There’s No Such Thing as a Hot Horse

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There’s no such thing as a hot horse. But there are horses that don’t have any confidence in what we are asking them to do.

Let me explain…While I do think there are horses that may be more active mentally and have more energy physically, it is our job as the rider to be aware of those things and build tools in ourselves to help our horses.

I’ll often hear people say, “my horse only pays attention for so long and then he paws or starts to fiddle.” They’re telling me his mind is drifting. This behavior does not make the horse, “hot” but it is often explained that way.

What it means is that he needs more practice learning to tune into what you want. He will learn (if this is done with quality, kindness, and consistency) that being still is the easiest thing for him to do. Reward the try. Always reward the try.

There are not hot horses, only horses that aren’t confident with what we’re asking their feet to do. There are busy minded horses, but if we get to the feet we will get to the mind and we can quiet them. Photo by Chris Dickinson, of Jenn Zeller and DX And The City.

In summation, some horses will require that you as a rider or trainer up your game. Keep their mind engaged, by keeping their feet busy, be a leader, and ride with a plan.

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