Posted: April 2, 2010
Horse Training Tips In our last article we discussed how making our horses “feel” good, or right about what they are doing helps keep horses to retain their training, and makes our training processes easier. In this article I discuss the importance of positive and negative feedback and how they affect our horses’ training. People do not always give horses the credit they deserve for how their minds and memories work. Horses will remember something for life that repeats itself only THREE times! After 10 times that action is not only remembered but becomes a habit. To then undo that habit takes up to 28 instances of positive repetition. So always doing things properly is very important when dealing with horses. Positive and Negative Feedback That’s why positive and negative feedback when a horse yields under the right circumstances and at the right time is crucial to helping our horses learn. Horses are just like people – they feel good when praised and bad when they get negative feedback. Since horses learn through feel…we want them to feel great when they do something right. But I often see people giving horses the feel good feelings when they should give them the negative ones. Let’s consider picking up feet. As a trainer I get a many people asking me to make sure the horse will pick up its feet well for cleaning out its hooves. I agree this is very important however, about half of all the horses I train pick up their feet well…for me! So, then I know that when the owners come back I’m going to need to teach THEM to pick up their horse’s feet. Getting a Horse to Lift a FootHere is the first mistake I see: Most often this happens with people who feel a bit uncomfortable with the fact that they are that close to their horse’s hoof. They tentatively run their hand down their horse’s leg all the while crooning “good boy, good boy.” Then they get to the horse's pastern and squeeze but the horse still hasn't picked up its foot. Then they start pulling with both hands, puffing for breath, still saying, “Good boy, good boy.” What have they taught their horse at this point? That if they stand there like a rock and don’t budge, they are a 'good boy!' In reality the person is doing this because it gives them comfort and security by making them feel like they are keeping the horse calm so as to avoid the possibility of being kicked. So at this point I have to address several things. If your horse is the type to kick or strike, you should not be bending over trying to lift a foot. If that is the case, you have to go back to step one which is of course training them to safely allow having their feet handled. This is something we can address later. In this article, I’m dealing with the horse that is already known to be safe to handle. Rather than make your horse feel good about being bad, this is what we will do instead:  Run your hand down the horse’s leg. If you get to the pastern and they have not offered to pick up their foot for you, squeeze the tendon above the pastern joint at the same time saying “Pick”. We should always have a precise one-word command for things we want our horses to do. I like that word because it does not sound like other commands and the horse will learn to recognize it. If you do all this and the foot stays on the ground we have to up the ante…but at this point we have still not said anything but “Pick”.
If the foot is still on the ground I take my hoof pick and gently press the point against the back of the pastern. I start pushing harder and harder until he gives in and lifts the foot, at which point I hold it up and say “Good boy!” Then and only then do you give that praise. With consistency picking up feet will be easy. “Good boy” is the praise; the hoof pick in the pastern is the negative reinforcement. How to Get You to the Top of the Pecking OrderAnother area I see is people giving positive reinforcement when it isn't deserved and often happens when they go to catch their horse. I know not all horses are easy to catch and I fully understand that sinking sensation when you walk out to the pasture when you have only 60 minutes to spend with your horse and he gives you a dirty look and heads for south end of the property. At this point you walk all the way out there hoping once you get there he will give up and let you halter him. This is where I see things go wrong: the person walks on out to the horse and starts crooning, “You are such a good boy and I love you so much.” At the same time the horse is glaring at the person, maybe pinning his ears back and worse, turning his butt to his owner. You want him to feel good about going for a ride so what is this person doing wrong? She’s telling her darling love bug that it’s OK to display herd-dominant behavior and treat her like she is the lesser horse in the pecking order. Don’t do this to yourself. We obviously don’t want to get too negative and chase our horse away, but we can teach a small lesson here and be successful. I will admit however that this is hard to do on 10 acres. If you have a horse consistently hard to catch you may need to design a catch pen or give him a smaller paddock for a while. Given our method of using positive and negative reinforcement this is what we should do. If your horse gives you a nasty look or pins his ears back you need to make a negative noise back. I’m not real keen on using the word 'No', because it rhymes with 'Whoa'. Instead I’ve created my own negative guttural noise that my horse perceives as nasty. When I use that negative sound it's not loud enough to scare him off, just loud enough so that he knows he didn't just get praised for being nasty. If he goes to turn his rump to you keep a handful of small rocks in your pocket (one in your hand) and when the butt turns make the noise and toss the rock at his tail. He will quickly learn that something “gets him" if he turns his back on you. It doesn’t have to hurt him, just surprise him. Be aware of your positioning. If you are handy you can tell where to place yourself and where to move your arm to cut him off from moving past you. Your goal is to get him to face you with his ears forward, not backwards. As soon as he looks at you with a curious look, rather than a nasty look or perks up his ears, or licks his lips, this is the time to say “good boy” and sound happy about it. After awhile your horse will be much more likely to face up to you when you go to catch him rather than be nasty about it. It will take lots of repetition but I promise it works! That said, and if your horse is very green, you may wish to read the other article on our site about How to Catch Your Horse. But no matter if your horse is green or well trained, he or she should learn from the beginning to respect you by facing you and not giving you threatening looks or actions. Again, horses learn very quickly when positive and negative reinforcements are given them correctly and consistently. When your horse does something wrong, get after him quickly, but forgive him instantly when he or she does good. Praise him - instantly and quietly. Horses are not too gracious over exuberant praise. Leave that for the family dog! Happy trails and safe riding!
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