Darryl sent in this – and I thought it deserved a post all on its own. I do hope you agree – have a read & post a comment!
“I know a great older whisperer and his initial greeting to see what frame of mind a horse/ or your horse is in on first contact for the day is to gently touch its muzzle with soft cupped fingers.I do this with all my 8 horses and only 15 month gelding I bred slightly tries to get his teeth on your fingers( that is just being young ).I got a 14 year old arab mare a few years back and initially she was VERY tight upper lip until she started to trust each other .Now she likes the muzzle massage and licks my hand as I massage her lip.
S .S .T .T . This is what I always remember when I meet a new horse and to a lesser extent when greeting one of my own.
SIGHT :firstly a horse makes visual contact with you ( and hopefully will maintain that eye contact all the way through the greeting process . You don’t want that disrespectful horse presenting is bum to you – now that presents another training lesson I’ll mention later ).
SMELL : secondly the horse will smell to get more confident
TOUCH : then if the horse is ready or accepting a slight touch of the muzzle or lower head area.This can be simultaneous with the SMELL.
TRUST : this is the milestone when the horse allows you to touch / stratch on the neck etc.This is a zone outside the horses field of vision so it is trusting you to touch where he can’t see, though he still sees your body.
In 2008 I bought a VERY frightened 12 y.o. QH mare for $150 to save her from the knackery as she is so well muscled.I have learnt so much about nervous ,explosive , almost dangerous horse from her.She has given me 3 Qarab horses which all have kind natures.
If you you imagine a straight line across the shoulders with an arc around in front of the head.This zone is where a horse will initially accept you.Behind that straight line is where the challenge starts with trust and acceptance.
With that bum facing issue when you are trying to remedy that in the yard always remember the level of respect the horse is showing towards you by its eyes i.e., NO EYES , ONE EYE , TWO EYES.
This is how much a horse is paying attention to you, if from where you are standing in the yard you can’t see any eye ( no respect ), if you can see one eye he is starting to accept you , then two eyes he is coming around to you and thinking about facing up.
Darryl”
Big thanks to Darryl – not heard these before – and very enlightening they are too! Don’t forget, please do post a comment below. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this one.
Some more really helpful stuff here
Best
Al & Claire
Very good info. Just wanted to mention…if a horse is physically impaired it can show up as disrespect. They physically cannot do what is being asked of them momentarily. One still has to teach them boundaries but please look a little deeper for the real issues causing the horse to avoid pressure. Thanks for listening 🙂
when my mare sees me walking toward her she has both ears up and watches me with 2 eyes. when I get closer to her she puts her ears back and walks away, sometimes if I get to close she shows me her bum she starts to run around me as though she is showing off.. is this a bad thing? its actually quite cute, like she wants to play a bit before we do some ground work?
I am 62 and bought my horse Sal as a retirement project almost 2 years ago, I used to ride but after hip replacements x 3 I never thought I would ride again, then i got Sal. I understand totally what your saying about trust she didn’t like or trust anyone when I got her, I think she had been left to her devices in a field for a while. You just wouldn’t recognise now she totally trusts and loves me now it’s so nice and everyone at our yard comments on how much I’ve rehabilitated her, she’s the love of my life and yes I do ride her at least three times a week. It just goes to show what giving her loads of love and affection can do for a horse, I’m going to try cupping her muzzle this afternoon when I get there. Oh and if I stop to chat to someone before I’ve been to her to say hello she let’s me know by kicking the stable door very hard, she makes me laugh a lot. Thanks for this advise
That’s what I enjoy…the laughter they bring out in me!! I’m 63 and back in the horse business and loving it. They do like the attention and love we can give. This time around I’ve gone all natural horsemanship and really seeing a difference…in them and me!
Thank you for a great post.
Me and my Red, a ten year old AQHA beauty have had a rough start in our relationship. It started with a great bond, him licking my hand on the first day, and continuing with amazing rides. Then one day we had a situation, he threw me and the man riding with me chased him for over an hour!, until I finaly said enough, walked out to get him and brought him in myself. I was a young rider with not too much knowledge then and understand what I might have done better. I had to move out of state and Red would be with his herd of eight for a year and a half without me. Well, I came home ten months ago and desperately tried to build our bond again. Long story short, this past weekend I was walking with my Red and we shared an hour of horse rider intamacy with lots of love and licking!!!!! What an amazing day!
😀 good for you to reconnect with Red !!!….takes time & patience. Move slow & sometimes see if he’ll come to you while you wait for him??
good bonding….good luck & take a deep breath & exhale slowly with him & maybe he will too with you….
And one more important step. We prayed!
THAT ALWAYS helps!
I really like Darryl’s rather homespun advice. it’s common sense, but sometimes, especially in this age of bombardment from technical media, common sense isn’t common anymore. You can tell I’m old, huh! Especially if you are introducing children to horses, ( or dogs ) for the first time, this is excellent advice.
😛 interesting and helpful 🙂 😳 😆
What if a horse puts their rear on your chest for some scratching? Where is that on a trust/respect level? I get the initial two eyes. I was just curious about the bum scratching…
If it is a slow turn, than you are probably ok. I have one that does the same thing, but like I said it is a side step, slow process, he doesn’t whip around.
A great reminder Darryl on the touching the muzzle when first greeting. When first meeting a new horse I always offer my cupped fingers for him to smell and then if ok, I gently touch his upper lip. Most the time they let me. 🙂
You all will never know how much your advice, tips and wonderful stories mean to me…..I am a novice with this new interest…caring and loving horses and have not yet embarked on my new journey, so I read as much information that I can get….I am considering taking a leap of faith and making overtures to buy a horse property real soon. From your website, I have learned to focus on the older seasoned horses at first attempt. I am sure grateful to learn all that I can!
So as a green rider. What do i do with the disrespectcul horse. My boy is usually great but when it comes to his food i often get the bum.
My horse is blind in his right eye and I can be on his blind side and he totally trusts me ,he’s the most cleverest horse I have ever know and amazing to ride!so lucky to have him!
My two horses have been in boarding for a few winter months and I haven’t been able to see them because of different things happening this winter, but I plan to go there on a regular basis for the next month to utilize that places’ excersize facilities to start getting them back into shape for riding, but I know I’m just going to start out by brushing them (grooming them) and I’m sure that I’m going to utilize Darryl’s greeting idea first! I’ve had them in my life for about 15 years! One is 25 and the other turned 15 this year! They’ll be coming back home to my barn soon! Oh, when it comes to nipping, my ex-racehorse doesn’t mind trying to nip me but he never nipped my late uncle who visited them last year and I was surprised that he really liked them and rubbed their foreheads and muzzles with his soft fist! He said that all they wanted to do is protect me!
🙂 Had a nare who used to do a hip-swinging-dance till I scratched & brushed her rump, just above the tail they get very itchy, so it’s a real treat for them !
I thought it was very interesting I have always done this when I great my three horses my mare a connamara I have had four years and she doesn’t trust anyone but me I can calm her down and it all comes with love and patience thanks for the information
Very good! Quite interesting.
Years back, I knew a horse that had only one eye.
He’d back away if he couldn’t see you clearly, regardless of how much you had to do with him on a daily basis. Not being able to see fully really made him wary and skittish.
Recently, I came across another partially-sighted horse. Though he was at times wary, being older and stronger, he was less nervous and more sure of himself.
It can be challenging to work with such horses as they’re not as relaxed, understandably.
Does anyone have tips about getting them to trust you? (especially at young ages)
Great tips. However, what has worked for me for 17yrs on many different tethered travellers horses I take water to and my own twp rescue horses, is to approach from the side without speaking and offer my nose. No hands. Rubbing noses works every time for me in gaining the trust of badly treated horses. My own horses I use no voice for instruction just signals as a horse understands body language far better than voice.
Thank you!