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Here’s Your Sign
by Joyce Fahrni

Following is a real conversation that took place over a year ago with an acquaintance.

“Well, he rides real good. Bucked me off and hurt my back real bad, but he rides real good!”
“He must have told you he was going to buck that day.”
“Well, he didn’t want to get caught too much, and he wouldn’t hold still when I put the saddle on, then he tried to bite me when I started to climb on, but no, he didn’t act like he was going to buck.”

Here’s Your Sign!!!!

There are so many times people get bucked off or bit or kicked and don’t have a clue that the horse was already telling the person, ‘Hey! There’s a problem today.’ If the person had just watched for the signs they would have been more prepared and fixed the problem before they got hurt.

There are some people who don’t worry about ‘signs and don’t care, because they feel they can ride the buck out of a horse or they feel confident they can deal with any problem that arises (after all, that’s why we have hospitals!). Or some people will take shortcuts, and yes, usually later those shortcuts have to be dealt with and end up taking more time correcting than originally planned. A knowledgeable horseman will recognize the signs that a horse gives. I watch for signs and I deal with them immediately simply because I don’t want to get hurt.

Watching for signs that your horse is not in a good mood doesn’t just concern young horses. As illustrated in the opening conversation it can happen with older, broke horses, also.

An accomplished clinician said that a very wealthy woman wanted him to teach her horsemanship so that she could understand the horses on a much higher level. He told her that if he was to teach her, she would have to catch, groom, and saddle her own horses. Needless to say, he was still conducting clinics and she never got taught, because she was not willing to do the lesser (which are actually the greater) tasks besides riding.

Now, what are the signs?

Let’s start at the beginning with the worst scenario possible. How does your horse catch? Does he walk away or not come to you like normal or turns his rump to you when you finally get him cornered? Is he grumpy when you put the halter on? Does he push and walk over you going through the gate? How about saddling. Does your horse object? Head up, ears back, and twists his head around to you in objection to cinching up? Some will kick at their belly and swish their tail and people will say there are flies bothering them. Don’t be fooled, it’s not flies.

When you are warming your horse up watch him from the tips of his ears to the end of his tail. Is the head up and lips tight, or the inside ear is ‘cocked’ to you just watching…and waiting…When the back of the saddle doesn’t fit flat on the horse’s back it is a good sign there might be a buck just around the corner. If the tail has a ‘kink’ in it…be very careful! A ‘kinky’ tail does not bode well for the session.

Now you’re in the saddle after he nipped you while you were mounting…and you ask the horse to move and for some reason his feet are ‘stuck’. Bad sign. Any time at all when you are riding and the horse’s feet ‘stick’, you should start getting worried. Not just from a stand still. Sometimes a horse’s feet will stick at a walk, they won’t go faster, or they will stick at a trot, they won’t go faster. Then when you ask the horse to move on, the head comes up and the ears go back and the tail clamps tight against his rump. Oops, recipe for disaster! A run or buck is probably next. Or his neck arches and the ears point tight ahead and together. Also not good. The back is going to arch into a buck in the next few strides.

Yup, all in all, it was a great day. The horse rode real good, but you got bit, kicked, and bucked off…but the horse rode good! …Here’s Your Sign.

What to do about these signs? (And there are probably many more that I forgot to mention…) I’ll work the horse in different exercises until the signs change. Teach him something new or improve on something he’s already supposed to know. You’re simply looking for obedience. And an important note here, I will not try to calm the horse down. On the contrary, the best way to change the signs is to speed the horse up through the exercises. Get his mind working for you instead of against you. Sometimes it will take a while, so hang in there for the long haul, but sometimes the horse just needs reminding who pays the feed bill! If you are consistent, the bad signs will eventually disappear and you don’t have to go through all this again.

On the ground, the main good signs I’ll look for are: a soft rounded tail, ears that are attentive and respectful, and lips that are loose and licking. If I see or feel bad signs while I’m on the horse’s back, it doesn’t bother me to get off right there and then and correct the problem from the ground. Remember: Respect goes up, but it doesn’t come down. I would far rather be safe than prove I’m a good bronc rider…(which I’m not!) And even the people who are good bronc riders still hit the ground if the horse throws himself down! That would be a very bad sign.

Understanding horses on a higher level takes a willingness to watch the horses and learn from them not just when you’re riding them, but when they are resting, playing, and yes, catching, grooming, and saddling. Pay attention to what they’re saying and you will learn to take care of problems in advance and stay safe and then you can say…Here’s My Sign.

Give yourself a great gift this year and open your mind to new methods of achieving great horsemanship. Even if you learn what you definitely do not want to do, you’ll still learn something.