Talking to my horse

J

Jade and Dolly

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How often should you talk to your horse?
I have recently been moaned at by my riding instructor and some other people because I talk to my horse too much,
For example when my horse is scared of something I talk to her reasure her and push kindly still talking to her and then reward her when she passes it well with a pat on the neck and tell her she has done well. And also if my horse does something well when schooling or jumping I talk to her and say good girl or something so she knows she has done well
Is this to much to talk to your horse??
 
I talk to my boy all the time, so much so that I think I'm going to have to start putting duct tape over my gob when I'm riding a dressage test LOL
 
I too talk to my horse by saying good girl or more often, ah ah! When they do something that u haven't asked for!
I think this is a good thing although one of the girls on my yard I think talks too much.
Constantly saying "good girl, good girl" and I do think that it means nothing to her horse now because it's almost constant.
If it's working for you and your horse though I wouldn't worry.
 
I talk far too much to my horses lol - I can even hear their replies in my head

My RI says I need to pack it in or else I'll be in big trouble when it comes to a dressage test. I personally think it's mad you can't have a chat with them on the way round :/
 
I talk but have no dressage aims so I will carry on! my mare responds really well to it so I enjoy having as an additional aid.
We were walking through the woods today and I almost got hit by a low branch, I said whoaa more in surprise then a command but she stopped dead! We also have 'steady' or 'go on then' when cantering and a good girl, I wouldn't say I talk a lot, although there is inevitably some commentary about the hack she had to endure!
 
It's the only way I can get an intelligent conversation around here! But I expect, like anything, it can be over done. Couple the words with a gesture or body language and you will eventually be able to dispense with the words. Just a training thing that one learns to do.
 
I talk to mine all the time - and also get told off my my instructor. I guess this is why I stick to TREC and hacking rather than dressage and it keeps me breathing. I was once riding old cob up a hill with a blind summit - someone standing at the top heard me talking long before she saw us! Old cob is now retired but he was very clever and screened out all my nonsense while still managing to hear the important stuff such as 'trot', 'walk' and 'halt'. He is the most clever horse I've ever met though!
 
Anyone who works/lives with pets/animals who doesn't talk to them is odd in my view (Some minor exclusion for farmers raising livestock for the slaughter house as - well - that's slightly different).

I can certainly support the notion that when you're doing an activity together that you want to school yourself so that commands are clear; especially if you're nattering on. That's only fair to the one you're instructing. I can even understand teachers/instructors considering nattering during a lesson being somewhat distracting to a student who should be focusing upon the task at hand.

But otherwise I'd say unless you're the really quiet type, nattering and talking to pets/work animals is very normal behaviour.
 
I didn't realise until this week how much I do.
I'm usually on my own at the yard. However two new liveries have moved on who are about when I am. I'm happily chatting away and the new lady in the stable next door kept answering. I didn't have the heart to tell her I was chatting to my horse lol.
 
luckyoldme said:
All the time, and the cat !
I sometimes talk to my husband too if the cat or the horse are busy doing their own stuff!
Click to expand...

Ha! This is the same as me. I'm sure OH and I have conversations through the cat...

I talk to my horse, it reassures him and makes me breathe. I don't tend to 'chat' if we're doing work, i.e. lunging, apart from praise and aids (although he tends to work off tone of voice/pitch/noises, rather than halt/walk/trot etc.)
 
My first horse found schooling very difficult and needed a lot of praise for every good try or he would give up and switch off. As he got better so I talk to him less. But in the beginning he was insecure and would panic if he did something right but did not get a "good boy" he would become tense and start offering other movements thinking he must have got it wrong.

Second horse becomes confused by talking even praise and works best if I am mostly keeping quiet with just a vocal aid for clarity where necessary.

I have ridden some who take comfort from soothing chatter when they are scared and those who seem to like being talked to about anything at all whilst hacking or grooming. I think it all depends in the horses character but if you want to compete dressage you need to be able to ride for five minutes without talking!
 
I chat away to him, especially if he's nervous or spooky.

I also use the same commands I use when lungeing or handling when I am riding, particularly if he is finding something difficult to grasp. So "over" is used both on the ground and for turns on the forehand. "Go on then" means he can have a bit of a hooley at canter, while "waaaalking" means calm down and slow down.

I may need gaffa tape for our first proper dressage test as well.
 
I used to talk to my eventer so much on the XC the commentators used to say things such as "..... over fence 7, still talking to her horse". He was a nervous baby so I used to find talking to him soothed him and it just kind of stuck. It was a bit of a giggle, at the higher levels, when I was warming up surrounded by all these pros who are "in the zone" and I'm nattering away to my boy, usually describing the fences and tight turns etc.
 
when I school I talk to my horse and I know it helps to keep him focused and more relaxed. I also scratch his wither to let him know he's done well. In a test it's fairly easy to talk very quietly when you've got your back to the judge and i know some very well known riders do it. I'm also quite good at giving some commands like a ventriloquist, we need all the help we can get!
 
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