HOW TO TURN OUT AN EXCITED HORSE SAFELY
Ever walk to the field with your horse prancing or leaping around on the end of the lead rope? It’s not uncommon after a long night in the stable, but keenness quickly becomes frightening and dangerous. Hannah Weston of Connection Training explains how to
FOR MANY HORSES, winter means more time spent in the stable. This can lead to them being excitable when turned out after many hours in. Why do they act like this? In the wild, horses live in herds, are always on the move and browse forage constantly. When we stable them, we reduce their social interactions, restrict their diet and limit their movement. This can cause a build-up of anxiety, hunger or energy, making them excitable as they anticipate being turned out.
The first thing to look at, before training options, is the horse’s management. Keeping horses in a way supportive of their natural behaviour and physical needs will ease stress, improve welfare and reduce problems, such as excitability.
Cool and calm
Using positive reinforcement is an effective way to train your horse to lead
quietly to the field without fighting or force. It focuses on building impulse control, which is when the horse is able to stop and walk slowly, even when feeling the impulse to run. Reward-based training is great for this because it provides motivation to slow himself down, meaning that he volunteers to walk calmly with you, rather than you making him do so.
Begin training when your horse is already calm, for example in the arena after exercise. Once your horse understands the exercise in a calm situation, you will be much more likely to be successful at a more challenging time.
Stand together
Prepare your treats before you start. Use low-value rewards such as chaff or even chopped hay. You can use nuts or chopped carrots, but we want to emphasise calm, so we don’t want exciting treats.
■1 Begin by standing next to your horse in a leading position. The aim is to teach your horse to stand quietly by your side without fidgeting or pushing for treats.
■2 When your horse keeps his head straight or turns away slightly from you, praise him and give him a treat. The praise acts as a marker, pinpointing the moment when your horse does the right thing. For this reason, it’s beneficial to use a specific word such as “yes” or “good”. Be consistent when you use your marker so that your horse begins to understand its meaning and listens out for it.
■3 If your horse keeps looking for the treats, you can gently block him until he gets the idea. It usually only takes a few repetitions before he understands to turn away from the treats in order to get one.
As you are just starting this behaviour, reward often when your horse tries.
Walk together
■1 Next, ask your horse to walk forwards a few steps and then halt using your usual leading cues.
■2 Once your horse stops, wait for him to turn his head away slightly before praising and rewarding him.
■3 Only reward the halt and standing quietly, not the leading. Because excitable horses want to run, we’re going to highly reward the opposite — stopping with you. We want to draw attention to that behaviour and encourage the horse to think about stopping, slowing down and listening to his handler.
■4 Repeat this exercise of standing together for a few moments then walking a few steps and then halting again, rewarding the standing still.
Turn out practice
Once it’s solid in the arena, you can practise leading your horse to the field calmly.
■1 As you lead your horse towards the field, halt regularly and reward him.
■2 The longer you walk, the harder it will be for him to stay calm and connected so, at first, halt every few steps.
■3 With practice, your horse will learn that rewards come when he slows down and stands with you. This will calm him down and make him easier to lead.
■4 If your horse gets too far ahead, quietly walk in a circle and ask for the halt again. Reward your horse for standing next to you and only walk on towards the field when he’s able to stand with you.
Turnout time
Now it’s time to use your training for real. For the first few days, make sure you leave plenty of time to turn out. You don’t want to rush and risk undoing all your hard work, and you may need to stop every few steps at first. Only start to walk for longer stretches between halts when your horse stays calm and walks next to you with a loose lead — bear in mind that it might take a few days to achieve this.
When you get to the field, your horse will start to expect to wait quietly for you to remove the headcollar (see box, page
61) and stay with you until you have safely left the field and can give him his treat or treats in a bucket.
As you practise, you might find that your horse chooses to stand with you for a few minutes as you’ve connected through your leading, before turning to go and spend time with his field mates.