There are three types of longing: Round Penning Line-longing Liberty Longing We already looked at round-pen longing of a very new horse, which is used to get his feet moving and teach him that you have control of his feet. It teaches him to respect you as leader. He learns to watch for your hand… Read More Training Exercises: Longe
This is Part 2 of a two-part Lesson. Part 1 is Round Penning The object of Joining Up is to confirm that your horse has accepted you as his leader. By “joining” he affirms his respect and friendship. Watch the short video of the Caspian stallion as he “joins up” and follows his trainer as… Read More Training Exercises: Join Up
Imprinting endows a foal with trust and willingness, and it takes fear of and struggle against humans away. Konrad Lorenz demonstrated how incubator-hatched geese would imprint on the first suitable moving stimulus they saw within what he called a “critical period” between 13–16 hours shortly after hatching. When I was about 12 yrs old, my… Read More Foal Imprinting
Each time you introduce a new move, your horse is building on past maneuvers. That is one reason that it is advisable to follow the steps in the Horse Training Exercises in order. Each lesson builds on the previous lesson. You may not see the importance of any particular lesson at any particular time, but,… Read More Training Theory: Introducing Maneuvers
Anticipation can be a positive or a negative depending on what your horse is anticipating. If he anticipates a coming maneuver when he feels the slightest signal from the reins (such as the upcoming jump in the photo), and he prepares for some yet-to-be-requested action by heightening his alertness, his anticipation is a good, measured… Read More Training Theory: Anticipation
There are two main types of Pressure: Physical pressure and Intention pressure (threat). Physical pressure: that is the tactile feelings such as the bit against the bars in his mouth or the rope halter bearing down on the poll at his head. It can be as uncomfortable as necessary to move him, or as subtle… Read More Training Theory: Pressure
Horses are a big, beautiful bundle of nerves. They have the fastest reaction time of any domesticated species, and they are constantly on the alert. They can see nearly 360 degrees around their body at all times, and they are always ready to react to a threat. Threatened mammals (including horses) have built in instincts… Read More Training Theory: Fight or Flight
The Three R’s of Horse Training: Release. Reward. Relax. Release training is the art of releasing a horse from pressure at the exact moment that he complies with your cue or request. It is the basis of all horse training – the holy grail of horse trainers. Horses don’t learn from the application of pressure.… Read More Training Theory: Release Training
Here are three of the basic psychological principles of learned response training. Pavlov’s Paired Response Conditioning: The now-famous story of Pavlov’s dogs demonstrates dramatically how one stimulus can take the place of another to elicit the same response. When the hungry hounds were fed their delectable meals, they salivated in anticipation of the repast. While… Read More Training Theory: Reinforcement Theory
In the early days of cowboys and vaqueros, horses were “broke” to ride. The emphasis of most horse training was on overpowering a horse or wearing him down until he submitted. Many training methods teach a horse to give in to avoid punishment, resulting in learned helplessness as a means of coping rather than mutual… Read More Training Theory: Natural Horsemanship