Working with Horses - Stock vs Hotblood

[TooMuchRebel]

I’ve worked with some wild horses in my life, from poorly trained greenies to those that just test your every move and are full of disrespect. Most of these, however, have been more ‘stock’ type or pony types. I’ve dealt with a few warm-bloods but those have usually been great. Now I have a new challenge to enjoy : hot-bloods, more specifically Arabians.

In my online wanderings, I’ve seen many say that they require much different handling/training. What are your thoughts on this? In working with the Arabian I’ve found that when something comes up, ‘correct it and forget it’. Don’t nit pick.
I’ve also found that they’re very sensitive to their environments and what’s going on.

While I have been told I easily adapt to each horse and adapt my mannerisms to what works for them, I’d like to know some tips on working with hot-bloods. Anything you do differently when going between stock/warmbloods to hotbloods? Training methods? Any help is appreciated. TIA!

[Foxtail]

So…I’m a very lazy rider. Very lazy. And because of this I really dislike kick-and-spur rides (even though my current lease is kind of a kick-and-spur ride, but that’s a story for another day). So, some things I’ve picked up along the way:

1. Watch your breathing. My breathing was always my first aid for transitions and half halts. Inhale for downward transitions and half halts (the differentiating factor between the two being the action of the seat), and exhale for upward transitions.

2. Redirect their energy. Maybe they’re tense and wanting to pony trot everywhere instead of walking. Instead of getting in their face and trying to bring them back with the hand, guide them into a small enough circle that they have to break into a walk.

3. Keep the leg on, but neutrally on. Don’t squeeze, but let it drape. Kind of in the same way you’d keep your arm around someone’s waist. Just kind of there, like a comforting presence.

4. This is my big one. I don’t know how familiar you are with the martial art of aikido, but there’s a philosophy in it that you and your opponent are a system, and there’s only so much energy that the system can have. So if your opponent was going to strike you, you wouldn’t strike back, but deflect or redirect, to prevent too much energy from getting into the system (the idea being that you’d get injured if you attacked in response to an attack). I’ve found this idea to apply well to horsemanship. In most circumstances, you don’t want to match the energy that the horse is exerting, but counter it. So if you’ve got a tense, hot horse who was misbehaving, you wouldn’t run it around like you might a stock horse, but work as calmly as possible to correct the behavior while being safe. Basically, don’t put in any more energy than the horse is, and don’t do more than they do.

[Simkie]

@Foxtail

4. This is my big one. I don’t know how familiar you are with the martial art of aikido, but there’s a philosophy in it that you and your opponent are a system, and there’s only so much energy that the system can have. So if your opponent was going to strike you, you wouldn’t strike back, but deflect or redirect, to prevent too much energy from getting into the system (the idea being that you’d get injured if you attacked in response to an attack). I’ve found this idea to apply well to horsemanship. In most circumstances, you don’t want to match the energy that the horse is exerting, but counter it. So if you’ve got a tense, hot horse who was misbehaving, you wouldn’t run it around like you might a stock horse, but work as calmly as possible to correct the behavior while being safe. Basically, don’t put in any more energy than the horse is, and don’t do more than they do.

What a neat way to explain the relationship. Thank you! Very well put.

[Abbie.S]

I was watching an old(er) video reel of Ray Hunt working with some young WB-type filly who was very high energy and a little silly. Someone on the sidelines (I presume the owner) asked him for suggestions on how to ride a horse with this kind of personality. Ray’s response was, “I ride every horse the same, which is to ride 'em how they need riding.”

Some would characterize that another example of the typically cryptic response he was known for, but in reality it’s quite solid advise: don’t go into any interaction with a horse with any preconceived ideas about what that horse may or may not need. You ride the animal you get that day, and you ride him however he needs riding the next day. You don’t go into the next day assuming you know how to ride the horse, because he may not be the same horse you got on the day before.

I realize this is not what you were looking for, persay, but then again if teaching and riding horses were as simple as figuring out universal tips and tricks for various breeds or types, there’d be a lot more highly skilled riders and teachers our there. You say you adapt well to the horse’s needs, so run with that - it’s what you’re going to have to do no matter what anyone tells you here! :winkgrin:

Foxtail, I also love the phrasing/analogy of #4, very poetic but so incredibly accurate regardless of breed or type of horse.

[Jackie_Cochran]

A lot of Arabians are smart, smart, smart!!!

They can learn quickly, they usually have very good memories (for both good and bad), and they usually have more energy than any mere human (do not count on tiring them down.) Many are physically sensitive, many have “delicate” mouths, and they are alert.

I have MS, I am crippled, I have bad balance, I am very incoodinated, and I do not know where the different parts of my body are. Even so in the last decade I have ridden 5 pure Arabs, from one who did not suffer any fools gladly, a sort of grouchy 31 year old mare, a gelding with a “wiring problem” in his brain, one that had back problems, and another mare. None of them have given me any big problems I could not fix.

The three with the worse problems I improved. The gelding with the “bad wiring” in his brain was partially fixed with D’yon blinkers and a Fenwick face mask with ears, he is my riding teacher’s personal horse and he goes much better now. He was the first Arab I ran into with “bad wiring” in his brain, and I had a few exciting rides before I figured out his worse trigger (things behind him) and put the D’yon blinkers on him.

The one who did not suffer fools gladly mostly wanted a pain free experience in the ring (he especially wanted light hands.) Unfortunately I could not make him into a beginner’s horse but the last I heard he is still a lesson horse. There were a few emergencies where he took VERY good care of me, one time a rein came off the bit (my fault) and when I said WHOA he stopped, let me get off and fix the rein, and remount with no problems.

The grouchy 31 year old mare was mostly crippled with arthritis when I started riding her 8-9 years ago, now she is sound enough for me to do walk/trot, and she had been deep in a shell of despair but I coaxed her out of it and she is happier with life.

Some Arabs, when all hell breaks loose and you think you might die, will “freeze” into place and may need slightly more emphatic aids to move. One time, when I rode the old Arab mare, a horse being lunged got away from her handler and rocketed around the ring trailing the lunge line, and she repeatedly buzzed by the Arab mare who stood STILL. This went on for several minutes before the loose horse was caught. I was so grateful for the wonderful Arab mare I rode, she “froze” even though I was quite scared.

Smart, sensitive, with a deep sense of justice, and really oriented towards people. I ADORE Arabians!

[SuzieQNutter]

Basically it is the same. Tbs and Arabs are hot bloods. Stock horses are warm bloods. Draughts are cold bloods.

Basically this refers to their reaction time. A warm blood and cold blood will bottle something up and react later. A hot blood reacts now.

So you will know immediately if your training is making them better or worse. They will learn quicker than you!

[ladyj79]

I have owned and ridden some incredibly reactive and spooky drafts. I have ridden some very stoic and dead head tbs and arabs.

It would be awesome if it were easy to classify.

Best advice is treat each horse as an individual with moderate caveat that certain bloodlines rather than breeds can often share similar personalities/traits.

[cloudyandcallie]

I have warmbloods with lots of TB and Arab blood in them. It’s all a matter of you adjusting to them.
Although I have to admit I love the ottb mares, I’ve had 3 of them, who are inbred and so hot and smarter than 99% of humans. I learned a lot from hot horses. My warmbloods now are Cloudy, 50% TB and 20% Arab, and Hattie, mostly Arab Trakehner. The hotter the horse for me, the better. I just had to adjust to the warmblood mentality.

The arab herd leader at one barn wanted Cloudy to be his best friend, obviously recognizing the Arab blood in the big WB. That little Arab herd leader was so nice, but Cloudy chose to only hang out with mares. Arabs are great and smart, so treat them and learn from them as they can teach you a lot you won’t learn from other horses.

[Scribbler]

One of the wrinkles in dealing with Arabs who have “fallen through the cracks” or “need an upgrade” is that some aspects of Arab world training, especially for halter showing, encourage the horses to be wound up. Whipping their ankles and such like. Even in the under saddle classes, the riders tolerate a lot more sproingy behavior that you would ever do on a QH. Indeed, if you fall off in an Arab class, you aren’t disqualified. You just climb back on and proceed.I don’t like the way Arab world folks ride in general, especially in saddle seat, but I completely salute their courage and ability to deal with the sproing and prance.

My good friend has an Arab she upgraded, who fried his brain in his early training and ended up as an unrideable backyard trail horse, and she has done very well with his retraining. But when I compare him to my Paint, the basic differences are very clear.

He will get wound up and sproingy (that is my best word for it) over little things that don’t even matter to him, as if he just wants a chance to flag his tail and look beautiful. If my Paint got that excited over something, it would be a major emergency, and she would commit to bolting or bucking or whatever.

So part of Arabs seems to be just enjoying the drama aspect of it.

I think they have more prancy play aspect to them than TB. A OTTB is almost always a hairsbreadth from deciding that they are going to run the mile sweepstake right now whereas the Arab is more likely to want to flounce and prance but doesn’t have flat out race hardwired in.

Whereas I think that it takes more to rile up most stock horses, but when they get mad or scared or hot or stubborn, they are more serious about it too.

Obviously this is a big generalization! Obviously there are lots of individual differences!

[oldernewbie]

Generalizations but:

1. Arabs are sensitive and quick to learn. Drill does not work for them. Once they’ve learned it, they’ve got it.
2. If you try to longe them to death to calm them down, good luck. All you’re doing is building up their already incredible endurance. However, a good romp on the longe does often improve the ride that comes after.
3. If you’re getting a hyper response at one gait, don’t go to the next faster. It will only be worse.
4. Don’t overreact to spooking. Just go on about your business. If you get excited, they get excited. Have a sense of humor (I wish I had put this into practice many years ago!)
5. For most, getting out on the trails is one of their favorite things. Very good idea to hack them out a couple of times a week.
6. They were bred for hundreds of years to be attentive to their human. How you treat them is very important - a heavy hand is going to lead to problems.

This is not to say that all Arabs are perfect - even my trainer, who trains a barn full of them, has a few that he does not like due to their air headedness. But whether that is nature or nurture from prior owners is not clear. I am personally not a fan of halter only horses, I like bloodlines with a lot of using horses in them. But there are exceptions to all. So bottom line: deal with the horse in front of you!