Most people want to enjoy thier time with thier horses.  They want to be with the horse, ride it and have a good working relationship with the horse.  When new or young horse people are just getting started it very rarely works out that way.  At least not immediately.  There are many very basic reasons for this.  In this article, I'll try to explain five of those reasons.

Reason 1: Horses are not people or dogs

One of the things that many people who are involved with horses do not understand completely is that the horse is a prey animal.  We are basically predators.  We look like predators, act like predators and probably smell like predators.  Horse look like prey animals, act like prey animals and probably smell like lots of other prey animals.  Fortunately, over a couple of thousand years we have done a great job of breeding out many of the basic instincts that wild (not feral) horses have.  Otherwise, horses would be a great deal more difficult to work with.  We still have to deal with many of the underlying instincts that horses have.  So, the more we act like a prey animal, the more difficult it is to establishing trust in our horses.  Striking out, kicking, beating, smacking, screaming at our horses and chasing our horses is detremental to establishing a trusting relationship with our horses.  If we slip and we do these things, our horse will forgive us, but will not forget.  And trust is harder to re-establish than it is to establish originally.

There are some very subtle aspects of this concept.  For instance, many young horses that have not had a great deal experience with people can become very nervous and flighty just because you look directly at them with your body squared in thier direction.  For some horse this triggers a feeling that you are a predator and you are thinking about attacking them.  Developing a "feel" for when a horse is becoming nervous because you are acting like a predator and correcting it can help us become better horsemen.

Reason 2: Horses are not cars or trucks

Repeatedly over the years I have had to repeat this phrase to newcomers to world of horses.  I think many people, when they first get started riding and being around horses, they think it is like being in a western movie.  Maybe they think they can just get on, push the gas and they automatically look like Clint Eastwood riding across the rolling plains.  This is not the case.  It is true, some horses are dead heads and anyone can ride them at a walk, trot or lope and the horse will behave reliably, even if the rider falls off.  But that's not horsemanship and that's not the way it typically works.  A good, well trained horse in the hands of a competent horseman can take weeks or months to develop a good working relationship with that person.  In the hands of a novice with rough horsemanship skills, even a great, well trained horse can be disappointing and perhaps dangerous.   Working with a horse is not like driving a car.  To get good results, you have to develop a good work relationship with the horse based on clear communication and a mutual "feel" between the horse and horseman.

Reason 3: Horses have thier own agenda and it's not the same as ours

The most ridden horses in the world still spend the majority of thier day standing in thier stall or grazing and acting like a horse.  Ocassionally, for a short period of time we ask them to do some of the most unnatural things a horse could do.  A horse doesn't set out in the morning to go for a ride in a trailer, get washed, clipped, tacked, longed and thrown into an arena with other horses and riders and asked to carry us around barrels or do spins and slides.  They would certainly never choose to move in strange exaggerated gaits like many show horses. 

The horse's agenda mainly consists for eating, standing, walking, trotting, running, rolling, drinking, breeding and working to establish and maintain thier place in the herd.  It's always a good thing to remember that a horse would not choose on it's own accord to be with us and do what we want.  It's also good to be thankful that a horse that understands what we want and is willing to provide it is a gift that is earned through hard work, understanding, patience, empathy, knowledge, feel and ability. 

Reason 4: Horses are not interested in complying with our timeline

For some reason we always expect to get what we want from a horse instantly or at lease very quickly.  It very rarely works out that way.  In the business of starting colts, I have seen colts started and working reliably at three gaits in just a few days.  I have also seen colts that took months to get started.  

Patience is a great asset to the horseman.  Impatience is the horseman's enemy.  Knowing when to back off and except the meager successes you have today is a major asset and will pay off many times over the long haul.  Being impatient with a horse can drive a prospective horseman mad, mess up a horse and make interaction with the horse a very unenjoyable and dangerous experience.  As a horseman, you have to bend a bit and accept that your schedule will not always be met.  Do this to avoid disaster.

Reason 5: People do not communicate well with horses

Horses do not understand our lingo, kisses, hugs, the crack of a whip, tugging, pulling, shoving, yelling or hitting and kicking.  Horses understand pressure and release of pressure, body language and movement.  Let's face it, being predators, we communicate in a very direct, overt and loud fashion.  we are obnoxious critters.  Horses communicate in a subtle, sublime and quiet fashion.  Unfortunately they cannot adapt to our way of communicating, we must adapt to thiers...  and.. we must develop a very subtle "feel" and quietness in our communication with the horse.

Here's a story..  I had a young lady working for me who talked with her hands.. made lots of hand gestures so to speak.  One day she was doing free work with my horse in the arena.  Dude, my horse, knew cues I had taught him to turn, move at different gaits where the cues were as subtle as pointing or moving your index finger to the left or right while your hands were at your side.  This young lady had turned her back on the horse to discuss an issue with an observer.  The whole time she was speaking the horse was interepreting her hand movements as cues.  She was moving her hands in a very vigorous fashion, trying to make her point.  Poor dude was behind her doing moves like a world class cutting horse.  The horse didn't realize the work and the conversation he was having with the trainer was over.  The trainer had no idea she was communicating cues to the horse or that she was getting the reaction she was inadvertently asking for.  If you are around a horse, you are communicating something to a horse.  You get to choose what you communicate.

You may have noticed, the word "feel" came up a couple of times in this article.  This will be a continuing theme in these articles and will be expanded on later.