05/10/2026
Maintain any task in which you asked without constant pressure or reminding. There can be self carriage or maintenance of standing still, gait in which you have asked, outline or shape (bending), line control - stay on path/ line which you have asked them to be on and straight/in balance as best they can.
So this post resonated with me as its foundational principles I teach at all events. The analogy of a telephone line I've not heard anyone say other than me and I though she wrote about it really well.
I would like the horse to keep the call connected. Keep the dialog open. Sometimes they should hang up as the cues maybe were confusing, to loud or for to long. However it is our job to help keep the conversation going.
Good read. Enjoy 😊
Exposing The Things Affecting Your Horse That Aren’t in Riding Manuals (Part 2) 🔦
Teaching the Horse to Wait⏱️
One of the most invisible, misunderstood, and often frustrating qualities you need to nurture when building a partnership with a horse is the quality of *teaching the horse to wait*.
In practice, this means teaching the horse to stay with what you have guided them to do until you change the instruction.
This is what people often call “self carriage.”
But self carriage is far more than posture or frame.
It is everything from standing calmly and patiently while tied up, to maintaining a gait and speed, to following a direction without needing to be constantly reminded every second.
Let me explain it another way.
Imagine working with your horse like having a telephone conversation.
An obvious part of training is getting the horse to understand the instruction in the first place.
When I put on the halter and lead the horse, the horse learns to follow.
When I pick up the left rein, that means flex or turn left.
In the telephone analogy, this is the horse answering the phone and understanding the conversation coming through the line.
In Part 1 of this series, I talked about attention and focus.
Practically, that means the horse stays on the phone call instead of hanging up and looking outside the arena at distractions.
But this next quality is different.
Teaching a horse to *wait* means the horse not only understands the instruction and stays connected to you, but maintains the instruction.
That is an art.
Horses learn to wait because they trust they *will* be released from the instruction.
Not when they will be released.
But that they *will*.
That distinction matters enormously.
Let me give you some examples.
Many horses constantly bob their heads up and down in the contact.
They might soften momentarily, then brace again.
Other horses constantly need to be pushed to stay in gait.
They are forever being hustled forward, only to instantly dial themselves back down or drop out of the gait again.
Now, soundness issues can absolutely sit behind these problems.
But another very common reason is that the horse has never truly learnt to *wait* within the behaviour.
The horse has learnt the answer...
but not how to stay in the answer.
So instead of being asked and maintaining the behaviour until released, the horse gets continually nagged to perform it.
And a horse that constantly experiences pressure often becomes irritated, frustrated, mentally disconnected, and reactive.
Its understanding starts to deteriorate.
Its focus starts to fall apart.
Its trust begins to erode.
Then people wonder why the horse becomes resistant, reactive, anxious, or reluctant to work with them.
Often, this issue gets accidentally created by the training itself.
One example is horses being rushed into frames and postures they do not yet have the strength, balance, or fitness to maintain.
They fatigue.
They struggle.
They feel trapped.
So they either go behind the leg and tune out to constant kicking...
or they fight their way out of the posture in an attempt to find relief.
Another common contributor comes from a piece of genuinely helpful advice:
“Release on the slightest try.”
This is excellent advice when introducing a new idea.
But many people accidentally get stuck there.
So the horse softens for one second and pops back up again...
because all they learnt was the *slightest try*.
Or the horse trots for one stride...
because one stride was enough to get released.
What has to happen next is the horse gradually learns to *maintain* the behaviour.
They learn to wait within it.
That requires carefully increasing the expectation over time so the horse becomes confident that if they maintain what has been asked, they *will* eventually be released.
And importantly...
they trust you to do it.
That means giving horses lots of practice.
Stretching their abilities thoughtfully.
Making sure they do not become physically or mentally fatigued.
Ensuring what you ask is achievable.
Because confidence grows when horses become physically capable, mentally clear, and successful in maintaining the behaviour.
And just to throw a spanner in the works...
You also have to teach a horse to wait within focus and attention.
So these qualities all feed back into each other.
The horse has to:
Answer the phone.
Stay on the line.
Listen to the conversation.
Maintain the conversation.
And trust that eventually the conversation will end.
And they also need confidence in their own ability to perform what is being asked.
Now here is the uncomfortable mirror for riders.
Have *you* learnt how to nurture a horse’s wait?
Or have you accidentally trained the horse to constantly search for escape, relief, distraction, or resistance because they never developed trust in the process?
Because rider psychology plays a huge role in this.
Perfectionism is a major barrier.
People often cannot wait for the horse to develop the strength, understanding, balance, confidence, or fitness required to perform well.
They want the horse to look good now.
Up and round now.
Consistent now.
Others do not feel safe enough to allow the horse to truly go forward.
So they hang onto the reins, creating restriction...
which inspires the horse to brace and fight against it.
So perhaps another question worth asking yourself is this:
Have you helped your horse stay on the telephone line and remain in the conversation?
Or have you simply never realised this was something the horse needed to learn in the first place?
Collectable Advice 209/365
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Please do not copy and paste this blog.
A reminder that you can learn more from me through my upcoming workshops and clinics, where I share these unique and practical frameworks for understanding horses, people, and the process of developing genuine partnership and performance together. More on this below.
📸IMAGE: Lovely photo by Jean's Photography taken at one of my recent clinics Perth. This OTTB has been beautifully retrained by her owner❤
