J&T STABLES

Equine Leadership



 The Importance Of Being A Leader For Your Horse

Horses are great judges of character. A horse will instantly size you up, they will know you better than your own mother in 30 minutes. Now, they won’t know how you like your morning coffee or what kind of movies you like but they will know if you are deserving of their respect or not and most will know it fast. They will know if you’re just a treat dispenser, if you’re an overpowering bully or if you are a firm but fair leader.

In our relationships with our horses many times we want to see ourselves as the “boss” of the relationship, go here because I say, go there because I say, do this because I say, and do that because I say. We should strive to be the “leader” our horse needs us to be rather than the “boss” we want to be.

What distinguishes a boss from a leader?

• A boss intimidates and drives others through fear; a leader instills confidence and inspires action.

• A boss expects and ignores; a leader listens and teaches.

• A boss tells you how it’s done; a leader shows you how it’s done.

• A boss scolds and shouts; when necessary, a leader reprimands but then shows you how to do it correctly with patients and kindness.

• A boss will tell you what you WANT to hear when it fits their needs; a leader will tell you what you NEED to hear at all times.

The truth is a horse will follow a competent leader. That’s the way nature made them, they understand social hierarchies. They EXPECT to either be led or they expect to lead, no other options exists in their world. In your horses mind there are no equal horse to horse relationships, neither are their any equal horse to to human relationships. There is ALWAYS a social hierarchy, one who leads and one who follows. If you don’t offer your horse sound leadership they will attempt to take the lead and this is where our relationship can go astray. A power struggle ensues with both sides getting frustrated and results in either the human becoming an over aggressive “boss” or the horse becoming the aggressor in an attempt to get his way. As the human in this relationship it is your responsibility to be the smarter of the two and become the leader. Being a competent leader does not mean you must be a overbearing tyrant, it does mean that you must teach your horse what is expected of him at all times with patients and kindness.

It should go without saying that some horses demand a stronger leader than others. The type of leader needed for a three year old stallion could potentially be much different than the type of leader needed for a 15 year old gelding that has been trail ridden or shown for years. The reason I say potentially is every horse is different, they have different life experiences and different inborn personalities. If the older horse has been handled by a heavy handed “boss” he could be fearful, jumpy or aggressive trying to protect himself. Or, maybe the older horse has a dominate personality and has been handled by a person that didn’t offer consistent leadership and allowed the horse to become pushy and disrespectful. Either situation is not good and could potentially be dangerous to both horse and rider. Where as if the young stallion was shown consistent and supportive leadership in his young life he would be a much easier horse to handle than the older gelding.

One of my top goals is to help you become the leader that your horse needs. Through the years I have had easy horses to train, I have had difficult horses to train and everything in between. The easy ones were easy for the most part because they had a great dispositions and personalities and had been handled in a way not to ruin what nature had blessed them with. The difficult ones were difficult for an endless variety of reasons; people being too aggressive all of the time, people being too timid all the time, people being too timid one minute then trying to regain control and being too aggressive the next, the horse being naturally high strung and nervous, the horse being naturally lazy and dull, personality clashes between the horse and rider, physical issues, diet issues, tack issues, the reasons could go on forever and could be in any combination. The one thing all of the horses had in common was they all needed guidance. The kind of guidance that can only come from a leader with a heart of a teacher. Even a good natured horse needs a good leader. I have seen good horses develop bad habits when the the owner let little things slowly develop into bigger issues when a vigilant leader would not have let the small issue turn into a large one.

The sooner you can become a leader the sooner you can enjoy the type relationship you both deserve.

Jason