When Your Horse Says NO

Walk forward? Bronzz says NO.

This article is a companion to the facebook live event with Jec Aristotle Ballou and Lynn Acton. Link to that recording is here. Additional resources listed at end of article.

When your horse says NO, don’t assume it’s a bad thing. A horse who is too obedient to ever say NO has abandoned hope of being heard. He has stopped communicating, and that’s dangerous. He may obey an unsafe command or explode without warning if he is overwhelmed. If you ask why a horse said NO, it becomes an opportunity to turn a potential conflict into communication, trust, and cooperation. Horses do not say NO because they are bad, disrespectful, or vying for dominance; those are human myths. Horses want harmony in their social group, not conflict. They also want to feel safe. Listening to them when they say no helps to show them they are safe with us. Some reasons for saying NO indicate a problem that needs to be addressed (Part 1 of this article). Some reasons are actually compliments to your leadership (Part 2 ). Sometimes one of you is just having a bad day, and it’s best to write it off or change your agenda. When a horse says NO, I look at 3 things. (1) The immediate situation, (2) The horse’s emotional state, (3) What I know about the horse’s personality and background. The better you know your horse, the more quickly and accurately you can interpret his behavior. Empathetic owners are more accurate (statistically) than professionals.

Part 1: When NO Signifies a Problem
The underlying cause needs to be addressed. Focusing on the behavior instead of the cause, can actually escalate the problem as a horse gets more desperate to make his plight heard.
Common causes include:
1. Pain is one of the most common causes of “bad” behavior, often masked by horses’ natural stoicism, or dismissed as training issues or “disrespect”.
2. Discomfort such as stiffness, fatigue, heat, or a task that looks awkward or pointless.
3. Insecure Balance is a frequently overlooked problem. It includes lack of experience carrying a rider; poorly balanced rider; tight turns, poor footing, and restrictive equipment.
4. Confusion can be caused by mixed signals, a common occurrence because human body language (on and off a horse) is rarely precise; or by cues the horse never learned, or are different than what he was taught.
5. Inconsistent expectations
6. Boredom from overly repetitive exercises
7. Passive resistance, also known as “laziness”, is particularly common in horses ridden by novices. Can be a reaction to on-going stress, pressure, confusion, boredom, or lack of consistency. It also stems from the fact that nature programmed horses to conserve energy; a work ethic is a human concept.
8. Pressure that is on-going or horse cannot relieve. This makes a horse feel trapped.
9. Punishment creates fear and negative associations with people, activities, and locations; horses naturally want to escape.
10. Anxiety can be a reaction to specific situations such as vet, travel, events, new home, new rider or handler, change of routine, loss of companion. Generalized anxiety can be caused by diet, living conditions, high pressure training, dominant handling, previous stressful experiences, or the horse’s innate personality. Separation anxiety is exacerbated by early weaning and lack of early positive experiences being alone

Bronzz negotiates a new activity

Part 2: When NO is a good thing!
These are signs of a trusting horse who thinks like a partner. Compliment yourself and enjoy!
1. Intelligent Disobedience is disobeying a potentially dangerous command, such as refusing to speed up or jump when rider is off balance or footing is unreliable; refusing to cross a flooded creek, culvert with erosion around it, or bridge that doesn’t sound solid.
2. Curiosity and Investigative Behavior Curiosity is a positive emotion that is inherently rewarding. Investigative Behavior leads to learning that reduces anxiety.
3. Wait a minute means the horse just needs a pause before complying. Examples: Think through new cue. Take care of business (drink, call of nature). Hesitation before doing something scary like getting in a trailer.
4. Offering an action that has been approved in the past. This is a constructive way of asking for a change in the agenda, or seeking your approval or a reward. In the photo above, Bronzz got tired of weaving cones, and suggested it would be more fun to pick them up. I asked him to do the weave one more time, then we played with cones.
Intelligent Disobedience should never be punished. Your horse could save you from serious injury. Instead, acknowledge his good judgement and be prepared to either change your plan or demonstrate that your original plan is safe (like walk on the bridge yourself first). Investigative Behavior should be allowed whenever possible. What your horse learns from each new investigation is generalized to future situations, expanding his comfort zone and his trust in you. Waiting a minute (and it often is literally 60 seconds or less) solves a host of problems. It give your horse time to figure out a new or confusing cue, or a strange new situation. It shows you respect his wish for a drink, toilet break, or scratch. It gives him time to prepare himself mentally for something scary. The time your agenda is on hold for his needs is an investment in his education and your relationship. A horse who offers an action that has been approved in the past is telling you that he wants to continue working with you, but would prefer a different activity. You can now increase motivation by using that activity as a reward or break from other things he doesn’t enjoy so much. He may be saying the action he wants to avoid is just uninteresting, or possibly involves anxiety or discomfort.
I see a correlation between leadership style and the situations in which a horse says NO. Dominant leaders (focused on obedience) may get fewer NOs and more automatic obedience in routine activities, but less reliability in stressful situations. When their horses are scared, they are less likely to trust people and more likely to think only of saving themselves, even when that means a person gets mowed down or bucked off. Protector Leaders (people horses feel safe with) are more likely to have horses who say no about small things (within the bounds of safety) because they do not fear consequences. These horses tend to be more reliable under stress. They are the partners who make good decisions, cover for your mistakes, protect you, and look for your guidance when they are frightened or unsure.

Resources:
Is Exercise Helping or Hurting Your Horse? By Jec A Ballou
Ridden-horse ethogram helps identify pain By Animal Health Trust (describes specific signs of pain)
Choices: Why They Matter and How to Make Them Safe by Lynn Acton