Retraining a Less Than Ideal Horse in a Riding School

Winter has arrived here in NC, and due to the cold, or the rain, I’ve been able to ride only twice since my last post, both times on Bingo.

Debbie had to start using Bingo with other riders because she had run out of other horses to mount her students.  She actually sort of apologized to me for putting other people up on him while I retrain him but I just shrugged it off, he is a horse at a riding school, of course other people will end up riding him.  Bingo has positive attributes that point to a decent career as a lesson horse, very little spooks him, he is not very reactive, and he obviously expects his riders to be less than perfect.  He usually does not expect his rider to carry the whole weight of his head.  On the other hand Bingo has other attributes, ones that force his riders to learn how to RIDE a horse rather than just being a passenger. 

With his super thick throatlatch, Bingo has no difficulty in going wherever he wants to even if his rider has different ideas.  When his rider wants to go left and Bingo wants to go right, there is little that a beginner can do.  Sometimes he is reluctant to stop where the rider wants to stop--Bingo thinks that the proper place to stop is at the gate, and if he is not allowed to get to the gate he thinks the proper place to stop is right at the rail, with his breast pushing against the rail and his head and neck hanging over the rail.  In the past Bingo did not have good riders and he learned how to use his thick throatlatch to get his way.  This does not bother me, I started riding on rental trail horses in South America, and the lesson horses I rode at the beginning were not the best-trained horses in the world.  I had to learn how to get a reluctant horse to go as I wanted without abuse, and what I learned 45 years ago on these riding hacks sure comes in handy when I have deep discussions with Bingo about the absolute necessity of obedience.  No one ever learns how to ride a sullen, resistant horse effectively if that person never gets lessons on a sullen, resistant riding horse.

When Bingo tried his tricks of resistance against me two weeks ago, it was mildly annoying.  He had been improving a good bit when I was his only rider, but with just two rides with two other riders his defensiveness reappeared.  After some quiet discussions, he finally decided that it would not hurt him to obey me and he remembered what I had been teaching him.  So this week, while Debbie groomed him, I talked to Bingo.  I told him that one skill that is invaluable in a lesson horse is the ability to change his reactions to reflect the skill level of his rider.  I am the most skilled rider that rides Bingo (except for Debbie when she has to correct him), and I want Bingo to realize that I am DIFFERENT.  To make this easy for him I use my tack on him, no-one else uses a Micklem bridle, a Pee Wee bit, plain reins, a Pegasus Butterfly saddle, a string girth and the BOT exercise sheet.  I told Bingo that when I put MY tack on him I expected him to give me a ride up at my skill level, not at the level of his last rider.  Bingo did not seem to give me any response to my little lecture, he just enjoyed being groomed, he put up with being saddled (he is girthy), and he made extra sure that we both knew that he REALLY liked his BOT track exercise sheet by blowing through his lips when we put it on him.

When I started my lesson, I realized that I had not wasted my time by talking with Bingo about my expectations.  He made token resistances, and then he changed his mind and started obeying me promptly.  After a few minutes I told Debbie that Bingo must be one of those horses that understand English since he was making the effort to give me a decent ride. 

We are not doing anything fancy in the ring, just the basics of speed, direction, and gait.  Bingo is so terribly croup high, with the lowest and weakest part of his back right under my seat bones, that I am slowly trying to show Bingo that he can elevate his forehand a little bit so he is not always driving his front hooves into the ground.  I get the impression from Bingo that he may start off being willing to obey his rider, but his back starts irritating him, then he clenches his throatlatch muscles, then his sensitive mouth seems to turn into a block of wood, and Bingo ends up carrying his rider off to wherever Bingo wants to go (the gate).

In order to lessen the irritation of my weight on his week back, I bring my seat bones as far forward in the saddle as I can, and when I ask him to move better I often get into two-point.  This is so Bingo’s back is free to adjust itself to my demands so he can figure out how to do all these movements in a way that does not further irritate his back.  Right now I am doing all this at a walk, the three speeds of the walk, halting, backing, and turning properly.  Every ride I try to do more of the super-slow walk in order to strengthen the “sling muscles” from his shoulders to his sternum, the muscles the horses use to elevate the forehand.  Each time I ask him to change the speed of his walk he is learning that he can change his stride length and how to use his back in the most comfortable way possible so his hind legs can swing forward and back to give me the speed I want.  When I do the turn on the forehand he is learning how to cross his hind legs, and when I do the turn on the hindquarters he is learning he can cross his front legs.  I do this all SLOWLY, Bingo, at 22 years of age, has spent decades learning how to move in a tense, resistant, short strided manner, and it will take time for him to figure out how to do these movements properly in spite of being so terribly croup high and thick through the throatlatch.

I started riding Bingo in April.  Back then, when he was being led to the wash rack, he was very reluctant and had a sullen look on his face.  He obviously expected the worst from all humans.  Now he strides confidently into the wash stall and stands there obviously interested in all that is going on around him and he has learned to ENJOY being groomed and fussed over.  Bingo may be the ugliest horse I’ve ever ridden, but I make sure when we are grooming him to tell him how beautiful he is.  I am sure that he got a lot of comments earlier in his life on how ugly, uncooperative and bloody minded he was back long ago.  Now he gets comments on his beauty (he does have an attractive face), and how good he is every time he obeys us.  I am trying to build up his ego!  When I ride him I do everything I can to make sure he is comfortable, and I praise him, often lavishly, when he obeys me, especially if he was reluctant to obey me in the first place.  I want Bingo to feel proud of himself, on the ground and under saddle, and I want Bingo to enjoy being handled and ridden. 

Hidden under that sullen scowl was a sensitive responsive horse that just wanted to be given a chance, a horse that WANTED, oh so desperately, to have a good relationship with his riders and handlers.  All he needed was sensitive handling by people who valued his comfort, and intelligent riding by a horsewoman with patience, enough patience to let Bingo learn how to handle himself so he can obey his rider cheerfully and promptly.  With good handling and riding Bingo is coming around, and we have found that underneath it all Bingo is a good horse.

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran