On this page and at most clinics the subject of ‘clarity’ gets a lot of attention. By ‘clarity’ I mean how accurately and emotionally comfortable a horse interprets our questions to do something. Clarity is one of the three foundational elements that all else depends on in both the performance and relationship side of horsemanship (the others being focus and softness). A lack of clarity is the most common form of emotional abuse we impose on a horse, and we are all guilty from time to time.

When teaching a horse a lesson that is not already a well-established part of its lexicon there are two parts to the question.

The first part is the way we present our question initially. For example, when I want my horse to learn to transition from a trot to a canter I might first apply a light feel with my reins, seat, and legs in a way that I want it to learn that particular pattern of seat, and legs, and reins indicates it is time to move from a trot to a canter. I will be particular and exact in the way I apply the feel.

But while a horse is still in the “I don’t get it” phase of learning to transition from a trot to a canter from a small adjustment of a rider’s reins, seat, and legs I might have to follow up with a different feel of those aids to evoke a canter transition. I might even have to use a different aid altogether - like the tap of a whip or a cluck from my tongue or have a friend on the ground support the idea to go forward.

To summarise, my first ask is polite and done with a feeling that I want my horse to learn to associate with trot-to-canter transitions for the rest of his life. Every time I want my horse to canter from a trot I will begin with whatever will be the cue I want my horse to learn. Even if I know my horse won’t understand or won’t pay attention to a feel coming from my reins, seat, and legs. I must still always present the first polite ask. ALWAYS. Because if I don’t present it, my horse can’t learn it.

If my horse does not understand the feel of my reins, seat, legs or my burp or my whistle, or sonnet, I will then follow up with something that will get a result. I might tap with a whip or apply more pressure from my legs or blow a car horn. It does not matter. What matters is (i) it follows soon after my first polite ask, (ii) it gets a change of thought in my horse to go from a trot to a canter, and (iii) it teaches your horse to listen to the first feel you present.

I want to emphasize, that the way you ask a question to change a horse’s thought begins with a feel that you want your horse to learn. The first ask is the one you want your horse to understand. But if your horse does not understand the first ask, the second ask gives meaning to the first ask.

You will often see people present a lot of pressure as their first ask. If we consider pressure ranges on a scale from P1 to P10, people will use say a P5 as their initial ask. They know their horse will respond to a P5, so they begin with P5. But that means their horse will never learn to respond to P1 because it is never presented. On the other hand, if their horse is asked with a P1 and if no change is forthcoming they immediately elevate to a P6, suddenly P1 becomes important to the horse. With some repetition, the horse learns to understand how to respond to P1 and any pressure above that is unnecessary.

Some of you may have read stories I wrote about retraining my ex-racehorse, Satts. When I first began to work with Satts, any feel from my legs to ask him to move forward would result in him reaching around to grab my leg with his teeth. The first time it happened he threw me out of the saddle. After some thinking I came up with a novel approach to teaching him to respond to a soft feel from my legs. I applied a little leg pressure just enough so he registered I was asking him something. When he tried to reach around to bite, I had a squeaky dog toy in my pocket that I squeezed rapidly several times. He instantly shot forward. It wasn’t too long before he learned to move forward with energy from a soft, polite feel from my legs.

My point is that it is the way you ask a question the first time that is important. You must always present your first ask in a way you want it to be in the future. But the way you present the followup pressure is not very important as long as the second ask teaches your horse to listen to the first ask.