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Patterning as a Learning Device
Because every horse is as different as its
rider,
each horse we meet presents us with unique challenges. From getting
them to leave the barn (alone or in company), to getting them to not
jig on the trail home, to asking them to load into a trailer, riders
get to tackle new challenges every day. It takes time, patience,
willingness and a lot of imagination to overcome behavioral problems,
in both our horses and ourselves. In this article we’ll discuss some of
the most common challenges horse owners face, and how they can be
changed with simple patterns that can help your horse become braver,
more settled, and ready to ride.
At our training facility in California, I
receive horses who need to be started and/or rehabilitated. Since I am
a behavioral specialist, I tend to get a lot of horses who have been
labeled "difficult". Sometimes the difficulty was caused by an owner,
sometimes its the result of trainers. But almost always, the original
source of the problem is caused by a human. Humans, either out of
ignorance or forcefulness, are the source most of the negative
behavioral patterns in horses, and therefore humans must also be
pivotal in correcting them.
When a difficult horse comes into my
facility, I spend their first day of training diagnosing the exact
nature of their problem, and then coming up with a workable solution
for both the horse and the rider. Every horse has at least one natural
talent, and some horses have several. Some talents are related to
breed, but each talent can be channeled into one of the equine sports.
The 7 natural talents of a horse are: running, jumping, turning,
stopping, backing up, pulling, and transportation. A horse that is
talented at running makes for a great racehorse: a horse that is
talented at turning and stopping makes a great cutting horse.
When I am assessing a horse, I keep the 7
talents in mind and pay close attention to what a particular horse is
good at. In my mind, I am thinking of how to turn the horse’s negative
behavioral problem into a positive talent. Diagnosing a horse in this
manner helps me determine whether a horse would be naturally inclined
to be a great jumper, or whether he has the potential to become a
winning reining horse. It also gives me a game plan about how to change
their difficult behavior, and it gives the rider a road map of what
kinds of activities their horse is well-suited for.
Some behavioral problems are more likely to
be encountered with certain breeds, but breed is never a true
diagnostic indicator when it comes to horse behavior. Owners and
trainers in the horse industry would be well served by becoming
familiar with horse behavior and how to motivate horses to be excellent
at what their natural talents are. People in the racing industry, for
example, could develop the ability to know which horses have a natural
talent for running. This way, real winners with a love for the sport
would be encouraged to win, instead of nurturing mediocre talent in a
horse who has no heart for going fast.
There are basically 2 types of horses, and
there are several patterns that can be used effectively with them:
THE SHORT HORSE: The horse that is balky,
won’t go forward, or is happy going a few feet and then putting his
head down to graze. In terms of breeds, these horses are often Mustangs
or Appaloosas. These horses are very stubborn and can be relentless at
turning around, rearing or backing up to go home. They need to learn to
go forward, so humans need to create incentive for them to want to go
past their comfort zone (the barn, their stable mate). This incentive
can be found through patterning.
THE LONG HORSE: This horse is like the
Energizer bunny- he just keeps going and going, even after his rider is
exhausted. Thoroughbreds, Arabians, and most gaited horses are "long"
horses, and they have been bred for endurance. These horses often have
difficulty stopping, have a tendency to be runaways, and can develop
bad stable behaviors such as weaving and cribbing because of their pent
up energy. These horses require patterns that slow them down and make
them sane and responsive.
(I should note here that there is a 3rd type
of horse: the medium horse. This is the horse that is neither short nor
long, and is essentially the horse that every rider really wants. It
goes when you want and stops when you ask. Quarter horses are often
considered Medium horses, but whatever breed or type of horse we have,
we can work "towards the middle").
In general, there are a few simple rules that
apply to patterning.
Rule number 1: Circles shorten and straight lines lengthen. For a horse
that won’t stop, we want to use patterns with circles, and for a horse
that won’t go forward we want to use straight lines.
Rule number 2: Make it simple and keep it
consistent. Horses don’t need a lot of complicated patterning, they
simply need repetition until they understand what’s being asked of
them.
Rule number 3: Create a place of release in
the center of a pattern. This gives the horse a resting spot, a place
to dwell after they have done the right thing, and somewhere to think
about what they have learned.
Rule number 4: Only repeat a pattern until a
horse understands it, then stop. Horses learn through release, and once
they respond positively, leave them alone.
Short horses are the toughest and most
exasperating horses for trainers to motivate to learn. Short horses can
bring up anger in humans, and many trainers will resort to whipping out
of frustration and impatience. Whipping a horse only accelerates a
fearful response, and it leads to increasingly difficult behavior, as
they learn to not trust the human, The short horse has no desire to
want to go forward and needs specific geometric configurations to help
him learn to move out and gain self-confidence. The best pattern for
these horses is short, straight lines, where release is found often and
quickly. This technique gives a horse ever more incentive to be curious
and brave, to continue to move forward without dulling him with endless
repetition.
With the short horse, we have to come up with
imaginative ideas to cause them to want to go forward. We can place
grain in various places around the ranch and show the horse that we
don’t necessarily need them to go out on a 5 hour trail ride, we just
want them to move forward without hesitation or resistance. By allowing
the horse to nibble at the grain we have left for him, and then asking
him to continue on, he begins to get the idea that every time he moves
forward there is both a reward and a resting place. Being imaginative
doesn’t end when your horse begins to adopt new behaviors. Once you
have a short horse who is becoming willing to go forward, trailering
him to new places will help his incentive and build his confidence.
When using patterning with short horses, they
should not be spurred to move forward as this will create more
elevation (i.e. rearing). Spurring this kind of horse can also create
nervous behaviors such as pawing, backing up and tail wringing. Instead
of using spurs, a better idea would be to use a crop or a string to
gently spank their hindquarters to cause forward movement.
3 patterns that work well with short horses
are:
Follow The Rail: In this simple pattern, we bring our horse into an
arena and ask that he stay on the rail without dropping in towards the
center. We use our inside leg and outside rein to lead our horse back
to the rail whenever he comes off of it. If he stays on the rail, leave
him alone, and only when he makes a mistake do we correct him by gently
using pressure on our inside leg and outside rein to lead him back.
Cloverleaf: In this pattern, we divide the
arena into 4 quadrants: you enter the pattern at the center of the
cloverleaf, and then move into each quadrant in order, always turning
in the same direction each time you come to the center. When you have
completed a turn in each quadrant, you ask to the horse to stop in the
center. This teaches him that release is available to him and that you
won't ask him to repeat a pattern endlessly.
Point to Point: Pick a point, either in the
arena or on the trail, focus your attention on it, and ride to it.
Stop, relax for a minute, then pick another point, focus your attention
on it, and ride to it. This creates the short straight lines that
increase confidence in balky horses, and it builds the power of focus
and concentration in a rider.
Overdoing any pattern with a short horse will
usually result in more bad behavior, so don’t over lunge or over
pattern this type of horse. Oftentimes, 20 minutes of learning is
enough for this horse. You want to be effective and precise, and leave
them alone when they are doing the right thing.
Long horses are at the opposite end of the
spectrum. Long horses can cause fear in their owners, which leads to
dramatic and often cruel "gimmicks" to cure their unruly behavior, such
as tie downs and curb bits. In a horse that is long, you can use
release as both a teaching tool and as an incentive.
Most long horses are used to being held, and
what they really desire is release. It goes against human instinct and
human nature, but what is required to teach a long horse to slow down
is to LET THEM GO. By letting go of the false sense of control found in
reins and gimmicky equipment, we teach the long horse that it is their
responsibility to maintain self control and self carriage. Contrary to
what many riders (and horses) have been taught, it is not the rider’s
responsibility to micromanage every movement the horse makes in order
to maintain some semblance of sanity.
Some patterns we can use to encourage self
carriage in a long horse are:
Go Out The Way You Want: Let the long horse
go out on the trail the way it wants to go out, even if its at the trot
or the canter. Often times, long horses have a lot of energy that has
been suppressed while they’ve been in their stall, and if you let them
express this exuberance in the first few minutes of the ride your horse
will naturally calm themselves down. This pattern speaks again to the
idea of the horse being responsible for their own maintenance of gait.
Bend To Slow: If your horse is jigging on the
trail, instead of holding him you simply "bend" him by disengaging his
hindquarters. This causes the horse to have to break gait and slow
down. As soon as the horse slows, release and go to a loose rein. You
must allow this release, as it is the cue that teaches your horse that
he has done the right thing (i.e. slow down). If you have to repeat
this disengagement every 3 feet as you move down the trail, so be it.
Eventually, your horse will get the idea that it is a lot easier to
slow down than it is to disengage their hindquarters all the way home.
Note: do not use this pattern if you are on the trail with other
horses, as it will put your horse behind the lead horse and lead to
more jigging behavior as your horse attempts to catch up with the herd.
The Standstill 2 Step: For horses who can’t
seem to stand still, use this technique. When the horse moves forward,
back him up 2 steps and let go of the reins. If he moves forward again,
repeat. Again, the key to every pattern with a long horse is to LET GO,
so make sure that as soon as your horse has backed up 2 steps you drop
the reins and ask him to hold his position on his own. Eventually he'll
get the cue that 2 steps back means standstill, and pretty soon you’ll
have a horse who doesn’t nervously move around all the time.
Corner to Corner: Go to one corner of the
arena and wait. Next, turn your horse, allow him to go to another
corner, and wait again. Repeat this pattern with each of the 4 corners
in the arena. This pattern slows down a long horse’s natural forward
momentum without having to overuse the reins.
Whether you have a short horse or a long
horse, you need always to remember the rules of patterning, and to be
consistent and fair when you ask your horse to learn a new way of
thinking. Being able to send a clear message is of the utmost
importance when dealing with horses, as using patterns to teach can
actually create more bad habits when they are used improperly. It has
been said that it takes just 3 times of doing something wrong to create
a negative behavior in a horse, and it takes 28 days of positive
reinforcement to undo that bad habit.
All riders want that "middle of the road" horse, the one who is willing and responsive, not too short and not too long. Whatever type of horse we currently have, we can help him to "move toward the middle" by being patient, staying open to creative solutions, and having a limitless imagination. By allowing a horse to express his natural talents, we create confidence and natural rhythm, which benefits our horse and strengthens our partnership with him.