Race-brain training

[Linda Cowles <linda_cowles@mentorg.com>]

John B. Ayers wrote:
> 
> In my original post I took care to state that "My 7YO Arab gelding is
> normally sensible and well behaved"!...
> 
> However in competition he gets excited.  I have invested SUBSTANTIAL amounts
> of time and money in training the horse and myself.  I have signed up for
> pleasure rides to give him more exposure to other horses. ...
> 
> HOW DO YOU TRAIN A HORSE NOT TO GET EXCITED???

Hi John,

My background is trail, a little western and dressage, natural horseman
and centered riding basics. My first horse show was watching the Spanish
Riding School in Washington, DC when I was young, in the late '50s or
early '60s, I guess. My aunt was a mucky-muck with the Dept of
Agriculture, and had worked to bring them over on their first tour. We
had front row seats on the 50 yard line... "I want to ride like that!!!"
I always work towards that effortless feeling. 

I prepare my horses to not "break down" mentally the same way I prepare
them to not "break down" physically. I simulate race situations on
training rides with friends. 

It's my horses job to respond to a slightly lifted rein or change in my
seat. I try and be subtle. Every time I mount, I train them in
something, so they get pretty good. It's a habit.

I start "race-brain" training at easy trots, and this is the process I
use, no matter what pace I'm training at:

  - request a speed reduction to the target pace
  - release the "slow down" request and allow my horse to 
    maintain the new pace voluntarily while the other horse 
    continues ahead or speeds up
  - as soon as I get an obedient response and am ready, I ask 
    him to catch up at a specific pace

As a horse becomes more responsive, I ask for more speed reduction and
more distance between them and the departing horse. My goal is to go
from a hard gallop to a full halt and stand on a feather-light, loopy
rein - NO pulling or holding - while another horse races ahead around a
turn. I have an ex-track horse that was so anxiously competitive that
she was pulled from the track, and she does this very well - now!!

I condition them to deal with the emotions and body chemistry they
experience on a ride. I prepare them so that they don't get anxious and
don't panic. Mental training, mental conditioning. And to have fun. It's
a hoot!!! 

If I allow a horse to express a lot of enthusiasm going forward, their
responses to my request to slow down and maintain are much better. I
think it's because they start anticipating that opportunity to - if
they're lucky - bolt forward. It becomes a game. 

The hardest part, for me, was learning to release them at the target
pace and allow them to maintain that speed alone. Restraint begets
resistance!!!  My horse is my partner; I don't want him to resist me and
I don't want to restrain him. My rein aid is a request only. To get them
to maintain the new pace, I anticipate when they will attempt to speed
up, and "tap" them *before* they do it. With my horses, squeezing the
rein lightly is all they need; it tells them I'm watching.

Anticipating a change in pace is sometimes a challenge. My horses
usually check me out with their ears, then make their move. Shatirr
learned that if he looked to the side, moving his head, I wouldn't
always notice that he'd sped up a little. Spooking and stretching his
head down were other sometimes successful diversions. Shatirr taught me
to be consistent and alert, and I taught him to be clever.

Doing this under racing conditions (while training) teaches them to be
responsive with adrenaline gushing through their system.

I use natural horsemanship techniques if I need to. I don't pull on the
reins; at the most, there is very light tension. My job is to ask, their
job is to respond voluntarily.... there's a difference between
"voluntarily" and "happily"!!! 

Sometimes the I let them catch up gradually, and other times I'll
collect them on their haunches and send them into a leaping hand gallop
- Yiiiiihha - Fun!!!!  We all love the whoa-to-gallop transition!

Some horses are tough. Kadance will oblige on a light rein in a halter,
but he isn't compliant - he's mad!!! Needs more work, but will get
there. With 7 year old Gavilan, who I've had since he was 7 months, I
can ride with the lead rein tied up, hands on his mane or my thighs, go
from a very hot, side by side, race gallop to a medium trot pace in two
smooth strides. If I touch the rein, just lift it slightly, and give a
light seat aid, he'll whoa in two more strides. Usually!!! Fresh out on
the trail, he won't, but warmed up, he will.

Riding him is a dream... it feels just as good as the Spanish Riding
School looked... 

... he's a good boy.

  Linda Cowles
  Gilroy and Morgan Hill, CA