If you have ever noted a bunch of horses when they’re turned out, you will have spotted that they have terribly rigid social behavior patterns. Each horse is acutely aware of their position on the totem pole. You won’t be seeing anything surprising or peculiar. Horses live with a well developed sense of herd discipline.

And human beings screw it all up, as we do with many things natural. Whenever humans enter the picture, they create issues. When a horse interacts with a human, the pony expects consistent behavior, something like he is used to from the members of his own herd. Almost invariably, he is disappointed, and confused.

I have heard it said that pet dogs and owners who have been with each other for some considerable time start resembling each other. I have some truly handsome dogs at home, but that isn’t what I was leading up to.

I hope that the similarity thing applies to human beings and their horses, also , especially in terms of behaviour. On reflection, I do notice that I have seen lots of horses that behave exactly the same as their human owners. I am really not sure whether the pony influences the human or vice versa, but I do hope it is the former. Relaxed horses nearly always appear to have relaxed owners, while uptight horses appear to have nothing apart from uptight owners.

And eventually, here is the point behind all those first few paragraphs of this article: if we’re not very nice or consistent with our horses, we may most likely be influencing them to behave accordingly, too.

Look at it this way. One day, you go for your ride whistling, feeling on top of the Earth. You halter and saddle your horse and swing on with a hum. You’ve a great ride, during which you could just about swear you heard your pony humming, too. He definitely did seem to give you a wink after you had finished with the ride, the unsaddling and the grooming, and were saying your goodbye.

The very next time, you come for your ride in a nasty mood. You are silent and sullen as you halter and saddle your horse, and you catch him looking askance at you. You ride him without your heart in it, and he’s taking you on your ride like he would rather be elsewhere. He damn well knows you are grouchy, though he might not know why, and he may not care, either. He shows his attitude: he would rather be finished with the ride and back in his stall.

Now if this type of thing keeps going down regularly your horse is no longer going to be responsive to your moods, bright or sombre. He’s going to be fed up with your uncertainty and show his irritation. He is going to become inconsistent, too.

Consistency is most crucial at all times when you are handling a pet, especially when you’re coaching a pony. You are going to make a fine hash of the training if you’re gentle and patient one day and huffy the other. I would go so far as to venture that it would be better for you to be consistently touchy (if you can’t be habitually delicate and patient). That way, at least your pony knows where he stands with you.

Almost invariably, it’s been my experience that the most balanced folks train the most responsive horses. When the horse is not subject to any evil surprises, he is going to be absolutely focused on the coaching. He will not have to get rattled by wild mood changes on the part of his trainer. This kind of behaviour can take the horse’s attention away from the training to toward the coach, because the pony wouldn’t need to tread on the trainer’s toes, literally or figuratively.

There is only one answer to inconsistency, a conscious, perseverant effort at consistency. Failure usually leads to problems.

My concluding guidance is; if you are not in a happy mood, don’t go to train your pony. If you do go, don’t basically ride the pony, just give him a little time, brushing or scratching and not spoiling the environment by dwelling on your sorrows. Your pony may be puzzled, but he will accept it as a temporary aberration!

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 simco saddles