Firm and Clear Commands (Pollyanna)

This Sunday I am showing a very nice looking mare who is a Topsail Whiz and Hollywood Dun It cross and has been highly trained in western and english pleasure. When I first got on Pollyanna, I was a bit confused. Her sides were hard and she had a hard time moving up and off my leg. Jump to the second ride, and I’m still unable to figure out how to move this beautiful horse properly. She would kick out when asked to canter and was unhappy during the ride. It took me until the third ride to figure out what was wrong: she was confused because I was being too passive with my commands.

I changed the way I asked Pollyanna to move. I stopped passively asking the mare to do things and started to work her like the show horse she was. I asked for the canter and held her until she moved up into the canter. Once she was there, I held her accountable for keeping at a canter and suddenly she was happy. Her ears came forward, her body balanced, and she loosened up. It blew my mind how dumb I had been. This was a show horse that knew her job. But then I realized something else: this mare was nervous and easily intimidated. When I was passive, she wasn’t sure what I wanted and was nervous she would get in trouble if she did not do what I wanted. This was all because I was halfway giving her commands then throwing her away to do what she thought was right.

PC: Jaksen Curtin

Once I had the mare where I wanted her, I realized how easy she was to get along with. I told her kindly and she react in a well mannered way. Pollyanna moved up and off my leg and I no longer had to nag as we finally had an understanding of each each other. I then did my favorite thing and asked her for a long extended trot. This allowed her to loosen up her back and neck while extending her hips. Once she was warmed up I could manipulate any part of her body and she was suddenly very happy to work.

This whole situation reminded me you always have to slow down and be very simple with your commands. Once she understood my directions, I only had to hold her at a constant speed instead of nagging her to do what I wanted as well. Then when I loosened my pressure on her sides, she would sink into a slower trot. When I calmed down and listened, she relaxed and was more than happy to comply with my commands. I couldn’t bully her into anything, but instead had to tell her what I needed her to do calmly and be clear about what I wanted. Once I slowed my pace and my reactions when giving commands, she too would slow down.

When I first rode Pollyanna, I asked her to drop her head by applying pressure with my hands and legs until her head dropped. She was used to people seesawing right and left on her face hard until her head dropped. I picked up my hands and slowly pulled left and right light and slow and her head dropped. From there, I used a combination of pressure and seesawing. This made the mare happy because she understood what I wanted her to do. I was then able to use more pressure and only used seesawing when she was having a hard time keeping her face in place.

PC: Jaksen Curtin

I had to slow down and figure out the mare by using all the tools and tricks I have collected over the years. I would ask the mare to canter then once she had done a handful of good circles I dropped her down to a walk and let her have her head. She was aloud to look around a take a quick break before turning around and canter the other way. Many times, I stop the horse in the middle of the arena to watch other people ride. Not only am I observing their techniques, but the horse is able to relax and take in everything we just did.

I had to reflect on how I had worked with other horses in order to properly understand what tricks I could use on this horse to try and figure her out. All of a sudden, this mare and I are both happy to be working together and getting fun results. I feel confident when riding Pollyanna and am confident in my ability to understand what she needs to be told in order for her to be happy. I can’t wait to see how this Sunday goes.