“Block what you don’t want and allow what you do want.”
I can’t remember who said that or when I first heard it (probably Ray Hunt - it sounds like something he would say). Nevertheless, it has been said many times by many people, including myself.
To me, it means when a horse is doing something you don’t want it to do, try to make it not so easy for the horse to carry it out. But when the horse is doing what you do want, then get out of its way and allow it to happen. Make it easy to do the thing you want.
This principle takes many shapes and forms throughout a horse’s career as we teach it new ideas. But not just us, the principle applies in many learning scenarios in a horse’s life, whether or not humans are involved.
The idea of “block what you don’t want” urges us to take a course of action that makes what we don’t want less comfortable for a horse and encourages it to search for a new idea. The “blocking” creates discomfort, and as I have said in previous essays, horses are by nature discomfort avoiders. So “blocking" something from happening is as much a part of training as “allowing” something to happen.
But here is the kicker.
Anytime we try to block a horse from doing something we are in conflict with a horse. We are in an argument. We may even be at war in rare cases where things escalate. There is no togetherness, no partnership, no working as one. Sometimes it is a quiet argument and occasionally it can be a screaming match. Nevertheless, we are in conflict.
Anytime you use a feel or pressure to block something a horse is doing, it has very little benefit UNLESS it leads to a horse changing its idea. If you are still blocking a horse from doing the same thing a week or month or a year later, there can be no oneness, no partnership, and no going together. You are in a constant argument. You and your horse are not on the same page. This is because by definition the concept of blocking something means your horse is trying to do something you don’t want it to do and you have to hinder it in some way.
An example that readily comes to mind is the idea of needing to use the outside rein during a turn to block the horse’s shoulders. This is a practice that is drilled into many riders.
Let me be clear, if you want to use the outside rein to TEACH a horse to turn correctly and it works, more power to you. But if you NEED the outside rein next week, next month, and next year to ensure your horse turns correctly, then you have failed to teach your horse to change its thought and go with you. It is still thinking and trying to leave the turn.
Similarly, when teaching a horse to load into a trailer you might block the horse from avoiding the trailer. But if you still NEED to block your horse weeks and months later from evading the trailer, you have failed to change the way it feels and thinks about the trailer. You might get into the trailer every time, but it won’t be the horse’s idea and it won’t be pretty and you won’t be doing it together.
If you have to push your horse forward with every stride to block it from slowing down or stopping, you are in a constant argument with your horse and there is a broken line of communication. The horse and the rider are not working together.
These are just three examples that easily come to mind where perpetually “blocking” a horse is very common. There are countless other examples and I’m sure you can think of others.
Blocking a horse from doing something you don’t want is not a strategy that should be used for eternity. It’s a temporary assistance to helping a horse change its idea in the early stages of training a new task and teaching a horse to going with you and be a partner. When our idea and a horse’s idea is the same, blocking a horse becomes unnecessary. But if you cannot abandon using pressure/feel to block your horse from what you don’t want then you remain a bickering couple.
Block what you do’t want. Allow what you do want.