Itâs All French: Realistic Expectations and High Standards for Horses Behavior

We were stuck in the middle of the arena. Again.

Ace had been mine for about a month. As an 8-year-old gelding who was out of practice but had obviously been handled well in his past and I knew had been ridden plenty in his early years, I expected that a simple walk under saddle should be easy. But once again we were planted in the center of the ring – unmoving.

There were a few times that I felt a little like this about horses behavior:

Sure, we don’t actually expect our horses to be capable of learning to speak French. But how often do we expect them to automatically “speak” our language when we ask them to:

• Step forward when we squeeze with our legs.
• Load into a trailer.
• Walk quietly beside us at all times.
• Stand still when we spray them with fly spray or put on a blanket.
• Stand quietly in the cross ties.
• Lunge around us in a perfect circle.
• Allow us to touch them anywhere.

For some reason, we expect that our horses are born knowing these – and many other – behaviors.

For most of my life, I thought that if a horse didn’t do as I asked or expected he was being bad. As a teenager, if Ace has jerked his head sky high when I lifted the reins over his ears (like he did two days ago), I would have given him a smack on the neck for acting up. I wouldn’t have thought about the fact that for some reason he was feeling the need to protect his head, and even though I was prepared and being careful he felt threatened. I wouldn’t have thought about the fact that I needed to be understanding and carefully and gently re-teach him that I’m not doing anything that will hurt him.

There’s little that breaks my heart more than when I see someone punishing a horse for a behavior he’s just never been taught to do. As horse people, we need to always remember that horses must be patiently taught everything we expect and ask of them.

At the same time, while we can’t expect our horses to know everything about how we expect them to behave automatically – we still need to have high expectations of their manners. Those high expectations then become training goals.

If a former owner hasn’t already, we need to take the time and effort to teach our horses to:

• Stand quietly unless asked to do otherwise – under saddle, tied, on a lead line.
• Be handled all over.
• Stand quietly for your hoof care professional and allow feet to be handled.
• Be sprayed all over with water or sprays.
• Walk quietly beside a handler.
• Respect your space.
• Give to pressure – whether it’s moving forward under saddle or responding to the halter or just your hand.

For your safety and the safety of others who may handle your horse, it’s critical that you instill good manners – including but certainly not limited to the above.

Your horse may not be able to learn to speak French, but he certainly can learn basic behavior skills if you take the time to teach him!

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