Richard Maxwell, a British horse trainer, devotes much of his efforts to training both horse and rider to become a team. He offers the following test, divided into five areas of everyday horse-handling, with points allotted for how well the horse behaves. Some additional points have been added to Maxwell’s guideline to help the rider/trainer more thoroughly assess his horse. Read through the following scenarios, and assess points based on your horse’s response. The final score (out of a possible 50) is indicative of how well your horse-training skills have paid off, or (more likely) where the holes in his training lie.
Leading
- 0 – 3: The horse leads poorly. He is rude, too slow or too fast.
- 4 – 7: He leads at the same rate as the handler, doesn’t pull, and is relatively obedient.
- 8 – 10: He leads beautifully, backs up, and moves over when asked.
Personal Space
- 0 – 2: He spooks and runs over handler.
- 3 – 5: He is pushy with handler.
- 6 – 8: He spooks, but does everything possible to avoid handler.
Loading into Trailer
- 0 – 3: The horse is disobedient, dangerous, and does not calm down after a prolonged period.
- 4 – 7: The horse “gives in” after some time of trying to load him.
- 8 – 10: He loads immediately, calmly, and in a relaxed manner on a loose lead rope.
(While loading is not generally an everyday occurrence, Maxwell realizes that the problems that arise on traveling day are often indicative of behavior issues elsewhere.)
Schooling
- 0 – 3: The rider works harder than the horse.
- 4 – 7: The horse is obedient under saddle but is unenthusiastic about his work.
- 8 – 10: The horse works hard for the rider and shows continual improvement.
Hacking/Trail Riding
- 0 – 2: The horse is very spooky and doesn’t listen to rider.
- 3 – 7: He is spooky but attempts to follow rider’s direction, or becomes less spooky as the ride progresses.
- 8 – 10: He does not bolt when spooky situations arise.
Ideally, the rider should score the horse on a continual basis, and compare new scores with the original benchmark. Avoid making excuses for the horse, especially if his behavior is potentially dangerous. The areas of lowest scores are obviously the ones that need most reconditioning, and a rider should make it a point to spend some time every ride addressing these issues. A rider who trains herself and her horse might benefit from the advice of a professional from time to time. This is especially true if some of the behavior and training problems do not improve after legitimate effort has been put into them. Richard Maxwell also provides a 10-question checklist for riders and owners that determines the amount of respect a horse has for his human counterparts, which is definitely worth checking out.
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