Report Card Time

Picture by James Ingram
Report Card Time
By Sherry Jarvis

Here we are at then end of our series about CAWA. The acronym we have been exploring the last few months in the feature article of the monthly newsletter. We have looked at C-Calmness; A-Attentiveness; and W-Willingness of both the human and the horse. As we arrive at the last desirable character quality I would like you to burn these anchor words into your mind, so that any time you are working with your horse you are giving yourself and your horse a grade in each category.

Observe your horse with keen eyes, scan over his body does he get an A+ or an F for calmness at this moment. Just because he is standing still may not mean he is calm. It could be the calm before the storm. Maybe the horse deserves an A for calmness but he is blowing you off and therefore deserves an F for attentiveness.

Perhaps you deserve an F for attentiveness because your horse may be trying his heart out for you, but you keep pressuring him too hard instead of becoming clearer for him, and then when he finally blows you wonder what happened. You became to direct-lined in your thinking, thus you missed the signs because you were not paying attention to the horse in the right way. Therefore you earned an F in attentiveness and now you are assigned a do-over lesson. You have to start back at the beginning again in order to re-teach the horse in a way that makes sense to him. Sometimes a horse has to do some unlearning of bad habits before you can teach him the new and desirable habits. And sometimes the human has some unlearning to do too! How many do-over lessons do you want to be assigned? Becoming more adaptable in your approach will lead to fewer do-overs.

Then there is the horse which has high marks for calmness and attentiveness, but fails in the willingness department, because you haven’t figured out how to motivate him yet. So he just kind of stands around looking at you with his tongue stuck out at you like “Ha, Ha, bet you can’t make me do that, others have tried and failed, what ya got that they didn’t have?” So don’t forget you might need to be willing to get out of your comfort zone to find ways to help motivate this horse to want to perform for you. As you can see it is a two way street, I am grading myself as well as the horse on how we are doing in each character trait.

Now we come to the last letter of the acronym A-Adaptability. I have never had anyone come to me for help because their horse will do anything they ask calmly, attentively and willingly, no matter how the situation or circumstances change.

Adaptability means being able to adjust or be flexible to changing situations and circumstances. It is the ability to change (or be changed) to fit changed circumstances.

When a person is adaptable and flexible it shows that one can act in a way that encourages change at any or all times. In today’s challenging times, this is more important than ever. A great leader can be many things; but most great leaders do not fall apart when they are faced with change and adversity. They are not so fixated on one way or one thing that they are not willing to explore new ideas and different solutions to old problems. Adapting to a situation, surroundings, culture, or idea does not require you to lose originality but it expects you to assert yourself in a way which makes you welcome to it and the people or in this case the horse involved.

Some consider that a person’s ability to show adaptability and flexibility is essentially a part of their emotional intelligence. I think it also shows a horse’s emotional stability. In leadership development, it is a key quality. It is a common trait that all prospective employers seek when considering candidates for a job.

Being adaptable to change is a very important positive character trait for both the horseman and his horse. To be able to deal with change is necessary, because life doesn't necessarily let us remain in our comfort zone all the time. Regardless of the amount of preparation you’ve had before working with a particular horse, you simply cannot predict everything that may happen now or in the future. I guarantee situations will pop up that you were not expecting. I can’t count the number of times I have heard myself and my clients say, “Hmm, my horse has never done that before. What the heck is going on?”

Those who have learned to adapt to the needs of each individual horse you work with will have better success developing the horse into a working partner. Adaptability is high on the list of top positive character traits for both the horse and rider as without it you won’t be able to make the most of your experiences. Adapting and adjusting is crucial and one should make it their priority as it will be appreciated by your horse. You will also appreciate your horse more when he is adaptable to you, the circumstances you put him in or the situations you end up in together.

A horse that is truly adaptable does not need to loose his high grades in calmness, attentiveness or willingness just because the circumstances change. These are the old trust worthy horses, the tried and true partners, the first ones we always pull out of the corral when we have a serious job to accomplish with no messing around. Mine is Cisco.

A horse is becoming adaptable when we change the context of what we are asking him to do and he can still remain calm, attentive, and willing, or at least he can keep his grade fairly high in each. While a horse is learning to be more adaptable at first he may lower his grade a little in each category, but as he progresses he will eventually be able to hold it together better when we change the context and he may only loose one of those positive qualities. As he becomes more and more adaptable he will be able to sustain his calmness, attentiveness and willingness better and longer each time we change the context. There are many ways we can change the context of a situation for a horse.

The weather: All of a sudden the wind comes up. Does your horse loose his calmness even though you are still asking him to do the exact same thing he was doing a moment ago? If he does, he isn’t very adaptable to weather changes. Last spring students were shocked in the young horse handling class at how calm the colts were even though the wind was blowing about 60mph. It can be done.

The environment: You take your horse to a new arena that is very different from the one he is used to. How often have you heard yourself or someone else say, “My horse never acts this way at home.” Then you have seen the person with the tried and true horse that no matter where they take him he never seems to get unsettled and can do his job in nearly any environment, especially when the person is patient with him and they understand one another.

Other horses coming and going: You are doing a perfectly calm, attentive, willing, little jog trot when your horse’s buddy leaves the arena then suddenly you are on an out of control race horse. What happened to the relaxed willing jog trot? It left when the calmness and attention the horse had on you were replaced by a crazy scared horse with absolutely no attention on you. In fact, he doesn’t even recognize that you are still in his world, the only thing he is paying attention to is his buddy leaving. So he can’t possibly think about a jog trot. It becomes something like a piaffe or maybe even a rear when you try to hold him back from running to be with his buddy. So don’t even think about getting the jog trot back until you get his calmness and attention back. Or what about this scenario? A new horse comes in the arena while you are cantering beautiful collected circles and as the new horse goes by your horse acts up.

Change of Speed or Gait: I have seen some horses that are very willing for the rider at the trot, in fact he will trot along calm and happy for miles, but ask him to canter and all of a sudden the answer is no; he will kick up, turn, speed up or even slow down the trot, he will do just about anything except canter. This is usually a very lazy or spoiled horse. Then there is the opposite a horse that wants to go all the time, as long as he is trotting at a nice clip or even galloping along he is fine, but ask him to walk and the willingness turns into nervous resistance which can result in jigging, rearing, running off and a host of other undesirable behaviors. And what about changing the speed within a gait? A well broke horse stays calm, attentive and willing whether you ask for a slow, medium or fast speed at the walk, trot, or canter. Does your horse loose his calmness or willingness when you ask him to change the speed of a gait, or do you only have one speed within each gait?

Anything new: Like trailers, flags, plastic bags, loud unfamiliar noises, different textures on the ground, going from light to dark places, any small space that makes the horse feel claustrophobic, pigs, birds, deer, and a host of other animals and things too numerous to mention. It is only natural when you ask your horse to do something new that he becomes nervous. However if you can keep the horses attention and give him reasons to be willing, like rewarding the slightest try, using approach and retreat, then your horse can become more adaptable to new things. How often I have had people call me up because they got a new horse trailer and they can’t get the horse in the trailer. They usually say, “He loaded in my old trailer, just fine.” It is sort of humorous if you think about it. We spend all this money on a brand new trailer and our horse doesn’t appreciate it one bit. The fact is the more adaptable your horse becomes the quicker and easier it is to introduce him to new things.



I found it interesting that when I looked up the word adaptability in a thesaurus some related words were; pliability, suppleness, bendiness, softness and an antonym was rigidity. Who doesn’t want a horse that is pliable, supple, soft, and bends easily in your hands? We all know we can get a lot more done with a horse like that no matter what discipline we choose. And what horse likes a rider who is rigid in their riding posture and heavy handed making it physically difficult for the horse to be pliable, supple, and soft?

When we are too rigid in the rules of engagement we can become dictators to the horse causing him to be less willing and adaptable in his mind. On the other hand by being a flexible yet reliable and assertive leader we allow and encourage the horse to become a willing partner that is calm, attentive and adaptable. This kind of working relationship is valued and enjoyed by both the horse and his rider.

What does your report card look like, are you calm, attentive, willing, and adaptable when working with your horse? Or are you unconfident, unobservant, stubborn, and rigid? What does your horse’s report card look like? Is it fairly steady or does he go from A’s to F’s too frequently? If so, then my advice is to be more consistent. Consistency is one of the greatest keys to good training. There is a huge difference between consistency and rigidity. Consistency is reliable, even, regular, and steady, where rigidity is severely strict, harsh, rigorous, and stiff. My way or the highway kind of thinking.

So be firm but fair, be soft but not a sponge, be particular but not critical, be determined yet flexible, and most of all be balanced. In other words don’t swing the pendulum too far to one side or the other. Oh and keep a light heart too, it’s fine to take your horsemanship seriously but remember it can and should be fun too, which is why my slogan is Happy Horses, Happy People. You can’t very well have one without the other.

If you missed the other feature articles about CAWA you can read them on my blog, or I am working on another book, and I will go into these principles even deeper with exercises to reinforce them. However, I have no idea when it will be finished because my schedule is so busy right now. But I will keep working on it. Another way to learn more is at one of the summer horsemanship camps, regular private lessons, or schedule Sherry to come to your area for a clinic. The 2011 schedule is quite full, but we will do our best to fit you in. Go to our website to learn more. www.heartinyourhand.com