I Hate my job!!!!!

We as horse riders enjoy certain disciplines, be it trail riding, dressage, jumping, barrels, team penning whatever. But what happens when what you love, isn't quite what your partner had in mind??

OK now check out this picture. This is a horse than is totally un-enthused about his job. This is a 5 yr old Reg. Qtr Horse for sale for $10,000. He was first trained in dressage and apparently did very well at it. Now, here his ears are set in an annoyed position, he's jumping lazily, and hie eye expression screams "I need more fun!" or "Kill me now!" Now he could have a more interested expression if say the jump was set a bit higher, or he wasn't jumping at all but sticking with his dressage. This also could be why they're selling him too, the girl may want to jump, and obviously, he doesn't!

NOW, some horses, are lazy bums. I have had a few of those where they are just un-enthused about a lot of different things. For some other horses, it's merely trial and error. Finding a happy medium between what you are interested in and what your horse is interested in. It's very important to observe the expressions and actions of your horse whilst asking him to perform a certain task. And just because your horse doesn't "like" to run fast, doesn't mean you can't gallop him every now and then.

Now Some horses were just trained improperly and made to hate their job due to too much stress, being over-worked, being harshly trained, etc. and unfortunately it could take you a bit of time to try and sweeten up his end of the deal so he and you can enjoy it!

I train a horse who HATES to be in the arena and she just LOVES the trails. She will be absolutely perfect on the trails, and a stinker in the arena. But when it's raining she MUST be ridden in the arena, so it's up to me to try and alleviate her distress at being worked at something she doesn't like and make it tolerable for her.

Like I said, just because your horse doesn't want to be a Grand Prix jumper, or a dressage horse, or a speed event horse, does not mean that you can't still dabble in those other disciplines for fun! Just be aware to not FORCE your horse into something that they aren't willing to do safely! There is, however a difference in protesting because he's a green horse and he's confused, and protesting because you're taking a dressage horse and asking him chase cows!

It's also not only for your horses happiness, but for yours and his safety, as a horse who is disinterested can become very lazy and careless about his job. Get distracted and make some pretty serious errors. It's also VERY important that while training a horse in a certain discipline that you allow them breaks in between so they don't get burnt out. Remember always put yourself in your partners shoes and think OUTSIDE the box!