The jockey definitely gets points for maximum stick-ability, but you might be asking yourself what causes this behavior in a horse? This is another extreme example of a horse feeling blocked up front, and choosing to expend his bound up energy in an upward and almost over backwards explosion, instead of forward, which is obvious to us, but obviously not obvious to the horse ;-) I always try to look at the horse as simply as possible...he is a prey animal so he has a drive line, the same as a cow, deer, sheep, etc. If something is in front of that drive line: halter, hackamore, bridle, etc...the natural thing that happens in the horses brain is to feel blocked from having that forward motion, which we all know is their primary defense mechanism, so it can be very very troubling for them if they feel this option is not there. This can be most notably and obviously seen the first time a foal wears a halter, which can be a fairly traumatic experience in itself, much less the first time they are lead with it and actually FEEL pressure in front of that drive line. Foals will sometimes fall down, stagger backwards and sit down, or worse yet, rear up and flip over. Keeping this concept in mind when training, no matter the age or experience of the horse, no matter the tool (halter, hackamore, or bit), and making sure the horse learns he is not blocked by that tool (especially when collection is involved), can be the difference between a moderately confused mind, to an extremely confused mind, that resorts to extreme behavior in display of this confusion.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 16:01:20 +0000
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