Looking for the Connection

Welcome at part #8 of the series ’10 lessons learned from a true Horseman’. In the last article you read about the importance of getting a good foundation before you go for higher level exercises things that ask more of the relationship with your horse. In this article I will talk about something that is a humongous part of that relationship; the connection your horse feels with your (and you with him).

When we invited Berni Zambail to come as a guest instructor at the NH Experience 2015 more than a year ago I was wondering about some of the things I expected to happen that he usually has people do during his teaching. One of those things is what you could call the ‘connection test’. And it did show up.

This is how it works: you let your horse go, or put your rope over his back and then just calmly walk away (without giving him a cue to do something specific). If he immediately follows you… goal accomplished! You had a connection with him and he was thinking about you. From you speed he follow you, how long he follows you and how much effort he puts into being with you, you can tell the strength of the connection. You can see where, if he would just stay put…there would still be a couple of holes to fill.

Of course there are many excuses to think of when your horse doesn’t follow you, or responds slowly. He was distracted, he wasn’t sure what you wanted or maybe you even taught him to stay put when you walk away. But most of these excuses are exactly that…. excuses.

You only realize this when you see a true Horseman with a horse that he only just met. The horse seems to be in love with him. It’s constantly paying attention to him and is always ready to respond.
It’s something that I’ve seen Berni, and several other good Horseman, get time and time again. And really is ‘just like magic’.

Naturally this state of connection shouldn’t mean that your horse is always nervously waiting or acts like a slave ready to respond to a command. And if you’ve seen a duo like I just described; ‘The Horse & man’ you know it’s possible to get this without losing the horses dignity.
A good connection means attentiveness or alertness but also trust. Trust that when the human partner says something is alright, it really is, but also trust that there is room for mistakes. The horse knows that his partner knows him and trusts that he will do his very best, but also trusts that his partner won’t ask him for anything he cannot do. If this go’s hand in hand with respect from both ways, and some play, you get this wonderful bond.

But how do I get this connection?
Unfortunately it’s not even that easy to explain in words but it comes down to the following: use psychology in your training.
Make sure that you keep asking your horse questions and are open to his feedback; don’t just give him a job and ignore him after you’ve given him the command. Show him that if he does give you feedback, you’ll use it. Create a feeling of working together instead of you working your horse. Ask him to explore new things, things that require him moving his brain instead of just his body. And be ready to adjust to the type of behavior he is showing in any moment (because it will change from moment to moment…with some horse more subtle than with others, but it’s there). The better you learn to adjust and show him that you understand him and want the same things (4 basic needs), the sooner he will start seeing you as his partner.

So this week, when you’re playing with your horse, check out how often he asks you questions, with his ears eagerly pointed at you, and try to answer them. Don’t ignore those moments when he’s trying to make contact.
You’ll see that when you do this; leave room for communication and feedback, your horse will want to be with you more and more and give you more than you ever asked for!

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#7 Filling the holes

Welcome at article #7 from the series ’10 lessons learned from a true Horseman.’ In the last article you have been able to read about what it can mean to you and your horse when you learn to ask him for things in a polite way and correct him politely. In this article I would like to talk to you about the importance of having a good foundation for your training and how you can continually improve those basics.

Urion ready for sideways

It is interesting to see how the best Horsemen and instructors always come back to the basics. This was also true for the NH Experience 2015 edition where Berni Zambail continually had students fall back to their basic exercises and principles.
A simple example; someone was busy trying to ask her horse to go sideways along the wall, from the ground. Whenever the horse gave her a good step, she would stop to reward him but… the horse didn’t stop with her. She was then asked which one of the three basic exercises this problem probably related to. The answer? ‘Trust me...’ her horse was showing her that he was a little bit nervous about the exercise and whenever she stopped to let him know that he was doing alright and could relax, he didn’t believe her, not enough. That was the moment to get back to that basic exercise and only proceed when the hole was filled.

Another example; a more advanced student was busy preparing for simple leadchanges but was getting stuck. The solution? Back to the basics; first get your transitions van walk to trot better and sideways from the seat.
Are you getting the picture? Is your horse having problems with the sideways? Then first ask yourself how easy you can turn his front quarters. Are downwards transitions from the canter hard for the two of you? Then honestly check your transitions van walk to halt or backwards.

Cindy Deman & Jack

‘In short, use reversed training; if you want to advance, go back to the basics.’

I still remember the very first time I instructed a course for several days in a row and I was trying to find a good theme for the course. I quickly realized that you could theoretically call every course the same; ‘Back to Basics’.
Usually when we notice that there is a hole in an exercise that we’re trying to do, this hole actually already started in one of the three basic exercises. This is why it’s so important to become aware of these holes in your foundation, and consistently keep working on filling them up. When you don’t do this on time, then later in your training you’ll stumble upon a problem that will seem so big it must be impossible to tackle.
Just like when building a house; when you’re not specific about the foundation, in the beginning, it might seem that everything is still going alright. But the more you try to build on that foundation the more obvious it will become that, in the end, the house will be crooked. It would have been easier to get your foundation fixed straight away than trying to fix it when the roof is already attached 😉

So remember this; if you get into trouble with any kind of exercise with your horse, the problem is probably in your foundation. (This is also why we recommend you have someone with experience give your young horse a good foundation; it’s the basics for everything and easiest to fix right at the start.)

So make sure you have the discipline to go back to working on this foundation and filling the holes so that you can advance from there.

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#6 Politeness costs nothing & buy’s everything

Welcome at article #6 of the series ’10 lessons learned from a true Horseman’. In my last article you would have been able to read how important it is to consistently show your horse that he is safe and you care. In this article I would like to talk about a different aspect that plays an important role in that and also makes sure that your horse will put more effort into communicating with you; politeness or (po)lightness.

Berni & Yannick

During the NH Experience of 2015 Berni Zambail demonstrated again that whatever happens and whatever degree of firmness you have to use for your horse, you always revert to a polite question afterwards. As shown in earlier articles there were several different situations where he needed to be more firm with a horse (or rider 😉 ) but we all saw and experienced that immediately afterwards he was able to switch back to a lighter form of communication. He didn’t hold any grudges or negative feelings in his head or his body; his hands were trained to, after using some force in his fingers to ask a horse to back up from the halster, quickly open and politely ask the horse to back up on a phase 1 like nothing happened before.

Every good Horseman knows how important it is during training to live in the moment just like the horse does and show him in this way that he will always get a new chance whatever happened before. Buck Brannaman explains it in this way; ‘To always offer your horse the better deal.’
If necessary you clearly show your horse where the end of the line is by going up in your phases but the moment he responds you offer him the better, lighter deal; a chance to communicate in a more polite way. You can only do this by giving him the right example first and being light yourself.

Berni @play

All of our students learn how to do this too; when you ask your horse to do something you always start with a subtle question or a hint, and then give him enough time to pick up on it and respond. When he doesn’t respond you slowly but surely promise him that there is a consequence to it. The moment he decides to respond you quickly show him that you too are capable of being subtle in your communication again.
This way he learns that responding lightly to your aids, even when he doesn’t completely understand yet, is a good idea. He will then start to put more effort into becoming (po)lighter.

I’m sure you’ve heard, in horseworld, that your horse is your mirror; what you put in front of it you see reflected back at you. In this case this is certainly true. When you are not polite in communicating with your horse he won’t be in communicating with you either.

So just remember; politeness doesn’t cost a thing but, with some time, it will buy anything!

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#5 Everything is Love

Welkom at article #5 of the series ’10 lessons learned from a true Horseman’. In the last article you would have been able to read how you can be sure the mechanics in your horses brain cLICKED.
In this article I would like to explain to you how you can constantly keep your horse convinced that he is loved and you are doing things WITH him and FOR him instead of TO him. In an earlier article we already spoke about how to remind your horse that he can trust you. In this article I will show you an example of how to use this in a later stadium.

Berni & Jack

During the NH Experience this year (2015) guest instructor Berni Zambail helped my students and my both to constantly revert to the first exercise we both like to teach our students; ‘Trust me’. This exercise helps your horse to start focusing on your body language whenever he gets unconfident and find security with you, in the beginning through simple patterns like waving your stick or rope around with rhythm.

A clear example of how to practice this later was the first private lesson I had during the course with Varox. Varox is a horse with a full backpack of not-so-nice history and this was the first time he came to an extern course with me on a big (busy competition) terrain. He was upset of course with all the different things going on and constantly threatened to lose his attention to other things (which would usually lead to an attempt to pull loose and leave).

With some effort, we finally arrived at the arena and Berni offered to play with him for a bit first to show what he would do in my place.
Berni knew how to get his attention almost immediately and ofcourse there were a couple of specators that were a bit shocked by his offered clarity towards the horse. What showed itself very seen though was that, next to the needed ‘phase 4’ here and there, a rub, smile and an encouragement always followed right away. The sharper the correction, the longer and friendlier the following encouragement offered.
And so it was obvious to everyone present that the horse, after his first surprise over the fact that this man knew what he was doing, sought his guidance and confidence from Berni because he knew he would not be criticized  but would be constantly thanked and praised for his try to make the right choices. This is also the Horseman I wrote about in ‘How to recognize a true Horseman?’

So what was the lesson we can learn from this?
Remember that the relationship with your horse is like a bank account; if you take more than you’ve put into it you’ll get in debt. When that happens you’ve lost your horses trust and he will get either unconfident or angry and start making choices without involving you.
The trick to keep your bank account full is to thank your horse, to reward him, hug him… every time he tries, you make a mistake involving him, or he needs a correction.

Kelly de Geus & haar buddy!

Even the bible tells us that after every correction, there should be an increase of love. 😉 Shouldn’t we then understand too?

Teach yourself to really see every try your horse gives you and to reward him for it with your hands, your stick, your rope, your legs when riding, your voice (unless you’re frustrated!) and smile, even if his try wasn’t perfect. This way you help him grow into a confident student and constantly remind him of this ‘Maybe you needed a correction, but I still love you and you are safe with me.’ Just like with a child you want to teach your horse ‘Making mistakes doesn’t make you a bad horse.’

I challenge you for the coming weeks after every correction you do with your horse to force yourself to smile, rub your horse and remember that you love him. Only after doing this ask him again to give your exercise a try. I can guarantee you that two things will then happen:

1. You will be less frustrated and actually learn to love your horse even more.
2. Your horse will start to act less like a prey animal and become less defensive (or even aggressive) towards you and put more effort into doing what you’ve asked because he feels safer and more appreciated.

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#4 Making sure it cLICKED

Nice to see you back reading article 4 in the series ’10 Lessons learned from a true Horseman’. In our last article you would have read about what a bit of patience can do for you when it comes to training your horse. In this article we’ll discuss the worth of the ‘c-lick’…exactly; especially the last part of the word. I’m sure you’ll get what I mean by this while riding this article.

If you understand a little bit about reading your horse’s body language then you know what it can mean when your horse communicates with his lips; licking, chewing, yawning. Of course there is the weird exception but we know that in most cases these signs are there to show us that our horse is getting relaxed and…usually he has learned something.

A clear example from the NH Experience course with Berni Zambail was one of the students and her horse who had gotten the exercise of corners; riding from one corner to another and stopping in each. You keep at it until you reach your goal (this could be; your horse is getting more relaxed, more excited about going faster, keeping his gait nicely until the next corner or starts to follow your focus so you don’t have to steer or stop him with either legs or reins to get to the next corner).
Of course there are different ways of playing with the pattern but for this exercise they were supposed to stop in every corner and actually wait there until the horse would lick her lips. Only then would they be allowed to go to the next one.

You can imagine that this type of exercise can require a lot of discipline and patience from us riders. Sometimes waiting for that lick (and the mechanisms in your horse’s brain to click) can feel like it’s taking forever.
Fortunately this student kept on at it and it was clearly visible that, anytime they left their corner after waiting for the c-lick, the horse was more enthusiastic to go forwards and follow her partners focus on lighter phases.

Whether the exercise is supposed to be repeated with smaller breaks until your horse licks or, like in the exercise above, you’re actually waiting for the c-lick; it’s so important that you do not proceed without your horse showing you that he’s gotten it.

Just imagine that your horse is like a computer; I’m sure one day or another (especially with older computers!) you’ve started your computer or laptop and while it was still loading you couldn’t stay patient and already started opening all kinds of programs. The result, if you were lucky, was that starting the computer now actually went even slower, and you’re impatience cost you time. If you weren’t so lucky your computer would actually get overloaded, cut on you and you would have to restart it with the risk of losing data.
This is exactly what happens when you ask your horse for an exercise but don’t give him the time (whether it’s through repetition or waiting) to process; then data gets lost or your horse’s brain will quit on you and you can start all over again.

So if you want to make sure the message came through to his brain; then check out if he’s licking or chewing (these usually follow blowing out, sighing or yawning as well). And if you haven’t seen any? Then repeat or just wait a little longer; at least then you know for sure that the systems in your horse’s brain have c-LICKED! The results you get after that will be amazing!

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#3 Sometimes, less is more

 

Welcome at artikel 3 of the series ’10 lessons learned from a true Horseman’. In our last article you read about the importance of being consistent towards your horse and how to do this. In this article I’ll share an important lesson about a wonderful strategy called….‘waiting’.

During the NH Experience 2015 with Berni Zambail a specific command was given numerous times and this was….to leave your horse alone and just wait!
In explanation: there were various horses that had a bit of trouble with the new (busy) environment. During several days of the course there were a lot of things going on on the terrain (miniature horses show, jumping competition etc.) and a couple of the horses really couldn’t find their peace and sense of safety despite the warming-up exercises.

For example my Barb-Arabian Quasi had trouble during the first part of the instructors intensive to settle down until I turned toward Berni saying ‘I’ve tried to warm him up and help him calm down but I don’t believe it’s working. I think I’m using the wrong strategy. What more do you recommend I do?’
The answer? ‘Here, take this seat, and sit down across from me.’ So I did. Nothing was said the following 5 minutes (and 5 minutes can feel like a very long time!) until I started laughing, because; my horse had gotten calm, and of course I knew why! He had walked around, looked around, called out to other horses, sniffed some things and had finally cocked a leg and settled down next to me. Next I was to take him to a different corner to repeat the process of leaving him be; looking around, peeing and then settling down and asking me for a scratch. We then repeated the process in a different spot in the arena until we had done all corners and he felt relaxed and safe.
Of course it didn’t end here and we had other things to do because he was relaxed but a bit unfocused, but the most important thing had been accomplished; the peace had returned and my horse felt he was safe with me in this strange, busy environment.

Berni & Elvira waiting

I definitely wasn’t the only one during this intensive week that got this exercise to do; several people got told to sit down and just observe their horses. Of course I already knew that this was a good strategy for the more introverted horse, but obviously the reminder was necessary and very strong. We all learned a lot from it, besides the fact that we strengthened the bond with our horses and helped them be more confident with themselves and their environment.So what was the joke about my question? Or what was actually the answer? à It’s not about what more you can do, but how you can do less!

Especially when we’re dealing with these more introverted horses that get insecure in new environments it’s a good idea to just let them be for a while. Don’t get them more stressed out by asking them all kinds of stuff while they’re still unconfident. But give them a chance to check out the new environment from a distance, see what’s happening and then find the conclusion themselves that; ‘Hey, I’m still alive. This isn’t all that bad. And now I’m ready to connect with you!’ And then it’s time to take them with you and start teaching them something or do something exciting. But this way it was HIS choice to make that connection with you, which is then ten times more powerful than any warming-up exercise you can think of; you’ve used psychology!

Remember this wise saying: ‘Sometimes, less is more.’ And that is your warming-up in this case.

And for the challenge of the coming two weeks: take your horse to a new location, find a safe spot and just hang out with him for a while until he finds he feels safe and he feels good about it.
Just wait….and then…your patience will pay off. And don’t forget to thank or reward him when he is ready and tries to make a connection with you!

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#2 Never takes longer than 2 days…

Welcome at lesson 2 from the series ’10 lessons learned from a true Horseman’. In the last article you could have read about the use of psychology during your training and why this is so important. In this article we will discuss the importance of consistent behavior…from you!

Of course we’ve already heard this one hundred times and most of us have probably, at one moment or another, complained about the inconsistent behavior of another rider….because, let’s be honest; it’s a lot easier to see other people’s faults than our own, right?
Today we will talk about this subject, but we’ll not talk about the small specifics. We won’t discuss the question of ‘if I ask my horse to stand quietly, am I consistent whenever he takes that extra step?’. Today I would like to talk to you about the importance of using a systematic approach to training.

Cheryl & Carrot getting instructions on their system

What does this mean and why is it so important?
An example from the past NH Experience with Berni Zambail, the Horseman we’ve been discussing:
We were dealing with a horse that was relaxed in his environment but that got distracted whenever he passed the open arena door and got a chance to look outside. And when he did it made him nervous again (more to read on this subject you’ll find in the article ‘Spooking! Should I or should I not allow him to look?’). Of course you can just block your horse from looking outside but in our last article we already discussed another option.

In this case the game, exercise or system we used to solve the problem; every time the horse passed the open door on the circle and got distracted, he would be asked to make a transition (up, down or change of direction).
This way he wasn’t feeling criticized for being distracted but we just gave him something else to keep his mind busy instead of the open door and his fears. This pattern was kept up until he finally started to focus more on his partner than on the arena door and this made him more relaxed.
This process took some time and it is common that when you don’t have a lot of experience with these kinds of games you start to doubt yourself when it takes a bit longer. These are a couple of questions that tend to come up in these moments:

• Am I consistent enough? Am I doing too much or too little?
• Am I using the right strategy or am I completely off track?
• Is what I’m asking my horse exciting enough or maybe too exciting?
• Has there been a good change in my horse that I have failed to notice?

It’s great that you’re asking yourself these questions but keep in mind that change usually takes some time to happen. Give yourself and your horse the chance to start thinking and change bit by bit. Don’t start thinking too soon that it is taking too long; especially when you’re not in a life or death situation (and I hope I can assume you don’t get into these kinds of situations a lot), than what is the harm in just keeping at it a little longer until the change happens? Don’t forget that horses are pattern animals; a lot of times the easiest way to teach them something is by simply repeating the exercise, in the right way, until they see the pattern.

So when you start a new pattern work at it systematically. Don’t stop before you get at least one of the following results:

• Your horse licks, chews, relaxes his jaw muscles
• Your horse shows a general release of tension
• Your horse starts to put effort into the exercise (responding lighter or quicker to your aids)
• Your horse starts to ask you questions or tries to connect with you (looks at you with eager ears)

Elvira & Quasi playing with transitions for a change of focus

And, like I tell my students when they get impatient sometimes…’it never takes longer than 2 days.’ I know 2 days seems like a long time for an exercise…but usually really you’ll never get even close to 2 days…more like 5 minutes that seem like an eternity. But have the discipline to stick to it and look for that change of attitude. I can guarantee you that if you will, next time you start the same game, you’ll get the result way sooner!

But what if you’ve really waited for the result, your horse has shown some signs of relaxation but the result you hoped for isn’t coming about. In that case it’s probably time to change your strategy. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as you’ve given your first strategy a chance to work before you switch!

So my challenge to you this week; whenever you’re training with your horse remind yourself what the goal of the exercise is and stick to it until you get a positive change. Because, remember; training animals is simple (easy is something totally different of course!) you just reward the behavior you like and it will start to show itself more often.

* Of course this article is not about behaviour that can damage your horse physically or emotionally. If you are dealing with serious behaviour and your horse get’s dangerously stressed, please consult a professional before continuing on your own.

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#1 Use your head

In our last article I promised to share some of the most obvious lessons learned during the NH Experience 2015. In this article we’ll talk about lesson no.1 from that list which is about: using your brain…and learning how to help your horse do the same during your training:

1. Use psychology

One of the things that is immediately clear whenever Berni Zambail gets involved in a lesson is how creative and strategically he works with both the horse and the human. One of his greatest talents is probably the way he is able to make a game out of everything.

This way you soon realize how we still force our horse (in a very patient and friendly way of course) to do things…instead of helping him, to figure things out on his own and see how much fun it can be to play with us.
One simple example from a game that was used a lot during the course:
*Goal of the game: send your horse, from zone 3 (behind his shoulder) to touch a cone with his nose.
*Commonly used strategy: You ask your horse forwards, point to the cone and before he passes it you stop him, ask him forwards again and before he makes the mistake of passing it you stop him again. If he looks around for something else you bump him on the nose and block his way until he touches the cone by accident.
*Horsemanship strategy: You point to the cone and ask your horse forwards and wait….until he actually passes the cone. Then you remind him that he was getting colder (away from his target) by backing him up a few steps, and then try again. If he stops close to the cone and lowers his head, or looks at it or something in that line…you smile, rub him and ask him to try again until you see the ‘click’ happen in his face and he touches it.
Beware: this is not a right / wrong game, it’s a warm / cold game… just like you used to play in kindergarten. So if he does something that gets him closer to your target… let him know he’s ‘getting warmer’ and smile or reward him.

Can you see the difference between strategy 1 where you’re babysitting your horse and tell him what he can and cannot do until he sees there is no other option than to touch the cone….or strategy no.2 where you help him to start guessing and when he makes a mistake you allow it so you can teach him something? This way he gets to use his brain and actually learn something about communicating with you, not just a trick.

So how do I know if I’m using (the right) psychology?
These are several possible questions you could ask yourself to check:

• Does my horse really have a choice? Remember the following quote: ‘Make the right choice easy and the wrong choice difficult –> and DON’T ‘Make the right choice easy and the wrong choice impossible.’
• Are you actually rewarding the slightest try? Can you tell when your horse starts to think about the right things and are you showing him that he’s ‘getting warm’?
• Does it still feel like a game to you? Are you still patient and smiling? If not… then the chance is big that you’re going to start to take his free agency away soon. And if you can’t get that smile back on your face and mean it? No problem… just give him a hug and call it a day; come back tomorrow and try again.

So our challenge for the week: before every training or play session take just a minute to think about how you are going to turn your exercise into a game for the horse so that he doesn’t just learn a new trick but actually gets smarter.
And of course we would love to hear about your creative ideas!

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10 lessons learned from a true Horseman

At the beginning of this month it finally happened; my trainer and Master Instructor Berni Zambail flew over from Switserland for the NH Experience. During the first half of the week we taught my students together and the second half of the week we had the Intensive for a special group of instructors that we handpicked because of their attitude and level.

Cheryl deBie during rein simulations

During day 1 my colleague Cheryl deBie (England) and I prepared the group of students for Berni through duolessons, simulations and in the evening we even helped everyone set goals for this week and the future in a special workshop.
What a wonderful atmosphere and an amazing group of motivated horselovers!

My private lessons with Berni were fantastic and the intensive with the instructors was wonderfully educational of course. But besides that I probably learned just as much from observing and assisting the lessons with my own students.

Unfortunately I can’t pour all the wisdom and experience that I’ve collected over the years, and specifically this week, into a cup and hand it over for you to drink. What I can do though is give it a shot and write down the most important lessons I’ve learned from teaching together with Berni this week so that you have something to think about.

Below you will find a short list of these lessons and in the coming articles I will write out a more detailed explanation for you:

1. Use psychology
   

   Berni Zambail & Elvira Noot @play

2. Be consistent until succesfull
3. Be patient – just wait
4. Make sure it ‘cLICKED’
5. Show your LOVE
6. Be PO-light
7. Fill the holes
8. Look for the connection
9. Focus
10. No 50 shades of grey

And for everyone that attended the course (either the Fun & Freestyle or the instructor’s Intensive)…I would love to hear which lessons should be added to the list according to you!

You’ll find pictures and more updates on the brand new NH Experience facebook page!

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Ropes; an accident waiting to happen

If you’ve had horses in your life for a while then I’m sure you’ve been warned at some point or another for some kind of accident that could happen; don’t stand behind a loaded horse, don’t tie your horses rope too long, don’t kneel next to your horse etc. etc.

Still I would like to stress the importance of being careful when handling ropes. Last month was the second time that I heard about an accident that one of my students witnessed where someone lost a finger. Luckily none of these things have happened to our students themselves nonetheless I will share both stories today, not to make you nervous around horses but to help you realise how easily things can go wrong. And hopefully it will make you more aware and avoid any serious accidents in the future.

Story 1 happened during my training a couple of years ago. They were transporting a horse. The handler got into the trailer, untied the horse and, probably unaware, held the rope, looped in his hands. The tailgate opened and…. his horse left faster than he could; the loop tightened around his hand and a couple of seconds later he realized that he was missing three fingers. I can promise you that looking for his missing fingers in the trailer wouldn’t have been fun. Luckily they were soon found and everything happened quickly enough that they could reattach the missing limbs in the hospital. As you can imagine though… this horse handler learned his lesson the hard way.

Story 2 is what one of my shocked students told me last month. A friends horse didn’t want to load into the trailer (sounds familiar? Read the article about ‘Trailerloading succesfully’).
The owner decided to use the old ‘tie a longeline behind his butt’ trick and started wrapping the line around a nearby pole. At that moment the horse ran back and she lost one of her fingers in the loop she was tying. Unfortunately in this case the finger could not be reattached.

In both these cases the accident happened while loading or unloading a horse from a trailer. This doesn’t mean that things can’t go wrong in another scenario of course. When you longe your horse or do some other form of groundwork; make sure that you’re not holding any loops that could tighten around your hand or fingers in any way. Also be aware of your legs; make sure that if your horse would suddenly decide to leave he would not be able to drag you away with him because you’re standing in a loop. And probably most of all make sure that when you’re tying knots you do not stick your fingers through the loops; your horse could spook or move any moment and you would be too slow to pull back. It might take a little bit more effort to teach yourself these new safe habits but your fingers will thank you later.

And last but not least I would like to give a special thanks to all of my former instructors who taught me to be careful handling ropes; I’ve had moments where danger came a little bit too close and I realized that if my trainers hadn’t taught me these good habits I would have been in big trouble. So the point of this story is; be aware and take care of your rope-handling skills.

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