Short and Sweet: Your horse will only ever be as; light, willing, responsive...

Your horse will only ever be as light, willing, responsive, respectful, and easy to handle, etc as you expect him to be.

You will only get what you expect, allow, and or accept.

If you accept your horse dancing around and allow him to push on the gate when you are trying to open it your horse has no motivation to improve his behavior and stand still and wait.

So how do you stop enabling your horse's mediocre behavior?

For every maneuver and or action your horse does ask yourself,  "Was this (fill in the blank) the best that he can possibly do?"  And if it wasn't you need to work and practice until it is, and if you do not know how to improve it or fix it you should seek out the help of someone who does.

True horsemanship happens when you stop accepting good enough and start striving to be the best that you can be.      

Pony see, pony do

 Growing up every horse we had always clipped wonderfully. And by wonderfully I mean, ground tied, rope hanging around their neck, head willing held whatever level needed next to the telephone pole, with a huge set of clippers made for body clipping. This was how my Mother clipped her horses then, and this is still how we do it today (but with barns, and better clippers). Now you may think that we spent weeks and weeks teaching every single horse over the years to clip in such a nice manner, but it actually was achieved very simply but just tying/holding every single new horse we purchased right next to every horse that was really good for clipping while we clipped before turning the clipper on the new horse. Using observational learning or put it simply the concept of Pony See Pony Do (so much better than the monkey).

Think about as it if you had lived a  average horse's life, (only experienced normal horsey things; grass, stalls, trees) you too would probably think that a loud buzzing clipper near your face could only mean that person in charge of it was trying to kill you. But if you were allowed to see other people face the clippers who were not afraid of it, you probably would feel much better about allowing it near your face. Foals learn by watching their mothers, you learned to cook by watching your mother. Learning from others is natural and basic means of survival. So why not use this survival instinct to your advantage when training?

Around here I use this type of training with every single horse that comes through the door. Just last week I once again witnessed the awesome power of observational learning with Fancy.

Fancy came here at 6, broke as a 3 year old, then never handled, and this is her story of how she learned to be caught in open pasture.

Day 1: Slightly resistant to being caught in the stall.

Day 2: More willing to caught in the stall, was let out with other horses.

Day 3: Did not want to be caught in open pasture, forcing a 2 hour chase by lawn mower (yes I said lawn mower, and no she was never in any danger, just kept moving at a slow and steady pace), was unwilling touched at the end.

Day 4: The moment Fancy sees me she takes off, I go out and just catch my horses, who will come when called, and always stand for as long as it takes to get the cookie they get after getting their halters on. Ignoring her, I tie them and start grooming. She follows and watches, and eventually stands for brushing, using 3 cookies she is caught within 10 minutes.

Day 5: She runs away, I catch my horses, not wanting to be left out Fancy follows, and is caught as soon as I finish tying my own.

Day 6: She turns away but chooses to stay, I halter my own horses, then proceed to Fancy, she grudgingly accepts the halter.

Day 7: She turns and faces me as I approach, and is willing caught after my horses.

Day 8: She is over by the arena when I step outside(100 yards out), and she trots over and insists on being caught before Charlie.

Day 9: She had been perfect so far ever since.

Now lets break down what happened.

Fancy was in a new environment, her only sources of companionship were my horses. Over time by seeing over that over that my horses (all the horses in her environment) where happy to be caught, and even looked forward to it, Fancy eventually decided that she too could and should be happy about caught. Depending on how she is reintroduced in her home environment she should maintain her willingness to be caught. However if she were immediately turned out with other horses who ran away she would probably revert back to her previous behavior.

Making observational learning work for you.

The only tools you need to use this method is one or more really good role model horses who do exactly what you want the new horse to do perfectly every time. Over the years I've used this approach for clipping, grooming, trailering, tying, bathing, saddling, hoof trimming, you name it. I so believe in observational learning that I show every new horse how it is done by first doing it to my own horses and letting them watch. After watching two other horses sleep while being saddled you would be amazed at how well the new guy can take it. Don't let not having a model citizen in your herd stop you. Most boarding barns have a few model citizens you could ask to borrow for a few hours, or talk with your horse friends and see about setting up some time to work together work on your problems or show your new horse how it is done.   

That's Incentive

There is a great song by Death Cab for Cutie titled "That's Incentive"  that always comes to mind when I'm training.  While the song does have a fantastic line that will be used in next weeks posting the title itself is a basic training principle.


Horses need incentive.


What is incentive?


Simply put it is anything you do to get a desired response from your horse.


Or if you want a proper definition incentive is something that incites or tends to incite to action or greater effort, as a reward offered for increased productivity.

That being said our horses must have a reason to do what we ask.  Whether it be trotting to make you stop bumping your legs on their side, or standing still when you want to catch them because they know you will make them work if they don't.   

Horses need consequences.  

Because you might get a ticket you do not speed.  Because your horse knows there are consequences when he bucks he chooses to keep his feet on the ground.

If you do not have consequences you lose incentive, without incentive you lose control, and without control you have nothing.

That's Incentive.

Stay tuned for next week's topic-

"Is it you that always, is it you that decides?"

    

What your horse wishes you knew about horses

I apologize for not keeping up over the holidays.  You know how it is, but I am back and committed to writing once again.

Wouldn’t be great if you could sit down with the special horse in your life and tell each other your deepest darkest secrets? To be able to confront your horse about your relationship and get real answers on how your horse views you and your relationship. Unfortunately we can’t hear it straight from the horse’s mouth so here is the next best thing.

Everyone has a place 

 As horse owners we often want to be equals with our horse and have a true partnership. Unfortunately the horse world is much like the military, and every horse has their rank/position in the herd. You can rank number 1, number 2, or number 27 depending on the herd size but no one shares a position. When you enter a horse’s life you are also given a position in the herd, and depending on how you approach the horse you can out rank them or rank below them, but in the horse’s mind there are no equals.

Do it, do it now.

Our horses live in a cause and effect world and do not understand the concept of asking, begging, or pleading. Horse 1 says, “I want your grain, so move.” Horse 2 either moves or Horse 1 kicks them.  If Horse 1 slowly walked up to Horse 2 and asked “Pretty please, I’m still hungry can I have some of yours?” Horse 2 would just laugh and keep eating. Do horses appreciate kindness? Absolutely, but in their world “please” just does not exist. In order to be taken seriously in the horse world you have to say it then make it happen.

It is not that I’m trying to hurt you, I’m just over you.

When we do not make it a priority to rank above our horse in the herd we subject ourselves to herd law. Horses do not touch or mess with the horses out ranking them but anyone ranking under them is fair game. Pair that with their say it and then make it happen lifestyle and things can get dangerous. Your horse was not maliciously sizing you up with the intent of kicking you this morning as you were trying to pick his hind feet. He told you with his ears to not mess with him because he out ranks you in the herd, and you did not listen so he kicked you. The horse in his mind did not do anything wrong.

It is all about me.
 The majority of our horse related behavior problems are due to our horses not feeling confident in our ability to lead them and be over them in the herd. Horses are all about their personal safety and they are happy as long as the horses or persons over them in the herd continue to fulfill their need for safety and leadership. Horses do not care if they a number 1 or number 28 as long as they feel confident and secure in their leader. When Horse 1 is no longer able to fulfill the needs of the herd another horse will take over. When your horse does not feel that you are leader material he will work until until he gets over you. It is not that they do not like you or the former herd boss, but an insecure/ineffective leader puts everyone at risk in the horse’s mind.