Couldn’t think of a good title for an Artificial Aids Post so I thought this was cute.  It got your attention didn’t it?

Okay let’s start with the obvious.  What is an Artificial Aid.  Well if our hands, feet, legs, and weight are real aids, than anything we use that is materialistic is artificial.  For example crops, spurs, draw reins, martingales (tie downs), brain chains (don’t get me started on that), and variations there of.

Everything can be used for good or evil.  A Ha!!! bet you never looked at it that way.  A simple snaffle bit, in the wrong hands, can be severe. (I’ve said that before}

Why do we use Artificial Aids.  Well they are supposed to enhance or reinforce our natural aids.  Natural aids are supposed to be used first at all times.  If the horse is not responding then you add an artificial aid to correct or encourage them.

Now Artificial Aids, in and of themselves, are not evil; its how you use them, and if you grow dependent on them, that’s where the trouble comes in.

Carrying a crop is not wrong.  It is there to reinforce your request if need be.  By a gentle tap, not an all out beating.  Most of the time it is a magic wand,  you just need to carry it and all of a sudden they remember what your heels mean.  Once again, it is not there to beat your horse into submission.  As with any aid, overuse can cause dead sides or a horse that just ignores you.  It’s really kind of like dealing with a teenager.  If you keep repeating yourself they just tune you out.  If you say it once or twice and really mean it, they will learn to do it or face the consequences.  Beating a horse will get you one of two things – a sour, or a violent horse.  I’ve known horses in the past that will either plant their feet and won’t move or they blow-up and become totally dangerous.  Not only dangerous to you but to themselves and everyone around them.  Sometimes you have to go in through the back door and make them believe it was their idea in the first place.  Same with kids.

If you are using artificial training aids for more than a couple of weeks (other than carrying a crop), you have to find out why the horse isn’t learning what’s right or what you are doing wrong.  I’ve seen all kinds of contraptions to get the horse into a frame.  And the worse part of it is that people continue to use them forever.  If you are not educated enough to train the horse properly, get help from someone who really knows what they are doing.  I know someone who has been putting this torture thing over her horse’s head for twenty years so the horse will drop her head and use her back.  Really???  People never look into their horses conformation, or possible back problems.  If there is no physical reason why the horse can’t perform this way, then it’s the riders lack of education, not the horses.  This horse just goes along with the idea of, that’s just the way life is when this person rides me.  Some will just blow-up and go over backwards when they’ve had enough.  I’ve ridden this horse.  Just get her balanced, get her hind end engaged, and she’s good to go.

Do I use martingales (tie downs)?  Yes.  Not to tie their heads in a position, just to assist.  Depending on the situation, I will used either a running or standing martingale.  I will use the running with Zoey, just to help keep the bit where it belongs.  She likes to put flip her head up to avoid the bit.  She grabs the bit, just puts the pedal to the metal and runs her heart out.  Not always a good idea.  When I’m too lazy to put one on she knows it and pushes my buttons.  Desert was short necked and short coupled.  When he was learning to jump he would toss his head back and break my nose.  That ended when he learned more about jumping.  I don’t like to work on a horses mouth, so we get along much better with a martingale on.  You know, power of suggestion.

I pretty much use breast collars on all the horses.  Hate saddles that slip and shift.  Not good for the horses back.  Most people put them on but never really learn how to adjust them where they are doing any good.  Same thing with standing martingales (tie downs).  They are either too tight or to lose.  If you are going to use something, learn the right way to adjust it.

Spurs.  Do I use them.  No.  Have I used them in the past?  Yes.  I’ve trained and sometimes reinforced my leg aids to where I don’t need them.  My horses know what my heels mean, and they certainly know when I want a gallop from any gait.  And for that, I don’t need my heals.  A simple word of go, along with, shifting my weight and the release of the reins is all they need.  My horses have plenty of go, and actually have plenty of whoa too (sometimes too much whoa which leaves you kissing their ears.)  If you get a horse that has been trained or abused by someone elses heels and legs, you might need to use them to reach your horses response system.

Draw reins, like everything else in the wrong hands, can create more problems than success.  Have I used them?  Yes.  Do I use them now?  No.  Don’t need them.  Just sometimes you need them to help babies learn to balance themselves better.  It’s just kinder than having hard hands.  People don’t always realize they have hard or heavy hands.

The bottom line is –  If you and your horse are trained properly, you don’t need any of this stuff.  Some horses, however will push your buttons.  Some may need an occasional refresher course.  Or sometimes you need that extra edge, just a short reminder of how things are supposed to be, and how simple everything is if they just do it right to begin with.  But never depend on anything permanently.  If you do, get help.

So I’ve buttered the bread with real butter.  Just chew on these things.  They are for your consideration.