. For now, you really need to resolve this problem properly before you get hurt. Good luck with Kimball and let us know what progress you make.
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