81. How to eliminate your horses fear...

Today, i took Spice to the corner of a field away from the herd where she normally for whatever reason gets scared. The main problem i experience with Spice as her rider is her level of fear and her reaction to fear (generally spinning around, rearing etc) so my thinking is...i need to spend as much time as i can with her 'being scared' in order to know how to best deal with her in these circumstances so we can have as safe and as enjoyable a ride as possible and avoid such reactions.

The main thing i learned today was that trying to keep Spice's focus on me AFTER she has become distracted is a lot harder than trying to keep it on me BEFORE she gets distracted.

So, as i walked Spice up to the scary part of the field instead of 'backing her up' which is something i normally do when she gets scared (because i find she sometimes speeds up her pace) i simply concentrated on yielding her hind quarters so that it was physically impossible for her to focus on anything but me. I realized that 'backing her up' as i normally do still allowed her to 'physically focus' on whatever was 'scaring her' in the distance whereas yielding her hind quarters didn't and was therefore far more effective.

For the first time i was able to lead Spice up to the 'scary part' of the field without having 'lost her attention'. :)

Spice is the kind of horse that looks for things to be scared of, she is incredibly alert and therefore needs consistent and constant direction. If she were in the wild she'd be a very successful horse as she would be the first to notice anything dangerous and would also be the first to react.

At the moment, I am looking forward to riding Spice again and putting into practice everything i have learned. Spending all this time on the ground with her has developed my knowledge of her needs as a young inexperienced horse and my duties and responsibilities as her rider and handler.

I don't think Spice will ever be a 'calm' horse although with age she may and will hopefully become more confident. But for now, the best thing i can do is learn how to make her feel as safe as possible by almost taking over her role. By this i mean almost being 'one step ahead' for example if i am more alert and quicker to react than she is to her fears then i will be the one in control but if she is then she will be. I need to act before she acts.

I do not think i will ever stop learning with Spice and in a way although at times i long for an 'easy' horse Spice is a wonderful challenge and if it were not for her i would not be learning everything i am and becoming the rider i am.

I have learned that great riding is not just about sitting on a horse and sitting to the 'trot' and the 'canter' but actually it's about knowing how to 'communicate' with your horse whilst on their back using as little pressure as possible because if you truly know your horse and know its needs you shouldn't have to use any force. You should be able to have a conversation with your horse and not resort to having an argument - if it gets to the point that you have to have an argument you have communicated ineffectively as a rider. There shouldn't be a loser or a winner there should just be a 'team' that has a mutual goal to have a relationship which is based on respect and trust.

I don't doubt that i will make mistakes along the way - that's inevitable being a novice rider but i know that i will learn from the mistakes which is the main thing.

My dream is to prove to myself that i can ride Spice without using fear, domination and force. I know i can direct Spice on the ground without using these things so in theory if i am a good enough rider for Spice i should be able to do the same on her back.