FIRST IMPRESSIONS
“ You never get a second chance to make a good first impression ”
A Harvard study revealed that it typically takes eight subsequent positive encounters to change another person's negative opinion of you.
This certainly applies to humans but what about horses? I am not aware of any equine studies on this subject, however, experience has taught me that first impressions with horses are extremely important and a bad first impression can take quite a while to undo and in some cases, may haunt horses for the rest of their life. This is because horses are prey animals and when they perceive their safety is in danger, this activates the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in them operating by fight or flight instincts. Horses don't think much in this state of mind and are merely reacting. Horses also have extremely good memories, they remember events, places and experiences they've had in great detail, especially negative experiences that made them fear for their safety. Negative experiences that we would like them to forget, require enough good experiences to offset the negative experiences. The number of positive experiences needed to offset a negative one can vary depending on how bad it was. A mildly negative experience may be overcome by a handful of good experiences, however, an extremely traumatic experience may require a hundred good experiences for the horse to become comfortable in that particular situation. Additional negative experiences only prolong the process of reversing the effects of the negative experiences. On the flip side, the more positive experiences a horse can have in a certain situation before experiencing a negative one, the more confident the horse will be in that particular situation and a negative experience will have less of an effect on the horse.
I'm not just talking about a particular horse human introduction. There are many first impressions when starting colts, from the first time he is touched, the first time he is haltered, the first time he is saddled, the first time he sees a rider up on his back, to the first time he moves out under saddle, especially at the lope. For this reason, it is best to leave colt starting to the professionals. Colt starting is not a hobby, it can be very dangerous to horse and humans if you don't have the experience to read the situation and stay out of trouble.
I remember watching someone try to get their young unprepared colt to step up on a bridge for the first time. The colt was unsure and the rider got impatient with the horse. one thing led to the next and after a few minutes the rider dismounted and continued the struggle on foot. A horseman that was observing the episode next to me quietly made the comment “Congratulations, now your horse is afraid of the bridge and you.” We’ve all been in a similar situation at some point where instead of taking the time to make the colts first experience with something a good one, we put more pressure on the colt and made the horse fearful of us as well as whatever we were trying to introduce them to.
Here are a few tips to help make good first impressions.
#1 Read and prepare the horses state of mind.
As stated earlier, horses in a state of fight or flight, or even a state of frustration, aren't in a good state of mind for learning. As the trainer we need to be aware of the horses state of mind and help prepare the colt for whatever it is that we want to introduce him to. Trying to introduce a horse to something for the first time without the colt being in a good learning state of mind could very easily result in the horse and/or human getting hurt and causing a lot more work down the road in helping the horse overcome the bad experience. I try to work on something familiar to the horse before I introduce something new to him. This helps get him thinking and helps prepare his mind to accept new things.
#2 Make small steps in the right order.
The smaller the steps you can break things down the smoother things will go. Asking a horse for something he hasn't been properly prepared for will usually end up in the horse having a negative experience and will cause unnecessary grief for horse and human. I try to take as many little steps as possible to make each new introduction as smooth and as insignificant as possible. For example, before I rope off a colt for the first time in the branding pen, I like to expose my horses to ropes very early on in the colt starting process. Starting from the first time I rope the colt in the round pen, I have in mind that I might like to rope of him someday, once he is comfortable with turning and facing when roped, I might let the colt turn away from me and get the rope around his hind end, at first it might spook him but soon he'll learn to follow the feel of it. This type of preparation can really help avert a wreck down the road in the branding pen should the colt get cloths-lined. When the colt is comfortable with that, I'll also start swinging a rope around him, bumping into him all over his body and wrapping around his legs, then I'll start dragging something like a tire or a log around, first from on foot till the horse is comfortable with that, then from on his back. I'll work on controlling his feet in all directions while swinging a rope as well as dragging something. This process takes place in a lot of little steps at a time over the course of weeks, always paying attention to the horses state of mind and how he is accepting it.
Roping off a colt in the branding pen for the first time.
#3 Make introductions short and sweet.
Whenever I introduce a horse to something new, I like to keep it brief and not make it a big deal. Just give them a taste of it and come back to it tomorrow and do a little more after they have thought about it a bit. When I was working with Martin Black in Alberta starting colts, that first ride on a colt, he'd pony us just a short distance, sometimes even just a few few steps and call it good. He said “ They think something bad is going to happen, we're going to prove them wrong.”
If you quit them on a good note, they'll come back better the next day but if you quit them on a bad note, they often come back as bad or worse the next day.
Starting colts with Martin Black.
#4 Take advantage of tiredness.
Horses are more inclined to be accepting of something when they are tired as opposed to them being too fresh. Taking the edge off a horse before introducing them to something new can be beneficial in getting them in a better prepared state of mind and can help prevent injuries. It is important that while exercising them physically that we are doing it mindfully and engaging the learning part of the brain as opposed to just mindlessly working them to a state of physical fatigue. However, naturally, the simple process of working horses is going to result in the horse getting tired. Take advantage of their tiredness to introduce something new. For example, maybe I've been working on getting my horse comfortable moving out freely at the lope and either he needs to catch his breath before going the other direction, or perhaps I'll call it a day and put him away. This may be a good time to take my rope off the saddle and help get him used to swinging it from on his back while he catches his breath. Ideally, you should already have the colt used to swinging a rope from on the ground.
#5 Prepare for tomorrow.
Whenever I'm working with young horses, I am always thinking ahead about how I can prepare for tomorrow. For example, even though the first rides are done in a halter, the plan is to ride them with a bit in their mouth at some point so I will always hang a snaffle on a string in their mouths. I don't have reins on it so I have no plans of putting any pressure on the snaffle at this point, however, by the time I do put pressure on the snaffle, the colt has had several rides getting used to carrying the snaffle quietly in his mouth. This way the colt isn't fearful of the snaffle and can actually think and learn from pressure and release on the snaffle. If I were to start putting pressure on a snaffle the first time I put one in their mouth, I could engage the horses sympathetic nervous system and get into trouble.
All throughout the training process, I try to make introductions as smooth as possible so even if my horse is progressing well but I want to switch bits for any reason, I don't like to make the switch at the start of a ride. Instead, I like to ride them in the headgear that he is already comfortable in and get him thinking and relaxed. Then when I am ready to quit for the day, I'll hang the new bit on him and let him get a feel of it for a few minutes before putting him away. The next day I might warm him up in the old familiar headgear and cool him out in the new headgear. I find this strategy really make bit transitions go smoothly.
Till next time, take care and God bless!