Effects of our breathing on the horse

[kedwards]

In working with and riding horses, I've borrowed a trick from my "real world" job as a Psychologist. I try to be aware of my breathing and I intentionally slow my breathing when I want to have a calming effect on others. I even exaggerate this effect by making a long, audible sound from time to time as I breathe out.

I've found this to be as effective with horses as it is with other humans and I often find myself unconsciously making audible "sighs" when I'm working to relax a nervous horse.

Yesterday, I was riding a friend's sweet little TB who is inclined to get nervous and quicken in her tempo when she first starts out. When I focused on slowing her tempo, she readily accomodated my request, but she also did the cutest thing. Every time I made a long audible exhale, she followed with a big sigh of her own.

[laura jeanne]

I've tried doing the same thing but also to relax myself! When I can be relaxed everywhere and not tense in my shoulders or elsewhere, I can feel the difference in my horse. It worked very well on my old RS horse who would get more and more tense as the lesson went on (my fault i'm sure).

Last year at a dude ranch in Bandera, TX, the owner had her horses trained so that when you let out a big breath, the horse would take that as a cue to speed up (walk to trot for example). Last weekend, riding Scooter (my new fav) on a trail ride, I was trying to relax myself and took a couple of deep breaths and when I breathed out, she just went lightly up into a very nice canter! Maybe this is a western horse training approach?

[nirikina]

I even exaggerate this effect by making a long, audible sound from time to time as I breathe out.

I do this on nervous horses, hoping that if they can hear that I'm relaxed maybe they'll relax too!

[varkie]

Mark Rashid (NH Trainer) talks a lot about the benefit of using your breathing in riding your horse. I can't do specifics right now, as am just trying to get to that bit on his DVD! He talked a lot about it in a clinic earlier this year, and I was quite shocked, as I seem to be taking lots of shallow breaths when I should be taking longer deeper ones. He talks also about breathing in or out at certain times to make it easier for the horse to do particular things.

[jUmPingIsLifE]

horses really do pick up on every little thing. I too will often slow things down by slowing my breathing and making a point to take long deep breaths and it calms me down and the horse. i was working tahoe once and having a wicked hard time with him we were working on a 20m circle and i was trying to get him to relax and round up and i let out a deep breath and the second i did bam i felt his whole body relax and he stopped fighting my body. i felt quite bad knowing it was obviously my tense riding he was being so abrasive too.

[Portia]

i do the same with mine - deep sighs and a sort of hum going from a higher to a lower pitch :) i use it if the mare starts getting anxious about something and she does calm with it. a slow low voice helps too.

friends think im mad of course.....

[Rips]

Yep, it definately does have an effect! I used to wonder why Mocha would stop dead after a round of jumping, when usually she'd be pointing herself at the next availible jump until YO pointed out that as soon as *I* finish I drop back into the saddle with a sigh of relief and immediately she picks this up ands drops straight into a walk from a canter!
How cute about the TB :)

Edited to add: Alot of people accidently hold their breaths going over a fence too, it definately tenses up the horse. Its a really annoying habit to get out of aswell, I had to keep talking over the fence so I wouldn't subconciously hold my breath!

[intouch]

When I'm riding I always have a tune going round in my head, it helps me keep rhythm and makes me breathe regularly. When I was teaching I encouraged riders to do the same, and also to breathe in and then out as they made a transition or half halt, specially the downard transitions. I used to get the little ones to sing ba ba black sheep to help them with rising trot. :D

[MadeYaLook]

I echo the other replies here as a rider when I make a conscience effort to breath you can definitely feel the difference in the horse something that was brought to my attention even more so a few weeks ago when I took a lesson from a new dressage instructor who told me my mare was the type that was like "riding with a firecracker in your back pocket" and the first exercise we worked on was stopping on the quarter points on a 20m circle by squeezing the reins and exhaling not pulling on her mouth at all and then standing untill she took a breath and chewed-then using this as my half-halt signal and WOW what a difference it made through the entire lesson after!
I then used the same technique with some of my more up students and or horses and they all saw the same results.
Interestingly enough I also found that I was not as tired after the lesson because since I was breathing my muscles were not as tensed. :D :D

[Lindsayanne]

Interesting thread. I've always noticed deep, even breathing helps my riding and helps my horse move better, but never tried/noticed it around nervous horses. I'll have to try! I'm working with Regal right now to teach him to transition down when I exhale. It's pretty neat to think something so subtle communicates so much.

I wonder, does yawning have the same/similar effect? I had a veterinary behaviorist tell me that excessive (fake) yawning can help calm a dog who's bothered by thunderstorms.

[pengapenga]

This is a very interesting thread :) I too have noticed that my breathing has an effect on Frits.

As to yawning to calm a dog in a thunderstorm that is one I have not heard before, going to try it with my dog as she gets upset during a storm. :)

[Casey76]

I always breathe out deeply when I'm doing a downward transition, especially from walk/halt.

I'll also breathe out deeply if Pinto steps out *too* much when were out and about, and if I made it really audible, he'll usually follow with a big sigh too :D

[smaggi]

I always breathe out deeply when I'm doing a downward transition, especially from walk/halt.

I'll also breathe out deeply if Pinto steps out *too* much when were out and about, and if I made it really audible, he'll usually follow with a big sigh too :D

That's the way my horse reacts. When I let a big breath out, he slows down or stops and I sometimes get a sigh or yawn from him. We ride western and all of our horses respond this way.

[hackedoff]

Thats exactly how I ride, especially Wizard, who can be ridden on breath cues alone. You can also go up a gear with this technique- imagine taking a big breath up into your diaphram as if you were going to burst into your favourite karaoke song :D Its exciting when you discover this, I tried it on my trail horse on holiday in Colorado this year and he got it too. The wranglers were so impressed at how I never had to kick or yank my horse that they gave me a special award at the end of the week!

[Montana]

When I rode with Mark Rashid earlier this year, much of our work was based around breathing. I knew I had an issue with holding my breath, but my horse was picking up on this to such an extent that he was holding his breath too. :( .When we were loping, it took a good 2-3 large circuits before I was breathing enough to let Monty breath. And when he did, the breath came out in one big grunt, it was such an effort for him. Then he was taking huge gulps of air. Talk about feeling guilty, my tension had effectively blocked him to such an extent that he literally couldn't breathe :eek:

We moved onto working on transitions and extended the breathing exercises to start to influence the transition. Monty tends to need very subtle cues, otherwise he over reacts. Even a kiss noise can sometimes be enough to launch him into a big trot, when I'm looking for a small western jog. Mark's saying, which I find really influential, was 'exhale on the exertion'. I started with firstly making sure I was breathing smoothly, then taking a deep breath, and audibly letting this out, with a fairly fast breath. He floated into his jog! :p It's incredible stuff......

The other thing I find is that if Mont is tense, like with some of the other responses to this thread, all I need to do to start to calm him down, is to sigh heavily. He 9 times out of 10 sighs back, and starts to relax :D It's eye-opening, how subtle our signals need to be! Worrying too - once he gets really tuned in, which we're working on, what happens if I cough or something ;)

[laura jeanne]

Montana, it sounds then, like your horse will go from walk to trot on your exhale? This is what I was talking about in my reply but it sounds like others use an exhale just to slow down.

[Peace]

Strange you should bring this up!

You know, in Centered Riding, Sally Swift has breathing as one of her "Four Basics." She also talks about its calming effect on the horse. Well, anyway, this weekend Quanah and I had our first lesson together in about a month, due to scheduling conflicts with his trainer, and since we were only focusing on getting reacquainted I was practicing my "Sally Swift breathing" as we walked around the ring.

Quanah has become incredibly responsive since working with Leslie, my trainer, and when I took a deep breath in he slowed and almost stopped. Then, when I exhaled, he did the same thing as your friend's little TB, kedwards - he gave a long sigh and resumed his normal gait.

[sidesaddlelady1]

I've tried doing the same thing but also to relax myself! When I can be relaxed everywhere and not tense in my shoulders or elsewhere, I can feel the difference in my horse. It worked very well on my old RS horse who would get more and more tense as the lesson went on (my fault i'm sure).

Last year at a dude ranch in Bandera, TX, the owner had her horses trained so that when you let out a big breath, the horse would take that as a cue to speed up (walk to trot for example). Last weekend, riding Scooter (my new fav) on a trail ride, I was trying to relax myself and took a couple of deep breaths and when I breathed out, she just went lightly up into a very nice canter! Maybe this is a western horse training approach?

Possibly because when you breathe out deeply you automatically relax and this can bring your seat into play which pushes the horse on - part of the aids for "get a move on"

[sidesaddlelady1]

In working with and riding horses, I've borrowed a trick from my "real world" job as a Psychologist. I try to be aware of my breathing and I intentionally slow my breathing when I want to have a calming effect on others. I even exaggerate this effect by making a long, audible sound from time to time as I breathe out.

I've found this to be as effective with horses as it is with other humans and I often find myself unconsciously making audible "sighs" when I'm working to relax a nervous horse.

Yesterday, I was riding a friend's sweet little TB who is inclined to get nervous and quicken in her tempo when she first starts out. When I focused on slowing her tempo, she readily accomodated my request, but she also did the cutest thing. Every time I made a long audible exhale, she followed with a big sigh of her own.

Most of them love it when you blow gently up their noses - the WH blows back!

[Montana]

Hi Laura Jeanne,


Yes, exactly. He goes from walk to trot on the exhale. It's almost as if the release of tension 'unblocks' the next gait up. I'm sure someone else could explain it better, but it sounds as if you've already experienced this yourself. It's a fantastic feeling, once you've experience this level of cue, you certainly don't want to go back to any other method :)

I don't really feel like it 'brought my seat into play' although I could be really wrong. It's more like a real focus on where you're going and release to get there. There certainly isn't any 'pushing', more like it allows the forward movement.

By the way, where did you ride in Bandera? My sister worked at Loma de Blanca then the Running R out in the hill country for a couple of years, she was back there from California working in the summer this year. Amazing place to ride, I've been out there 4-5 times, and never tire of it :D

[laura jeanne]

Montana, you have described it perfectly- at least how it felt to me. We went to Hill Country Equestrian Lodge. I was really a beginner when we went there and insisted on an English saddle (dumb) - I'd like to go again sometime but there are so many places to go and this year we went out to California and visited out kids and took 3 days off to ride out there. (OH and me) Do you think the horses are trained this way? Because my RS horse doesn't seem to do this. I don't like him too much tho and feel kind of awkward riding him.

Anyway, there was a SCORPION in with the silverware in our cabin the day we left. it was all curled up and i thought it was a scrap of food and almost reached in with my hand. At the last minute, I got a spoon to scoop it out!!! Thank goodness!

[KarinUS]

Yesterday, I was riding a friend's sweet little TB who is inclined to get nervous and quicken in her tempo when she first starts out. When I focused on slowing her tempo, she readily accomodated my request, but she also did the cutest thing. Every time I made a long audible exhale, she followed with a big sigh of her own.

Minose did the same the first tiem we worked on catching in the field. I was so nervous I held my breath the whole time until I finally had the rope around her neck. I then audibly breathed out and Minnie did the same. We both were very relieved. :)

[kedwards]

Aw Karin, that is very sweet!

it sounds then, like your horse will go from walk to trot on your exhale? This is what I was talking about in my reply but it sounds like others use an exhale just to slow down.

In the example I gave, I was using the slowed breathing tempo to slow the horse's tempo at the trot, but definitely not to slow her down. In fact, I was actually asking her to extend her strides and move more freely forward. My experience, much like Montana's, is that a good exhale deepens and relaxes the seat.

[Montana]

'QUOTE Laura Jeanne - I'd like to go again sometime but there are so many places to go and this year we went out to California and visited out kids and took 3 days off to ride out there. (OH and me) Do you think the horses are trained this way? Because my RS horse doesn't seem to do this. I don't like him too much tho and feel kind of awkward riding him.

I haven't tried the Hill Country Equestrian lodge, but it sounds as if they have some great horses there.

I think maybe it's a western training technique - it was certainly never mentioned to me during 18 years of riding English. Maybe at your riding school (which I'm assuming is English), the cues for the horses are far less refined, and the horses are used to lots of riders who are more clumsy with their aids (certainly not directed at you :) ). I've ridden at a number of riding schools where the horses only respond to kicks and other large cues, due to inexperienced riders and teachers :( .Maybe they learn to expect this and are no longer looking for the subtleties from their riders?

By the way, this is not intended as a Western v English debate - I've ridden at many other schools where the horses are at a high level of English training, and have had the huge pleasure of riding several well schooled dressage horses, all of which are a joy to ride.

It's an old classic - but if a horse can feel a fly land on it, then it can certainly sense what you are doing on it's back, all the way down to how the air goes in and out.

Scorpions - no, never any of those, but Texas did have a great line in brown recluse spiders :eek:

[Roseanne]

This thread is really interesting, and helpful. My mare has always been a bit unwilling to work in the school, but a very different horse on a hack, probably, after reading about the breathing, I relax more. All the instructors I have had have had to remind me to breath, but have never explained the inhale and exhale influence. It all makes sense now and I can't wait to try it out!

I love this message board! :)

Roseanne

[SwiftwindSpirit]

I haven't tried anything like that with horses, but (ok I know this doesn't really relate but I thought it was interesting), when I have my dog on my lap I exaggerate my breathing and she adapts her breathing to be the same as mine.

[Montana]

Just found this article written by Mark Rashid's assistant, Kathleen Lindley, which explains his take on how breathing affects both rider and horse - I thought it explained things really well

"Everyone breathes while they're riding, of course, because we don't pass out or asphyxiate. But most often, we do not breathe deliberately or consciously. Many riders hold their breath while they ride, taking gulps or tiny sips of air, and rarely taking good, deep rhythmic breaths. A rider who is not breathing rhythmically, according to Rashid, can cause his or her horse to have a short stride, lack rhythm in his gaits, lack impulsion, or even spook or buck.

The type of breathing that Rashid refers to in his clinics is a breath that is designed to get oxygen in and out efficiently and productively. The rider is encouraged to breathe into the bottom of their ribcage, which actually expands the ribcage, engages the abdominal muscles, articulates the spine and ultimately places the rider's pelvis in a neutral position with each breath. The rider can then be asked to count how many strides of walk, trot or canter they get to each of their inhales. In the clinic setting, riders often start with two or three strides to an inhale and three or four strides to an exhale. While this breathing pattern does get air in and out of the body, these are not deep enough breaths to engage the abdominal muscles, expand the ribcage and articulate the spine. With practice, riders can often achieve six to nine strides per inhale and seven to 10 steps per exhale.


Horses exhale on any exertion, Rashid notes, and we'd do well to copy them. Next time you're struggling with a tight lid on a jar, rather than holding your breath and straining to open it, exhale and twist the lid off. Often, we can hear horses exhaling at the canter, on every stride. They are exhaling when the non-leading hind foot - the power foot - is leaving the ground. Horses exhale when they jump, when they do a lead change, when they stop or do a transition. All those movements represent an exertion.

Rashid will work with a student to breathe deliberately, and then he will add exhaling on any exertion. In this way, the breath can actually be used in place of the seat to help the horse stop. In order to cue a stop beginning with the breath, the rider would breathe and cue in time with the horse's hind feet: one, two, one, two, breath, hands. For the halt, the rider would exhale a full breath on that one step; then she'd finish the halt by cueing with her hands on the second step. Stopping in this way enables the rider to actually stop the hind feet themselves, which helps the horse engage the hindquarters, and also helps clean up "messy" or "leaky" stops.

There has been great success with riders of all disciplines (including dressage and jumpers of all levels and abilities) using this relatively simply concept of breathing properly while riding. If a rider can do nothing else but breathe properly, Rashid suggests, many riding issues can be solved or certainly greatly reduced. Riders who wish to progress their riding to more sophisticated levels find they can achieve more with their horses by using less physical cues and proper breathing. The rider's breath can ultimately be the cue in many instances, which is not hard to believe if we accept the horse as the sensitive and intelligent creature he is."

[laura jeanne]

Imagine how surprised I was when we got to our lesson today and our RI said we were going to practice breathing to the horses' trots! We spent the whole lesson in sitting trot and we had to breathe in and out according to the rhythm of the trot- any amount of steps per breath, but they had to be in even numbers- for example counting two, four, six, eight or any even number of steps to the inhale and and even number of steps to the exhale. She said this would calm the horse down. I told her about how we were currently discussing this here!!

My parents came to watch our lesson today (they are staying with me for a while) and they had a great time watching and meeting the horses and my mother !!! actually gave them some carrots even tho I could tell she was scared of them. (ages 91 and 86)

[kedwards]

Cool LJ, life imitates New Rider :D ... and did it affect the horse?

[laura jeanne]

Cool LJ, life imitates New Rider :D ... and did it affect the horse?

It was kind of an odd lesson. OH was riding for the first time that huge horse (Fargo) that likes to follow me. When I first posted about him, Harry said that he was a horse looking for a leader and that turns out to be the case. He is the biggest of our RI's 4 horses but he is a huge wimp and scared of everything and all the others boss him around.

I was supposed to go first, trotting around the arena and OH right behind me. I was doing better than usual, breathing with my horse, and was able to keep him in a trot the whole time which is unusual since he normally drops to a walk quite often. So I'm thinking that the breathing helped there.

But Fargo was totally crowding me and much of the time was trying to pass me and breathing like he was at his last gasp! The RI said it was because he was scared. Talk about heavy breathing!! So my horse had his ears pinned back to tell Fargo to keep in his place, and every once in a while he would give him a little kick (which I could tell was scaring my mom but which I just ignored). It was hard for me to concentrate on what I was doing because of all this but I actually found it quite a bit of fun to see how my horse was using his body languate to be in charge of Fargo.

OH told the RI after the lesson that he was having trouble breathing and would take about 6 steps to an inhale and then let it all out in one. Of course with that hilarious breathing that Fargo was doing, I don't see how OH could have figured out how to breathe with him. We are going to keep practicing this, I have a feeling, so I will let you know how it goes. I think it will take OH a while to get used to Fargo.

After every lesson, I am always moaning about how oH gets 90% of the attention in the lessons (corroborated by my friend who came to watch a lesson and who decided it was a male/female thing) but this time even tho the percentage was up to about 99%, it didn't bother me because I was doing the breathing and thinking about my position and how funny the horses were being with each other. Plus, my horse and I were being used as the control factor for Fargo so that was a bit novel in itself.

I felt ridiculously happy after the lesson. Gave my horsie a bath and scratched him all over and then he went and rolled around in the dirt, going from a spotty grey appaloosa to a nice all-over brown color!!

[kedwards]

Very interesting. It sounds like your husband had a difficult time ignoring the horse's rhythm and setting his own. As social animals, both humans and horses prefer synchrony.

[laura jeanne]

We were supposed to be following however the horse was breathing this time (I asked her specifically). Probably later, we will work on getting the horse in rhythm with us

[Roseanne]

Montana-have printed out article on breathing. It was very interesting and informative, and made a lot of sense.

Roseanne

[sammywiskers]

when sammy gets nervous i SING!! it really works lol because he sees that i am not botherd and starts to listen to my awful singing wondering what the hell it is rather the the scary fact that the bush has ACTUALLY BEEN TRIMMED (OH MY GOD) AND MUST MEAN ITS GOING TO EAT HIM UP IF HE WALKS PAST IT! or other scary things like that! :D