Patting 101
It’s lovely to reach down and give your horse a big pat on the neck when he/she has eagerly listened and done well for you. It’s encouraged across the board to reward your horse for responding correctly in any scenario, and shows empathy and compassion from the rider when they do so regularly. However, there are times when reaching forward to pat the neck is actually more of a hinderance than help to your training. This may seem like a shocking concept to some, but when a horse is trying to find confidence in the contact in its basic training, it doesn’t help them if the connection is taken and released too many times. For a horse that has the correct muscle development and strength to hold self-carriage, releasing the rein temporarily for a pat is no problem, and can be used as a little test of self-carriage and “throughness”. Until that point, it is best to be educated and informed on when patting helps, and when it hinders.
Here I will break down the when, how and why for patting in training. It’s a bit of a long one, but hopefully helpful for your training.
When Not to Pat…
We all work so hard to achieve a contact. A good contact seems so elusive, and even when it’s felt, it’s often fleeting. Something I see so often with riders I teach, is that the moment they find a good feeling and connection, they put a hand forward to scratch the neck as a reward, and the connection disappears. From the horse’s perspective, they feel a nice steady connection with the rein to their mouth, and they’re just about to start swinging forwards over the back into the bridle, and the rider releases the rein to pat the neck and the steady, secure connection is disconnected.
Lets talk a bit more about contact and how having a connection is beneficial. The connection from the hind leg to the mouth allows the horse to find a balance into the contact, create swing over the back and cover more ground with the stride. Many horses do not trust the contact (the bit and the riders hands) enough to settle forwards to the bridle and allow the push from the hind legs to come through into a soft connection. For a horse and rider combination that are working to achieve this feeling and this trust, it’s important to spend time in the connection so the horse can get used to the steady feeling, the rider can adjust their position and core strength to facilitate the connection to the rein, and both can develop strength here.
It is then through this connection, that over time and through an abundance of half halts, balance and self carriage is created. It is important to remember that just having a light contact doesn’t mean your horse is in self-carriage. If you can’t create weight in the rein without pulling the hands backwards, or without your horse’s rhythm changing or drawing the neck back at you, the horse is behind the contact and behind the leg. When the horse is in balance, in front of the leg and in self carriage, the contact is a lot more secure and small changes don’t affect it too much, so when this is achieved it is beneficial to give the horse a scratch or pat on the wither with one hand momentarily. But more on this part later on.
To explain what happens when the connection is broken with a poorly-timed pat, the horse momentarily loses some balance when the pressure of the rein he was relying on pushing into to support him disappears. The rider has to go back to square one, trying to encourage the horse to trust and accept the bit and settle into the bridle again. The lack of longevity of the connection isn’t conducive to the horse building strength over the back, and is frustrating for the rider to have to constantly find a contact over and over again. It is better to make sure the horse has sufficient time to find its rhythm and balance in the contact, before gently releasing the rein and pushing the hand forward as a test of self-carriage and true throughness.
We all want to reward our horse when we get a good feeling from them, hence why a lot of riders pat the neck. However it’s important to bear in mind that what feels good for you - swing, relaxation, suppleness - also feels good for the horse. When the horse relaxes and swings, it’s because it feel’s good and is happy. To them, that is a reward in contrast to being pulled in the mouth and being tight in its neck and back. Spending more time where your horse feels happy (being in connection) is rewarding for them, and when combined with an encouraging voice aid, like a soothing “good boyyyyy” or my favourite, “braaaaav” as they say in Germany, the horse picks up on the good vibe and will often relax his ears forward and start foaming in the mouth. Another way to reward the horse is by having a walk break, and giving them a good pat and scratch on the neck then. Even if you take twice as many walk breaks than normal just to pat, that still ensures that the time you are working, it is good quality work that pushes you further along in your training.
We are often encouraged to have a connection from inside leg to outside rein, and we see it as a good thing to be able to keep the outside rein connection and pat with the inside hand, releasing the inside rein. However, this concept is often mistaken as falling out through the outside shoulder and the horse relying on the outside rein to lean on, making him crooked. In the beginning stages of finding a contact, aim for an even connection through both reins and find straightness through the body and neck. In the bend on circles, your horse will naturally lighten on the inside rein if the bend is smooth and correct (“straightness on a circle”) as he is automatically bringing the inside hind underneath himself more, which helps take the weight in place of an inside connection. Bear in mind, this lightening of the inside rein is very discreet and you shouldn’t see a loop in the rein - contact with the mouth is still maintained. When you eventually do get to the stage of being able to put a hand down to pat, ensure it’s the inside hand, as the outside rein connection should always be more supportive than the inside rein.
In short, it’s a great attitude to have where you’re eager to reward your horse for listening well, but keep in mind that patting after every single positive response could confuse the horse with his balance and what he’s feeling if he isn’t yet confident to a consistent connection.
When To Pat…
As mentioned a couple of paragraphs above, once the horse has had enough time to find his confidence into a contact, it’s always a good idea to “test” the trueness of the connection by offering one rein or both reins forward up the neck. In tests this is called “give and re-take the rein” and in Germany they use the term “Uberstreichen”. In training, you may as well give the horse a pat while you test this trueness of the contact. The aim is that the horse should stay in rhythm, frame and balance whilst you let go, so you know that he is using his whole body to move forward and through, not leaning on the hand for balance.
If the horse is confident in a connection and has built the muscle and strength to maintain self carriage, a more discreet way of rewarding is to just open the fingers around the rein whilst still holding on with thumb and forefinger, and just give the horse a little scratch on the wither. Hopefully, your hands are low enough to do this easily without any disturbance to the connection to the bit, rather than being carried high away from the neck and withers. This in itself can cause a disconnect in the contact and thoroughness, but that’s another blog!
For a rider that is stronger in one hand than the other, and isn’t able to control how much they are pulling on one rein, reminding themselves to let go by pushing the strong hand up the neck to pat is an excellent training tool. It takes a lot of work to create muscle memory in the body, so if you’re very used to holding through one side of the body, you must work diligently on letting it go and strengthening the other side.
Sometimes the horse is crooked and locks onto one rein more than the other, in which case the rider needs to let go of the strong rein (scratching the neck with this hand sometimes helps to remind the rider) and teach the horse that it won’t always be there to balance on, so the rider must try to keep the “light” rein steady and connected whilst letting go of the heavy one. Eventually the horse learns to push into the lighter rein and become more even in the hand.
Taking a stretch pause throughout the session or stretching to cool down at the end is extremely important. If the horse has worked correctly, the stretch will be maintained pretty much by the horse alone. For him/her, it feels good after working hard over the back to stretch it out, so most horses will willingly take and maintain this stretch. Since the horse is clearly showing confidence in the bridle and swinging through the back, now is a great time to give lots of pats and be very rewarding. My favourite thing here is to watch their ears flick forward as they enjoy their stretch and receive the pats… They look so happy and relaxed. That is the sign of a really sufficient training session.
As you can see, the patting do’s and don’t’s can be a little complex, so don’t overthink it too much, otherwise you’ll end up confused and lose your confidence in training your horse, and that’s even worse than a poorly timed pat! My advice is to pat your horse when you feel the need, but then pay attention to the feeling directly afterwards. How does the horse respond during and after the pat? You will then start to teach yourself when is the right time, and when is the wrong time. Give your horse the time to settle into a contact before giving it away. Trust and confidence in a connection is key, and it takes patience.
