A horse reacts in one of two ways to frightening situations: he flees, and if that is not possible and there is something to fight, he fights.

The human depends more on reason than on instinct. Due to that, he has a 3rd option: work out a method to overcome or get round whatever the threatening factor is.

Often , riders permit a situation that would have been controlled very effectively to get out of hand out of sheer hesitation. Think about a scenario where your horse is scared by something ahead on the trail; he pauses just a moment to figure out what next to do. Unquestioningly, he is also waiting for you to lead him. If you snap to it, you have got your way. You can lead your horse forward slowly, and find that he was frightened by something inoffensive, like a bright red plastic carrier bag that was moving with the breeze. If you wait too long, your horse switches over to instinct. He may bolt.

Your subconscious movements also makes a real difference. Your horse is terribly sensitive to what your body is telling him. Extended doubt and the stiffness of muscles that goes with it may tell your pony you are as worried as he is. The freezing of muscles that comes with actual fear can be even worse: when your horse picks up on that sort of body signal, he is going to panic even more.

Your body tells your pony whether he can depend on you, or whether or not it is a case of each man for himself. If the pony feels it is the latter, he will depend on his very own instincts.

If you’ve had your pony for some time, and your relations with him is one of mutual trust, where your position as the dominant partner is unchallenged, it is your task to react the right way to all scenarios. By hesitating or even fleeing, you let down your pony.

If you do something unthinking like grabbing your reins and yanking back hard, you are causing your horse further distress: the discomfort from the bit. He now has fear of the unknown and pain to cope with.

If you take your apprehension-based reactions one step further and clamp the horse’s body hard with your legs, you are pretty much confirming to him that you are going to be the passenger, not the driver.

When you project total confidence, your horse is going to find that most calming, and he will be inclined to leave the issue to you. Body tension is pretty much a consequence of mental tension, and if you can control your intellect you can control your body.

If you can control your body, you can control your horse.

Just the straightforward act of letting go of all pressure on the reins tells your pony you are relaxed and capable of handling the situation.

Obviously, experience does make a difference. The 1st 1 or 2 occasions your pony spooks, you may find yourself startled enough not to react the proper way. You’ll do better the 3rd time onwards.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about horse shop