新媒网 · 跨境数据社区

“Ride your horse forward!” is, generally, good advice. Horses are born to move forward. A horse who goes honestly forward is happier, straighter, easier to maneuver, and more enjoyable to ride. I’ve re-started a good number of horses who rear, buck, bolt, or balk I’ve always found that, once they figure out how to go honestly forward instead, these behaviors stop. Horses learn to resist when their riders hang on to the reins, either out of fear, or out of a misguided notion of how to achieve contact and connection. Pulling a horse’s nose to his chest leaves him with nowhere to go but upward, backward, or into shut-down mode. Teaching him to go honestly forward is the only way out of these unpleasant and often dangerous habits. And once a horse goes honestly forward, introducing honest contact and connection is easy. That said, we don’t want just any old kind of forward. We don’t want a tight, quick kind of forward. We don’t want a rushing, fast kind of forward. We don’t want an out-of-control, runaway kind of forward. We don’t want the horse to go forward from a place of tension, fear, or stress. What kind of forward do we want instead? A forward rooted in relaxation and trust. An eager, happy, elastic kind of forward that feels good to horse and rider alike. How do we get there? With inexperienced, shut down, or anxious horses, building up to going honestly forward can take a while. A horse who does not feel confident or balanced with a rider on his back needs to find confidence and balance first, through slow, reassuring, strenghtening work in hand and under saddle. A horse who does not understand he can and should move forward needs to learn that it’s ok. A horse who has learned to ignore a gripping, constantly squeezing leg or constatly kicking heels needs to be reminded what the rider’s aids mean. A horse who equates forward with tension and rushing needs to learn to find calm and trust in his rider before we reintroduce the idea. So, yes: please ride your horses forward - but only the good, honest kind of forward. It’s a crucial difference that took me many years to figure out.