The Litigation-Resistant Instructor

Jan Dawson, President AAHS
[Reproduced from Caution:Horses, Vol. 1, No. 2 Winter/Spring 1996]

What makes an instructor of beginning students really good? Her winning personality? How soon she gets her students jumping, running barrels, or out on the trail? Is it the fact that she has a clean safety record (no serious accidents), or that the advanced instructors and coaches love getting students from her because they have good basics? Lets go with "clean safety record" and "good basics" Here's why.

For example, let's take a hypothetical instructor who has riding and teaching experience, yet her students seem to progress slowly. Or maybe they progress quickly to other levels, but they still seem stiff and posed. What could be the problem? This could be a western or English situation.

How many times have you watched a beginner lesson and heard the following?: "Put your heel down, Eyes up. Use your legs; really kick him. put your leg forward (or bring it back). Keep your hand(s) low. Watch those heels; they're coming up; now turn your toes in" etc., etc.

Sound familiar? Now think about it, how likely is it that a beginner who is taught with this "scatter-gun" approach is really going to learn solid basics? Yet the "start, stop and steer" method followed by a barrage of loosely related instructions for where the students needs to put those body parts is the way many beginners - western and English - are taught in many camps, riding schools and even training barns.

Wouldn't it be easier if the instructor had focus and was intent on building a correct seat from the beginning? Wouldn't it be better if the instructor used related exercises to teach the necessary skills on and off the horse. Then maybe the next instructor would not have to take this student who can start, stop, and steer and teach him/her a position from which he/she can ride. The instructor could simply build on a good foundation.

This happy scenario would require that the instructor of beginners understand how to "build" a seat in a systematic and organized fashion - something that usually only advanced instructors seem to know how to do.

From a safety standpoint it can be a bit of a problem when the least experienced, most at risk riders are in the hands of our least trained, least experienced instructors.

Which beginners are safer? Which instructors are less likely to be involved in a lawsuit?

Does this mean that all beginners should be taught by the most experienced instructors? Maybe taught by the coaches and trainers themselves so that they can be really safe? Of course not, it simply means that those who teach beginners should be better trained, both in teaching and in negligence law, so that they will better understand their responsibility and have more modern tools with which to educate their beginners safely.

What makes a riding instructor good? Safety considerations top the list. Training is important, especially formal training. Varied riding experience is also a plus. But what makes a really successful lesson? Maybe organization and planning, but they won't help if the instructor has no experience to organize.

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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Teaching Beginners to Ride

by Jan Dawson, President, AAHS
[Reproduced from Caution:Horses, Vol. 1, No. 4 Summer/Fall 1996]

Among the problems demonstrated by the vast majority of beginning riders are the two most common reflexes: when something goes wrong beginning or novice riders seek a version of the fetal position, hands in their lap, hunched over the pommel, legs in the flanks, or when the horse moves suddenly and unexpectedly jerking the beginner's or novice rider's upper body out of position and the beginner moves his leg to compensate, which leaves her/him with neither upper body nor the leg where they should be. Either example will probably result in a fall and a fall that will be written off to a loss of balance, one of those things that just happens. These falls are unnecessary. They should not happen.

The early education of beginners is frequently dismissed in the United States, or at least it has been since the dissolution of the cavalry schools. If not forgotten or relegated to the lesser or less experienced instructors, they are all too often allowed to specialize too early. Often this early specialization is due to the fact that the instructor her/himself was allowed to specialize too early in a career and consequently neither has nor can teach solid, correct basics. This applies to western as well as English riding.

In order to build a strong base which will give the student a secure position from which to learn to ride, skills can only be successfully taught in one order. Each skill forms the foundation for the one above. When this is done if is possible to build a strong reliable seat quickly and efficiently thereby greatly shortening the length of time when beginners are so vulnerable. It may appear to be a slower method in the beginning and the gifted, natural riders might be able to sort things out for themselves, but average students will benefit because the length of time they are extremely vulnerable will be much shorter and their positions will be much stronger. Once this base or soft balanced seat is established these average students will usually overtake and pass others.

The Mexican vaquero, the precursor to the American cowboy, was a descendant of the Spanish clabber's or cavalry omcer who came straight out of the Spanish classical school of riding. 200 years ago there was no western/English distinction. When talking about basics, the part that the clinician or famous visiting riding instructor makes everybody do over, there is no difference between styles. The nonbeliever need only look at the various rule books, 4-H materials, and Pony Club books.

Look at the body alignment of each rider. Maybe there is a slight difference in stirrup length. Neck rein? Most modern western trainers ride two-handed at home. Cavalry Soldiers (in English or McClellan saddles) rode mostly one handed for obvious reasons. Until someone either takes a leg off the horse or adds an extra there is only one way to sit on him.

Instructors of beginners that find teaching beginners difficult, or who have problems that show up over and over often have this experience because they teach the required early skills out of order. This leads to many problems which are often attributed to other causes. Instructors of beginners who limit their lessons to start, stop and steer and maybe how to hold the reins and sitting up with "heels down" not only could be doing more, they are seriously short-changing their pupils. Experienced instructors express the importance of the "base" or the seat and leg. The reason that it is called a base is that is exactly what it is, a base or foundation for everything else. It must be in place before anything else can be added successfully.

The order in which the seat must go together is as follows:

1) Correct alignment: ear, shoulder, point of hip, back of heel in a line that is perpendicular to the horizon.

2) Drop the center of gravity as low as possible; while sitting this means a heavy seat - not an artificially depressed heel.

3) Unlock the lower back, if necessary, and teach the pupil(s) how to follow the movement of the horse's back with her/his seat.

4) Help the pupil learn to move his upper body around ever a correct leg to replace the instinct with a reflex that is safer: This is taught by means of a series of drills beginning at the standstill and being carried on through all three gaits. This can also be started in on-the-ground exercises.

5) Stabilize the lower leg absolutely at the trot. This can be done quickly if done by teaching a series of exercises and allowing the student to find the secure deep seat based on balance.

6) With a solid deep base or soft balanced seat the student will be able to have steady hands and legs that are free to communicate instructions to the horse who will be more comfortable, consequently safer, and able to do a better day's work.

7) For information on the exercises that can be used to teach these skills quickly and efficiently see the AAHS Handbook or contact the AAHS office for the clinician nearest you.

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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Why I Call It Harmony

by Jan Dawson, President, AAHS
 [Reproduced from Caution:Horses, Vol. 2, No. 2 Spring/Summer 1997]

People are always asking me why do we call this column "Harmony". Is it a plea for world peace? Or am I referring to Ray Hunt's wonderful book, "Harmony with Horses". Or maybe I have a secret desire to sing in a barbershop quartet.

It's none of the above. The title refers to that elusive feeling between horse and rider when everything is working; when the horse's feet are extensions of the rider's body and when the rider's hands truly belong to the horse. It is that perfect round of jumps. It is that rejuvenating trail ride when both the horse and the rider return refreshed and exhilarated.

"Harmony" also refers to those riding lessons when everything goes right; those times when the student can perform easily and accurately all of the teacher's instructions and the lessen horse is happily enjoying his work as well. In a harmonious barn the school horses look forward to their lessons as much as the students. In this barn the instructor looks forward to the lessons as well. They are not a chore, but a rewarding challenge.

HARMONY is a state of mind, a safe state of mind.

That all seems like a tall order but can be done. Here is the recipe:

1. The instructor must plan her week. What horses will be used with which students. She will also rough out her lesson plans and have her goals for each lesson clearly in mind.

2. The instructor will not over-schedule any horse. She will ask that the horse do only what he is comfortable doing. An uncomfortable horse is a dangerous horse. If it is necessary to make the horse briefly uncomfortable in order to teach a new skill or refine an old one, this should be done out of the lesson situation or, if within the lesson format, only with advanced students and then with great care. That is horse training and as a general rule that should be done by the instructor.

3. The instructor will always remember that requests made to the horse must be clear and only ask that the student make such requests as can be made clearly given the student's level of skill. The level of difficulty should go up in small increments. It is good to remember that the horse cannot think. He can only respond to pressure. If a request is made and the horse responds incorrectly, it is good to ask again more carefully, perhaps "rephrase" the question. Most horses think they are right and it is the rider who needs to be more clear. Even at the beginner level this is usually a serious issue, especially to the horse. And if it is important to the horse, it should be important to the instructor, as well.

4. The same rules hold for the student. The student must be reasonably able to do what is asked so increments should come slowly and in small bits. It is extremely important to understand that the student usually thinks he or she is doing what the instructor asks. Rather than becoming frustrated with continued failures, consider that the student must not be understanding the instruction, What the instructor is saying may not be what the student is hearing. Just as a trainer would do with a young horse, if the student seems to make a mistake consider rephrasing the request.

5. We must teach the student to listen to the horse to see if the application of the aids or cues have been understood; and we must listen to the student to see if our instructions were clear.

6. This is the most important ingredient. The instructor must have absolutely clear in her mind what skills are being taught. The instructor must understand each skill so that she can verbally explain each skill in a step-by-step manner. In most instances the parts of a skill must be performed in a specific order or the skill itself cannot be performed at all. For example, at the simplest level the skills for mounting must be in the correct order or the rider cannot get on the horse. Or consider the skill of a canter departure. We know that we do not want our students to be trotting faster and faster until their lesson horses fall into a canter in self-defense. No one learns anything that way. We want the student to understand how to carefully put the horse in the position to canter and then ask. The student should neither bang away with the legs nor the horse anticipate. The horse should wait until he has the whole sentence that says "canter, now". Hopefully the student's legs and hands should not say "canter sort of, like maybe sometime soon, or just forget it, NOW".

It takes two to harmonize. If one is out of tune, both sound awful. We cannot consider the horse without considering the rider, and we cannot consider the rider without considering the horse.

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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Hot Weather Hazards

by Jan Dawson, President, AAHS
[Reproduced from Caution:Horses, Vol. 2, No. 3 Summer 1997]

Summer riding presents many difficulties, but none so serious as in the hot, humid areas such as the Gulfcoast.

The often forgotten sufferer is our partner, the horse. In many areas if the horse working in the heat of the summer is sweating and has opportunities to drink fresh clean water, there need be no more worries. This is not so for the horses working in the semi-tropical areas. When heat and humidity are both high, the horse may sweat, but the sweat will not evaporate, so it is necessary to have some "alcohol water" handy to keep the horse cool. One pint of alcohol in two and one half gallons of water is a good starting place. Some prefer a stronger solution. The alcohol solution will evaporate in higher humidity and it is the evaporation that cools the horse. Put the solution an the jugular grooves, belly and inside of the hind legs.

Our veterinarians also recommend the addition of electrolytes to the feed once or twice a day whenever the temperature plus the humidity equal 140 degrees.

One should also consider the addition of selenium and vitamin E to the diet of the horse in hot weather as a preventative for tying-up, a problem which seems to plague the large muscled horses working in hot weather more than the long-muscled, rangy individuals.

One should also keep a close eye on one's horse's respiration and when it becomes elevated should give the horse an opportunity to rest while walking, Allowing the horse to stop and remain motionless while catching his breath may make him worse rather than better.

One should be especially careful if the horse's respiration is elevating yet the horse is not sweating and immediately get some cool water on the larger blood vessels such as on the neck, belly and inside the hind legs.

For riders, we do the same thing with a wet bandanna. One on also use the neck ties that are to be soaked in ice water and then tied around the neck. The crystals inside become an ice cold gel that will cool the neck and hence the rider for several hours.

The bug problem on also become more than an annoyance, it can be a danger. flies can cause kicking accidents and runaways. Riders have also been bucked off due to a horse's annoyance with a bug. Always have fly spray handy and if flies are bothersome in one's area, do not go out without it. You may even wish to ask your veterinarian to suggest a stronger mixture in the areas where the flies have become especially tolerant of the natural and more gentle repellents.

Gentle suggestions for fly repellent include vinegar, citronella oil, Skin-So-Soft bath oil mixed 1:5 with water. Remember, there are some indications that too high an oil concentration on the hair coat of a horse may interfere with the horse’s ability to sweat.

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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Is It Discipline or Revenge?

by Jan Dawson, President, AAHS
[Reproduced from Caution:Horses, Vol. 2, No. 4, Fall 1997]

For many years, actually since my first Ray Hunt clinic, I have adopted the position that, other than for an aggressive act such as biting or striking or for simply not listening, the act of disciplining a horse does no good. This stems from the belief that the horse really does always think he (or she) is right and the absolute belief that, outside of tricks, a horse can only learn one thing and that is to move away from pressure.

To make this more clear it is necessary to define "aids," "cues," and tricks. The easiest definition is that a cue is a signal that is not self-reinforcing and that results in a trick. (Be patient, we'll clear this up.)

Let's suppose that I want my horse to turn in the direction that I point with my arm when I am on him. I point my arm to the right, add the left leg, praise him or give him a treat when he does it and pretty soon he will go wherever I point at any speed. However if I point to the left and he doesn't respond, pointing "harder" is not going to help. I must go back to my leg and reinforce the meaning of the pointed arm. The pointing arm is the cue; the leg is the aid. The difference is that if he doesn't respond to the leg, I can use more leg and he will respond.

To expand this principle suppose we have taught the horse that if he feels the left heel, he should immediately strike off on the right lead. Now if we touch him with the right heel and he does not canter, kicking him harder and harder with the left heel will, by itself, not result in a right lead canter. Will a beating help? Probably not because this is a cue, not a coordinated use of the hands legs and seat.

If we ask for right lead canter by bending our horse around the inside (right) leg and pushing him into a canter with the outside (left) leg or with the right leg while controlling the hindquarters with the left leg, we are using aids not cues. We are using aids because if the horse doesn't canter we can increase with strength of the aids and allow the aids to reinforce; themselves.

But what happens if one is using aids and the horse takes the wrong lead, or just trots faster? Will discipline help? Probably not. Here's why...

The only thing the horse can learn to do except tricks, is to move away from pressure. The reason he moves is to make the pressure go away. As long as when you apply the pressure and something moves, then you know that the horse responded. It may not be the response that you wanted. But if you analyze where your legs, hands, seat were in terms of what the horse did you will discover the adjustment that you need to make. How the horse moved will tell you what you did and allow you to make the correction. When you discipline the horse at this point it is only going to confuse him.

You applied the pressure, he moved away from the pressure and then you thumped him. The next time you apply pressure, he may not move at all.

That brings us to the only time I really approve of discipline while mounted. If I apply pressure and the horse does not respond, I will reinforce the pressure and, as long as anything moves, I am happy. Then I will start over. If, however, I thump on him for not answering and then continue to thump, I have passed from discipline to revenge and revenge is cruelty.

I did not originate any of these ideas, but I agree with and promote them.

In human coaching one needs ten "attaboys' to make up for every "whatta- jerk." The same is true for horses trainers and riding instructors.

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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My Students, My Teachers

by Jan Dawson, President, AAHS
[reproduced from Caution: Horses, Vol.3, No. 1 Spring 1998]

Having just returned from the 1998 United States Pony Club Annual Meeting  where I was invited to give a workshop on "Teaching Safe Horsemanship" I am renewed, energized. It was wonderful to be with so many people who have such dedication to teaching young riders to ride well and humanely and who have a serious interest in our next generation of riding instructors.

"Accident Free Teaching and Learning" was the emphasis of the workshop. It focused on protecting the parts that the helmet doesn't cover. We confronted the issue of how an instructor can tell whether her student is ready to trot, canter or jump, and whether the common “trial and error” method is sufficient.

What skills does a rider need to be able to do any of these things? She/he must be able to sit and not fall off. Building a seat can be divided into five skills that are taught by five exercises and we covered them briefly.

Because of the one-hour time limit we hit the high points, but we went into turbo gear and finished with minutes to spare. There was standing room only on February 7 so that we were asked to repeat the whole workshop the next day.

For me, the most interesting discovery was that while every one seemed to know that a rider's teacher is her/his horse, few had given much thought to the related fact that one of the main jobs of the riding instructor is to teach the student, from the very beginning, to listen to what the horse is telling him.

A rather amazing related issue was that it was apparently another issue to say that the student is the riding instructor's teacher. It seems the same to us. If one asks a student to perform some skill and the student does not perform the expected act, just like the trainer with the young horse, the instructor must, at least, consider that the request needs to be rephrased. Students do not deliberately ignore instructions. They do not deliberately do something other than what the instructor requested. One must assume that what the instructor said was not what the student heard or understood. If the instruction doesn't work, don't keep hammering on the same request. Reword or rephrase it. Back up to the last place where the lesson was working and start over.

This is the same with advanced students and with beginners. The instructor's job is to get the lesson taught to the extent that the student can explain it back to her/him or teach the lesson to another student. If the student cannot explain the skill taught in the lesson or teach it to someone else, the skill has NOT been adequately taught, which is a different issue than “adequately learned.”

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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A Comfortable Horse Is a Safe Horse

What About Discipline?

by Jan Dawson, President, AAHS
[reproduced from fall 2001 Caution:Horses, Vol. 6, No. 3] 

How hard should I beat my horse and how often? Sometimes I wonder if that is really a dumb question. The opposite might be this. How dangerous should I let my horse get before I do something about it?

I am always amazed at how far people will let things go with their horses before they draw the line. And I am not advocating corporal punishment for horses, far from it. But if the rider or handler doesn’t set limits early and stick to them then someone is going to have to explain things to the poor horse and that is what I really hate, because the horse doesn’t know what he did or that it was wrong.

It is sort of like a child: if Mom and Dad set limits, if the limits make sense, if the limits are consistent, the kids won’t go to reform school.

On the other hand if the limits are here today and vague tomorrow then the kids know it may be worth the effort to try to wear Mom down, or play Dad off against Mom, or wait for a weak moment to get their way. Maybe they will go to juvenile hall.

Horses are not much different. If they know the rules and the rules are fair, if the rules make sense, if the rules are consistent, then the horse will be soft and easy. If not, that dumb, hard-headed, son-of-a-gun will be a rogue. (That’s where Bubba stands back and says, "I knowed I never shoulda bought him in the first place. There was just sumpthin’ about him...")

Horses do not deal with frustration well at all. They need consistency. Consistently bad is even better, in some cases, than inconsistent. They also need to respect us. We must be the herd leaders. You know the saying, "If you are not the lead dog the view never changes." Or the other favorite, "When the lowest horse in the pasture kicks you, what does that make you?"

To some people this means that we have to "show’em who’s boss." I think not, but we do have to gain and retain their respect. Do we need to punish them? Rarely. Punishment has never been shown to be much use in discouraging mistakes. It seems only to have a useful purpose when discouraging aggressive behavior and then only when the aggression was unprovoked. Punishment will sometimes be beneficial in discouraging unwanted behavior as a crack of the behind as a horse gathers himself up to rear up but that is about the only time. In most cases it would be a band aid. The rider would be treating the symptom rather than the problem.

So how do we gain this respect? In most cases we can do it the same way we do with children, often without their knowledge that it is happening. When the young child keeps getting into things he shouldn’t we have learned to redirect his behavior and give him something more appropriate to do. When a horse puts his head down to eat grass it is a mistake to rip his mouth with a severe bit when there are other options.

What other options are there? First we have to agree on the problem. To many of us the problem is not that the horse is eating grass. The problem is that he has stopped his forward motion and that he has taken his attention off the rider. Punishment is a band aid. Redirection is better. Just push the horse forward over his mouth and give him something to do.

I recently was in a barn with a young woman whose very nice horse was squeezing her up against the hitching rail. She pushed against him, told him "no" in a barely audible voice, then picked up a whip and gave him a bit of a tap. He fired at her and she ran. Now she was crying because he had kicked at her and he had learned that he could make her yield. The really sad thing was that this is not a bad horse.

There are lots of things that we could have done but the answer had to be one that would work for this owner and this horse, not for us with this horse. We recommended the John Lyons "Leading and Loading" video and taught her to use the method with another horse. We re-schooled her horse then put the two of them together. The horse now knows the rules. She knows that the rules have to be rules. Now the horse is relaxed and is not being nagged all the time.

I witnessed another case of "punishment" in the name of training. This was a situation in which a small woman was tacking up a large Oldenberg gelding. The tack fit fine and the horse had no back problems or any other physical problems but as soon as the saddle was placed on the horse’s back the horse began to fidget and when the woman began to cinch up the horse he started to paw. She took the bat she kept handy and gave him a good swat and he quit and she cinched him up tight right there in the cross ties. This was repeated for several days, sometimes even resulting in the horse’s raising a hind leg to the woman. He never kicked but each time he raised his leg she hit him smartly and jerked the cinch on up.

We had the horse in the barn for a couple of weeks before the behavior went away. We never laid a hand on the horse. He simply needed to be cinched up more slowly so we attached the girth and did other things. We tightened the girth in several stages and the behavior went away on its own. Now the horse can be cinched up fairly normally at home or at a show by just giving him a minute or two with a fairly loose girth to adjust.

I think the most common misguided punishment that I see is in the use of artificial aids. The problem is not that they are used but that they are used improperly. The whip and the spur are designed to reinforce the leg but all too often they are used to replace the leg. The result is a horse that not only does not respond to the leg but that is forced to accept the whip and spur as the regular aid. Unfortunately for the horse, the rider who makes the mistake of substituting the artificial aids for the natural ones rather than using the artificial ones to reinforce the natural ones is seldom skilled in the use of either

Lack of skill in the use of the artificial aids will often result in their overuse or unreasonable use. If there is nothing that the horse can do to make the rider stop kicking or using the whip, the horse will stop responding to either. At the absolute extreme the horse will sometimes refuse to move at all and may even lay down. Too often this situation is not recognized for what it is. It did not develop overnight. It developed because the rider did not make clear rules for the horse and stick to them. The rider also was lax in developing her own skills so that when the horse cooperated, she missed it and went on pushing. This severe a mistake will mentally destroy a sensitive horse. It can make them extremely dangerous. It is not an uncommon occurrence. Few horses are born aggressive. Some are made so. Many are made mental wrecks. All are accomplished by insensitive riders.

Gain a seat. Learn the aids. Listen to your horse. There isn’t much else.

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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The Goal of a Lesson

by Jan Dawson, President, AAHS
[reproduced from the Winter 2001 issue of Caution:Horses]

When we walk into the arena do we always know what we want to have accomplished by the time we walk out? This is a critical question, one that is easy for the well prepared, professional instructor to answer but difficult for the instructor who is flying blindly.

If the instructor has taken the time to write the program down lesson by lesson then s/he has a fair idea of what is on the schedule for each day. This does not mean that the instructor has no flexibility, or that s/he gets only one day on each lesson, or that each lesson can only be taught one way. It simply means that, just like a professional classroom teacher, or any professional teacher, she stays on schedule and on task with a specific focus in mind.

Lacking that specific focus is the fatal flaw in many a lesson. It is the difference between the lesson that is nothing more than a pony ride and the lesson where the student leaves the arena with increased skills and work to process for the next session.

Many instructors ask, “Why should I write this program down? I know it by heart. I have been teaching it for years.” One may have been teaching for years but when one attempts to put the program on paper, even with the help of a friend, one often finds that there are many muddled areas. What seemed so clear may suddenly be a bit confused. It is easy to say, “I really have this in hand; I just can’t write it down, but when I am in the arena it is all clear.” Is it really?

When we are in the arena, we have many ways to cover up the messy areas of our logic. We can postpone the exercise. We can go on to something else. We can blame the horse. We can leave out that step entirely. Or we can wait until the student figures the problem out for himself. How often do we hear, “Well, they are beginners, what do you expect.” Is the problem that we just cannot put the idea down on paper? Can do it in the arena but we just cannot put the ideas down the way we want?

Writing down a lesson plan is just about the best way to discover whether or not one truly understands the material. If the teacher has the material well under control it is no problem to write lesson plans and divide the plans into meaningful units with interesting activities and goals and sub-goals. If this cannot be efficiently done, then the teacher probably does not adequately understand the material.

If the material is understood, it should be possible for the student who just learned it to teach it to the next student in a clear and systematic manner. Of course, if the material was not presented that way in the first place then that won’t happen. Asking a student to teach something to another will let the instructor know quickly if s/he is making the material as clear as s/he thinks. This is a good test at any time to see if the students are learning what the teacher thinks they are learning.

Why not try it? First, try to write down the program from first mounting through first canter. Second, take any lesson and ask one student to teach what you have just taught to a new student or another student. Hint: If the teacher has to help…

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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Her Helmet Saved Her Life

By Jan Dawson, President, AAHS
[reproduced from Spring 2002 Caution:Horses]

The trainer had just finished schooling an 8-year old, experienced horse.  They had completed a highly successful show season a couple of months before and were moving on into some new territory including flying changes and some more sophisticated lateral work.  The horse worked well and had worked hard, so the pair headed for the trail to cool out.

About half a mile from the arena they crossed a dry creek bed without incident, taking a path they had taken many times before.  They often had schooling sessions in the pasture so the arena work would not be so boring.

That was the last thing the rider remembered until she woke up in her house and heard someone on the telephone.  Her first thought was, “Oh my, here I am in the middle of the day, lying in bed, fully dressed with my spurs on and I still have horses to ride.”  The voice on the phone was the 911 dispatcher who wanted to know if she needed an ambulance after her fall.  “I guess so,” she said, “since I don’t really remember much about riding the horse.”

The doctor in the emergency room told her that if she had not been wearing her helmet she would have been a fatality; as it was she had a mild concussion.

* * *

That was January 23, 2002 and I still have no memory of the incident.  The ground was all torn up where my horse blew up and all I can think is that something must have really jumped up underneath him.  It was too early for snakes and he isn’t afraid of them anyway.  Not much bothers him.  Ground bees?  Who knows?

I sent my helmet in to the distributor thinking that it would find nothing and that I was really being a wimp.  All that was on the outside was a little smudge.  Little did I know.  The engineers determined from analyzing the material inside the helmet that I took a 1400 G-force blow on a 2 square inch area of my head.  They estimated that the helmet reduced the blow to 450 G-forces.  The helmet definitely saved my life or at the very least kept me from drooling on my shirt in a vegetative state for the remainder.

I have been used to wearing my helmet for nearly 10 years now to the point that sometimes I will catch myself still wearing it when I drive to town.  I wear an Aussie Outback and find that even in the summer my head doesn’t sweat.  However, before this accident I have begun to look longingly at the cute visors my friends wear.  Some visors have dressage horses on them. Other visors can match your tee shirt or your britches.  I had begun to think that both of my show horses were too old and had too much training to really commit an atrocity.  In a million years I would have never believed that this horse could have been made to blow up that badly.  Yet all over the country I teach just the opposite. A horse is always a horse and will always be a horse and horses are always unpredictable and can react suddenly.

I still have no memory of the incident.  The effects of the accident are still around but much less and not as funny.  I no longer call home several times to tell my husband that I have arrived at my destination safely.  I can remember now that I have already done it.  I have stopped calling people two and three times for the same thing – that got a little embarrassing.

Forty-eight hours after the accident I was presenting two workshops to the American Youth Horse council and I had to begin by telling the audience that if I started talking gibberish to just stop me and I would start over.  The talks apparently made sense but I do not remember giving them.  The periods of disorientation have subsided and I no longer am dizzy when I ride.  Do I expect this horse to do this again?  Of  course 

Would I have been better off in a sell-worked arena?  Sure, but will I now only ride in controlled situations on soft, well-worked surfaces?   No way.  Will I ever consider trading my helmet for a visor or cap because it looks cool?  When pigs fly!

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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Competency of Summer Staff

by Jan Dawson, President of AAHS
[reproduced from Summer 2002 Caution:Horses]

The summer clinic season is over and I believe that we are seeing a trend, at least in the hiring practices of the camps that have been with us for several years. We are seeing older staff. We are seeing staff with more experience. We are seeing staff with more documented formal training and we are seeing more money spent on hiring more qualified people backed up by personnel that function as assistants. This has been refreshing.

In previous years we have had to deal with the young, inexperienced people as potential riding instructors and it is difficult. The problems are many. If the person has been riding without supervision all his life he may have many bad and dangerous habits. It is not the same as if the person has made a living riding 8 or 10 horses a day or training that many or taking that many lessons.

If the person has been showing many years but has ridden very little outside of an arena and has ridden mostly her own horse and/or only nice horses, life with a string of 22 leased camp horses, and a system of rocky trails and mountain lions may be just a bit different.

A 40-hour clinic is not enough time to make up for the difference in experience.

Unfortunately the person doing the hiring may be a horse fan but not a rider and certainly not an instructor or trainer. This is compounded by the problem that what was okay in the early 60’s is probably not okay today. Much of this has to do with what the medical community now knows about many injuries that were formerly thought to be minor. One only has to consider the former attitudes towards a concussion to understand this.

We also used to think it was fine to make a person get right back on a horse after an accident. Now we insist that everyone be checked out be a physician. At least one major organization has a rule that following any fall on the event ground the victim must be examined by the show physician before being permitted to remount. Period. No matter to whom the fall happens or where it happens.

Another problem is what the parents believe they have given permission for their children to do and under what circumstances. If we were to tell the parents that we were going to keep their kids hundreds of miles away, take them for horseback rides into rugged country on horses that we didn’t know very well, and that we might have really bad, scary weather that could spook the horses, they might have second thoughts. Now suppose we tell the parents that the ride will be led by guides who, before this summer, have never ridden in this terrain, or even outside of an arena very much, don’t know these horses and, even though the camp brochure advertises (promises) “riding instructors” these kids have never given a lesson before this summer.

If we have an accident do you think that the parents will have a valid argument when they say, “I didn’t know all that when I signed the release that they sent me.” Other parents would understand that statement and parents sit on juries.

For that reason I am ecstatic that we are seeing older, more experienced, formally trained summer staff. Relieved is probably more accurate.

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced:  Check One

by Jan Dawson, President of AAHS
[reproduced from Winter 2002 Caution:Horses]

Many forms for lesson and trails rides ask this question of new customers:  are you a beginner, intermediate or advanced rider? 

Depending on the discipline, area, type of program, general experience, or necessity of learning, the same person might be characterized as any of these at any time.  The situation is not improved by asking how many lessons someone has had because the person that grew up on a ranch in Montana or South Texas probably never had any lessons.  He will say, I never had a lesson but I have been riding all my life." 

Unfortunately, the sentence, "I've been riding all my life" is the same statement that the weekend rider will make and this rider will not understand that his hour or two once a week for many years does not equal 10 to 12 hours a day doing cow work on a horse to make a living for the family. 

A "D3" level Pony Clubber is in the lowest level but by general standards no one would call someone who has passed her "D3" exam a beginner.  Some riding programs will move students into what they call the "advanced class" as soon as they have experienced their first canter or gone over their first crossed poles even though their balance on the horse may be extremely precarious.  It is the terminology of that barn.  When that student goes to camp or on a trail ride he or she will say "I am in the advanced class at my riding school."  To most people that statement would not signify a student who could barely trot and only do a little canter. 

Experienced instructors and trainers are accustomed to this problem and simply go with the flow.  Most tend to run all students through the basics anyway to make sure there are no glaring holes that need to be fixed.  It gives them a chance to evaluate, rebalance and formulate a plan for the student. 

Trail ride wranglers, inexperienced instructors teaching without supervision (not a good idea ever), and horse sellers may not be so aware that the student knows only what his or her lesson program has taught him, or less if he is guessing.  He has learned a scale for beginner, intermediate, and advanced and does not realize that it is not universal.  The youngster who has been taking riding lessons and been learning to jump in a nice ring may be unaware when she goes to try out her first horse to take home that riding in the pastures and meadows is quite different.  It may be different to the horse too, often with disastrous results. 

Questions that an experienced instructor or trainer will ask automatically may not occur to the inexperienced.  Where have you been taking your lessons, in a ring only or do they include cross-country?  If you are learning Western Pleasure, have you ridden only this type of horse or have you ridden out of the arena?  Where do you plan to ride this horse?  Is this comparable to where you have taken your lessons?  You have ridden all you life but what training have you  had?  What type of accidents have you had and what do you believe to have been the causes? 

If the questions are for a public trail ride where the guest is likely to go one time and not be around for a whole week as with a guest ranch, the questions become critical and the ride needs to be managed as if all riders are BEGINNERS unless different information can be documented.  Wranglers would want to know the following:  Have you ridden before?  How many times?  Have you had lessons?  How many?  Have you owned your own horse?  How long did you have your own horse? 

Because of the terminology and self-evaluation problems, it is impossible to safely take a ride out without a pre-ride skills test.  Just because a wrangler demonstrates skills to a bunch of people does not mean that they can do them.  Having the skills test is insurance for the wrangler and ranch that not only were the customers shown the skills but they had to demonstrate an ability to perform them. 

The skills test sort of takes the place of the instructors going through the basics with everyone just to make sure that there is nothing missing.  The skills test will also let the wrangler see if any horse/rider combination does not work or if some one is going to be so nervous as to be a danger to himself or a hazard to others. 

Beginner, intermediate, and advanced should not mean much to the people with the responsibility for safety.  They are only labels and will never give anyone reliable information about anything other than a rider's perception of his or her own skills or a parent's perception of the skills of their child - and that is another can of worms altogether.

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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Procedural ‘Spring Cleaning’

By Jan Dawson, President, AAHS
[reproduced from Spring 2003 issue of Caution:Horses]

Spring is the time for cleaning.  We begin by cleaning and storing winter blankets.  Then we at least think about cleaning all that tack and equipment that is seldom used but no one can seem to throw away.  Maybe this is the year we will have a sale or put it on Ebay.  We will paint the jumps and fences, pick up branches, really clean the trailer, and maybe even completely clean the tack and feed rooms.

Spring is a good time to expand this cleaning mode from the physical to the administrative and procedural.  It is a good idea to have an attorney look at our forms every year in case there have been some changes in the law.  He or she should have notified us but it never hurts to check.  It is a good idea, also to get a fresh release from each customer each year.  That way we know we have a current one and we also know we haven’t misplaced one.

Why stop with the forms?  When was the last time we really looked at the barn rules?  Do they need changing?  Are we sure that each customer has a copy and that they signed an agreement to follow them?  Are our sign up to date?  Do they need to be freshened?

When was the last time the procedures manual was updated?  Has it ever been rewritten?  When was the last time that we checked to see if the staff was still reading it as part of the hiring procedure?  Should the staff have a copy of their own?  Spring is a great time to go over the procedure manual with the staff and update it since we will soon begin hiring seasonal summer staff.  What do we need to add to the manual so that it is complete for the summer staff as well?

Many problems can be avoided by having facility rules clearly posted for staff, students, and customer.  All customers, students, and staff should have personal copies as well.

The following is a sample list of possible facility rules.  Remember, these rules are for everyone so that all persons are safe and everyone understands the “Safety Is No Accident” philosophy of the barn.

SAMPLE FACILITY RULES FOR

STAFF, STUDENTS, AND CUSTOMERS

HELMETS WILL BE WORN AT ALL TIMES WHILE GROOMING, TACKING UP, RIDING, OR LUNGEING HORSES.  NO EXCEPTIONS.

BARN

1.         No unauthorized personnel are allowed in the barn.

2.         Stall doors will be all the way open or all the way closed—not half open.

3.         Each horse’s halter and lead will stay on his stall door or his paddock gate or in his tacking area—it goes where he goes.

4.         Horses will be tied only to designated hitching rails with quick release knots.

5.         No horse is to be left tied and unattended.

6.         Horses will not be hand fed.  Put treats in a small bucket or, better yet, in the horse’s feeder.

7.         Horses will be properly cooled and groomed before returning to the stall.

8.         All tack will be cleaned before putting it away.

9.          Personal equipment will be put in the proper place.

10.       All stall cleaning equipment must be put away.

11.       Whistle or talk before walking through a doorway or around a corner into the barn.

FEED ROOM

1.         No unauthorized personnel are allowed in the feed room.

2.            Customers wishing to change feed for their horses should see the manager.

3.         Feed room must be kept neat and clean at all times.

ENCLOSED RIDING AREAS

1.         ALL GATES MUST BE CLOSED WHEN RIDING.

2.        Unused jump cups must be removed to appropriate containers.

3.         Except in designated jumping areas, jump standards and poles should be put away when not in use.

4.         Lessons have priority in the covered arena during bad weather. (Bad may mean extremely hot.)

5.         Do not open sliding doors in covered arena without permission of riders within because it can startle a horse.

6.         If you get equipment out, put it back.

7.         Please check footing before you ride, especially in bad weather.

8.         Please be considerate of less experienced riders.  Don’t allow your enjoyment of the facility to ruin theirs.

9.         Basic Arena Etiquette:

i.            Left track has the right of way.

ii.            Try to pass left shoulder to left shoulder.

iii.            Let other riders know when you are approaching from behind and on which side you intend to pass by calling “inside” or “rail pleas.”  Make certain that there is enough room, at least 8’.  Many horses do not like to be crowded from behind.

iv.            Look behind you before stopping suddenly

v.            Call you line while jumping by saying “heads up.”  Stop to avoid a close call or collision no matter who has the right of way.

vi.            Call diagonals before crossing the arena in a strong gait.  Stop to avoid a close call or collision no matter who has the right of way.

vii.            Always keep the arena gait closed.

10.       Always dismount to open and close gaits.

11.       No unsupervised jumping is permitted.

TRAILS AND CROSS-COUNTRY AREAS

1.         Ride only on designated trails unless other arrangements are made.

2.         Do not ride where other horses are turned out.

3.         Do not ride alone.

4.         Always let an instructor know where you are going and when you will be back

5.         No unsupervised jumping is permitted.

6.         Check both sides of all jumps before jumping.

7.         Absolutely no running of horses is permitted.

8.         Keep all gates closed.

9.         Trail rides are conducted at the walk only.

10.       Let the instructor know when you will be back to the barn.

11.       Cool out all horses and put away all equipment.

12.       Walking only is allowed on trails unless by prior arrangement.  We do have schooling areas and jumps on trails but you must have an instructor present or make arrangements for their use.

PASTURES AND PADDOCKS

1.         Check with the manager before turning any horse out anywhere.  There is a turnout schedule in use.

2.            Students are not permitted to enter pastures or paddocks to catch or turn out horses without an instructor or working student present.

3.         Leave halter and leads on the gate where the horse is turned out.

4.         Keep all gates closed at all times.

5.         Check all pastures and paddocks for water daily and clean if necessary.  Horses don’t like dead squirrels or manure in their water.

6.         Report all fence problems immediately to the office no matter how minor.

These rules form only a sample.  It is a good idea to include all staff in basic staff training so that each person who represents your barn has been trained to handle horses the same way.  They also all need to know the same rules and be aware that every one should help keep our customers and each other safe.

Spring is such a good time to renew.  Let’s not forget that the fundamental structures need renewal also.

"Reprinted with permission of the copyright holder and the American Association for Horsemanship Safety.   P.O. Box 39, Fentress, TX 78622."

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"Permissible" Accidents and Their Prevention

by Jan Dawson, President, AAHS
[reproduced from Winter 2003 Caution:Horses, Volume 8, No. 3]

Teaching the Equine Safety/Liability and Risk Reduction Workshop always brings interesting questions. The questions are usually asked as if they are about professional liability. To me they are safety questions asked by horse people from various disciplines and from various parts of the country who have an interest in horsemanship safety - whether they know it or not.

We at AAHS have from the beginning presented safety lectures and workshops under the guise of liability for the specific purpose of raising the interest level. I realized early on that if we hung out a sign that said " SAFETY LECTURE 7:00 PM" only a few people would show up unless we had free food and famous people doing demonstrations. However, if the sign said, "HORSEMAN'S LIABILITY LECTURE/ LAWSUIT AVOIDANCE" we could fill the room and charge for the food.

A bogus trick? I think not. The only way I know to avoid a lawsuit absolutely is to not have the accident. I am not talking about winning the lawsuit or whether a lawsuit may be frivolous if brought, simply avoiding all suits. The only way to do that is to avoid all accidents.

Is that possible? Probably not. Can people be educated about accidents and learn to have fewer of them? Absolutely.

A majority of the questions lead me to believe that many professionals believe that there are permissible accidents and impermissible accidents. They see the hand of God acting alone in places where an accident was facilitated by human hands.

I discovered that a number of people believe that if a horse spooks or stumbles or bolts, the horse is just being a horse, and these are, therefore, accidents that one can live with.

This is not necessarily so. One must take each instance in its own context. Let's assume that these accidents are happening in the context of a riding lesson or commercial trail ride. In these contexts the riders are looking to professionals to provide the service of either a guided trail ride or a riding lesson. The rider is also looking to the professional for the selection of either the trail horse or the lesson horse.

Suppose Customer Frank tells the trail ride wrangler that he has ridden off and on all his life or even owned his own horse. Wrangler Bob gives him an "advanced" horse. This horse spooks or bucks when Frank holds the reins too tight, or, maybe, runs off after spooking at a deer when Frank leans forward and puts his heels accidentally in the horse's flanks.

Lesson Student, Mary told the instructor she had taken riding lessons for several years and even entered in several jumping shows. She is given a sensitive little jumper suitable for advanced riders but the horse reacts to Mary's hands and inability to support her horse, stops at the first jump and Mary falls off. Maybe the horse pitches a fit about Mary's hands during a lesson or warm-up and Mary falls off.

Neither Frank's nor Mary's falls would be "okay accidents" yet in each case the rider has made representations that completely fit with their interpretation of their own experience. Failing to understand the problems that this miscommunication can cause and failing to understand what procedures to put in place to prevent inexperienced staff from being taken by surprise as a result can be a CAUSE of accidents as well as a CAUSE of lawsuits, some of which might be successful.

Many riders who have ridden off-and-on during their lives may consider themselves "advanced" riders. They may also represent that they have been "riding all my life" but their perception of their own skills may be different than what the professional perceives as an "advanced" rider. One would hope that the professional considers him or herself to be an advanced rider. Does this customer ride to that level? Only a carefully evaluated pre-ride skills test or careful introductory lesson will tell for sure.

In a lesson situation, evaluation of the rider is easier. One may begin at the bottom and proceed through all the basics as rapidly as the rider's level of skill permits but the instructor will have a good idea of what the rider's skill level really is. This process prevents over-mounting and the even-more-dangerous practice of starting the rider at the level that the rider maintains is the correct one but may not be. Few programs will agree on the terms "beginner", "intermediate", and "advanced" and few riders can accurately evaluate their own capabilities.

Over-mounted riders create a potential danger to other customers. Do the barn rules cover these problems so that you can legitimately ask a rider to stop a certain behavior or find other accommodations for his horse? Some of the Equine Activity Statutes deal with the issue of a collision with another participant in an equine activity as an inherent risk of horseback riding. Not all do. It is not clear what would be the legal outcome after a collision that was caused by an out-of-control horse with a history of not being under control.

Many questions at the workshops focus on the rider with his own horse which offers special problems. If the rider has been riding previously with a trainer and the trainer has been riding the horse also several times a week or a month, the rider may not know if the trainer was only keeping the horse tuned up or actually making it possible for the owner to ride the horse safely. In some situations the possibility of this owner/rider becoming the principal rider of the horse was never anticipated and has never been discussed.

The professional may be faced with an amateur owner/rider who has no clue about the horse he is riding beyond what the rider was taught for the show ring. It may take some special attention to keep this situation from becoming a problem.

The over-mounted rider is common to many 4-H Horse Clubs. It is not as much of a problem in the bigger show barns where riders have assistance in selecting horses and often buy known individuals out of the same barn. The over-mounted-rider is a bigger problem in the smaller, neighborhood barns. The rider can be an adult or a child. The adult, or the child's parents, may simply not recognize the danger.

You as the professional do (or should) recognize the danger. It is always possible that the nearest professional will be named in the lawsuit. That does not mean that the lawsuit will be successful against you but you will still have to defend yourself. Your insurance company will come into play and your rates may go up, or worse. If there is a way to remedy the situation before an accident happens it is a good idea to do so, even if you do not believe that it is your direct responsibility.

If the situation has no remedy, you are sitting on the horns of a dilemma. We seldom see the horse to be boarded before it comes in. Potential boarders should fill out an information sheet about their horse and address the issues of vices, history and training. You need not accept for boarding a horse that poses a potential danger to other customers. It is easier to turn away a boarder than to be rid of a difficult one.

Sometimes the best we can do is to have some carefully drafted indemnification language in the boarding contract that relates to the boarders' responsibility for reimbursement to the Stable for all damage above a certain amount caused by this horse whether the damage is to persons or property. All riders should have medical insurance before being permitted to ride.

Over-mounted adults who are responsible for their own behavior and safety are a risk to other riders or other people, horses and property. The danger lies in the adult's inability to manage his own horse. Will your barn rules help you? Will they help you more if they are incorporated into your boarding contract? What about making these control issues part of the terms for eviction? While the answer to some of these questions may not be so clear, common sense is usually a safe guide. That would be your common sense as a horse professional.

When the over-mounted rider is a child the situation is more complicated and your duty to step in is probably better defined. The issue is cloudy when the parents do not know anything about horses and have bought one for their child. The best thing that can happen in that case is for the child to be in lessons and the horse to be in training. That is not always within the means of the parents. What needs to stay uppermost in the barn owner's or manager's mind is that accidents hurt a business' reputation.

It is possible to go over all the paperwork before accepting a boarder. There is time not only to explain all the paper work but also to ask questions about the horse and rider that may be coming in. You can have criteria that determine which customers you will be willing to accept for the safety of those that are already there. If that is too difficult, you can have barn rules and procedures that will allow you to isolate problem horse/rider combinations. If these procedures are made known in advance, and it need not be phrased in unpleasant terms, it can be made palatable.

The questions about drugs and alcohol use in the barn were always easy questions. Don't do it and don't allow it. If you have a barn party - watch the kids and keep the party away from the horses.

It is surprising to me, but I guess that it should not be, that the same questions keep coming up over and over. Simply stated, the situation seems to be that many horse professionals would like to pass the responsibility for whatever happens to the adult amateur customer even though almost all of the professionals will agree that this same adult amateur cannot evaluate correctly his or her own ability. This seems to be true whether it is a trail ride, or lesson or an over-mounted rider. The same professionals want the parents to accept responsibility for things they as parents don't understand. The only way that will work is to train the parents as well as their child.

If we understand that the rider cannot correctly evaluate his or her abilities then it is silly to rely on such an evaluation. The same goes for parents attempting to evaluate their kids.  This puts the professional in the position of knowingly allowing the rider to be in a situation where, if something unpredictable happens, an accident is not only foreseeable, it is probable.

Accidents are bad for business and it is best to avoid all of them. The more help you can gi