Training Tips: Conquering water

TRAINING TIPS

Conquering water

Is your horse convinced that scary monsters lurk in the murky depths? All is not lost, CHRISTINE ARMISHAW is here to throw you both a life line.

You may have noticed that there’s one spot at events where you will always see a cluster of spectators: the water complex. Why? Because that’s where a lot of drama unfolds! Fun if you’re watching, not so much fun if you are a rider having trouble with your horse. Fortunately, creating happy memories of cantering boldly through the splash and jumping bravely in and out of the depths are all possible when you make water training part of your regime.

Water tends to be one of the biggest challenges on the cross country course primarily because it is something that just doesn’t come up that often in daily horse life. Most people don’t have access to water to play around in at home and if you fall into this category, you have to go out and find some; the more often, the better. Wading into water doesn’t come naturally to many horses due to the way their vision works. Their eyes are set up high on the sides of their head, which means they have excellent long-range vision, perfect for spotting predators on the horizon. However, there is a drawback. Because the eyes are not positioned at the front of the head like ours, they struggle with depth perception. When you ask them to step into a puddle, they find it hard to judge whether it’s ten centimetres or a metre deep, especially if it’s muddy or murky. Regular practise will help your horse learn to trust that you are not going to ask them to jump in over their head. A weekly paddle is the ideal scenario to help produce a confident and keen individual when it comes to getting their feet wet.

Getting ready

Always check the footing under the surface. Giving your horse a fright is a sure-fire way to give them just cause to distrust what they perceive to be dangerous depths. If you are not certain what the footing is like, there is only one

way to find out! Get your gumboots on and check that there are no rocks or branches to trip on, and that it’s not too soft and sinky. If in doubt, don’t ask them to go in. If they’ve already had a bad experience, you’ll only make conquering water even harder.

It’s always easier to get the horse into shallow or clear water where they can see the bottom. Try to pick places where the water is clear or, at the very least, has a shallow point to get started.

Baby steps

When it comes to getting a reluctant horse to even dip a toe in, there are a few different techniques you can employ. Taking a young or green horse training with a more experienced buddy is a super place to start. An old hand who is happy to stride straight on in provides an excellent confident boost for a firsttimer. The newbie is more likely to follow their companion and become relaxed when those around them are also feeling confident and calm.

If you are not with a horse who can give you a lead, adopting a pressure-release training approach should be your go-to. Walk them up the point where they feel comfortable; for some this may be the water’s edge, for others it may not be quite that close. In the latter scenario, have them stop and stand, at which point you stop pressuring them with leg or whip aids – unless they walk backwards – and aim to have them stand for a moment observing the water.

With a horse that’s really bothered, once they’ve stood calmly and quietly for a moment, turn them away and come back towards the water and repeat the process again, each time getting a little closer. Letting them turn away after they’ve stood quietly facing the water removes pressure, which offers them a period of stress relief. This isn’t letting

FACING PAGE: Christine and Myal High El Capitano after a safe landing in the water (Image by Brittany Bates). LEFT: All attempts at walking forward, or showing bravery should be praised (Image courtesy Christine Armishaw).

Myal High Lyric now confident enough to trot through the water (Image courtesy Christine Armishaw).

them ‘get away’ with not going in, so long as they’ve first stood facing forward with no backwards steps for a moment.This little reset tends to help build bravery.

Building courage

Once the horse is close enough that they are a step away from entering the water, I don’t tend to walk them away. At this point, incrementally apply leg pressure, and add rhythmical whip pressure if required. Keep the pressure on if they move backwards, take it off any time you get one step forward. Yes, just one! They don’t have to go all the way in all at once.

Here you have to be quick and use impeccable timing with your leg (and whip) pressure – ‘on’ when the horse is not moving forward and immediately ‘off’ to reward any forward step. Take your time, don’t be in a hurry, plaster a smile on your face and laugh at their hesitation. Getting angry and beating them up over trying to get in the water does not create a good first impression of this new domain. Every moment you are on a horse you are training them, so make sure you’re training them towards the right outcome. All attempts at walking forward, or showing bravery or curiosity should be coupled with verbal praise and soothing wither and neck pats and scratches; remember, no old school neck slaps, they’re the opposite of soothing.

The first moment of water entry tends to be the scariest, but once the horse gets their feet wet, they usually realise

44 | EQUESTRIAN HUB ISSUE 8 • 2022 Where performance and comfort collide

Boldly cantering through water (Image by Melissa Goodson).

they’re OK and settle – because part of the issue is that they don’t know how deep it’s going to be. Let them reach down and sniff the water if they want to. I don’t mind if they want to have a bit of a play and paw at the water, you want them to feel like it’s a happy and fun place to be after all. But don’t stand around too long, you don’t want them deciding to go down for a roll, or you will be going for a swim!

Ideally, let them take their time to check out the foreign sounds and sensations, but aim to keep moving through. Walk around in the water for a while before heading out. Then make sure your horse is totally happy entering and exiting from the initial spot before trying to get them to go in from somewhere else. A new perspective can make them feel doubtful about depth again, so really nail entry point number one before mixing it up.

Move through without breaking pace

When it comes to what horses find the scariest about jumping in and out of water, it’s not so much the jumps that come into play, but all the components of water itself. Aside from the depth being hard to read, moving through water creates drag and thus changes the horse’s way of going. There is also the feeling of water splashing up under their belly and potentially into their eyes, as well as the splashing sound. All these factors need to be considered when creating a courageous water horse.

Before adding fences or steps, they need to be quite confident about the entry and then, once in, maintain their rhythm as much as possible. Time spent moving through water like it isn’t even there is time well-spent. Start by walking through without hesitation, coming in and out, and wading around in a relaxed fashion. From there, the next goal is trotting all the way through, with the horse staying forward and in front of your leg.

Finally, they should be happy to canter in and keep cantering. You might canter circles that start on dry land and then make their way through the water complex and back out again. The horse should consistently move up to the water’s edge without balking, then carry on through and out the other side, all while staying balanced and moving with energy. This might sound simple enough, but is so very often overlooked, and needs to be rock solid before you add jumping down into water, or over jumps to get in and out. Plus, it needs regular repetition. Getting them confident on one visit to your local cross country grounds is not going to guarantee success in six months’ time; if you want to be certain you’ve got the water element in the bag, weekly training, or as close to weekly as possible, is a must.

When heading out for water practise, always allow plenty of time and bring bucket loads of patience along with you. Aim to go to as many different locations as you can find in order to build their water confidence across the board. The extra effort you put in will see you staying dry and sitting pretty when it’s your time to shine in front of those eager water jump spectators.