Training is basically the same as teaching, and the student – in this case the horse – benefits from a controlled environment so he can concentrate and feel comfortable, safe and content.
No matter whether we teach our horse just basic ground work or work on more advanced body balance, he needs to be able to remain focused on us and feel relaxed, both in body and mind. This is especially important when starting new lessons. Once a horse has fully absorbed a lesson it may even be helpful to test him in more distracting surroundings and less than ideal footing conditions, but to start anything new, we need to give the horse the best possible place to work.
What does such a place look like?
Controlled area
With most horses, it is a very good idea to work at first in some kind of fenced or enclosed space. Until a horse truly understands to yield to pressure (and thus control) and we feel sure we can hold and keep him with us under all circumstances, working in a wide open environment is calling for trouble. If a horse learns that he can get away from us we have a major problem, so we want to avoid teaching in an area that allows that.
The enclosed space may be a stall at first or a barn aisle, a round pen, riding arena or turnout area. John Lyons wrote in one of his journals:” work your horse where you can, not where you can’t.”
For suggestions on ground work please see “Driving from the Ground up” on this site.
Fig. 1 Teaching the horse to stand still without being tied. The grooming area in the barn is ideal for that.
Distractions
Depending on the temperament of the horse, distractions should be kept to a minimum. The less the horse’s attention is attracted by his surroundings, the better he can relax and work with us. Being a prey animal by design, horses always worry about their surroundings, but usually one can find a good spot the horse knows well and is comfortable in.
Natural distractions
Natural distractions can sometimes be more of a bother than manmade distractions. Many horses are scared when one side of an area is bordered by bushes, tall plants or is wooded. Large rocks may also hide monsters! Birds, a mouse, any animal nearby, and even a light breeze can cause a strong fear reaction. I have had horses that were afraid of something lurking when the tree line was 50 feet away.
I also had a horse who was convinced that horrible gremlins lived behind a divider wall in the indoor. No matter how often I let him look behind it, he was still scared.
Sometimes, we may not have a better choice of location, but then we need to adjust our demands and expectations to the situation. Most horses will settle eventually, especially if we keep their mind and body busy with tasks they can master.
Manmade distractions
There are countless manmade distractions, and some horses tolerate those without a problem, but others can be very bothered by them. Usually machinery, lawn mowers, chain saws, etc. seem to have little impact on most horses, but can totally freak others.
One of the worst distractions for pretty much any horse is when other horses are either being led or ridden past the work area, or when horses in the field nearby are doing silly things.
Unusual noises created by regular work activity around the barn, strange sights of jackets or blankets hung over a fence, sudden appearance of dogs or cats, a person in strange looking clothing or a rider on a bicycle can totally unhinge a horse.
Bugs
No horse can concentrate when bothered by flies, even if they don’t bite. This can be a challenge as most fly sprays don’t seem to work for more than 5 minutes. When doing just ground work on a halter this can still be dealt with to some degree, but if teaching a horse the correct acceptance of the bit, for example, this is an impossible scenario and totally unfair to the horse. Fly masks and fly sheets may help. Otherwise one is better off to just go on a walk on a loose lead or rein so the horse can defend itself.
Surface
The condition and surface of the work area is of utmost importance.
When doing basic ground work that does not involve any speed and complicated maneuvers, it is less important that the ground is level than if the work is more complex. It still should, however, afford secure footing without rocks strewn all over the place and should be smooth enough that the horse can concentrate on work rather than avoiding tripping over rough terrain.
For the trainer this is just as important. In order to stay in good contact with the horse when working him from a rope, lead line or long line we need to make sure that our own footing is secure and allows us to move easily and safely.
Fig. 2 This stone dust surface is adequate footing for this kind of work. It is wet and muddy, but still has traction. The frost is still in the ground, hence the wetness. Cacey is just learning how to side pass away from whip contact. He is wearing a bit but the reins are attached to the sidepull.
When teaching a horse about acceptance of the bit and other aids, expecting total relaxation and concentration, working on lateral bending and suppleness it is of utmost importance that the work area is totally level and that the footing is supportive yet not deep, inconsistent, or hard.
The balance, obedience and submission we ask of a horse, in dressage training, for example, is a totally alien concept for him and we need to do everything we can to make this task easier.
Fig. 3 This is an excellent footing at a show ground. (Note: The horse is too tense and not working through his back)
Many work areas are too deep, too hard, too rocky or too slippery.
Sand is often the footing of choice, and there are lots of different kinds of sand, but any sand by itself is usually too loose, too deep, too hard (it packs quickly) and/or too dusty. Mixing it with materials like wood chips or rubber crumb hugely improves the consistency, but dust still needs to be controlled. Any kind of dust, even if quite invisible, is very detrimental to a horse’s highly sensitive air ways. They have a much more vulnerable breathing system than humans.
Fig. 4 This is an excellent surface – grippy sand with rubber crumb and magnesium chloride for dust control. It also is an excellent environment to teach the horse balance and bit contact.
The depth of the footing is also of great importance. Not more than half the hoof height should sink into the ground. Fig. 3 and 4 show excellent depth. If the feet sink more than that, it puts undue strain on the deep flexor tendons. But then, if the surface is too hard, it creates too much concussion, especially in turns. A horse can flex his leg joints very significantly from front to back, but barely from side to side, so in turns and lateral work he must weight one side of the joint considerably more than the other. If the footing does not allow for some lateral support this will dramatically increase the strain on the joint surface.
Fig. 5 This horse doing a half pass clearly demonstrates how the outside of the hoof will land first. If the footing does not allow some penetration and cushioning, this can be a very damaging exercise for the horse.
Grass is an excellent surface for a horse, but it too can be too hard, or often too slippery, especially when wet. For driving, it usually is an ideal surface, even when a bit harder, because horses without a rider can tolerate harder ground conditions, and it is of great benefit to the horses when the carriage wheels do not sink into the footing.
Fig. 6 These horses are very comfortable on this surface but note the one sided strain on the hooves. This is especially true when they fall into the turn like on the photo. If they had better self-carriage and bent laterally, however, the stress would be less.
Fig. 7 shows a fairly hard packed stone dust surface. For driving (or riding) in straight lines this surface is very acceptable as it does allow some penetration. However, as an arena surface it would be too hard because of the complexity of the work usually being asked of the horse.
Fig. 8 shows another excellent surface. Wood chips mixed with sand and magnesium chloride. The horse has superior cushioning, and the cart and humans stay right on top.
Size
The size of the work area is also of great importance.
For ground work, smaller areas will do fine, but for lunging and work under saddle or in harness an appropriate size is a must.
The basic size of a small dressage arena is 66 x 132’, or 20 x 40 meters. This is not an arbitrary size, it has its purpose. Too small an arena asks for too many and too tight turns that are hard and destructive for a horse’s body, too big, and it is much harder to control a young horse. But if anything, being bigger is certainly the much better alternative. When properly prepared through ground work even a young horse can be safely worked in a larger arena. For driving, 66 x 197' or 20 x 60 meters is the smallest I would recommend due to the restriction created by the carriage. Turns are harder this way and too many turns discourage a horse quickly.
Not too much work under saddle at gaits higher than a walk should be done in a round pen, constant turning is very bad for a horse’s leg joints which have been designed for straight movement. A round pen should never be smaller than 60’ in diameter even if only used for lunging or free exercising.