‘Be the catalyst for fun in your horse’s life’: Emma Massingale’s expert tips to get a horse to tune in and listen to you

Teaching a horse to be good to handle means learning how to get a horse to listen. After all, if you have your horse’s attention, he’ll be more likely to follow your instructions.

“If I’m walking my horse along on a lead rope, I’m looking for signs he’s tuned in,” says liberty trainer Emma Massingale. “I should be able to feel his ear and eye on me, and he won’t be looking out over the fields or at his friends.

“When horses pull away from their handlers, you see it in the head position first,” she continues. “The horse will turn his head first and then shove his shoulder into the person holding them. Then, that’s it!

“People generally try and force the shoulder back to regain control, but strength never wins with horses. You actually need to start further back; your horse needs to want to be with you first.”

How to get a horse to listen: play to his strengths

“My favourite technique in getting your horse on side is to make sure the first thing you ask him to do is something he’s really good at,” advises Emma. “It could be literally anything.

“Maybe he’s really good at backing up, waiting to go through a gate, moving his quarters round, standing to have a hoof picked up or doing a baited stretch – it doesn’t matter. Anything you know your horse can do first time, and that you can praise him for, will be really motivating.”

As well is in groundwork, Emma adds that this approach works in a ridden context, too.

“Ask your horse to do something you know he likes off the bat, and he’ll want to listen.”

Use cues

Everyone loves to be told they’ve got it right, including horses.

“It’s really important that working horses understand when they’ve achieved a goal,” says Emma. “If they don’t, then they miss out on the motivation to do the next thing.”

While a treat or a scratch works well as a reward, timing can be tricky. Rewards need to be given quickly to mark desired behaviour.

“If you’re leading, or especially lungeing, it can be tricky to near impossible to deliver a scratch at the right time,” explains Emma.

“Let’s say your horse has just offered a perfect canter transition on the lunge. By the time you’ve called him in and given him praise, he won’t link that praise with the transition.”

Emma’s advice is to establish specific cue words or sounds that tell your horse he’s done something right.

“I use ‘good’ or ‘yes’, but it can be anything. It’s good to have a few options.”

How do you teach your horse the cue? Use it in step above!

“Start using the cue when he successfully completes a task he’s already good at, like backing up or lifting a hoof, and he’ll soon understand it means he’s done something right. He’ll feel motivated, which you can use to help perfect the things he isn’t so great at, or to teach him new things.”

Be the catalyst

Emma says handlers should forget trying to be the leader – they should aim to be the most exciting or interesting person in their horse’s life instead.

“The best-liked herd members are the catalysts for fun; the ones who engage the other members in play,” she explains. “When you open a gate to a new field, it’s not the leader who makes the first move. The horses who engage in play motivate the herd to hoon about and explore the new space.”

With that, Emma’s ultimate advice on how to get a horse to listen is to be the catalyst for fun and novelty for him.

“A client asked me recently how she could stop her horse from dragging her in from the field to patches of grass on the track. Brute force will never win, so I asked her to start doing transitions as she comes out the gate.

“A few strides of trot, then back to walk. As soon as she feels her horse’s concentration break, ask for a faster walk. The horse thinks: ‘I’d better stay with my owner, because I don’t know what’s coming next.’

“This has been working because she’s made herself more interesting to her horse than that patch of grass, and her horse was never left to his own devices to get distracted.”

Like owner, like horse

When asking for your horse’s attention, ensure you return the favour.

“Don’t leave the conversation with your horse to scroll on your phone or focus on something else,” warns Emma. “If you check out, your horse will too!”

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