Episode 245: Why does it work one day, then not the next?

Episode 245_ Why does it work one day, then not the next_.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 245_ Why does it work one day, then not the next_.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker1:
So it's actually not a problem for the horse to guess or ask questions. But it does make it very important that you have a consistency to your answers.

Speaker2:
Podcasting from a little cabin on a hill. This is the Stacy Westfall podcast. Stacy's goal is simple to teach you to understand why horses do what they do, as well as the action steps for creating clear, confident communication with your horses.

Speaker1:
Hi, I'm Stacy Westfall and I'm here to help you understand, enjoy and successfully train your own horses. In this season of the podcast, I'm answering questions that your mind may offer you when you head out to train your horse. This week. I'm addressing this one. Why does it work one day and then not the next? Let me pull the band aid off right at the beginning of this podcast when your horse is learning how to communicate with you. There are many times that your horse is guessing You are building a language with your horse. Even if the horse came already trained, it's possible for you to retrain it. So the language that you build between you and one particular horse is a little bit unique as you go. And what happens is the horse is testing the meaning of your particular cues. Some horses test more than others. This sometimes depends on their original training level. If you buy a horse that's very solid in its training, there may be less testing. Younger, less trained horses are much like young children. They test and test and test because that's literally the way that they learn when you're building a language or literally teaching a human child language, they test the meaning of things by trying out words. They solidify what those words mean by the response that you give them. You're building a language with your horse, and the language that you use is the way that you communicate.

Speaker1:
It's going to include your cue system. So that's how you use your legs, your seat, your reins, your voice, your halter, your rope, whatever that is that you're using, and also how you show up, your level of focus or lack of focus. Your horse reads your entire body, including your mood. As you build this language, you'll be in charge of setting the rules of the game and the fastest way for another player to understand the rules of the game or to learn the language that you want to communicate with between the two of you is for there to be consistency. So it's actually not a problem for the horse to guess or ask questions, but it does make it very important that you have a consistency to your answers. Early in the horse's training. Most of the time there's a pretty simple underlying system. Most systems have something like this. When the rider's legs are used, it means go forward. When both reins are used at the same time, it means slow down or stop. When one rein is used, it means go that direction. And on the surface, that system is pretty clean and horses can pick up on it very quickly if the rider is consistent. Now, here's an example of how that simple system can become skewed or vague or muddy or unclear. Let's say that you're riding this horse that knows this simple system down a trail and there's a mud puddle, and you're riding with a friend.

Speaker1:
You see the mud puddle, You pull on the left rein because you want to go to the left side of the mud puddle. But your horse has decided that the right side looks better. So he bends his head slightly left, but his feet go to the right and commit to the path on the right. And you release thinking, Well, not that big a deal. This side's fine too. Or full disclosure, you don't even really think about it because you're talking with your friend and you hardly registered that that even happened. Didn't seem like a big deal. Or was it? The two most common types of inconsistencies that riders tend to have are, number one, a lack of awareness and number two, unsure of when to stick with something or when to change the plan. So, for example, let's say that you listen to last week's podcast about patterns and you are determined to go ride a simple pattern. It was a circle that I used as an example in last week's podcast. So the great news about that is you have solved for problem number one, lack of awareness. By simply choosing to ride a circle, you are turning up your awareness. You are aware enough to choose the plan and you are going to go execute that plan.

Speaker1:
So there's a completely different level of awareness. Let's say you go out and you ride to the right for a few circles. You notice a few things. You're like, Well, it's not really a circle. It's more of an egg. But you're okay, satisfied? You change directions, you go the other way, that directions, it's okay. And you decide to stop for the day. And then you jump off and you put your horse away. The next day you head out. And because of your first day success, you decide that you're going to do even more. You have thought about increasing the number of circles or increasing the speed throwing in some transitions. You're kind of confident because although it was slightly egg shaped, it really wasn't that big a deal. Then three circles in you start noticing that your horse keeps trying to turn out of the circle. Maybe you even notice it's at the same spot and you think weird. It wasn't like that yesterday. It was working better yesterday. But I'll keep going on. Eventually you reverse directions and again, a few laps in, you start to notice that your horse keeps offering to stop and you think, What is going on? Why did it work yesterday? And now it's even worse today. Now this is a simplified example, but what I want you to see is that in this example, the horse fully saw the pattern from the day before.

Speaker1:
You thought about circling right and circling left, but the horse actually saw when, where and how you reversed and what you did going to the right, which was then turned to the outside, to the left and reverse versus going to the left where you stopped. Maybe you even backed up. The horse was making lots of observations. And now today the horse is offering back some of those observations. This is an example of a ride that might cause someone to ask Why does it work one day and not the next? It's also an example of why people will blame the pattern. Some people will say, See, he saw the pattern, now he knows it. Now we need a new pattern. I say, great. He sees the pattern now. His questions are actually revealing his understanding of the queue system. Or better yet, they're revealing your understanding of the queue system. The pattern isn't the problem. Your horse questioning, reversing direction isn't a problem. The question of stopping isn't the problem. How you answer these questions is your opportunity to clarify the language. So the problems, if we want to label them that or the questions that your horse asks are actually an opportunity to clarify the language of the cue system. If you were headed to the right at first and the second day your horse decides to offer the left turn because that's what you did yesterday.

Speaker1:
He's asking a question that isn't very different than the mud puddle example when he asks to reverse directions spontaneously. You don't have to do anything dramatic. You can just stick with the plan of circling, right? If he offers to go left and pulls against your right rein, if you stick with the plan and circle right then he's going to feel that pull when he's trying to turn left. And then when he comes back onto that right circle, he's going to feel a softening. If the horse says left, left, left, when it's clearly the right rein that's being used, they are offering that. They are confused. Now, this is a simple example, and this is much more likely to happen in more advanced examples. So when the writer begins introducing concepts like collection or controlling the individual body parts like walking on a straight line, but moving the haunches to one side or the other, or riding the horse and asking the horse to move laterally across the arena because that involves multiple aides or cues at the same time. You're going to have to use the right rein and the left rein and one of your legs to move those haunches over. And that other leg that's kind of not being used might actually need to be used a little bit to keep the horse going forward. So you can start to see that it becomes much more nuanced.

Speaker1:
But the same principle applies. The rider must offer a consistent answer when the horse gets the question, quote unquote. Right. And when the horse gets the answer, quote unquote, wrong, because the horse is sort of guessing and trying to find the answer. And the consistency actually comes from the rider giving consistent feedback. Some days it will feel like the horse does the right thing on the first try, but until that becomes consistent, just know that that horse happened to accidentally guess the right answer. When they start offering the quote unquote wrong answer. A lot of times that's just evidence that they're still guessing about which one of these three or which one of these two or they're getting more and more clear. But they still have a question between this answer and that one. And it's fair because as we advance the training, there are more nuances. And then you as the rider need to question if you are being consistent and clear with the way that you're riding. So there are many things in horse training that are almost contradictory. Look at something as simple as a enter working jog x halt salute precede working jog. This shows up in western dressage and very similar things happen in many other disciplines. This actually requires a jog that is strong and clear, a nice clear halt, a standstill, and then a jog off.

Speaker1:
Clearly, again, why would something like that work one day and then not the next? From the horse's point of view, it's really common as they're working things out that they're kind of guessing. And if they're unsure, they'll often guess from something that they've been most recently rewarded for or what they like best. This doesn't mean anything's gone wrong. You're refining a language with a horse. If you stay consistent, the horse will use a process of elimination to determine what answer is correct. If the horse consistently guesses the wrong answer, if they're getting more and more consistently the wrong answer, then they're confused and you need to change something to help them. So let's talk about that jog. Halt! Jog. If the horse begins doing it. Okay. But they're not real clear and you're trying to get it a little more clear. You're trying to get rid of the walk steps from the jog to the halt and you're trying to get rid of the walk steps from the halt to the jog. Let's say that in between there, the horse starts to get antsy when standing still or starts wiggling left or right. So then the rider has to evaluate the plan, the goal or the pattern, if we want to call it that, isn't going to change. You're still going to do that when you go in for your test. But how you're practicing for it may need to be modified.

Speaker1:
Could you be more clear on your cue between halt and jog? Is your current cue something the horse wants to avoid. If you are very sharp with your spurs, the horse isn't going to want to stand there if that first cue is very sharp. Could you stand longer before asking for the jog off? Varying the halt by even a few seconds. Each time matters because, yes, your horse can count. I trained horses full time for years. And what that experience taught me is that it's normal for the horse to ask questions. So when you ask, why does it work one day and then not the next, the answer is it's because that's how your horse works out. The consistency in your response. That's how the horse works out, the consistency in your language and your relationship with that particular horse. Listen to the feedback from one of my students inside my Resourceful Rider program. Joanne says Horses have literally been my life for over 35 years. Like you Stacy, I strive to learn everything I can about them. I've gathered my information from countless training DVDs, two horse training schools and loads of books and clinics. Of all the information that I have stockpiled, there are a couple parts of your programs that really stood out as different and special from what I've learned at the other sources. The one special part of your program that I want to chat about today is how you use patterns while training.

Speaker1:
I was very intrigued about this when I first joined your program. I had previously always been told to avoid riding patterns. You could say that I had a pattern phobia. I repeatedly heard, Your horse will get bored. Your horse will learn to anticipate. You should always keep your horse guessing. Your horse should never know what you're going to ask them to do next. I took these comments to heart and no patterns became a rule of horse training for me. Looking back at this, that particular mindset jumbled my brain as well as my horses by keeping my horse guessing in the arena. I was encouraging her to be anxious and unconfident. Training with this mindset had a bad side effects on both of us, and it ensured that we stayed stuck at the same level forever. After seven months into your program, I'm now a huge believer in patterns. Riding on patterns has set us up for success by facilitating balance and harmony physically as well as mentally. Patterns have allowed my horse and I to finally become confident and put our trust on each other. The patterns have clarified our training and helped us focus our learning on one specific task at a time. Through the simplicity of the patterns I've discovered, each aide has been welcomed one at a time.

Speaker1:
Each skill that we learned easily builds on the last through the routine of the pattern I was given, the time that it took to learn steadiness, which quietly led me down the path of finding true rhythm with my horse. Your patterns will be forever a friend that greet us in the arena. They remind us daily that we are on the right track. The power of the pattern has forever changed my training mindset. I'll be forever grateful for its gifts. Most importantly, harmony and steadiness in the body and the mind. Ps I had to laugh when I turned on your podcast this week. You must have been reading my mind. I've been writing this out to you for over a week now, trying to put into words just how important I think patterns are. I originally started this out by saying Stacy training on patterns is huge. This has to be talked about more. Ha. No wonder you did another podcast on patterns. It's a legit horse training game changer. Thanks again for everything. Thanks so much for that feedback. And for any of you listening, if you're interested in learning more about applying what I teach here on the podcast to Riding Your Horse, go to my website and sign up for the waitlist. That way, the next time my Resourceful Rider program opens, you'll be the first to know. Thanks for listening and I'll talk to you again in the next podcast.

Speaker2:
If you enjoy listening to Stacy's podcast, please visit Stacy westfall.com for articles, videos and tips to help you and your horse succeed.

Sonix is the world’s most advanced automated transcription, translation, and subtitling platform. Fast, accurate, and affordable.

Automatically convert your mp3 files to text (txt file), Microsoft Word (docx file), and SubRip Subtitle (srt file) in minutes.

Sonix has many features that you’d love including transcribe multiple languages, advanced search, secure transcription and file storage, automatic transcription software, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.