Ride Every Stride | Horsemanship and Personal Growth with Van Hargis

I’ve been having some conversations lately around the nature of “bonding” with horses. I hear it all the time, “I can’t wait to get back home and bond with my horse.” Well, what exactly does that mean? When asked, most people say that they mean hanging out with their horse in the pasture. Doing some work, occasionally petting them, and just generally being close in proximity to them. While that’s all well and good, I’m not convinced that’s all there is to bonding with a horse. See, a bond requires a relationship. Relationships require more than just “hanging out” around one another, like a lazy couple sitting in their living room with the TV on, not actually interacting with one another. So the two cornerstones of the human – horse bond I’m talking about on this episode are trust and respect. No relationship I’ve ever seen is worth its salt without those two key components.

Key Takeaways

In the horse human relationship there needs to be a leader. If the horse is the leader and starts treating you as a fellow horse, it could be extremely dangerous. This why being the leader is so important. Boundaries need to be set in the bond you have with your horse, and setting them is up to you.

Horses don’t tend to have the personal relationships we like to project on them. In the wild, once they’ve weened off their foal, there isn’t much of a bond left. They are just a part of the herd, which has its own kind of relationship and hierarchy that’s much different than any human relationships. It’s mainly there to give an increased chance of survival for the individual – I doubt many of you look at your friends with that mentality.

So, how do we develop that trust and security with our horse that shows we are really bonding? Purpose. Setting an intentional purpose for your horse secures that bond and establishes you as their leader. If you are just going to hang out and pet and feed your horse for the day, be intentional about it. If you’re going out for a ride, be intentional. Set up the boundaries.

There is a student of mine who has been taking lessons from me for years, and before that, her grandparents plopped her down in a saddle at the age of six. She can ride well. She doesn’t bob around in the saddle and flail her arms. She has good posture as well. But something I noticed time and time again is that after riding a horse a few times, the horse starts resisting her commands. She may want to move up to a trot but the horse wants to grind down to a walk. What I realized through observing her is that she needed to work on her seat—meaning to work with the horse rather than have the horse do all the work. Working on your seat means working on being a leader.

Key Takeaways

The student I just mentioned suffered from a condition I call Dead Butt. This means that you aren’t setting the rhythm for your horse, you are literally just riding along, letting the horse do all the work for you. You need to lead your horse, not just sit dead up on them.

Laura’s husband is a musical genius—you can bet that whatever song he is listening to he has all the details playing out in his head. So imagine this—you’re dancing and you have a dance partner. Internally you are hearing music, feeling the rhythm, then turning that feeling into motion—not only for yourself, but for your partner. When you do this well the dancing is great, if you can’t translate that rhythm though things turn south. This same principle applies to riding.

The rhythms we establish with our horses are fairly simple. Walk, trot, and canter are all 2 beat, 3 beat, and 4 beat gait. As a rider, you need to establish that rhythm, know what you’re expecting from your horse and use your body accordingly.

It’s okay if you want to ride along casually and be a passenger. But if you want to be a better “dance partner” for your horse, you have to keep pushing the bar. Learn how to communicate more subtly through your body language and commands.

I always used to think that lunging was a great idea for the right reasons, but I have to admit, my attitude towards lunging has changed. It always seemed like a good warmup for the horse—or even a warm up for the rider’s courage before they hop in the saddle. However, over the years I see that lunging can be a great way to set the tone for the day. A pilot check, if you will, of what the horse’s attitude is and what’s in store.

Key Takeaways

When I lung a horse now I come at it from the perspective of a trainer. Not just in that I’m training a horse, but training an athlete. If you were an athletic trainer working with people, what kind of things would you keep an eye out for? You’d watch for their form, how much strain they’re enduring, where that strain is located, what muscles are being worked, and how the athlete feels about their performance. This is exactly what I keep an eye out for when lunging horses now.

In lunging in a different direction and watching the horse’s performance, I might see that they aren’t cantering so well on either their right or left side. This helps me decide what we will focus on when riding. I may not even saddle the horse after lunging if I see something is causing them pain or discomfort.

There are some common mistakes I see in lunging. The first is when the person on the ground is moving a lot, sometimes more than the horse. This sets the tone in the horse’s mind of, “Wow, I must be the leader today because this trainer is following me all over the place.” In horse hierarchy, the leaders are the most efficient, the followers do all the extra work.

Another mistake I see is people lunging a horse on too long of a line. But there are some simple physics involved here: you can’t control a horse as well from 10 or 20 feet away as you can from 3 feet away. So I may start, when warming up, at only an arm’s length of rope. Then I may add slack as long as I still feel comfortable and in control of the horse.

I don’t want people to be afraid of lunging, but if you’re going to do it, I want you to do it correctly. There is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Don’t let the horse learn that you can be bossed around when applying pressure to their nose. They shouldn’t be allowed to put more pressure on that halter and lead rope than they would a bit. They should be willing to stay soft on the nose and do nice circles around us.

Also, matching your commands with your rhythm will help teach your horse how to match with your own rhythm. You don’t want to have to pull on a horse to get them to stop—having them be in sync with you and follow your own pace and lead is the way to go.

I had the privilege of spending a week with Mr. Dorrance, watching and learning how he practiced horsemanship.  One night at dinner I said, “You know what? You’re worse than my grandad.” See, I couldn’t remember a single time growing up where my grandad gave me a straight answer to a question. He’d either ask another question or make a statement that I didn’t even think was related. Well, Mr. Dorrance told me if you went and asked ten different trainers how they did something you’d certainly get at least ten different answers. He told me if I asked him the same question ten days in a row I might get a different one each day. His point was this—the way you do something and how you do something might be infinite.

Key Takeaways

It’s the number one question I get asked. “Van, how do you this?” So, I think real hard about what they really want to know. But I have to say, again like Mr. Dorance, the answer might be different or change.

If there was just one cure-all for a problem people would have a little notebook to mark off the boxes one by one until their issue was resolved. But life doesn’t work that way most of the time, especially when horses are involved.

Focus on the why. When you truly focus on the why, the hows tend just fall in place like magic. So take time compare these with your own goals, the how vs. the why. Because guess what? Often times the how depends on the specifics of the why, just think about trying to correct a horse’s behavior without knowing why they are behaving that way. It doesn’t work.

Remember that the horse is always right. The horse is either doing what comes naturally, or what they think you want them to be doing. And if you can get the answer you want from them with different hows, all the better. Variety helps keep your horse from being “bored” and certainly yourself as a trainer.

A big secret is that there is no patented Van Hargis method. Don’t go around saying, “Well I did this the Van Hargis way.” There is no one way I do anything. There have been plenty of times where I saw a trainer do something and I swore up and down that I’d never be caught doing that—only to one day find myself doing it. Because my “way” is whatever works for the horse.

We’re back with episode 60 of Ride Every Stride, our first show back in 2018. We want to thank all you listeners who’ve been nudging Laura and I about getting back to recording. After sorting through some technical issues and inclement weather, we’re both happy to be behind the microphone again and continue with the show. For this episode we’ll be going over a topic that applies equally to you and your horse: success as a habit.

Key Takeaways

Most of the folks today in the horse industry, the vast majority of them are women. And I hear a similar story played out over and over again that goes something like this: Well, I loved riding horses when I was little, but then life got in the way. I went to school, found a job, but I always vowed I would get back into riding again. However, coming back into the scene has been much harder than I thought. They don’t remember it being as difficult as it is today. They want to build back confidence in their riding. And how the heck do you do that? Through forming good habits.

First off, you start small. You go back to the start with just interacting the horse. Feeding them or even just brushing them. Do it the absolute best you can, no matter how small the task may seem, then pat yourself on the back when you’re done. These small successes will add up overtime and fuel you to want to do more and push further.

Remember, that if you put all your effort in and do the best that you can, regardless of the outcome, that effort needs to be rewarded. Your performance may not be perfect, but it can be perfect for now.

Evaluating where you are in your horsemanship is critical as well. You have to know where your confidence starts and begins in order to start taking smaller steps forward. And you want to strive for great things—it’s okay if you take too big of a step at first and have to come back the next day and take a smaller one, so long as you aren’t permanently damaging your confidence from getting hurt.

As you rack up the small successes and build your confidence, the horse’s confidence will grow in you as well. I recently worked with a client who was having issues loading their horse into a trailer. Over the days that I worked with that horse, I only approached the trailer with the animal two or three times. I worked on everything else first. Getting more comfortable haltering them, leading them, working on our communications. After building up confidence in all those smaller steps the horse got right in the trailer.

Adversity itself doesn’t breed confidence, overcoming it does. We all face adversity, but if you don’t take the steps to properly overcome it, you confidence isn’t going anywhere. Break your problems down into the smallest steps you can, and start taking them, one by one.

We travel around a lot to different expos and shows, and what I love most about traveling around is hearing stories from everyone I meet. Sometimes their stories are touching, sometimes they leave me laughing, and sometimes they leave me scratching my head. One kind of story I hear a lot starts with, “Well all of a sudden, and for no reason…” and at that point my red flags are all shot up into the wind. There’s always a reason. So we’re diving into how our horses communicate with us and how we can better listen so it doesn’t seem like they’re acting out of nowhere.

Key Takeaways

Horses are incredibly honest, truly. They let us know when something is bothering them in most cases well in advance of acting “all of a sudden”. If we learn to pay attention to what they are telling us then we can address their issues before you end up hanging on for dear life as you’re drug across a pasture.

Now don’t get me wrong. Things do happen all of a sudden, like a tree branch cracking and falling out of nowhere. Deer can be hidden in tall grass and bound away as you creep up on them. But it is in a horse’s nature to stay keenly aware. If you pay attention, you can feel a horse’s stride change just a little bit if they sense that something is off in their environment. Maybe they speed up, slow down, or tense up. When this happens just be alert, don’t cause the horse anymore stress. Keep a look out.

Be aware of where you’re riding. Know what the possible scenarios that could lead your horse to be spooked or run off. For instance, if you’re driving through a neighborhood and see a “Kids at Play” sign, and then see children playing with a ball up ahead – you shouldn’t be surprised if that ball rolls out in front of your car as you drive by. You don’t have to stress about what could happen as you ride, but staying aware and knowing the risks can help you prevent scenarios where your horse bolts out of the blue.

We also have to be aware of what we’re doing. It’s easy to blame an all of a sudden moment on the animals, but the fault can easily rest with us humans as well. Make sure you take the time to really analyze these moments if they occur and see if you did anything to prevent your horse from being set up for success.

Have an “All of a sudden, for no reason…” story? Feel free to share! You can email Van at [email protected] and throw some more stories his way.

Well, we’ve been roughing it through a South Texas winter – which is to say we practically have our bathing suits on in the near 90 degree weather. This week was Thanksgiving here in the states, and I hope you all got to spend some quality time with your families and horses, too. This week we’re going to talk about a question I’ve gotten a lot as of late, which is how dental care and hoof maintenance pertain to training.

Key Takeaways

Proper hoof care is incredibly important. For example, have you ever walked around in a pair of shoes that “almost” fit, and then walked around in a pair that actually fit? The difference is huge. Horses don’t have the means to communicate to us that their shoes don’t fit, so to speak.

You want to work with an experienced farrier that understands how a horse hoof works, not do a trial and error run with someone who just throws a bunch of trimming tools in the back of their truck.

Think of it this way – I was a running back in college. At one point, I stubbed one of my toes incredibly hard. I wasn’t able to accelerate to my fullest ability or even jog in a straight line properly. My balance was off and there was a good deal of pain associated with trying to play. And that was just one toe!

So, how can you tell someone is learned in the ways of hoof trimming? Checking to see if a Farrier has attended a school approved by the American Farrier’s Association is a good start. Being a member of the AFA also shows that the Farrier likely is continuing their education and training outside of the approved courses. Ask if they go to conferences and how they keep up their knowledge and practice it.

Pricing for a trim can vary from region to region. For South Texas – if some offered to trim for $25 a head I would be a bit worried – that’s underpriced for these parts. $50 a horse is more about what a properly trained Farrier will charge.

So how do teeth play into a horse’s performance? Well, the easier it is for a horse to eat the more nutrients they will get out of their food, making them more efficient. The health of their teeth directly ties into their physical performance as well. Once I’ve weened a baby from its mother I know I have about 2 years until they start shedding their caps – losing their baby teeth for their adult teeth to grow in.

If the caps don’t shed properly a horse can get a “wave”. See, horse’s teeth never stop growing. They grind them down as they eat. So, if one adult tooth is protected by a cap for too long it won’t get worn down evenly with the rest. This can result in a wave of unevenness.

Think about where bits sit in the horse’s mouth – right in the corners of the mouth. If they move their jaw wrong or we are too rough sore spots can develop on the inner tissue of the mouth. This can result in the horse not responding or being incredibly anxious with the bit because they associate it with that pain.

I’m in high cotton this week, but the subject we’re bringing up gets me pretty upset. Last week we talked about Hurricane Harvey and evacuating. This week we are going to talk about people who pander to your heartstrings with their “displaced horses” to try and make money. These, quite frankly, scumbags will go to a horse sale and buy horses for cheap – then turn around and post pictures of them on Facebook saying, “If someone doesn’t buy this poor horse by Tuesday it’s going to the slaughterhouse.” Reputable rescue facilities don’t do this, and I’m here to give you an earful about it.

Key Takeaways

I’ve had the pleasure to work with wonderful rescue facilities in the past. They aren’t trying to turn a profit off of their horses. The most you’ll pay is an adoption fee and a fair one at that. I’m talking about $150 dollars, and maybe at most $500. Not $1,500 or $2,500 – and just the other day I saw a $3,500 adoption fee.

The whole point of a rescue facility is to prevent the horse from being slaughtered, not to threaten you into purchasing the horse.

This topic has come back up as people have rescued horses and cattle from the aftermath of Harvey, saying that if you don’t “adopt” the animal they’ll be shipped off to slaughter. This is preying on kindhearted people who buy into the scam to “save” the animal.

A legitimate rescue facility should happily give you their 501 C3 non-profit information. If they balk at this or stop responding or delete your post – you’ve likely caught them in the act. There are a few things you can ask a rescue facility to make sure they have good intentions:

Ask how long they’ve been in business and where they are located – on top of getting their 501 C3 information. Find out what their procedure and process is for acquiring and placing horses. Many facilities also let people foster their horses, where you can take care of them while the Rescue facility still owns them and is trying to place them.

Unfortunately, the only way these horse traders will stop this practice is if it stops working. They may very well go take those horses to slaughter if no one buys them, but the practice will sadly continue the longer and longer it works.

If you have any questions about adopting a horse from a rescue facility don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]

Welcome back to Ride Every Stride! We’ve been on a bit of a hiatus, if you haven’t noticed, but we’re good to jump back in the saddle now. So why have we been gone? We were way more fortunate than others after hurricane Harvey – we only lost power for ten days. However, getting an internet connection back up and running took a good bit longer. There aren’t any land lines out here and all the towers had been damaged by the winds. Everything is good to go now and you can look forward to more episodes dropping week to week.

Now, I’m from tornado country in north Texas – in fact, we had two tornadoes touch down in five years on our property. But after moving to south Texas I heard about the dangers of hurricanes and kind of shrugged off any worry about them. Well, after seeing roofs blown off houses and tin sheets soaring through fields, it’s safe to say I’ve changed my mind about that. Huge swaths of south Texas saw massive flooding and got absolutely hammered – I’ve just never seen devastation like that.

Thankfully the damage to our ranch was extremely minimal. We decided not to evacuate as well and watch over all our horses and clients horses as well. I’ve never been in a situation like this before, so I asked around, got some advice, and did the best I could. I moved all the horses away from structures that might be damaged by wind and didn’t trap them in any building. As you may know, I’m a big proponent of letting horses do their own thing. I wanted them to be able to flee if they needed. I gave clients the opportunity to move their horses further inland but most decided to keep their horses under my care – now that things are said and done, I would’ve encouraged them more. Storms like this are just so unpredictable and it’s better to be overly cautious than sorry forever.

While we got off lucky, I’ve heard horrific stories of ranches that flooded with cattle and horses swimming through water and getting trapped in the fences we build to try and keep them safe. The whole experience has made me understand the value in being prepared for the worst. For having a plan and knowing the area you keep your horse and what the hazards of the area are.

While I’m saddened by what many lost in the storm, I’m personally grateful for the experience. I’m better prepared now to help out in case of another storm like this comes about. Looking back on what happened makes for good coffee shop conversation, but what we need to do now is look forward, find routine and normalcy, and get back to finding our stride.