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          The guide to a stronger horse-rider relationship with Philippe Richard, specialist in equine ethology

          Saturday, February 13, 2021

          It's Valentine's Day: riders also have the right to celebrate the emotional bond that exists between them and their equines. Seaver invites you to reflect on the relationship you have with your horse and gives you exercises to work on strengthening it. At the end of the article, an interview with Philippe Richarda teacher and specialist in ethological equitation, to give you a better understanding of the relationship between rider and horse. 

          1- The horse and the rider, a timeless couple relationship.

          Man and horses have been interacting since prehistoric times. When he discovered the horse's potential, a real interdependence was created. Horses have enabled man to :

          • to travel, 
          • to work in the fields to feed themselves better,
          • go to war and shine.

          the horse, man's constant companion

          For centuries it has improved the comfort of our societies and participated in its development

          From now on, this superb animal is intended for sport and leisure. This change in perception is accompanied by new key notions: well-being, health, love of the horse and performance. Seaver has responded to these needs by creating its monitoring tools for horse health and performance

          The horse has become arider's friend, a mirror of who we are and a companion you can't lie to. The term "couple" perfectly describes this relationship of sharing, affection and trust established within this duo.

          2- Forming a couple, the expression of a shared horse/owner connection.

          Forming a couple with your horse means that a connection can be observed between you, both on foot and on horseback. This suggests that there's a complicity, a shared pleasure in being together, and that you have your own habits.

          If we talk about connection or couple, 3 key notions are fundamental:

          • trust,
          • respect,
          • sharing. 

          a good horse-rider relationship for better results in competition and more precise riding

          Beyond describing the harmony of a duo, this expression also suggests an equal contribution, a mutual sharing. So it's important to see the horse for what it is, and not to overlook its contribution to your relationship. 

          A horse is a living being. It has its own needs, more or less strong instincts, different moods and a unique personality. Some horses are more sensitive or feel a greater need for affection and friendship than others. Don't punish him unfairly. However, make sure he respects you. Respect the horse by accepting him for what he is, with his faults, qualities and needs. Your riding will be all the better for it. 

          3- Our advice to create a connection between you and your horse.

          Here are our tips for improving or maintaining a relationship of affection and trust with your horse.

             On the ground 

          • Take the time to properly groom your horse and犀利士 take care of it,
          • Watch him! You will get to know him better and understand him better,
          • Use desensitization exercises: they are the key to a trusting relationship.

          On horseback

          • Listen to your horse and focus on your feelings,
          • Learn to control your negative emotions, your horse will feel them,
          • Be fair with the requested workload and careful in the way you request it,
          • Alternate more intense demands with periods of relaxation,
          • Make work enjoyable for your horse. Set your goals based on your horse,
          • Work on your position, it can disturb the demands and decrease the comfort of your horse,
          • Vary the work sessions, go hacking, to keep your horse's mood up.

          the basis of a good relationship between a horse and man is his well-being, a healthy horse will give you his confidence

          4- Signs that show that your horse trusts and loves you.

          Like every person, every horse has a different personality. Some will be very close to Man, curious, "cuddly", while other horses will be less so. It is only a question of personality.

          A horse that doesn't need a lot of petting can love you just as much as a horse that is a "bad penny". He will use a different language to show you his affection and respect.

          it takes patience and hard work to create a strong bond with your horse

          Body language

          With horses, most communication is through body language. Instead of waiting for "human" signs of affection, take the time to observe his behaviour towards you. This time, in horse language.

          The horse is a gregariousanimal . Thismeans that they naturally live in groups. A horse naturally needs to bond andsocialise with other horses.

          The notion of dominance

          In the natural environment, or even on pasture, horses establish a dominancerelationship with each other.

          Depending on their age and personality, each of them will have a well-defined role in the group. It is fairly easy to determine each of these " social statuses " in horses by observing their behaviour with other horses.

          During your observations, you may notice that "scratching" type gestures of affection also exist in herds. But a bond between horses must first be created, a bond of trust that must also be created with humans.

          A link between horse and human

          The more time you spend with your horse, the more you'll learn to live together. According to theICFE, "horses can recognize the human beings they know, both visually (even in photos) and by the sound of their voice."

          with footwork and ethology, the relationship between horse and rider is strengthened

          Indeed, horses have a good memory and will not behave in the same way with all the riders they meet. The greatest sign of affection a horse can give you is confidence.

          You will notice this by his relaxed and calm attitude. The horse will express its well-being, this feeling of security, by following you in freedom, head down and ears relaxed.

          5- A word from the pro with Philippe Richard, ethology specialist.

          philippe richard, competition and ethology coach, french teachers' champion

          Philippe Richard is a teacher of classical equitation, a competition rider (cso, eventing, driving) who today bases his teaching on notions of ethology.

          After learning classical riding, obtaining his instructor's licence and becoming an instructor, Philippe Richard became French Champion of Coaches in 2006.

          As a competition rider, he focused a lot on the search for performance, like any athlete, but sometimes to the point of forgetting the very basis of a good relationship between a rider and his horse. The relationship with his horses became more and more distant from the one he had originally aspired to, pushed aside by a great demand on himself and his horses.

          This has led him to lose recognition of his profession and of his quality as Horseman. From that moment on, he wanted to change his riding and see things differently by getting closer and training in ethology, notably with Andy Booth.

          Then impregnated with knowledge based on the Horsemanship, his relationship to competition and teaching has completely changed. Today, his priorities are the physical, mental and emotional integrity of the horse.

          " I am often called because there is a difficulty in the relationship between an owner and his horse, so I can help them improve the connection between them. »

          -
          🔗 In your opinion, what are the foundations of a good relationship between a horse and its rider?

          The foundation of a good relationship is a balance between respect and trust between rider and horse, but also the reciprocity of this balance.

          First, the rider must be able to trust his horse and the horse must be able to trust his rider.

          The second point is respect. As a rider I have to respect my horse physically, mentally and emotionally. In return, the horse has to respect who I am, which implies respecting my personal space in the first instance and also the instructions I will ask him for as a partner.

          In my opinion, with a horse you can have a partner relationship or a "slave" relationship. A good relationship is when you consider yourself a partner with the horse, as an equal. I, as a human, must take into account its needs or fears. He must respect my physical integrity, not push me, hit me or bite me for example.

          Otherwise, if the horse is afraid of me, there is no good relationship either. The basis of a good relationship is the balance between respect and trust. Too much trust on the part of the horse can lead to disrespect. You have to find the perfect balance between these two notions.

           

          🔗 Is it possible that a horse-rider pair does not work due to lack of compatibility?

          Of course, it's the same, taking the same foundations, if there is an excess of respect or confidence in the horse for example. As we have said, if there is an excess of confidence in the horse, it can generate a lack of respect, and conversely, an excess of respect can cause a horse to stay so far back that it can fear or run away from me.

          From the rider's point of view, it can generate too much energy or on the contrary not enough. If he releases too much, he will induce excessive respect. On the other hand, if the rider is too far back, or does not dare, the horse will gradually become overconfident. There will therefore be incompatibility. It will then be necessary to rebalance this.

          From my point of view, this incompatibility is not irreversible, in the sense that if the rider works on himself, he can change things. The rider must adapt to the horse. This is the very foundation of horsemanship. I choose to be a rider, I choose to enter into communication with the horse, it is up to me to learn to adjust my behaviour and to look for what is wrong and to change things.

           

          🔗 Faced with difficulties in making a connection, what advice can you give us?

          Concretely in this case, it is best to start by establishing a healthy connection with some ground work in a small ring. This is the best way for the horse to express what it has to express (fear, dread, disrespect) by running away for example.

          So I'm not going to stop it, but I'm going to try to control it. The horse that doesn't try to have a connection, that will look out of the circle and not in my direction, tells me at that moment that he doesn't want to communicate with me who is in the middle of the circle. I will seek his attention, trust and respect by asking him to move.

          Little by little, the horse begins to communicate with me. When I can get the horse to turn his inner ear in my direction, that's the first step. I ask the horse to turn around in the circle, and the moment the horse shows the slightest interest in me, I release the pressure by moving away, moving my feet back and assuming a low-energy posture that will bring comfort to the horse.

          This way, I will almost face the horse being close to the track, and he will have two possibilities. If he stops, faces me and looks at me, that's the right answer. If not, he is likely to run away, turn around and change hands and in that case we put the horse back in motion. That's how you establish a relationship. Over time, the horse will let the human approach him, equip him and train him.

          Putting the horse in motion, "taking control of his feet" induces for the horse a leadership behaviour, as he might encounter with other horses.

           

          🔗 What does it mean for the horse to "take control of his feet"?

          In a herd, there is always a leader, who by his presence will keep the others away or even initiate the escape of the herd in case of danger. While maintaining the balance of respect and trust, when connecting with your horse you must take the place of the leader. Taking control of the horse's feet, as a dominant horse would do in a natural environment, will allow me to guide the horse without coercing him.

           

          🔗 You seem to be attached to the notion of a leader, can you tell us a bit more about it?

          If you want to have a good relationship with the horse you have to be the leader, both on foot and mounted, to be able to guide him in an obstacle course or in a dressage recovery for example, but also to make the horse feel reassured and safe.

          Safety is a very important point for the well-being of the horse. Indeed, while knowing that we are not a horse, he will be reassured to find the hierarchy that he can find in his natural environment where any herd needs a leader, to warn the group of a danger for example, or to bring comfort.

          Be careful, the fact that there is a leader does not imply that there is a master and a slave. A leader is simply an individual who proposes, if the horse is in good physical, mental and emotional condition , to do an exercise while respecting its integrity.

           

          🔗 In your opinion, can a horse show affection or feel love towards his rider? If so, how can it be observed?

          I don't know if we can talk about love in the sense that we mean it as humans. I think they don't have the same notion of emotions as we do, even if they do.

          On the other hand, I am convinced that some horses like to be with other horses and have stronger affinities with certain members of the group. If a "buddy" leaves the field and then comes back, a horse can by his attitude or by his voice express the joy of finding his horse companion.

          I've seen some horses behave this way towards a human in the context of a solid relationship based on trust and respect. So yes, we can create a real complicit relationship between the rider and his horse.

          To better understand the relationship we have with our horses, it is best to observe how they behave with other horses, whether they like it or not, and compare the behaviour the horse has towards them and the behaviour he has towards us.

          Indeed, some horses, like humans for that matter, are more expressive or extroverted than others. They will not all show their feelings and emotions in the same way.

          The best advice I can give to a rider is: ask yourself questions, take the time to find out where the imbalance comes from if there is one and how you can change your behaviour to achieve a perfect balance between trust and respect, which are really the pillars of a good relationship between horse and rider. A real connection requires great humility from the rider.

          Learn more

          We'd like to thank Philippe Richard for this insightful interview on the precious horse-rider connection. If you'd like some help in building your horse, he travels all over France to give courses.

          To visit the website and find out more: click here.

          To contact him: equicompetition86@gmail.com / 06 16 54 02 25

           

          6- Our exercise to improve your complicity and make your horse happy.

          Parelli: the game of friendship

          As we all know, the horse is a fearful being. For them, all the elements outside their environment can be a threat and their first response: escape.

          The objective of this exercise is first of all to affirm the relationship of trust that you share with your horse. Ground work is a good way to vary the sessions and thus to keep an eye on the horse's mood. Also, do not forget that the education of the horse is never finished. So, to ensure your safety and that of the horse, it is important to make him understand that the equipment you are working with, or umbrellas and other plastic bags, are not a threat to him.

          This game can be played at several levels:

          Level 1: Confirm the confidence your horse has in you.

          first stage of pat parelli's game

          In this first step, we try to make sure that your horse can be handled without fear or aggression. Simply fitted with a halter and a lunge, pet your horse. Start with comfortable areas and then try to run your hand through his ears, tickle his withers and belly and try to lift his tail. All of these steps should be done quietly. Your horse should not try to run away or defend itself.

          Tip: Don't insist if your horse lets you touch his ears, for example, even for a few seconds: remove your hand so as not to rush him. Gradually, he will let you scratch him longer. And above all, don't forget the reward.

          Level 2: Once you have acquired level 1, you can proceed in the same way but with equipment. A stick or a whip for example.

          level 2 of the friendship game

          Start by gently touching the material on his shoulder and gradually move around on his back, his limbs, under the belly and finally to the ears. Here, it is a question of differentiating the object of the order. Your horse must remain calm and relaxed, not become frightened or aggressive. Once the method has been acquired with known equipment, repeat the experiment with an open umbrella for example, or a plastic bag.

          Level 3: The horse accepts physical contact. Now we look for immobility in movement!

          parelli: the friendship game helps to strengthen the horse-rider relationship

          We explain: the horse now lets you handle him and scratch everywhere without fear. This is very good! Now, on foot or on horseback, we can be led to react quickly and make sudden gestures, it happens. That's whyyou have to get your horse used to it and make him understand that you are a living being too. The objective here is to jump next to your horse, make big gestures with your arms or your legs next to your horse without him worrying about it.

          Start by simply raising your arm in the air and lowering it again. Your horse must remain calm, not flee or raise his head suddenly. Once this stage acquired, you can swing the arm beside him, then above his neck or under his belly. We look for immobility in the movement. Once these steps are acquired, you can imagine several situations and vary the exercises!

          Level 4: Immobility in movement... of a scary / noisy element.

          training the horse helps to build confidence and ensures good mental health and physical condition

          This final level is very similar to level 3. Here, you are not invited to wave your hands but some material, like an umbrella. We take the material used in step 2 and we go up a notch. The contact of the umbrella is accepted. Now, you look for calm and a relaxed horse when the umbrella opens next to him (avoid umbrellas that open very suddenly, start gently). You can vary the exercise. Float a plastic bag over him, or shake your phone with music for example.

          Tip: The aim is not to trap or surprise the horse. We take care to warn him of the movement, we capture his attention during the exercise.

          We hope you enjoyed this article. 

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          Don't forget to share your experience in commentary or on our networks! 

          Psst... We have a Valentine's Week offer until February 19. Please visit our website to find out more.

          See you on the Seaver blog.