Signal confusion = stressed horse

Riding and training a horse requires a lot of feel and timing, but it also requires at least as much thought. Often, things are done simply because they are what we learned as children to be correct, without really questioning them. In my opinion, this is part of the responsibility of growing older and hopefully wiser – to question what we have learned and pay attention to what we are actually doing with the horse in everyday life, and whether it even makes sense – especially in light of all the exciting research that’s emerging today. This doesn’t mean that one should jump back and forth between different ways of doing things, but it’s important to think about why you do what you do, and there should always be a reason behind it.

What I most often experience causing horses the most stress is when either we humans act inconsistently around them, or when our signals don’t work together in a way that makes sense to the horse. This is also something that often creates insecurity and stress in people – if the boss says one thing one day and something completely different the next, or if the task you’ve been assigned is impossible to carry out because the demands are contradictory.

Rather than providing long explanations here, I’ll share some examples of things you may be doing in everyday life that can contribute to stressing your horse. A stressed horse can either react inwardly or outwardly – an outwardly stressed and reactive horse is often easy to spot, while a horse that reacts inwardly is often perceived as lazy, dull, or deaf to signals. It has learned to shut off signals that don’t make sense.

One example I see a lot is when people try to back their horse or move their horse backward but use the same cue as for "go forward." Often this happens because backward is also a movement, and to get the horse moving in any direction, the same sound is used – often the one always used for going forward. This confuses the horse because it is being asked to do two opposite things at once. I also have a video linked below in the blog that shows how to teach your horse to back up and maintain distance.

Another example could be asking the horse to move forward while riding. For simplicity’s sake, let’s imagine a transition from trot to canter. This could be with a young horse where you might not be entirely comfortable asking it to go forward, so you sit heavily in the saddle, lean back, hold the reins tight, and use your legs and sound cues to urge it forward (perhaps with help from the ground to push the horse on). In this case, your entire body language says "stop" by pulling on the reins and sitting heavily and rigidly in the saddle, while your legs and voice are asking the horse to move. These are again conflicting signals that confuse the horse, while also making it harder for the horse to lift its back and bring its hind legs underneath itself by sitting too heavily in the saddle and pulling on the reins.

It could be that the horse hasn’t fully learned what the different signals mean yet, and that confusion arises when we mix them up – for example, the understanding of the leg or the reins. The leg can mean many different things, and the horse needs to learn to switch between them all – including those signals we might inadvertently give, like when the leg "slips" if the horse jumps sideways or when we lose balance. Therefore, if you press the leg on the horse to move it sideways, but it speeds up instead, and then you take the pressure off, you have taught the horse that using the leg in that way also means going forward. That is, every time you take the pressure off during training, you teach the horse something new or reinforce a behavior. If you’re sitting still on the horse and then pull on the reins, if the horse begins moving for the reins, it’s mixing up the signals. The reins (unless we’re asking the horse to do other things or using other signals) mean to give in. Movement should only occur when you ask it with your leg and body energy. The reins, when combined with other signals, mean a lot of different things – turn, stop, support on the reins, give in, back – so for the horse to combine all of these different signals, it must have a very clear understanding of what each signal means in its "purest" form.

Signal confusion can also be something as simple as holding the horse still while it is already standing still (of course, you need to maintain contact with the lead so the horse doesn’t escape, but don’t hold it tight). If the horse then starts moving, you will need to hold much harder because you already used your "stand still" signal while the horse was standing still, and it lost its meaning/effect.

The horse might also be in pain, with a saddle pinching or the bridle too tight, etc. These are all things that work against what we might ask the horse to do, so even though it may not be intentional, giving contradictory signals can cause stress. For example, a saddle that pinches could prevent the horse from going forward, thus disrupting the understanding of your leg and creating a stressed horse. Especially when things are related to pain, it can be difficult to figure out, but it plays a huge role in training and development to keep the horse as healthy as possible to ensure it remains a happy athlete.

It’s not easy to change your habits, and it can be difficult to view yourself and your own habits from a new perspective, but it’s an exciting process. Once you’ve started, it never stops.