Franklin Levinson's
Horse Help Center
Professional support for you and your horse!
My stubborn horse
Hi
I bought my 8yr old Thoroughbred mare about 6 weeks ago, since that time I have went
to see her and got to know her every day. She now comes to when I shout her and she
seem to know her name which is Kasey.
My problem is that she has started to become very stubborn when I am riding her refusing to do any thing i ask of her she will do so much then she stops and refuses to walk on etc.
My friend suggested I use a riding crop but I'm not too keen what do you suggest. I think it is probably a bad habit she has been allowed to develop with her previous owner and was thinking of lunging her ?? without a rider and then with one.
I would welcome your comments
Please do not take offense or take this personally. Sweet visits where you give some treats and groom your horse do not make a trusting relationship. You have a new an somewhat surface relationship with your horse and should not expect obedience at all anyway. Your horse is not meant to be an obedient slave and it is NOT stubborn, bad or any such thing. It does not trust you as you have not come forward as a true leader/guide for the horse. Why should anyone listen to you if they do not respect you, trust you and have no relationship with you save the fact you bribe it with treats or pushing them around on a dance floor? You wouldn't either. Just because the horse comes to you when called does not indicate much. Maybe you have given the horse treats when you show up and the horse is really looking for the treat and not necessarily looking for you. Deeply bonded, trusting relationships with horses are formed through appropriate action and interaction on the ground and a lot of it.
I have written a lot about developing relationships with horses. There is a ton of material within the archives of my help center within the web site on that very topic. Briefly, forget riding for a little while as your relationship with any horse is formed first and foremost on the ground. It is not just lunging I am speaking of. But meaningful interaction. The human activity of riding the horse objectifies the horses and puts it immediately in the role of a servant to you. Learn to become a leader/guide to feelings of safety and trust within your horse on the ground and this will translate into trusting compliance when riding. Techniques for this are easily found by using the search feature within the help center of my web site. Search words like 'bonding,' 'developing trust,' etc. should bring up a lot of information that will be useful to you. It is more about the human and their attitude than it is about the horse. Horses are easy to train and deal with. It is getting the human to want to become a great leader and guide for the horse and then the human learning to develop the skills and techniques to do so that is the hardest part for me. Most humans focus on their riding the horse and not the horse itself and its feelings of trust and safety. They think a horse is being bad or stubborn when it resists the human's demands for specific action. Actually, that is about as far off the 'mark' and the truth of the situation as can be.
Again, I am not putting you down or making you wrong or bad. I am telling you how horses are in reality as opposed to human projections, inappropriate attitudes and judgements about the horse. Please consider that, just maybe, your horse is not bad or stubborn, but does not trust you as yet that it will be safe if it does as you request because you have not shown your compassionate, competent and skillful leadership, as yet. You are trying to make something happen and make the horse do something, as opposed to first developing a relationship based on mutual trust and respect and then leading /guiding the horse into the wonderful dance that can happen between horse and human. Thanks a lot for your question. Again, please take no offense to this. I am merely telling you the turth of the situation.
Please do not take offense or take this personally. Sweet visits where you give some treats and groom your horse do not make a trusting relationship. You have a new an somewhat surface relationship with your horse and should not expect obedience at all anyway. Your horse is not meant to be an obedient slave and it is NOT stubborn, bad or any such thing. It does not trust you as you have not come forward as a true leader/guide for the horse. Why should anyone listen to you if they do not respect you, trust you and have no relationship with you save the fact you bribe it with treats or pushing them around on a dance floor? You wouldn't either. Just because the horse comes to you when called does not indicate much. Maybe you have given the horse treats when you show up and the horse is really looking for the treat and not necessarily looking for you. Deeply bonded, trusting relationships with horses are formed through appropriate action and interaction on the ground and a lot of it.
I have written a lot about developing relationships with horses. There is a ton of material within the archives of my help center within the web site on that very topic. Briefly, forget riding for a little while as your relationship with any horse is formed first and foremost on the ground. It is not just lunging I am speaking of. But meaningful interaction. The human activity of riding the horse objectifies the horses and puts it immediately in the role of a servant to you. Learn to become a leader/guide to feelings of safety and trust within your horse on the ground and this will translate into trusting compliance when riding. Techniques for this are easily found by using the search feature within the help center of my web site. Search words like 'bonding,' 'developing trust,' etc. should bring up a lot of information that will be useful to you. It is more about the human and their attitude than it is about the horse. Horses are easy to train and deal with. It is getting the human to want to become a great leader and guide for the horse and then the human learning to develop the skills and techniques to do so that is the hardest part for me. Most humans focus on their riding the horse and not the horse itself and its feelings of trust and safety. They think a horse is being bad or stubborn when it resists the human's demands for specific action. Actually, that is about as far off the 'mark' and the truth of the situation as can be.
Again, I am not putting you down or making you wrong or bad. I am telling you how
horses are in reality as opposed to human projections, inappropriate attitudes and
judgements about the horse. Please consider that, just maybe, your horse is not bad or
stubborn, but does not trust you as yet that it will be safe if it does as you request
because you have not shown your compassionate, competent and skillful leadership, as
yet. You are trying to make something happen and make the horse do something, as
opposed to first developing a relationship based on mutual trust and respect and then
leading /guiding the horse into the wonderful dance that can happen between horse and
human. Thanks a lot for your question. Again, please take no offense to this. I am
merely telling you the turth of the situation.
Sincerely, Franklin