When we teach our horses anything new, we owe it to him to take a moment and appreciate where he is NOW. Mentally, and in his current level of training and ability.
For example, my draft had an issue with always being on high alert, and his head was always up in the moon. At the same time he was head and ear shy. I really needed to teach him about head lowering! Appreciating and realizing where he currently stood with that, I first taught him to move front,back,left and right, without me moving my feet. Now that I had control of his feet, and he knew I was the herd leader because I moved his feet, he was in a much better frame of mind to start head lowering. Please note: This did not happen in one sessions! This took place over several months. Taking time and going slow will be topics of future tips. Until then, happy trails!
That's very well thought out. It's a bit more direct than what I would have tried, but it seems to have worked out. I was especially impressed that compliance was achieved through an implied request rather than a physical compulsion.
ReplyDeleteForced compulsion doesn't encourage anticipation, where as the implied request really encourages paying attention, and through close attention, both the horse and the trainer become far more familiar with one another, such that anticipation becomes natural.
Of course, this happens naturally with horses. I mean, it's natural that they pay attention to people more than they let on, but if you demonstrate to them that these subtle cues are intentional, then the horse realizes that the individual is actually intending to communicate (as opposed to unintentionally communicating).
Once a person and a horse achieve this mutual understanding, the person can also realize that the horse can communicate quite clearly with them (intentionally as well) through subtleties.
I suppose the most valuable advantage to your approach would have to be that, through this method of non-forced implied request, the horse maintains the freedom to choose. And this freedom is essential to trust in any relationship. And the more the horse trusts you (and visa versa) the more it will feel inclined to comply.
That's very well thought out. It's a bit more direct than what I would have tried, but it seems to have worked out. I was especially impressed that compliance was achieved through an implied request rather than a physical compulsion.
ReplyDeleteForced compulsion doesn't encourage anticipation, where as the implied request really encourages paying attention, and through close attention, both the horse and the trainer become far more familiar with one another, such that anticipation becomes natural.
Of course, this happens naturally with horses. I mean, it's natural that they pay attention to people more than they let on, but if you demonstrate to them that these subtle cues are intentional, then the horse realizes that the individual is actually intending to communicate (as opposed to unintentionally communicating).
Once a person and a horse achieve this mutual understanding, the person can also realize that the horse can communicate quite clearly with them (intentionally as well) through subtleties.
I suppose the most valuable advantage to your approach would have to be that, through this method of non-forced implied request, the horse maintains the freedom to choose. And this freedom is essential to trust in any relationship. And the more the horse trusts you (and visa versa) the more it will feel inclined to comply.