13/04/2025
The recipe for coming home feeling like a winner after an outing with your young/green horse :)
How do we get from "green as grass" to a calm and reliable riding partner that you can take anywhere?
It can feel like such a long journey that you're missing out on doing the things you want to because your horse isn't ready yet. Or maybe you thought your horse was ready so you gave it a go but it didn't work out and now it feels like you've gone backwards, or stuffed it up, and don't know how to get back to good.
Pictured below is a horse I've been working with for the last few months, called Polly. She's not a young horse (in her teens, in fact) but had been out of work for several years and we didn't know if she'd been to Club rallies before.
I wanted to take Polly to a clinic with one of my favourite trainers, but it was an expensive clinic, over 3 hours drive away and we'd have to camp overnight there. It was a big commitment of resources to get us there and I didn't want to "waste" my time and money if Polly was too stressed or unsettled to be able to participate in our lessons or learn anything while we were there.
Here's what I did: I booked us in for a lesson at Riding Club, planned to allow the whole day so we wouldn't be rushing to get there on time, or needing to get home again to do something else (aka set myself up to be calm and present). I made sure we arrived really early, so Polly would have plenty of time to relax in the yards and take in the busy atmosphere, and for me to walk her around the grounds before our lesson time to let her become familiar with the environment. (aka set my horse up to be calm and present)
Before our lesson started, I explained to the coach my intention was just to give her a positive experience out and about and be able to ride calmly in the arena, and that we weren't all that fit and may not last the full hour. (aka I pre-set the expectations with others involved).
I reminded myself to listen to my horse as she showed me how she was feeling and how equipped (or not) she was to take on this kind of outing. I reminded myself not to get caught up in wanting to achieve anything in particular, and not to compromise on my horse's wellbeing for my own ambitions. (aka. pre-set my own expectations).
As it turns out, Polly was a superstar, she stood calmly in the yard munching on her hay bag and she was calm enough walking around the grounds that I felt it would be okay to attempt the lesson.
Polly was somewhat distracted by the horses showjumping in the next arena while I was riding, but otherwise took everything in her stride. We didn't finish the lesson because I felt she was getting tired and becoming resistant to moving forward (which she never is at home) so I politely excused myself from the lesson at that point.
Success! We went home feeling like winners! Feeling like it would be okay to book in for the clinic away from home, and feeling grateful for the experience and that I stayed true to my principles and held my horse's wellbeing as my highest priority even while expecting her to cooperate and participate in activities that were fulfilling my human ambitions!
The HOW is much more important than the WHAT that we do with our horses, and finding that harmony between participating in our chosen activities/equestrian sport and respecting our horse's half of the partnership can be like walking a fine line, not always easy!
My four keys to feeling like a winner no matter what are:
๐คฉ setting myself up to be calm and present
๐คฉ setting my horse up to be calm and present
๐คฉ pre-setting expectations with others involved
๐คฉ pre-setting expectations with myself (and sticking to then!)
If you've got a young (or not so young but still green) horse and you're looking for a low-fuss outing to give him positive experience going somewhere new, that's what my Young Horse Social Days are all about ๐คฉ If this sounds like something that could help you, see the Events page for upcoming dates and locations.
