Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: 3 “Tricks” To Restore Calm When Off Property

Seasoning young or green horses off-property poses its own set of demons. This week’s article offers three ways to get your not-so-seasoned horse to settle in like an old pro… or at least less like an aggravated electric eel.

Welcome to the next installment of Thoroughbred Logic. In this weekly series, Anthropologist and trainer Aubrey Graham, of Kivu Sport Horses, offers insight and training experience when it comes to working with Thoroughbreds (although much will apply to all breeds). This week ride along as Aubrey shares her logic on how to get horses to haul calmly and confidently.

Two busy-making things happened this past weekend: I taught a clinic and I hauled across the state to a schooling show. In both cases, the horses had opportunities to act up, but for the most part were exceptionally well behaved. Some of that might have been luck, but the rest of it came from a set of carefully calculated decisions.

In reverse order, let’s look at the situation at the show first. I needed to get Neil (Lute’s Angel) out showing. I know he is going to need quite a bit of experience to settle down in new places and not get overstimulated and, well… ridiculous. But Neil stepped on a nail and has been recovering well but slowly, so Artie (Reunion Tour) got to go. And going alone was not going to be a wise option.

Below we have Neil being his usual electric self…

This is where “Trick Number One” comes in: Bring a babysitter.

Looking around the barn, there wasn’t anyone else who was *really* ready to go show and fill that second spot. Tetris (Not A Game) needs a few more weeks of tune up and fitness. Indy (Star Player) just had his hocks injected, Rhodie (Western Ridge) is retired, Koops was fighting hellish rain rot, Major Spin needs more time and the new green beans aren’t really jumping yet.

I could have just hauled one, but that would have set up Artie for failure. The little redhead gets stressed when alone, so a three-and-a-half hour haul to a new area would have established this whole concept of “showing” as super stressful. Therefore, Wolf (Louisiana Moon) was selected by process of elimination to tag along and get to bop around a Starter CT as well. In retrospect, I could not have picked a better babysitter. Wolf might be a Malibu Moon type of grumpy, but he is smart and steady as the day is long.

Wolf (Louisiana Moon) being a perfect babysitter for Artie’s first show. Photo by author.

The two boys hauled great, hung out well at the show and got to work. Sure, neither ended up having a solid left lead on a circle, but both jumped around brilliantly and maintained their composure the whole day. I allowed them to stay in sight of each other and I’m grateful for my working student, Lily Drew, for managing whomever I was not riding. Wolf kept his energy low and casual and Artie learned that grazing was a perfectly acceptable activity at a new place in between showing off just how much of a jumping bean he could be.

That hind end. Artie popped around the Starter course at Larkin Hill like it was, in fact, far too easy. Photo by Lily Drew.

Trick Number Two: Take a Walk. 

Thoroughbreds do better when their feet are moving. But more than that, they do better when they have a strong leader who, like their babysitter, radiates trust, calm, and confidence. I like to combine the two ingredients to settle a horses’ nerves — especially off property.

So when they come off of the trailer or out of the day stall and they’re dancing in place and threatening bigger explosions, the simple trick is to go for a walk. BUT that walk needs some specificities:

A) You must have correct “gear” (rope halter or a chain, or a bridle — I prefer not doing this in a flat halter as it allows them to pull through you)

B) You need to be switched on, calm and determined

C) The walk needs to stay near other horses and in spaces a horse would consider safe without being in the way of others’ rides.

Kylee Reich calmly steers Cody (Find Your Boas) around the arena at the Ithaca Equestrian Center to settle his nerves before swinging a leg over. Photo by Lily Drew.

When I walk my “up” horses, it is not a simple ‘I stomp out a path and they trot in place alongside me while exercising their body and their demons’. Rather, the walk is slow and deliberate. I usually take my time, bring my pace and energy level below my usual many miles per hour, and ask them to meet me where I am.

Like a dog who is trained to heel and stop when I stop, I walk my cadence and expect that the horse will stay next to me with my body just in front of their shoulder. If they get too fast, try to take over, or simply plow through me, I halt them (the ask for halt meets their energy and (mis)behavior level) and then I turn to them and back them up by walking into their space. I walk off on a loose “rein” and ask them to stay with me without overtaking me. Any step ahead and we halt and back up. Then reward. Back to walk at my pace. Halt. If they stop immediately with me, big reward and carry on. If I had to pull on the reins or lead rope, it’s a halt and backup, then reward. Rinse and repeat until they’re quiet, focused and calm.

In effect, it is a game, but it is a game that has to be super calm as well as strong, confident and clear about boundaries. This walking challenge combats the desire to hang on horses who are “up” and try to hold them down and still. That level of micromanaging just sends them further through the proverbial roof. Giving them clear spaces of freedom and rules works better to settle the hotheads and their associated feet.

Wolf showing off just how confident he is in new spaces while I teach. Photo by Lily Drew.

Trick Number Three: Ignore Them (kind of).

Once they have hung out with their buddy and gone for an obedience-based walk, the next thing that helps them settle in is the complete lack of micromanagement. I will stand still, cock a hip, and have a conversation with someone else, watch the horses in the show ring, or respond to folks on my phone. And yes, I do this with a green OTTB attached to me by a loosely held rope or rein.

Horses, like Wolf, who are used to this will simply mirror the ask, cock their own hip and potentially doze off. But those of the high energy, “haven’t quite been there and done that” sort will dance around, demand your management and attention and make you want to do anything but ignore them on a long lead. But of course, that’s exactly what they need. They need to learn to be confident in themselves and able to self regulate.

Lily Drew and Sage show off this perfected process of pseudo ignoring while Izzy Gritsavage pilots Wolf at the Thoroughbred Logic Clinic at the Ithaca Equestrian Center. Photo by author.

So I set boundaries — no you cannot bite, strike, paw or kick, no you cannot shove me out of the way with your shoulder. No you cannot creep into my three-foot bubble or tell me we’re going elsewhere. Everything else? All good. You can look around, dance back and forth, toss your head, graze, nuzzle, shuffle around, call out, whatever. But you can’t move me or demand more attention. Any act that tests the boundaries gets reset by a corresponding level of “nope” and then I go back to not attending to their every whim. It usually takes a few minutes, but then they start to understand that they can in fact hold it together. The lack of direct management means they have to choose to settle, and once they do, life gets a lot better.

Teaching Cody to just hang out and self regulate. Photo by Lily Drew.

Once they learn to settle without being overly managed, you can tack them, hop on and expect that while they might be a little up and wild in their new environment, they at least have an ear on you and remember that they’re not alone in this game.

For former racehorses, the need to not be alone is usually pretty strong. In their first career, there was always someone there to accompany them. They had grooms, pony horses, hot walking buddies and often trained in pairs. It is rare that a young Thoroughbred does anything truly alone. So allowing them to find trust and confidence in you and then in themselves before you swing a leg over and ride them off seemingly on their own sets the whole process up for improved chances of success.

So now I get to leg Neil up and really put these practices to work. Artie, with Wolf’s help, was an absolute, confident saint of a horse at his first show. Neil… well, we’ll see if a buddy, some walks and some productive ignoring can help settle the electric eel enough that I can get a dressage test and a jump round in here or there.

So go ride folks, keep calm and enjoy all the out and about opportunities this time of year brings.

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