My first ride on Joe, the initial assessment

I hope everyone in the midwest has been staying warm! At this point, I'm not sure I even remember how to ride! :)

I want to start my first post on Joe, discussing my first ride and any initial assessments I had made. From a progress standpoint, it's virtually impossible to really accomplish anything in one ride; most of the time nothing impressive happens, but it allows me to push some buttons and begin brainstorming a game plan.

To refresh everyones memory, the points of concern with Joe were that he was reluctant to work and would demonstrate this reluctance through pinning his ears, cow kicks and some impressive bucks. He was purchased with hopes he would be a husband-safe trail horse/light work pleasure horse, but they were having a hard time convincing him to do even that.

My first observation with this situation was that they were riding him in a pelham. I'm not a big fan of pelham's, however there is a time and a place for their use, usually best saved for upper level horses. I tried to ride him in it regardless, since it was what they had been using. When I got on him I found that he was defensive with this bit: he would "hide" behind it and when I would use my hand to ask him to engage his shoulder, he would take offense. When working with any horse, the last thing I want is for them to take offense to my aids. So, I suggested we try a rubber snaffle next time. My goal here was to be able to use my hand, without offending him. A lot of the time, riders can be hesitant to use such a basic bit on an aggressive-type horse, however I've had much more success taking it slow with a snaffle than preparing for battle with a complicated bit.

My next observation was that after mounting, I could feel Joe's whole body was tense. Every single muscle was tight and he felt like he was holding his breath. When I asked him to walk forward, I could feel him contemplating ejecting me from my saddle, but luckily he decided just to walk. After several walk laps around the ring, some changes of direction, and some figure 8's, he still hadn't relaxed even slightly. It was very obvious that Joe dreaded every single moment a rider was on his back, this was the first thing I wanted to change his mind on.

I usually find that the horses who dread work are usually overwhelmed by the idea of work. In their mind, when you ask them to go forward, they imagine they will be going forward for days and days with no break and eventually refuse to go forward at all. This sounds dramatic, but horses are not always practical :) So what I try to do is change their mind. Well take a couple steps forward, then stop and hangout. I'll pet them and well just stare into space for awhile. Then we'll take some more steps forward and stop again. The goal is to compromise with them,"If you move off my leg, I will let you rest." Eventually the thought of going forward isn't so daunting and they stop associating your aids with trauma.

So, my plan after our first ride was to start working on creating a horse that was willing to move off leg and to try a rubble snaffle next ride and to see what he brought to the table then. Many of their complaints about Joe were about his behavior at the canter, however Joe gave many clues on the ground, the walk and the trot that the canter was going to be the peak of his upset. So, I wanted to first begin chipping away at the foundation of the problem, instead of going straight to the top and starting an unnecessary battle.