What’s a problem horse ?!

Basically everyone who’s dealing with horses knows ‘problem horses’.

‘Problem horses’ are for example the type of horses that buck off their humans, the horses that rear or jigg. 

But ‘problem horses’ are also the kind of horses that kick and bite. And the horses that are lazy and don’t want to go forward 

And the ones that ignore your aids and don’t do what you ask them to do. And the ones that don’t want to cross the jump or the water and the ones that don’t pick up a canter when you ask them to. 

Long story short - a horse is a ‘problem horse’ when the human can’t use the horse the way he would like to - or in other words -> 

The horse is causing the human problems which makes him turn into the problem 

Let’s try this : 

What if in reality it’s exactly the opposite ?!

Maybe the ‘problem horse’ is a horse that has a problem with us humans.

If you treat your horse with respect, give him time and space to learn and understand and if you explain the asked tasks in a horse-friendly and pleasant way , he is going to be able to master what you are asking him. 

Also he is going to be able to develop a happy mindset when working with you.

Unfortunately in most cases the human doesn’t have enough knowledge about the horses nature, it’s psychology and about training a horse in general. On top of this there’s mostly a lack of empathy,patience and understanding present.

A dangerous mix

What happens is ..the horse doesn’t respond to the asked things right away- oh he’s not listening to me ?!..nor is he even trying- well then I have to enforce what I was asking for to make the horse do what I was asking for !

The aftermath of ‘enforcing’ what you were asking for are overwhelmed, anxious, fearful or even frustrated and dull horses who are not able to learn, who are not active at all and who don’t show any kind of pleasure during working with them. 

They are horses who only want to avoid punishment in any way possible which causes them to engage with the human like a ‘horse-bot’.

To wrap it up- Horses turn into ‘problem-horses’ if : 

• the horse doesn’t understand what you are asking. 
• the horse is overwhelmed by all those tasks you are asking at the same time 
• the horse is anxious / in a state of fear - doesn’t trust you 
• the horse understands the humans behavior as "disrespectful" and as a result of that is tried to defend himself 
• the horse can’t execute a task due to mentally or physically problems
• the horse is shut down and dull because engaging with a human is not appease the experience for him