Have you ever met a robot horse?

This is a horse that will do what you ask, but without much heart. She is not enthusiastic about her job.

People who have performance horses will often remark on a horse that is “off their game” or not as much fun to ride as they used to be. More astute performers will recognize that the horse needs something – but they don’t know quite what it is. They do know that they need to change it up – give that horse a vacation or give them something different to do.

When I see horses come into liberty work who act like robots, I know they have been overexposed in some way. They have been trained a lot, and rigidly, with very specific goals. It doesn’t happen in all disciplines but happens mostly in those where the horse is expected to do the same thing every day, without any cross training or relief.

The robot horse will do the Liberty Foundations but she will do them as though she is just doing them to get it over with or because she thinks it’s what you want. There is a quality to her movement that is rushy, or dismissive, or both.

In liberty work, we learn to watch very carefully to see how the horse is responding. Most people are accustomed to seeing robot horses so they figure the horse is doing what we ask in liberty and what a good girl she is. But she is not doing it with a light and joyful heart.

We need to let her know that she has plenty of options, and that what we’re doing comes with no expectations.

Although liberty trained, my horse Patches will give a perfect demonstration of a robot horse if I put him in the round pen. He’s extremely good at it, because he experienced years of this type of training as well as had specific training to be a therapeutic riding horse. I put him in there to roll and to do liberty walking or trotting with me. He now knows if I put him in the round pen, it’s not to become a robot. All my work with him involves lightness and play.

How we know our horse is not a robot is by watching:

• Eyes
• Ears
• Posture
• Demeanor

This is different from a horse that is trained to do a particular job like reining and is concentrated on the rider’s cues. Usually her ears are halfway back, listening. Such a horse is very attentive, and highly tuned in to the slightest movement of the rein and leg. I’ve ridden one of these horses and I can tell you it was a joy. This horse loved to pay attention and move in quick purposeful ways. You’d better be ready! Her eyes were clear, and her posture and demeanor spoke readiness. She knew her job and enjoyed doing it well.

An endurance horse on race day. My horses became much more excited on ride day than

they were on their common conditioning rides. Usually there was some shifting of feet and snorting while I was saddling up. I’d get into the saddle and we might have a little dancing. Eyes bright, ears mostly forward, though they would listen to me too. They were fit, their posture was straight and their demeanor was anticipatory. They knew what was ahead and they looked forward to it. This is a situation where they would get to run with other horses, and honestly, they could choose to listen to me or not. But they did.

If ever these horses tired of what they were doing, then they would get a rest. Easy trail rides, no competitions, something to nourish the soul. Part of this is to keep an eye on how the horse feels about his work, making sure to change what you’re doing often, whether doing Liberty training or saddle work.

Not everyone who competes successfully and lovingly does Liberty Foundations, of course, but they have identified ways to keep their horses enjoying their work, and recognize when they need a change or need to retire.

One way we can work with robot horses is to simply do the Liberty Foundations. Eventually, the robotic behavior will diminish. Occasionally it resurfaces, especially when triggered by some old memory, but the old memory will not have as much cache once the Liberty Foundations are in place.

(c) Susan Smith, OrthoHorse, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, Equine Body Balance (TM)

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