How to boost your horse’s motivation and concentration
A well-structured training plan is essential for the horse’s health, as well as for progressing in education and strengthening the coordination between horse and rider. It is all the more important to boost your horse’s motivation & concentration during training – especially in the winter months when the sessions mainly take place in the indoor arena. Here’s how to increase your horse’s motivation and concentration for better results.
The importance of praise in the daily training
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl emphasizes, “Basically, I motivate my horses by not taking so much for granted, but by simply rewarding and celebrating them for every little attempt.” Rider Raphael Netz agrees: “It is very important that you really listen to your horse and try to find joy in the training. So even if you have a somewhat lazy, unmotivated horse, you should ride short repetitions and as soon as you have had even the slightest success, immediately drop the reins and literally hug your horse, praise it, pat it. And encourage the horse to “let its hair down”, let it run off a bit in canter – actually encourage the horse’s own thoughts and awaken “the nerve”. If the horse knows that when it has done something well, it is allowed to get hot, even sharp and eager. When it is allowed to have a little buck or shoot forward, even stop and shake the whole body, then the horse enjoys it and wants more and more of it. Of course, I also have to find out what works for my horse. This might be exactly the right way, but if my horse is a bit too hot anyway and tends to get stressed if I praise him too euphorically – then of course I have to do it all a bit calmer.”
Overcome weaknesses, develop strengths
In training, Jessica’s approach is to work on weaknesses trough strengths. “For example, if my horse finds the piaffe very easy, but struggles with the passage, I can develop the piaffe more and more forward. This can be a way to improve the passage. Or my horse is trotting fantastically and I bring it on the spot and let it piaffe. In the basic training I often change rein to balance the left and right side, again and again. I take the good feeling of the good side with me to the more difficult side. If the right canter is more difficult than the left canter, I canter on the right rein, ride a transition to walk and canter on the left rein. Alternating all the time, so that the good feeling is in between and you don’t spend too long on the negative.”
Raphael’s approach for motivated and confident horses
Raphael handles things in a very similar way. In the beginning he rides and feels into the horse to find out what it finds easy and what is a little more difficult. And then he embeds a weakness between two strengths. He first rides something that is easy for the horse, so that the horse is motivated and has a positive mindset. Then he works briefly on the weakness and then goes straight back to a strength. “The horse gets a boost of motivation again and becomes self-confident in training. Then I can go from the riding arena back to the stable with a confident horse,” he emphasizes.
Keeping your horse relaxed despite distractions
If the horse is motivated but gets distracted by outside stimuli, Jessica has usually had good experiences with not making the issue such an issue. This means that she doesn’t really get into it and keeps the horse busy with other things. It is important to her to give the horse a good feeling. Raphael also recommends not dealing with possible sources of distraction. He says: “I would try not to worry about outside stimuli at all, but I would keep the horse so busy, that the horse doesn’t have time to worry about other things. By that I mean that I give my aids a little quicker or ask questions quicker. A specific example: Tempo differences. I ride a bit forward and back, again and again. It doesn’t have to be much, but often – so that the horse thinks, ‘Oh what does he want now, oh what does he want now…’ When it has done what I asked, I immediately ask for something new. Even if it’s just going a little slower or faster, to the right, to the left, shoulder-in, volte – i.e. speaking to the horse so that it doesn’t have time to think about what is or isn’t happening right next to the arena.
How routine helps improve your horse’s motivation and concentration
If you have the horse’s attention and it is motivated to work with you, you should not over extend the phases of concentrated work. “When it comes to concentration, horses too can’t concentrate forever,” emphasizes Jessica. “And I have found that the more trained a horse is and the more natural everything is for the horse, the longer it can concentrate. The ability to concentrate increases with routine, naturalness and strength. I recommend using the initial period after the warm-up phase to teach the horses new things and towards the end to concentrate more on endurance or on less complex movement sequences.”
Practical training approaches for improved horse motivation and concentration
In order to develop and maintain concentration, Raphael rides lots of short repetitions until he feels that the horse is with him, then he stops again, walks for a minute and starts again. “You can make these phases longer and longer and at some point, you will notice that you achieve concentration quicker. Then you can start sooner with a concentrated horse and can maintain your concentration for longer over the course of the training.” A structured, good training session looks like this to him: warm-up phase as long as necessary, but as short as possible. If the warm-up phase was good, he starts straight away with what is most important to him right at the beginning of the work-phase: “The concentration is highest for both at the beginning of the work-phase. There you can work with a fresh, motivated horse on what’s most important to you, and after that maybe you do one or two things that aren’t quite as important. And then you can let the horse stretch nicely and walk or go for little walk down the lane.
Trust your intuition and adapt training to your horse’s needs
Basically, a sensible weekly plan helps you train thoughtfully and systematically. Jessica also has a plan in mind. But she also says: “I know roughly what I want to do with the horses, but still nothing beats the feeling. If my horse gives me the feeling that he’s very sprightly and a bit too fresh, I don’t need to try any tricks – then I simply open the “valve” and he can let off steam. In the same way, it could be that my horse is simply tired, then I might concentrate on one thing and then that’ll do. And after that we’ll go on a hack/trail ride or do something else.”
For Raphael, the form on the day is an incredibly important factor when it comes to the training plan – not only that of the horse, but also that of the rider. When you get on the horse and you notice that you’re not quite up to it today, it shows greatness when you admit to yourself that it won’t work today and that you’d rather go for a hack/trail ride. “You shouldn’t be too proud, it’s completely normal, it’s only human. And as I always say, horses are only human too,” says the 24-year-old.
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