Today we are going to talk a little about the benefits of working with your horse at liberty. But first, what is liberty?
Liberty is a form of groundwork in which you have nothing attached to the horse such as a halter, bridle, or ropes. The horse’s movements are directed through body language and vocal cues.
Here are some of the reasons you may want to start incorporating liberty work into your horse’s training:
Bonding
Liberty is a great way to just spend time with your horse. Horses are social animals and they enjoy spending time with others whether it is other horses or humans. I will often include time during my liberty sessions of simply standing together with my horse resting, or perhaps sharing some snacks or a good scratching, and sometimes just doing nothing more than enjoying each others presence. It’s impossible to develop a bond with a horse if you only ride them and never do any ground work. Often times we are so rushed and busy that we skip over this time but it is so important in developing a bond with our equine partner. Horses in a herd will often spend much of their time hanging out with each other. If we want a bond with our horses we need to spend time with them without the pressure to accomplish something or learn something new but rather to just be together.
Connecting
Connecting is similar to bonding in that is involves a deepening of our relationship with our horse. The difference is that now we are asking our horses to perform certain movements in response to our body language. Often times we are so quick use pressure from a rope or halter to direct our horse that the horse shuts down and stops thinking. He just waits for the next pull to tell him what to do. But once we start using our body language the horse begins paying attention to what we are doing and looking for the next cue. The horse becomes tuned in and connected to us and becomes much more interested in what we are doing and becomes eager to learn new things. A well connected horse will mirror what you are doing. For example if you start walking the horse will follow. If you stop the horse will stop. If you turn the horse will turn and so on. This connection is what allows us to perform complex maneuvers with a horses using only our body language and vocal cues.
Trust
Liberty work helps build trust in our horses and so it is great for timid or fearful horses. As the horse bonds and connects with us he will begin to see us as a leader that he can trust to take care of him. Liberty is also a great way to build confidence in riders that may have fear issues. It helps the rider to understanding the way a horse thinks and why he behaves in certain ways. This understanding builds confidence.
Respect
Liberty work also establishes respect in our horses. Pushy, rude horses will learn to have boundaries and by developing a connection with them they will learn to follow direction. Interestingly many horses are rude or pushy because they don’t trust their human handler. By developing trust through connection and establishing ourselves as a confident leader oftentimes negative behavior will go away. Connection also teaches the horse to be aware of and respect your personal space.
Your thoughts
Have you tried liberty work with your horse? Leave us a comment and tell us how it went! Have a question? Let us know in the comments!
Learn more
Interested in learning more about liberty work? We offer lessons in liberty work and travel throughout the Midwest to do clinics in liberty training. Contact us to start your journey towards a better connection with your horse!
