Richard Maxwell, author of Maximize Your Horsemanship (David & Charles, 2006), is renowned for his training of horse and rider together. He stresses that to progress in training, the horse must be respectful of the humans in his life. He also points out that many riders are guilty of making exceptions for their horses, such as saying “I can live with [insert bad behavior here],” or “but I just love him so much!” Love has nothing to do with horse behavior problems, and even the smallest instance of a bad behavior must be addressed and modified. Maxwell provides ten questions in his book that make horse handlers really think about the behavior of their horse.
Expecting Respect from a Horse
- When leaving for a trail ride, does the horse walk calmly and willingly away from the barn, alone or with other horses?
- Does the horse give 100% of his attention to his handler when being worked, either ridden or from the ground, in the arena and out trail riding?
- When the horse is frightened, does he still obey his rider?
- If his owner must bring him in from turnout shortly after he is put out, will he permit himself to be caught just as easily as he does at bringing-in time?
- When a person enters his stall with food, does he rush forward to grab a mouthful?
- Can he be groomed, blanketed and handled easily even when he is distracted, such as at a show, while eating, or when horses are coming and going past him?
- Can everyone else who handles the horse do so easily, such as when his owner is on vacation? Or do they have more trouble than the owner?
- Has the horse ever barged, squashed, or knocked any person over? (This counts even if he is startled.)
- Does he load into a trailer all the time in a halter, immediately and obediently?
- When clipping, grooming, or handling the horse, are there any “no-go” zones where he will make faces or threaten to bite/kick? Does he try to move away from the handler?
Why Should a Horse be Respectful of Humans?
Obviously, a horse should be respectful for safety reasons. A 1000-plus pound animal can inflict major harm on a human body. A horse must understand his place under the leadership of a human handler, and to do that, he must be trusting and respectful. Maxwell iterates, “In a herd situation, lives depend on knowing who’s in charge, and the boss horse has to have the respect of the entire herd. It’s no different when you are out on a hack” (52).
If any of these questions warranted a negative answer, then the horse and his rider have an undermining trust issue to be dealt with. Maxwell says that a trail riding issue or a trailering issue is usually a respect issue in disguise. A horse that trusts and respects his rider will trust and respect him on the trail and loading into a trailer, too.
How to Train a Horse to be Respectful
Many top trainers acknowledge ground work as a precursor to ridden work, because it is based in trust, respect, and leadership. Not only can a trainer work on teaching a horse how to move his body while unmounted, but a horse also learns to be very aware of the trainer’s body and what she asks him to do. This is the fundamental aspect of training, and a horse won’t learn (or even pay attention) if he has no respect for the trainer.
Maxwell provides a 5-part quiz that determines how well-trained a horse is, or where the holes in his training lie. He acknowledges groundwork as the major key to training a horse to be respectful and trusting. Although the methods of how to do groundwork with a horse are too extensive to delve into here, some top-notch trainers (who have all written books and taped training sessions) include John Lyons, GaWaNi Pony Boy, Pat Parelli, Linda Tellington-Jones, and Richard Maxwell.
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