Category Archives: Thin Slicing a Task

Leading Position 4 – Beside Ribs

If we have first taught and consolidated and generalized Leading Position 3 (beside neck/shoulder), it’s usually easy to move from LP3 into LP4 (beside ribs).

This leading position encourages the horse to move with us with his shoulder well out in front. The handler is where he or she would be when riding. In fact, riding is Leading Position 4 sitting on the horse rather than walking on the ground with him.

I sometimes use a body extension to clarify the task for the horse from a distance. A light touch signal just behind the withers for ‘walk on’, (as well as all the ‘walk on’ body language – big breath in & raised energy, step off with outside leg, voice cue) helps to make our intent clear – ie. we want to stay beside the horse’s ribs while we walk along together. The other use of a body extension is to indicate, by bringing it forward, that we don’t want the horse to turn toward us, but to walk on straight.

We also ensure walking straight by using a lane (horse in the lane, handler outside the lane) and by walking in straight lines between a series of targets. Once the horse understands the task, a small finger tap behind the withers and our voice signal, are usually all that is needed.

to summarise, if we have taught the horse that a tap behind the withers (with our fingers, eventually phasing out the body extension), the tap, a deep breath in and a voice ‘walk on’ – are all signals to move forward, these will continue to make sense to the horse when we mount up if we intend to ride.

The main concern for the horse when we ride is that most of our body language suddenly becomes invisible to him. Here Boots is intent on targeting the body extension which I’ve left on the ground.

The rider suddenly disappearing from view is a big deal for horses because horses are, by nature, strongly tuned in to visual body language. Body language plays a key role in equine culture. An empathetic trainer will give the horse ample time and opportunity to adjust to the new touch and weight shift signals, plus the many balance adjustments that the horse has to learn.

Riding has us in Leading Position 4, behind the horse’s withers. If we teach moving forward in this position on the ground, we are building the horse’s confidence in having half his body out in front of us. For timid horses, this can be challenging. The cues/signals we teach on the ground will stand us in good stead if we intend to ride. If we are working with a young horse which will be ridden, this training gives him a major head start with the ridden experience.

Training Plan 18

Aim:

To have the horse comfortable walking along with the handler when the handler’s position is behind the horse’s withers, alonside the horse’s ribs.

Environment:

Horse in an area where he is usually relaxed and confident.
Herd buddies not able to interfere but in view if possible.
Horse in a learning frame of mind.
A safe stretch of fence or a waist-high lane.
Series of destination mats or nose targets for the teaching phase, .
Body extension to clarify signal as necessary.
Halter and lead.

Slices:

See clips #55 and #56 in my HorseGym with Boots playlist. Clip 55 also looks ahead to when we want to walk alongside the hindquarters, which is the topic of the next blog.

Click here for Clip #55.

Click here for Clip #56

Ensure the horse is comfortable walking between you and a safe fence (or in a lane) in LP3 (beside neck/shoulder).
When the horse is relaxed in LP3, glide back so you are walking just behind his withers. After a step or two, relax (click&treat). Be sure to let the lead rope flow out to keep a float (smile) in it as you drift back, so you don’t give him a ‘slow down’ text message up the rope without realizing it. Move promptly up to the horse’s head to deliver the treat so he is not tempted to turn toward you. Walk on again in LP3 and glide back into LP4. It can be quite difficult for us to remain in LP4. For some reason, most people, including me, have a tendency to creep up toward the horse’s neck and shoulders.
This smooth letting out of the rope is another skill it’s good to practice first with another person standing in as the horse.
Repeat 2, adding a few more steps in LP4 each time before you relax (click&treat).
If we are working along a fence rather than in a lane, using a body extension makes it easier to keep our position behind the withers because we can bring the body extension forward to gently block any tendency to turn toward us. The instant he goes straight, put the body extension back in neutral by your side or lying lightly behind the horse’s withers.
It can help to keep our hand behind lying gently behind the withers as we walk with the horse, as Bridget is doing in the final photo of the blog. This might not be an option if the horse is very small or very tall.
If you use mat or nose targets, set these out and ask the horse to walk between them, stopping for a click&treat as he reaches each one. Return to LP4 after delivering each treat and ask for the ‘walk on’ with a gentle tap behind the withers.
If the horse tends to move his shoulder toward you rather than stay straight along the fence, use your body extension to disturb the air alongside his neck.
If the horse has a habit of moving his shoulders into you, create an Individual Education Program to address just this issue. It would include a release (click&treat) the instant the horse responds to the signal pressure from the body extension swung forward in the air next to his neck, inhibiting his shoulder movement toward you. Once he realizes that the release/click point is when he stays straight, you can begin to gradually add more steps forward before you relax (click&treat).

LP4 asks the horse to have his eyes, nose and shoulders well out ahead of us. That can be worrying for an anxious type horse who is more comfortable following than being out in front. Bolder, more confident horses will may find it easier. If you are developing a riding horse, it is important to understand this lack of confidence to ‘be out in front’.

By setting up mats or nose targets, we can make this a much more interesting game. The horse will begin to look for the next target so he can earn his next click&treat.

For horses who are anxious about leaving their home area or their herd mates, this is a great exercise to give them a brand new focus for going out and about with their handler.

We can collect plastic drink bottles for nose targets and hang them around our training area. Then we can devise different walking patterns between the various targets, including turns and weaves. A series of rags hung on fences or shrubbery can also make interesting targets (be aware of horses who may try to eat them).

The activity of walking along together with the hand or stick behind the withers needs to become comfortable and ho-hum for the handler and the horse.

If we want to ride out or walk out, setting up a series of nose targets along the way gives the horse something to seek out. His mind will be engaged in the next target rather than the fact that he is moving further away from his friends or barn area.

At first we’d have the targets close together. As the horse gets keen on the game, we can gradually spread them further and further apart. It also works to use something like a Frisbee or a ball as a target. We can throw it out ahead of us, move to target it, throw it again, and so on.

If the horse is very barn or buddy sweet, we can lay out the target destinations in an arc. The arc will first guide the horse away from where he sees his ‘safety’, and then closer again. Over days and weeks, we can gradually set the top of the arc further and further away. One day the horse’s desire to seek out his targets will eclipse his need to get back to the barn or his buddies.

If the horse has developed the habit of rushing home or rushing to the field, we can slow the rushing by having him seek out targets on the way home or on the way to the field.

Summary of LP4

Leading Position 4 became important to me when I was preparing my horse for riding. When I came to teach long-reining, it was an excellent intermediate position to having the horse comfortable with me walking right behind.

Mat or nose destinations enable us to play the nose or mat target game, which gives the horse an incentive to move smoothly from halt into walk (or trot) and back to halt at the next destination. Since ‘go’ and ‘whoa’ signals are the backbone of all of our communication with horses, the targeting games have many positive outcomes.

When we move the horse around us on a long line (lunging), our position usually moves between LP3, LP4 along with LP8 when we face the horse’s side.

Walking out and about on the road in LP4.

Leading Position 8-a

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In the photo above, Bridget is using Leading Position 8 to ask Boots to go through a gate.

Leading Position 8 (LP8) is anytime we are facing the side of the horse. We can be in LP8 facing his ribs, his head/neck or his hindquarters. Still to come in future blogs are notes about LP7 – facing the front of the horse, and then LP6 facing his tail, as when walking behind him (long-reining) or sending toward something away from us, or asking for a back-up from behind the horse.

Remember, when we say ‘leading position’ we mean any position we use to orchestrate the horse’s feet, whether we want them to move or to remain still.

I want to look at LP8 next, because it is the Leading Position we often use for grooming, saddling/unsaddling, mounting and dismounting. For all of these, we need the horse to be comfortable standing still while we move around him.

We are in LP8 when we saddle the horse as well as for mounting and dismounting.

Clip #49 in my HorseGym with Boots playlist looks at our position when we are grooming, saddling and checking for relaxation.

Boots is not always relaxed about being brushed. It’s not something she experienced early in life before I got her. Giving her something else to think about, like the cloth in the video clip, seems to act as a ‘soother’.

Some horses love rubbing and cuddles while others are much more aloof. When Smoky and Boots lived together, the difference was very obvious. Smoky adored being groomed and fussed with. When we sat with him Sharing Time and Space, he would nibble and lick and want to be very close.

Boots learned to tolerate being touched all over for grooming, but sometimes finds it hard to relax into being brushed or massaged without a lot of licking, chewing and yawning. In summer, when we groom every day, she is able to settle into it a bit more.

When Smoky and Boots indulged in mutual grooming, Smoky was very tentative because after a few mutual nibbles, Boots would have had enough and give him a nip.

Any time we are along the horse’s side and pointing our belly button toward him, we are in Leading Position 8.

We can use signals behind his withers to ask the horse to move forward, shift his hindquarters or move his whole body sideways.

To get Boots used to the idea of shafts in a cart, I asked her to move sideways to push the gate along. Another LP8 position.

LP8 allows us to use signals in front of withers (the base of the neck) to ask the horse to yield his shoulders to change direction.

LP8 is handy for teaching a horse to become fluid with ‘walk on’, ‘halt’ and ‘back-up’ signals when we are facing him side-on. These skills lead nicely into teaching the horse to work in a circle on a long line or reverse pen.

Teaching circles has us facing the side of the horse.

Slices:

For illustration, please see clip #48 in my HorseGym with Boots series. Please note that I use a body extension only to make my signal clear for the horse and be able to give a clear signal from further away. Once the horse understands the ‘tap behind the withers signal’, a finger tap is all that’s needed. The rope texting at the end of the clip is next month’s theme.

‘Walk On’ Signal

Ensure the horse is comfortable halting in the lane or alongside the fence (on a mat if you like).
Stand facing the horse’s withers, at a distance which allows you to easily tap him gently behind the withers with your fingeers or your body extension.
Move into and out of this position a few times with click&treat for the horse remaining in a relaxed halt.
When 3 is ho-hum, rub the horse all over with your body extension or your hands; click&treat for relaxation. To encourage relaxation, pause and turn your energy away from the horse at every indication of relaxation (lowering head, sighing, softer ears, more relaxed lower lip, cocking a hip).
For this part of the training, it helps a lot to have a mat or cone at which the horse knows he gets a click&treat, just a few feet in front of the horse.
When the horse can stay relaxed as you move into position facing his ribs and you can rub him all over, tap him behind the withers, then ask him to walk forward to the mat or cone, click&treat.
If the horse does not understand at first, just tap, then guide him to the cone or mat. He will quickly pick up that the tap means, move foreward to the cone or mat.
As his confidence increases, stop moving with him to the cone or mat. Wait until he gets there before you click&treat.
When the horse reliably steps forward when you tap gently, gradually increase the number of steps before you click&treat by moving the destination mat or cone further away. Always stop tapping the very instant the horse moves and relax your body language.
Eventually, set out a circle of cones or mats and and ask him to move between them with a click&treat at each one, followed by a wither tap to move to the next one.
If you are using a leadrope, keep a float (smile) in the lead rope. At first you may find yourself changing from LP8 into LP3 (shoulder to shoulder) or LP5 (beside hindquarters) and back to LP8 again.
Once he understands the tap signal, add in your usual ‘breathe in strongly’ and voice signal (e.g. ‘walk on’) that you will always use. You could include these earlier, but I like to make sure the horse understands the tap signal on its own. (See Number 16 in the Blog Contents link at the top of the page for details about smooth ‘walk on’ and ‘halt’ transitions.)
When he is smooth on one side, teach it from the beginning on his other side.
Generalize using this ‘walk on’ signal in other venues and situations.

Here I am in LP8 getting Boots confident with flapping things moving across her for a Horse Agility course.

Leading Position 2

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Leading Position 2 (LP2) has the handler in front but to one side of the horse; the horse keeps his eye/nose at or behind the handler’s shoulder. We walk in parallel tracks. Note that I use a body extension to make my intent clearer for the horse, but this soon morphs into an arm signal.

In the photo above, I’m about to step forward. In LP2, we want the horse to remain just at or slightly behind our shoulder and walking in his own track beside our track, not right behind us.

Clip #47 in my HorseGym with Boots playlist looks at LP2.

Leading Position 2, in some ways, resembles the position in which a mare often keeps her foal when the herd is moving. She wants it close beside her and keeping its nose behind hers. So in a way it is a position of safety for the horse. He is not out in front.

Training Plan

Aim:

To teach signals that indicate we want the horse to walk, in a relaxed manner, keeping his nose/eye at or behind our shoulder. We want the horse to stay close beside us on his own track, not edging behind us into LP1 or moving forward to bring his neck/shoulder into LP3.

Environment:

Horse in an area where he is usually relaxed and confident.
Herd buddies not able to interfere but in view if possible.
Horse in a learning frame of mind.
Safe fence-line (not a wire fence).
Body extension can be an aid for initial teaching.
Halter and lead.
This plan is written for a clicker savvy horse.

Slices:

Begin in LP3 (beside neck/shoulder). Ensure the horse is confident walking with you in LP3 along the fence. The horse is between you and the fence.
Work out a signal that lets the horse know you want him to keep his nose/eye behind your shoulder. It might be the same signal used to teach Leading Position 1 – i.e. stepping in front of the horse and staying in front. For some horses, an arm held out in front of his nose is enough of an indicator. For other horses, a swishy body extension is useful to disturb the air in front of the horse to let him know you want him to remain behind your shoulder. Think of a mare letting her foal know it needs to stay close and keep its nose behind her nose. Once the horse understands the concept, the initial larger signal can morph into a small hand gesture and your body language. It may take a while to sort out your exact signal. It can help to try things out with another person standing in as the horse.
Walk along in LP3, then increase your pace slightly while at the same time giving your signal to let the horse know you want his nose/eye to stay behind your shoulder or elbow. Walk a step or two in the desired position, slow to a halt; click&teat. A clicker savvy horse will stop when he hears the click – turn to deliver the treat. It may be a rough approximation at first, but each time you do the movement, it will get a bit more accurate as the horse learns that staying back earns the click and treat.
Once 3 above is smooth, walk a bit further, repeating your signal to stay in LP2 if necessary, before you click&treat.
Once 4 above is smooth, gradually walk even further each time before you click&treat. Using destinations makes it easier because you can put them a little further apart each session. Destinations allow the horse to know when the next click&treat stop will be, no matter what leading position you are asking for.
Once 5 above is smooth, build in halt duration with the horse remaining in LP2. At first turn toward him as you click&treat to reinforce the idea that staying in LP2 was the right thing to do. Then build up duration at the halt (before turning and the click&treat) one second at a time.
Teach it all from the beginning on the horse’s other side.

Generalization

When it is very good along a fence, use LP2 walking along a track or the road and in open areas.
Play with it doing serpentines or weaves and walking a circle.
Play with it at the trot.

Summary of LP2

LP2 is a nice position to use at times for companionable walking together. The horse can easily read our body language from his position just behind our shoulder.

In some situations we don’t want the horse’s eye and nose ahead of ours, as it is using LP3, and we don’t want him right behind us in LP1.

Using a safe fence. Horse and I in parallel tracks. Building ‘wait time’ in LP2.

Leading Position 1

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Leading Position 1 (LP1) has the handler in front of the horse, facing the same way as the horse.

Bridget is walking right in front of Smokey with a nice loop or ‘smile’ in the lead rope.

This concept of ‘Walking Away’ can also be useful whenever we want to get our horse used to something new. Horses have a tendency to follow anything moving away, and move away from anything coming toward them.

Leading a horse on a narrow track or road, spooky things can happen behind, so having the horse walk a meter or so behind you on a loose lead means the horse can spook right or left without running into you. For casual walking out, this can be a useful position.

However, Leading Position 1 is especially interesting because horses have two ways of looking at it.

Concept One: the horse is happy to mosey along behind.

We can cruise along together like horses following each other on their way to water or new grazing. The horse in front watches for snakes or other dangers, allowing the horse or horses filing behind to relax their guard a little bit.

Boots is happy to mosey along behind me knowing I will keep a lookout for dangers ahead.

Concept Two: The horse is ‘driving’ us from behind.

The second concept the is that horse sees it as an opportunity to haze (drive) the person along. Horses often haze each other from behind. Stallions use hazing to gather up and move their mares if they feel the need to shift them, and mares do the same with their foals.

Horses higher in the social order do it to move a horse lower in the social order if it is in their way or being annoying – something that is very noticeable in domestic horse situations.

When we taught Smoky to walk behind us through the S-bend for Horse Agility, we had to be watchful because he loved to catch up with us and give us a solid nudge with his nose to ‘move us along’.

It’s definitely best if the horse is happy to work with the first concept – follow behind in a relaxed mode. We’d also like the horse to know signals for slowing down or stopping when we are walking in front of him. It’s quite different from when we ride or long-rein, and are guiding from behind.

So: We can teach the horse clear signals to indicate when we intend to walk out in front of him, and that we’d like him to maintain a polite distance behind us, slow when we slow, and stop when we stop.

The following Training Plan looks at a possible way of teaching clear boundaries with Leading Position 1.

TRAINING PLAN

Aims:

To develop a signal that lets the horse know when we are going to move from LP3 (beside neck) into LP1 (in front facing away from him).
To have the horse comfortable with us in front and moving in single file.
To develop clear signals while in Leading Position 1, to let the horse know when we are slowing into a halt and when he needs to halt or back up.

Environment:

Horse in an area where he is usually relaxed and confident.
Herd buddies not able to interfere but in view if possible.
Horse in a learning frame of mind.
Body extension during the teaching/learning phase if we need to emphasize a signal.
Halter and lead.
Lane 10-12 feet long with one high side (e.g., a safe fence) and one side a rail on the ground which the handler can easily step over.
If using destinations, set a mat or nose target destination several meters beyond each end of the lane.
Prerequisite: horse is confident with various ways of backing up in a lane. https://youtu.be/XcKSrz8feN8,
https://youtu.be/rMN5jWSn-HU
Consciously look for signs which indicate that the horse is reaching the limit of his ability to keep trying. Aim to stop while he is still engaged and willing. You can stop at any time on any slice of the process.

Slices of the Plan:

For each slice, begin walking with the horse in LP3 – beside neck. Move on when each slice is smooth and ho-hum for the horse.

Refresh the three basic lane tasks using LP3 – beside neck: a) walk through; b) walk in, halt and walk on out; c) walk in, halt and back out. Make sure these are all smooth when you are leading the horse on his left side and on his right side.
Walk the horse into the beginning of the lane, halt, and step over the rail into the lane, pivoting into LP7 which is facing the horse. Give him an arm’s length of space. Turn off your body energy; relax (click&treat). Check for any signs of anxiety (looking away, shifting feet, backing away, stepping toward you, nudging you or stepping over the rail out of the lane). Stay with this slice until the horse can remain totally relaxed as you move into position and stand facing him (which is Leading Position 7), with your energy turned off, for a few seconds before the click&treat. Gradually work up to about ten seconds.
When 2 is good, repeat but now step in front of the horse facing away from him after the halt. Give him a couple of feet of space behind you as you step into the lane to stand in front of him; relax (click&treat – turn to deliver the treat, then turn away again), pause.
Ask the horse to walk forward out of the lane while you stay in the single file facing away position in front of him. You may need to create a new ‘walk on’ signal for this context. Hopefully you have already established a strong vocal ‘walk on’ cue. Walk to your destination; relax (click&treat). Walk a loop in LP3 (beside neck) to return to the lane.
Repeat 3-4 until it is ho-hum for the horse.
Repeat 3-4 but gradually stand in front of him (facing away) a bit longer before walking on. Increase the time in one second intervals. Ten seconds is a good time to aim for. When he can do ten seconds before a click&treat, vary how long you wait facing forward before walking out of the lane.
Once the horse is cool about having you step in front of him into the lane, decide on a clear signal you can use in motion to let the horse know you are about to step in front of him. I used a raised outside arm because that seemed easiest for the horse to see. The signal Boots and I eventually developed is more like a half halt in my body, change in breathing and a small hand gesture. Each horse and handler will work out and refine something that makes sense to them.
First use your new signal to let him know you are going to step in front of him when he is halted in the lane.
Then walk alongside his neck/ears and step in front of him while he is still in motion, using the signal you worked out in 8. above. After stepping in front of the horse, keep walking along in LP1 (facing forward) all the way to your destination mat or nose target; relax (click&treat).
When 9. is smooth, we can start to build in the back-up. Check that the back-up is in good shape by asking for it first while you remain outside the lane.

Building in the Back Up

Step into the lane into LP1, then gently turn and ask the horse to back-up. Ideally the horse will quietly step back as you make the request; relax (click&treat).

11. When 10. is smooth, you can begin to teach the horse to back up while you remain facing away in LP1. First, refresh 8 above: as you approach the lane, move from LP3 into LP1 and walk right through the lane in LP1 to the destination mat for a release plus (click&treat).

12. When 11. is smooth (over however many sessions, this is not something to rush) gently slow down your walking pace in the middle of the lane for a few steps, then pick up your original pace. This should give you feedback about whether your horse easily keeps a safe distance behind you, or might barge into you. You might need your body extension to wave behind you to remind him to keep a nice space between you when you slow down. Safety is always first.

If you are unsure, it is smart to carry a body extension in neutral. You may or may not need to activate it. Having it there allows you to be clear for the horse the first instance he needs clarification. You don’t want him to nudge you, push through you, step out of the lane or push past you.

13. The most straightforward body language signal I’ve found, to let the horse know I am slowing down, halting and backing up from LP1, is flapping my elbows sideways. It’s possible to flap elbows and wave a body extension toward the horse’s legs or chest at the same time. If we can be crystal clear right from the beginning, that he needs to keep space between us, the horse usually picks this up easily.

14. Introduce your flapping elbow signal as you slow down, then pick up pace and walk to your destination; relax (click&treat). Repeat until smooth and ho-hum.

15. When the horse easily keeps his distance during 14 above, slow down gradually into a halt in the middle of the lane. If the slices have been taught carefully, the horse will also slow down and halt; relax (click&treat – turn around to deliver the treat). Repeat until smooth and ho-hum. Also use your ‘whoa’ verbal cue.

16. Now that the horse knows that flapping elbows means ‘slow down’ and possibly halt, we want to add a back-up while remaining in LP1. As you approach the lane, step into LP1 (using your signal). Walk into the lane, slow down, halt, and then energetically flap your elbows to ask the horse to move back a step or two before you halt. Drop your elbows; relax (click&treat – turn to deliver the treat). In the beginning, reward any indication that the horse is thinking ‘back’. Then use your voice and body languate ‘walk on’ signals to walk on out to your treat destination.

17. When 16. is smooth, ask for a few more steps of back-up before you relax (click&treat).

18. When you are smoothly getting several steps of back-up, work up to a series of ‘walk forward, slow to halt, back-up’ sequences before you walk to your relaxation and click&treat destination.

By now you may not need the rail on the ground but it is a good idea to work along a fence for a bit longer, to put the ideas into deep memory.

Ideally you can now signal the horse that you would like him to ‘follow you’ and he will slot in behind you. He will stay in LP1, slow as you slow and step back when you step back.

Generalization

Generalization often requires us to go back to early slices in order to build the horse’s confidence in new situations.

A horse’s confidence is highly dependent on context. He may do something perfectly ‘at home’ or in his initial training environment but be totally thrown by the same request in a different environment.

For generalization of LP1 we can play with:

Different safe fence lines
Away from fences
New places
Following us through narrow spaces
Following us over water and unusual surfaces
Following us through a pattern such as a weave, a U-bend, Z-bend or S-bend
Following us in a circle
Following us at liberty
Following us at trot
Halt – walk – trot – walk – halt – back up transitions

I’m flapping my elbows to indicate to Boots that I would like her to back up.

Using LP1 to teach a new skill. She learned this quickly when coming through the curtain earned a click&treat.

Do let me know if you decided to take up this big piece of training or have already trained something similar.

Leading Position Seven

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I’m going to focus on Leading Position 7 next because Leading Positions 1 and 2 require us to be in front of the horse, facing away from him.

Leading Position 7 (LP7) has the handler face to face with the horse, either directly in front or a bit to the right or left of the horse’s head.

Remember that horses have a blind spot right in front of them for about 3 feet or a meter, due to the way their eyes are positioned at the side of the head. You can check this out for yourself by cupping your hands in around and in front of your nose to imitate a horse’s long nose. You will notice that you can no longer see right in front of yourself.

In order to feel safe in front of the horse facing away, we want to know that the horse backs up easily whenever we ask him to do so.

Face to face interactions include:

Greeting (horseman’s handshake).
Teaching the horse to put his nose on a hand-held target often has us standing facing. him, maybe at a bit of an angle.
Recall, e.g., asking the horse to come to us from the paddock.
Recall across unusual surfaces, and in a variety of other situations.
Rope Relaxation: tossing the rope around the horse’s head left to right and right to left.
Asking for back-up.
Protecting our personal space bubble while sharing time and space.
Backing up over a rail and recall over a rail.
Teaching sideways with the mirroring technique which can grow into a ‘square dance’ when it is paired with back-up and recall.
Teaching poll relaxation and flexion.
Tummy crunches

Greeting

When horses approach each other front-on, they usually greet by sniffing noses. If they don’t know each other, a sparring match might follow. If there is a sparring match, typically, one horse will strike out with a front leg. The other horse then retaliates or backs away.

Eventually one will capitulate and move out of range of the other. They may play a chasing game. Or they might both tire of the game and go back to eating or snoozing.

Two horses carefully checking each other out.

So it appears that a face-on approach from the front can be recognized as a greeting or a challenge/confrontation. If the horses belong to the same ‘in-group’, the approach from the front is usually a friendly greeting showing recognition. It resembles the smile and nod we exchange with colleagues at work.

Once we have established a positive relationship with our horse, we can maintain the bond by offering the standard ‘Greeting’ every time we approach. We extend the back of our hand – which stands in for another horse’s nose. We allow the horse to close the last inch of the gap to touch our hand, then we carry on with our business, as would another horse in the herd.

We must let the horse close the final gap between his nose and the back of our hand.

If the horse is not interested in closing the gap to touch our hand, we have powerful feedback. For some reason, at that moment, the horse is not in the mood to greet us. The horse has spoken, but are we listening? We have an opportunity to reflect on why this might be.

We want to develop this into a habit for each time we visit with the horse. To teach the horse, we use the Greet & Go procedure. This seems deceptively simple, but it is extremely powerful to both establish and maintain the connection between the horse and the person.

Generally, horses are not comfortable with having people’s hands all over their faces to ‘say hello’. Horses don’t go around patting each other on the head. Getting people to stop doing this is quite a challenge.

This desire that people have to rub on a horsse’s face is a factor in the biting urge that some horses exhibit around people.

This is sometimes called “The Horseman’s Handshake”. As soon as Boots touched the back of Ada’s hand, Ada walked away. She is using the “Greet and Go” procedure. A greeting like this is the polite way to approach any horse. Once the “Greet and Go” procedure is well established, we can “Greet”, then carry on with what we plan to do with the horse.

Targeting: Teaching the horse to put his nose on a hand-held target often has us standing facing him, maybe at a bit of an angle.

We need to remember that horses have a blind spot right in front of them for about 3 feet or a meter, due to the way their eyes are positioned at the side of the head.

Teaching Back-Up Signals

Straight body with raised fingers tapping the air, plus a voice signal are our cues for backing up while in front of the horse. Here we are working on a straight back-up between two rails.

The following four short video clips show the many ways we can play with Leading Position 7. Be aware that sometimes I use a body extension to help amplify my signal to make it clearer for the horse. Once the horseunderstands what I am asking, the body extension is no longer needed. Eventually we can do most things at liberty with gesture and voice cues.

The body extension is never a ‘punishment’. It merely makes it easier for the horse to understand what behaviour will both remove the signal presssure (negative reinforcement) and earn the click&treat (positive reinforcement). It’s easy to use both methods of reinforcement at the same time. For some tasks, it makes out intention much clearer for the horse. Horses thrive an clarity. I know some people in the clicker training world find this highly problematic, but it doesn’t need to be. It depends on how much finesse, and how many different moves, we want to build into our training program.

Recall

Once the horse knows that a ‘recall’ signal (my rounded open arm position, leaning forward slightly, and voice cue) will result in a treat, we can practice from further and further away. For paddock recall, I use a whistle and reward the coming with an ample treat.

Boots likes to show off her ‘bow’ because she knows it always results in a treat .

Be sure to check out my blog number 13 (see the ‘Blog Contents Quick Links’ at the top of the page) for using thin-slicing to plan a Training Program. Each task or move you want to teach your horse needs careful consideration of how you will make it easy for the horse to understand what you want – you need to design a Training Plan for each task.

I’d love to hear which move you have chosen and how it is going.

Using Lanes

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Lanes are incredibly useful for teaching horses about:

*leading without the horse blocking you (i.e. movement work in protected contact)
*trailer loading
*careful foot placement
*building suppleness for turns
*backing up straight
*recall
*sideways (lateral movement)
*backing up toward handler
*confidence with unusual narrow spaces, eg. walking between parked vehicles or narrow tracks
*backing harness horse between shafts
*lateral movement

Leading without Blocking the Handler

We are walking toward a mat where a click&treat will happen. This keeps the horse focussed on moving forward and he knows what will happen on reaching the mat.

Charging direction with this set-up is great for developing supple turns in both directions. Obviously the arrows in the lane should have an arrowhead on either end LOL.

Trailer Loading Prep

Getting the horse used to walking in a narrow space for pre-trailer loading confidence. We’ve set the lane up right next to the trailer and walk through it many times in both directions. Evenutall ask for a halt in the lane, then walk out. Evenutally ask for a halt and then back out.

Here we are stepping over a rail into the lane and out of the lane. Again, building in a confident halt plus forward again. Followed by a halt and backing up over the rail to get the horse used to seeking where to put his hind feet, as he will have to do when backing down a ramp. The next step would be to block off one end of the lane so it becomes a dead end space like the trailer.

Backing up Straight

This includes backing up out of trailer.

Walk into a dead-end lane, click&treat, and pause for dwell time.

Raised rope and signal with outside hand are our cues for backing up out of the space.

We have graduated to the same movement using just ground rails. Once that is solid, we can use just a fence or a line of single rails on the ground to avoid the hind end swinging away from us.

Backing up with the Handler in Front

The white markers make it easier for her to see the entrance to the narrow lane. Sill using halter and rope here.

A raised lane and she understands my raised hand signal for backing up.

Eventually we could back up from in front with great accuracy. This took a while to achieve, doing a little bit most days.

Backing through a series of pool noodles for a Horse Agility task.

Another way to set up a lane.

Backing Prospective Harness Horse Between Shafts; i.e. tight spots

Confidence with unusual narrow spaces

It pays to start wide and narrow the lane gradually.

Long-reining

Walking into the lane and backing out with long-reining.

Careful Placing of Feet

Careful foot placement with long-reining. We can start trotting poles in a lane to make it and easier for the horse to know our intent.

Weaving a series of parallel rails for careful foot placement and supplesness.

Using a lane to teach Back-Up to Target my Hand with her Withers.

Eventually we no longer needed the rails and she is learning to back up with a signal when I am behind her.

Lateral Movement

Once it’s easy with a lane, use just one rail to help the horse keep straight.

Recall

First I teach the ‘wait’ game at the end of the lane. Probably started by using a mat.

My recall body language signal is bending forward slightly and making a circle with my arms.

Would love to hear in the comments what you have taught, are teaching, or intend to teach using lanes.

Signal Opportunities

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The photo above illustrates a moment when it would not be a good idea to give the horse a signal/cue, becaue her attention is strongly focussed on something happening on the road.

Horses are generally co-operative beings. Most horses are happy to comply if the message is clear for them and if what we ask is within their emotional, mental and physical capability.

On the other hand, if we send mumbled or mixed messages or use non-natural signals that the horse has not learned, or which he physically can’t do (perhaos due to pain) the horse is in a real bind. A horse in this situation may react in one of the following ways.

He may try to fill in with what he thinks the handler might mean, best as he can.
He may give up trying to understand and opt out mentally.
He may opt out physically by moving his feet to escape the situation, if he can.
If he can’t escape, he may ‘take over’ physically by pushing on, through or over the handler.
He may ‘freeze’ into a catatonic state. Some horses simply collapse.

Choosing the right opportunity to ask our horse to do something is important. It’s pointless to ask our horse to do something unless there is a 99% chance that he can and will do it. Otherwise we are teaching him to ignore our requests because they are too hard to understand or beyond his physical ability at the moment.

Setting Up Opportunities

Do we set up lots of occasions for the horse to practice learning what we want him to learn?

By playing with picking up, then walking, carrying her feed bucket every day, Boots became adept at it.

In other words, do we give the horse ample opportunity to learn in a controlled environment where he can gradually build his confidence and expand his comfort zone as he comes to understand each new thing we are teaching?

Traditional training was geared to what the human wanted right now, and proceeded to demand it with force, coercion and body extensions designed to inflict increasing discomfort.

Since what people want is usually not part of a horse’s natural repertoire of behavior, the horse is often catapulted into a state of bewilderment.

How much more comfortable and safer all around, if we thin-slice a large task into its smallest parts, teach each part and then chain the parts together to achieve the whole task?

When we do this, we allow the horse opportunity and time to master each small part before moving on. Please see Blog Numbers 13 and 106 on the Quick Contents Page for lots of detail about thin-slicing.

We want to allow the horse to keep his integrity and we want to keep his goodwill. We allow him to adjust to the strange life he must live with us. We earn his trust so that he is willing to put the placement of his feet into our hands. For an animal, whose sole defense is the ability to flee from perceived danger, this is a big ask.

To build the horse’s knowledge and confidence, we need to first get (and reward) the behavior that we want, then we can add a specific signal to it. Often a signal arises naturally out of the way we initiated the behavior.

The desired behavior here is for the horse to target a specific object. We make it easy at first and set it up with the least distractions, so we can quickly click&treat the behaviour we want. Once it is good 99% of the time with a simple set-up, we can add verbal and gesture signals to ask for the behavior. Then we can start to ask the horse to touch all kinds of things with his nose, so building his confidence and courage.

Because Boots had a long history of touching unusual objects with her nose, she willinging targetted the cart.

Once the horse understands the key signal, we can layer in other signal types. We can also replace a signal by adding a new one and fading out the earlier one.

Most horses don’t seem to have any trouble understanding several signals for the same thing. For example, my horse will ‘walk on’ with a verbal signal, a ‘breath-in’ signal, an arm gesture signal and an ‘outside leg steps forward’ signal. If we are doing work on a long line or reverse round pen, she understands the verbal, breathing and arm gesture signals from different angles and distances.

Additionally, horses can understand one signal in a variety of different situations. My horse understands the verbal ‘whoa’ signal when walking beside me, when she is behind me, when I am walking behind her as in long-reining, and from the riding position.

It’s also essential to be aware of the ways that our horse signals to us. Often, we are so immersed in working out what we want the horse to do, we miss the signals the horse is sending us about what he need us to do so he can remain confident.

By reading the horse, we can decide whether we should:

Carry on with what we are doing.

Go back a step or more to regain confidence.

Have a break and do something that’s already easy.

Stop for the day or for this session.

How Clicker Training Influences our Training

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Clicker training teaches both the handler and the horse important things.

The horse learns that the click means ‘Yes’ that’s right. That’s what I’m asking you to do.

Here I used click&treat to show Boots that what I want is for her to halt with her back feet in the square of squashed bottles.

2. The handler learns to look for and click&treat the slightest try in the direction of the desired behavior.

When first teaching about mats, we click&treat the slightest interest in the mat, even looking at it or approaching it or sniffing the edge of it.

Clicker training allows us to shape* behavior by ensuring that the horse can be continually successful. We do this by putting the following points into place.

[Terms with an asterisk (*) are further explained in the GLOSSARY section. The link to this is at the tip of the page.]

We start with an end goal clear in our mind.
We note what the horse is able to offer already.
We work toward our goal through a series of ‘successive approximations’* which in plain English means gradual tiny changes toward our end goal.
Each tiny change becomes the horse’s decision. He then ‘owns’ that change because he understands that he made a good choice because it earned him a click&treat.
Unwanted behavior is ignored or re-directed. If we feel unsafe, we return to having a barrier between us and the horse.
If the horse’s behavior makes us feel unsafe or frustrated, it is essential to go back to the place in our training where both horse and handler feel confident and comfortable. Then work forward again from there. If we feel unsafe or annoyed, the horse will pick up our feeling and also feel unsafe and want to leave (if he is in anxious mode) or take over (if he is in confident mode).
It is important to thin-slice* end goals into the tiniest clickable moves that we can think of. It helps a great deal to create a written ‘Individual Education Program’ (IEP)* for each horse. We make revisions as we go along and learn via the feedback from each interaction with the horse. A written plan allows us to look back and review how well (or not) a particular horse responded to each slice of our Program. Being able to look back gives us more feedback so we can adjust the Individual Education Program (IEP).

As a thin-slicing example, let’s look at Pool Noodle Task we did for Horse Agility

The various ‘slices’ of this task build the horse’s confidence to walk through an overlapping horizontal pool noodle arrangement, so the horse is comfortable pushing through them with his chest. Each slice* could take a minute or a day, week, month of short, fun sessions. How long each ‘slice’ takes depends on many factors.

We know we can move on when the horse tells us, through his body language, that he is OK with each slice. Boots is already familiar with this sort of work because she was taught to pull a cart using positive reinforcement. A horse new to these concepts will probably need multiple short sessions for each slice*.

SLICES: The video that follows illustrates the slices* for this task.

1. Investigate the pool noodle (PN) in her own time with nose and feet.

2. Comfortable with PN rubbed all over her body, both sides.

3. Confidently pushes her chest into the PN, held by the handler, as they walk along together.

4. Confidently walks over the PN on the ground.

5. Confidently walks over the PN between the gap created by the uprights for the eventual task set-up of the pool noodles.

6. Confidently walks through the gap with one PN in place at chest height — in both directions.

7. Confidently walks through two PNs in place (slightly overlapping).

8. Waits when asked, while handler walks through the PN, then follows on request.

9. As 8, at liberty.

10. Add more pairs of PN, one at a time, until we have 5 pairs.

11. Trot through.

Every change we make is relevant to the horse. If we change something, we have changed a parameter*, and need to be aware of how the horse might perceive the change. A parameter is something we keep constant during our interactions with the horse. It becomes a condition or action that the horse can depend on because it stays the same. When we change a parameter, we have to carefully teach the horse what the change means.

Number 8 in the Blog Contents List goes into more detail about parameters.

The parameter here is that when I stand doing nothing, looking nowhere and with my hands crossed across my belly, the horse is required to stand quietly, and hopefully relaxed, waiting for the click – this is DURATION at the halt..

That parameter can be changed/extended to include when I’m in a sitting position.

Confidence with Unusual Surfaces

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The key prerequisite for all the tasks shown in the clips below about UNUSUAL SURFACES is having first mastered smooth ‘walk on’ and ‘halt’ transitions. If we have to first work on this prerequisite, we can do it using target destinations and training ourselves to be really clear when we are requesting ‘walk on’ and when we are requesting ‘halt’. Blog Number 16 in my Blog Contents Quick Links demonstrates. Below is a quick revision.

Walk-on Body Language

These four things are done all together – a ‘multi-signal’.

Breathe in deeply (horses hear this) plus raise your torso and body anergy.
Forward gesture with your outside hand. If you are using a hand-held target to first teach this, as in the video below, the action of moving the target forward into play will soon morph into just an arm signal.
Step off with your ouside foot. It’s easier for the horse to see your outside foot moving forward.
Use your chosen voice signal for ‘walk-on’.

Halt Body Language

These four things are done together – again, a multi-signal.

Drain the energy from your body while you –
Drop your weight down into your butt (as we want the horse to do when he halts)
Breathe out loudly (horses hear this)
Use your ‘halt’ or ‘whoa’ voice signal

The following clip was made to support relaxed foot care, so there is a bit at the very end about backing up to shift the horse’s weight

When ‘walk-on’ and ‘halt’ are solidly in place, we can carry on with unusual surfaces.

Thin-Slicing the 1m Board

Thin-Slicing Walking on Plastic Bottles

More About Unusual Surfaces and Backing Up

Other related blogs: You can find the links easily on my Blog Contents Quick Links page.

No. 9: Mats: Parking or Stationing and Much More
No. 10: ‘Zero Intent’ and ‘Intent’
No. 17: Destination Training
No. 26: Getting a Smooth Halt in Many Situations
No. 33: Willing Response to a Halt Voice Signal
No. 51: Reverse Pens
No. 68: 20 Steps Exercise
No. 101: Precision Leading

Also, all the routines in my book, Companion Horse Training Using Positive Reinforcement, refine the skills of walking with a handler. The book works through a series of activities that require minimal equipment (set of rags and a fence). They are designed to make the horse ‘handy’ and happy following our clear body language including turns and backing up.

Moving Away From Touch or Gesture

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In the photo above, Boots is lifting her foot in response to Bridget’s arm signal gesture and the intent of her body language. It makes hoof care so much easier.

Shaping with Touch Guidance

Research on dopamine release shows that knowing how to avoid or decrease a stimulus we don’t like gives a ‘reward hit’ to the brain, similar to how achieving something desirable feels rewarding. For example; stopping in time for a red light gives an instant feeling of relief and accomplishment.

This is why the training system made popular by Pat and Linda Parelli gave such ‘good’ results in teaching horses how to respond to human requests. People who have been considered ‘good’ horsemen over the years have used the same principle for millenia.

The principle is basically this: Use a consistent touch/gesture signal and remove the touch/gesture the instant the horse complies even just a little bit. Build from there with repeats until the horse responds readily because it understands the cue and the system. This is negative reinforcement – called negative because the touch or gesture energy is removed when the horse responds. The term ‘negative’ is here used in the mathematical sense. It is not related to it’s other common meaning of something ‘bad’.

BUT: It takes considerable skill in reading horses – to know when the horse remains in the learning zone, i.e. under threshold (see Number 107 in the Blog Quick Links for more about this) or has been pushed beyond threshold. Is the horse responding or reacting? If the handler is not sensitive and/or lacks experience helped by a good teacher, it can end up with a confused and unhappy horse. Also, the touch or gesture signal needs to be totally consistent so the horse can depend on it being the same each time.

Pressure is not a dirty word. Horses understand pressure. They use it with each other all the time. It is the nature of the pressure, plus when it is removed, that makes or breaks good training to create a horse confident with people.

Using touch/gesture pressure followed by a click&treat immediately the horse responds, is an essential step in teaching a horse to be resilient in a variety of human environments. We can’t know the future, If our personal situation changes, the horse may have to go elsewhere. If confronted by flood, fire, earthquake, the horse may need to be moved quickly.

Such teaching with negative reinforcement, backed instantly by positive reinforcment, is often called ‘combined reinforcement’. Some people refer to it as negative reinforcement ‘with a cherry on top’, as a way of discounting it. Yet, if we use a neck rope or headgear or our legs for riding, we usually want the horse to move away from our touch. It’s convenient to be able to touch the horse’s chest lightly to get a back up. Or to touch his leg for a lift if we want to tend the hoofs.

Gesture

Horses interacting with each other use gesture as a first communication. If the annoying horse does not move away, the gesture escalates gradually via touch with nose, teeth or hooves. The first suggestion might be a just a ‘look’ or an ear/tail flick. Play between youngsters is full of touch and gesture.

Because horse are super sensitive to movement, they easily pick up the meaning of a specific gesture if we use it with total consistency.

Once a horse understands our meaning:

Reaching down to his foot will have him lift a leg.
Fingers raised in front of him (far enough back to be out of his blind spot) and tapping the air at his eye level will have him back up.
A light touch or gesture to his shoulder will have him move it into a turn on the haunches.
A light touch or gesture (or even a focussed look) to the side of his rump will have him move it away into a turn on the forehand.
A light touch at (or gesture toward) his ribs will have him sidestep.
A light touch to his chest or nose will have him back up.

I taught moving the front end away into a turn on the haunches with touch to the neck and shoulder, but eventually only my focus and a gesture were enough of a cue.

Likewise, I used touch to teach a signal for moving the hind end away from me, but after a while my body orientation. intent and gesture, even from quite a distance, was enough of a cue, even when her front feet were on a pedestal.

A simple arm/hand gesture is enought to tell Boots that she will earn a click&treat for backing off the pedestal.

We spent several weeks perfecting backing between two tall objects at greater and greater distances. In the first photo I am looking toward her right butt to get it to straighten out so she doesn’t knock the barrel. No doubt this one earned a triple treat or a jackpot.

If you have an interest in seeing how we reached this stage in the photo above, I filmed most of the days we worked on this. We did a few repeats over many, many days. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHJTeGrtF98Pjy3zvmPhgBxBP6V3lwhkh

First we learned sidestepping along a rail with touch to shoulder and butt in rhythm. Once she had the idea, a light touch to the ribs became the cue. Eventually it only needed a gesture and my focus toward her ribs.

Eventually we didn’t need a rail to do side-stepping, which is a good suppling exercise.

Here I’m using a gesture as well as the idea of ‘follow the feel of the rope’ to teach a twirl. (See Blog Number 116 in the Quick Links.) Confidence with ropes touching the legs is another essential skill we should teach in a gradual, nuanced way. (Not starting with the above photo!). Before long, a voice and gesture signal were enough information for her and she would happily insert a couple of twirls into a recall. It became one of her favorite things to show off. Ample click&treat during the teaching process made it a favorite.

Here we are both doing a twirl or spin during our dancing routine. We are both turning to our right and seem to be in step. As she comes around I will click&treat. What began as a ‘follow the feel of the rope’ exercise morphed into just a combined hand and voice signal at liberty. It’s easiest for the horse if they are already in motion in a recall.

All these skills take time to develop, but are so much fun.

Guided Shaping of Voluntary Touch

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Guided shaping is when we set up the environment in a way that encourages the horse to offer a behaviour we would like to develop – in this case putting his nose on an object. We may have the horse on a halter and lead and give him a few ‘pointers’ along the way. The aim is to make it as easy as possible for the horse to figure out what will earn the clcik&treat (i.e., the behaviour we want.)

Here I’ve set up the environment for teaching relaxation in tight spaces – essential as a prerequisite for trailer loading. She is wearing a halter and lead, as we’ll usually have to do when trailer-loading. I’ve asked Boots to walk into the ‘dead end’ space where there is a nose target (white bottle) and given her a ‘wait’ signal. Then I walk behind her, then forward to her front again, before a click&treat. I want to be able to walk to the back and forward again at least three times without her wanting to back out, before I ask her to back out. When we load into most trailers we have to walk to the back (and out of the horse’s view) to shut the tailgate.

Shaping ‘Touch’ with Your Nose’

Targeting many different things to earn a click&treat does a lot to build a horse’s confidence. We usually start as in the fourth photo above, with a handheld target, and teach a ‘touch’ voice signal once the horse understands that putting his nose on an object will earn a click&treat.

Teaching confident touching of the nose to unusual objects and obstacles at our suggestion, is a good way to begin building confidence with new things. The more different positive ‘touch’ experiences the horse has, (built up with a little bit each session) the bolder he becomes.

If the horse is wary about putting his nose on the object you’ve chosen as your first target, It can help to rub fresh grass juices on it, or a wet peppermint, or a slice of apple, in order to increase their curiosity.

Once the horse understand the ‘touch’ voice signal using his nose, we can expland to touching other body parts to a target.

Teaching TOUCH with Other Body Parts

The goal behaviour here is to raise her knee to a target. This is an excellent skill to teach to develop the horse’s ability to shift his weight to achieve confident balance on three legs. It is a game changer when it comes to hoof care, because lack of balance on three legs training like this is the root cause of many horses’ struggle with hoof care.

The task in the photo above was begun by touching the target to the horse’s knee, click&treat. After a while, I held the target a fraction above the knee and the horse quickly learned to lift her leg to make the touch connection: click&treat. Then I could hold the target further up and she quickly learned to raise her leg higher. After a while I added our verbal signal (touch) to the action, and could simply use my hand as the target.

Eye to Hand

Boots targetting my hand with her eye. Very useful if we ever have to treat eye infection or injury. She also learned to target her ear so my hand, for the same reason. Some process as described above: touch eye/ear gently – click&treat. After a while, hold your hand a tiny distance away and wait for the horse to make the contact – click&treat.

Chin to Hand

Targetting her chin to my hand. Same process as above.

Using the process described, we can teach lifting the hind feet to a target (front feet = Number 59 in the Blog Contents Quick Links, and hind feet = Number 74) , moving the shoulder toward our hand (Number 27 in the Blog Contents Quick Links) , moving the hindquarters toward our hand (Number 28 in the Blog Contents Quick Links). Stepping back to touch our hand with his withers or his rump.

Stretching the neck to touch a target.

Neck Bending: I started by asking for just a slight bend to touch the target. Then as she understood the task, I gradually asked for a bit more.

Butt Bingo

Backing the butt to touch a solid upright: We started with safe fences, walls and hedges, then graduated to barrels, big cones, trees and things like this 4×4 post. It’s an important exercise if we want to put our horse in a trailer and close up behind. Here she looks rather proud of herself while she waits for me to deliver the treat after the click. We did one or two repeats of this, often, over a long time. It was a prerequisite for backing between the shafts of a cart, as in the photo below.

If we want to teach backing between shafts in preparation to teaching driving, we can use simulations like this that will come apart if the horse gets startled. I taught backing butt against many safe solid objects before adding the pretend shafts.

Months of preparation, with many stages, which started with just targeting all parts of the cart, allowed hitching up to be a relaxed process.

What will your horse voluntarily touch?

Have you taught ‘voluntary touch’ with any of his body parts other than his nose?

The blog below looks at Seeking the Horse’s Consent Signal, (also often called a Start Buttons or similar), which can fascilitate confident touching of various body parts to our hand.

Seeking the Horse’s Consent Signals

Following the Feel of a Touch Signal

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Application

In the photo above, we are doing a long-reining ‘change direction’ exercise. Because Boots knows how to ‘follow the feel’ of the slightest touch on the halter, we can long-rein a cloverleaf pattern using four rails. I only need to change my hand position slightly to give her the directional signals.

In the photo we’ve started at rail 2, will wallk across rail 4, arc right to walk over rail 1 followed by rail 3 (plus the other two rails lying there); arc right to walk over rail 4 followed by rail 2. Then arc right over rails 3 and 1; then arc right again and we’ve done the last leaf of the pattern and are in front of rail 2 ready to repeat turning to the left this time.

Following the feel of a touch signal is an essential skill the horse needs for leading with a rope and for using reins either riding or long-reining. And it is especially important if we go places where we have to tie up the horse.

Since we have no control of what the future may bring, for ourselves or the horse, it’s a skill we must teach early and to a high standard, so that in a situation of stress, or new ownership, the horse knows this response well.

With Positive Reinforcement

Ideally we teach a horse at liberty with targets, using body language, gesture and voice signals. This is what is shown in the four short video clips that follow.

When the horse shows us that he is ready, we add halter with rope and repeat the exact same exercises. In this way we teach that rope or rein pressure means move toward the pressure, so releasing it. The voice and hand gesture signals are excellent aids if we want to eventually ride bridle-less.

Teaching Soft Rope or Rein Response.

These clips look at teaching soft rope/rein response with the horse standing still. Once he understands this well, we introduce walking toward stationary targets at liberty, adding gesture and voice signals for ‘walk on’ and ‘whoa’, and changes of direction. Then we add the rope. By using our body language and voice signals, the rope basically stays slack most of the time. When we do use it to indicate change of direction, it takes just the hint of a touch.

It’s important to stay with each step of the training until the horse is comfortable with it, and responding ‘correctly’ each time. Be aware that external distractions can take his attention. If that happens, simply wait until his attention turns back to you. Boots, in the clips, was very focussed on what was earning each treat, and hightly experienced with clicker training.

Prerequisites

If you don’t already have your horse loving to target mats with his feet, you start with targeting mats first (Number 9 in the Blog Contents Quick Links).
if you have been using a long-handled target, get the horse hooked on a short, hand-held target.
You may need to first spend time getting the horse comfortable standing in a corner by using your hand-held target. Standing in a corner makes it easier for the horse to understand the option (turning just his head toward you) that you want him to choose.
The Anchor Task: in this case the the anchor task is horse standing beside you with his head forward. It is the key part of this exercise. It has to be solid before you begin asking for the ‘turn head’ request. It must be kept solid throughout the teaching exercises. Later, once you are moving with the horse, it’s no longer needed as much.

Clip 1

Clip 2

Clip 3

Clip 4

Let me know if you have a go at teaching this, and how it is going. You can do it with a horse that already leads well, or with a horse new to training.

Free-Shaping

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Free-shaping means clicking and treating the moment the horse naturally displays a behaviour you want to encourage. The click&treat encourages the horse to repeat the behaviour that earned the treat.

The first free-shaping exercise most handers use is to hold (or set) out a target and wait for the horse to investigate it with his his nose = Click&Treat. Most horses pick this up quite readily. Many equine clicker trainers use it to teach their horse the meaning of the ‘click’ or whatever marker sound they are using. My older mare (with a chequered background before I got her) took nine short sessions over a week before she made the connection between her nose touching the target, the click, and the treat that followed.

Because it is the horse’s choice to do the task, they learn it readly because it was their idea in the first place. It gives them a sense of ‘agency’ – being in control. Like us, horses like to be in control of their lives.

Boots has to her nose on a stationary target. I clicked as her nose touched it and I walked to her to deliver the treat. Once the horse loves to do this for a click and treat, we can put such objects all around our training area and walk or trot between them to earn a click&treat at eachone. Also useful for ‘destinations’ when we begin leaving home. We can use destinations for groundwork and riding.

Using a hand-held target, It’s always wise to start out with ‘protected contact‘, i.e., the horse on the other side of a barrier. Until we begin clicker training, we have no idea how the horse will react to food treats from our hand. This is also the time to try out different treats .

Here I’ve created a barrier in a corner, which is another option if you don’t have a suitable fence handy, but with a new horse – maybe make the person’s space a bit bigger!

Your safety barrier for PROTECTED CONTACT does not necessarily have to be fancy.

If you can use electic fence tape for training, make sure the power is turned off during training time.

In this clip, I’m free-shaping head lowering.

Eventually we added a verbal signal, and a body language signal, so when I bowed, she bowed.

The following clip shows an alternative to hand-feeding while teaching the TARGET = CLICK = TREAT process.

In the next clip, I free-shaped step aerobics.

It’s also a possible way to build confidence with any tight space or a trailer.

In the next clip we are doing the 20 Steps Exercise. Depending on your starting point, it could take a few or many short sessions to get 20 smooth steps with one click&treat at the end. All you need is for the horse to willingly walk one step with you, click&treat, and work forward from that.

The next clip is a very early lesson in free-shaping Boots’ confidence moving along with a bicycle.

The following clip with the bicycle is much later.

The next clip is a demo of tummy crunches.

I learned this from Alex Kurland.

1. I began with the horse behind a low barrier. I stood at neutral (zero intent = Number 10 in the Blog Contents Quick Links) and watched casually (not staring at the horse) with a relaxed stance, watching to click&treat any upward or backward shift of weight.

2. I did this IN THE SAME SPOT for a minute or two once or twice a day, mainly right before afternoon feeding time. And as a ‘last thing’ at the end of a play session. Having usual times in the same place seems to make the horse look forward to having ‘another go’.

3. Once we were getting a purposeful weight shift back because she realized that’s what earned the click&treat, I sat down to bring the horse’s head a bit lower. Previously we had ignored head position as the horse was experimenting with different possibilities. When I sat down, she lowered her head position because the treats were offered lower. This developed over months and months.

4. At some point, the crunches became a part of her personal repertoire because she would offer them if she wanted to initiate an interaction. At this point I added a verbal signal/cue.

5. I’d never do more than about what is on this clip at one time.

6. Eventually I could ask for the crunches standing her shoulder, her butt and behind her, using the verbal signal (zzzip) plus my body language of leaning backwards. We had such a long and strong history of reinforcement that she readily adjusted to my different positions. She happily did it with a rider aboard as well.

Free-Shaping Boots doing a STRETCH:

Once Boots realized that her ‘downward dog’ stretch earned a click&treat every time she did it, she offered it frequently. I initially free-shaped it by noticing that she often stretched like this after getting up from a nap. I managed to ‘capture’ the behavior two days in a row, and she then began to offer it often enough so I could put a verbal cue to it – ‘Stretch’.

What sort of things have you free-shaped?

Part 2 of Relaxed Foot Care – the Hind Feet

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When the horse is comfortable picking up the front feet on request, we can proceed in a similar way with the hind feet. We start as usual with the horse willingly targeting a familiar mat and able to stay parked on it.

Then we make sure the horse is comfortable being rubbed all over with a body extension, paying special attention to the belly and hind legs.

If the horse expresses concern about being touched with a body extension or with having a rope swung lightly around his hind legs, we’ve found a big training hole. It’s essential to go back and build the horse’s confidence about standing still while we do things around him.

Before we proceed with picking up feet, we need the horse calm and relaxed having his legs brushed with a soft brush right down to his feet. We want him to remain calm and relaxed when we rub and massage his legs all the way down.

To develop the idea of lifting a hind leg on signal, we can touch the hock gently with a target such as a pool noodle or a tomato stake with bubble wrap taped around it. Click&treat as we touch the hock. Repeat until we can hold the target a little above the hock and the horse lifts his leg to touch the target because he’s figured out that’s what causes the click&treat. Be careful to click as the leg is coming up, not on its way down.

The hock is a convenient point at which to teach a touch signal for lifting the hind feet. Bridget has asked Boots to target her hock to the body extension which is bubble wrap taped to a tomato stake.

Eventually we just have to point to the hind leg we want lifted.

Once leg lifting is well established, we generally use touch when we want to do foot care, like a farrier or hoof trimmer would expect. We always start with our hand at the withers, and run it across the horse’s back and down to his hock. This gives the horse time to shift his weight so he CAN pick up the leg on that side.

Bridget is running her hand down to the hock. Touching the hock is our signal to ask for a foot lift.

By the time Bridget reaches the hock, Boots has already taken her weight off that leg so she can pick it up and stay balanced.

Lifting feet is all about weight shifts. It needs to be taught carefully and systematically, making sure that the horse understands each slice of the process. By teaching targeting a body extension first, the horse figures out how to shift his weight and balance on three legs without other complications thrown in – like the foot being held, cleaned, trimmed.

Bridget has a willing hind leg lift and the horse looks balanced. Gradually, one second at a time, we built duration of keeping the foot up so we can clean, inspect, rasp, spray it.

Teaching relaxation with a hoof stand is the next set of slices. It can be helpful to have a calm helper to deliver the treats when you click.

Here I’m working on duration having the foot up and forward. For hoof officianados, you might notice how much better Boots’ heel buttresses are compared to earlier pictures.

Teaching the foot to lie backwards on the hoofjack. Note she is not standing squarely in front, which makes it harder for her.

It can be helpful, timewise, to be able to clean all the feet from one side. We draw the far foot, once offered, across behind the near leg.

Checklist

No.	DETAILS	Tick
Prerequisites
1	Handler & horse are clicker-savvy
2	Leads easily, halts promptly & backs up readily
3	Horse can park & be rubbed all over
4	Foot awareness with mats & other exercises
5	Brush legs
6	Rub legs with hands
7	Comfortable ‘foot care’ spot sorted
8	Stand squarely
Major Slices for Building Front Foot Behaviors
1	Lift knee to target an object: click for foot rising
2	Lifts knee to hand
3	Add in consistent voice signal
4	Handler faces tail to ask for knee to target hand
5	Catch & hold foot briefly: click before releasing
6	Hold foot for one second
7	Hold foot for two seconds
8	Gradually hold foot longer, one second at a time
9	Clean foot with stiff brush
10	Clean foot with hoof pick
11	Teach spray bottle confidence
12	Set foot in sling (or on knee)
13	Build duration of foot in sling or on knee
14	Bring foot forward onto a hoof stand or stump
15	Build duration of hoof brought forward
16	Back foot off hoof stand (no click&treat, just praise)
Major Slices for Building Hind Foot Behaviors
1	Confident with body extension rubbed over legs
2	Confident with brush and hands rubbing legs
3	Touch cap of hock with body extension for lift
4	Add voice signal
5	Lift hind foot with pointing
6	Run hand from withers to cap of hock – relaxed
7	Lifts foot with tap on hock & voice signal
8	Hold foot briefly; click; go to head to give treat
9	Hold foot one second; click; go to head to treat
10	Hold foot two seconds; click; go to head to treat
11	Gradually hold foot longer one second at a time
12	Clean hoof with brush
13	Clean hoof with hoof pick
14	Spray hoof
15	Clean both hind feet from one side
16	Rest hind foot in a sling
17	Bring hind foot forward onto a hoof stand
18	Build duration on the hoof stand
19	Teach ‘back’ signal for foot off stand (no click&treat)
Generalizations
1	Familiar mat in new spots
2	Familiar spot without mat
3	New spots without mat
4	Away from home

Number 74 in the Blog Contents Quick Links (at the top of the page) takes you to the blog about ‘Counting with the Hind Feet’, which goes into detail. Here is the video from that blog, which is a quick summary of a year’s work.

Part 1 of Relaxed Foot Care: Front Feet

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In the photo above, Boots noticed that Bridget has the hoofpick and spray bottle in her hand, so she knows it is foot care time, and offers her foot.

‘All behaviors rest on an emotional ediface.’ I don’t know the source of this quote, but it underpins just about everything.

Our aim is to have the horse confidently lift each foot on signal and keep it up for as long as we need it.

Environment:

Work in a space familiar to the horse, where he is usually relaxed; buddies in view but not able to interfere. Horse is not hungry.

Horse at liberty or wearing halter and lead (not tied up). Halter and lead allow us to help him stand square. If the horse can’t stand quietly without being tied, that is a skill to work on first. A familiar mat gives the horse a destination spot for standing quietly. See Number 9 in the Blog Contents Quick Links ( at top of page) if you need to establish confident parking on a mat first.
Ensure the horse is warmed up a bit so it is easier for him to stand on three legs.
Ensure the horse is in a learning frame of mind. If not, encourage activity to use up adrenalin or do relaxing activities he knows well before starting.

It pays to remember that if you are nervous about picking up a horse’s foot, your anxiety pales into insignificance compared with how worried a horse might be if he has not been introduced to foot care with thought to his feelings.

Some horses may have had a bad experience with a particular leg. Be aware that a reluctance to lift a foot, or keep it up, can be due to pain from an old injury, current sore muscles/joints and/or arthritis.

Horses know that if their feet are compromised, they are close to death. It pays to teach ‘picking up feet’ carefully and thoroughly and not leave it to other people. By going through all the steps outlined below, we can also overcome our own natural fear and anxiety about getting hurt.

Our first job is to make sure we can rub and massage the front legs down to the heel with the horse able to stand still in a relaxed manner, totally confident that we are not going to hurt him. With some horses, to keep everything safe and low key, it’s a good idea to use a body extension to rub the legs. We can keep our body erect, stay relaxed, and use a high rate of reinforcement. If we are tense, the horse will be tense.

I’m using a pool noodle to get the horse used to having things rubbed on her legs, the back and front of each leg as well as up and down.

The rate of reinforcement must allow the horse to be continually successful. At first it might be a barely touch of the body extension to a front leg. We start where the horse is, and work forward from that point. See Number 5 in the Blog Contents Quick Links (link at the top of the page) for The Four Stages of Learning.

Use advance and retreat. That means start up high and move down a leg until one of you feels uncomfortable. When you reach either you or the horse’s threshold of comfort, retreat by moving back up to the withers, relax, then advance again. This is called a re-set. You know you have reached a threshold if you feel tension in the horse’s body or you begin to feel anxious or uncomfortable.

Every time we do a re-set, we have a new opportunity to clarify our signal and our intent.

The mindmap below looks at the the tasks involved with front foot hoof care. Note that the first stage, rubbing the length of the leg, is omitted – my mistake.

Stand Square: the prerequisite task of stepping forward and backward, one step at a time, ensures that the horse understands our request to stand squarely. It helps if we routinely ask for square halts in a variety of situations. Each square or almost square halt, on request, earns a click&treat.

Using a mat makes it easier because, as the mat-savvy horse approaches the mat, he knows he will halt with his front feet on the mat. In other words, he has time to mentally and physically prepare himself and often halts squarely to earn his click&treat. Remember, he has four limbs to organize!

When asking the horse to square up, slightly tilt his head away from the front foot you want him to move. Moving his head away frees up the shoulder so he can move the leg.

Knee-Lifts to Touch a Target

Always start by asking the horse to stand squarely. This will help him remain balanced when he lifts a leg.

If we touch a target item gently to the front of the horse’s knee, accompanied by a click&treat, most clicker-savvy horses will quickly learn to raise the knee to touch the target. First, touch it to his knee, click& treat. When that is well established, hold the target a little tiny bit above the knee. He will work out that raising his knee touches the target and earns a click&treat. If he doesn’t, go back to touching the knee gently, click&treat until he makes the connection.

A pool noodle, a plastic bottle attached to a light stick (e.g. bamboo), or a light stick with bubble wrap taped around it, are the sorts of items we can use for knee targets.

#89 HorseGym with Boots demonstrates. Work with just the front feet until you are both totally solid with them. More detail about hind feet will be in the next blog.

Front Feet

If you’ve taught your horse to target his knee to your hand when you stand near him, facing him, he will have already shifted his weight so he can lift his foot, and you can catch hold of his foot while it is in the air.

Some people choose to touch the chestnut as a signal for lifting the foot. If you start with your hand at the withers each time, the horse will most likely soon learn to shift his weight and be already lifting his foot when you reach the chestnut.

It can be handy to teach a concurrent verbal signal such as, ‘Lift’. This is also helpful when we ask the horse to step cleanly over a rail, forwards and backwards.

Before we can gain the horse’s confidence about trusting his foot to our care, we must build up our own confidence. The best way is to do it in short, 3-minute segments, working through a series of thin-sliced questions that might look like the list below for the front feet.

As you play with the slices listed below, you will be collecting feedback on how you feel about each slice, and how your horse feels about each slice. You stay with each slice until the answer to the question is, ‘Yes.’

It could take five minutes to get all ‘yes’ answers with one horse. With another horse, it could take a week or a month of brief 3-minute sessions to get all ‘yes’ answers.

Remember, warmed up muscles will find the strain of standing on three legs and holding up a leg easier.

The rate of reinforcement must allow the horse to be continually successful with what you are asking.

Can I: gently & confidently rub his leg & foot all over with my body extension (stick, pool noodle)? If you can, practice on an experienced horse (or practice on a person) to get the feel for it, if this is new to you.
Will my horse: let me rub his leg and foot with my body extensions? Make sure he is already comfortable with being rubbed over the rest of his body.
Can I: confidently rub his leg & foot with my hand? Start at his withers and rub down only as far as you feel comfortable at that time. Over many tiny sessions, you will get the confidence to rub all the way down.
Will my horse: let me rub his leg and foot with my hand?
Can I: get him to stand so he is balanced before I want to pick up a foot? Have I taught him how to line up squarely to target his front feet to a mat, and/ormove forward and back one step at a time? If not, you want to teach that first.
Will my horse pick up a foot when I ask him to target my hand with his knee … OR slices 7.-9.
Will my horse: take the weight off his right front leg when I run my hand from his withers and down his leg?
Can I: confidently ask him to pick up his foot by touching his chestnut?
Will my horse: pick up his foot when I touch the the chestnut?
Can my horse: keep his balance okay standing on three legs?
Will my horse: let me hold his foot for one second before I release it back to the ground? (Click just before you release, then move to his head to deliver the treat.)
Can I: let my hand and arm holding the foot swing freely with any movement the horse makes with his leg until it stops swinging, at which point I click, gently release the foot and move forward to deliver the treat? (I do this only if I’m feeling safe.) If you feel whole body tension in the horse wanting his foot back, I would release the foot and work on earlier steps. The horse has an emotional block somewhere and we need to winkle it out. (All behaviors rest on an emotional ediface.)
Will my horse: gradually let me hold the foot longer and longer (one second at a time) and stay relaxed until I click&treat?
Will my horse: hold his foot up in a relaxed way for as long as I need it up, waiting for the click&treat?

Boots is targeting her knee to my hand. For the next slice, I would change my body orientation to stand beside her shoulder so when she lifts her foot it is easy for me to ‘catch’ it in my hand.

I build duration of keeping the foot up one second at a time, before I release it gently, followed by a click&treat.

It’s also possible to build duration by reaching back to deliver the treat while holding up the foot. Some people set up a raised tub into which they can toss the treat.

To Make Your Job Much Easier…..

Check out Number 59 in the Blog Contents Quick Links (see top of page), for Counting with the Front Feet. This exercise has the added benefit of developing the horse’s skill of organising his weight to stand on three legs, to a high level.

Successive Approximations and Resets

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The photo above shows one of the approximations we use when teaching trailer loading. Navigating a narrow space alongside the trailer, confidently, is a major step along the way to gaining confidence to enter a trailer.

Successive approximations, simply put, mean that we start with what the horse can offer already and gradually direct and reward each tiny move in the direction of the final behavior we want.

In other words, at the beginning of teaching something new, we click&treat for the slightest approximation of what we want as our final result. Each improved approximation is one tiny slice of the overall task.

When the horse feels ready, we encourage him to do a tiny bit more to gain the click&treat. This whole process of rewarding successive approximations is called ‘shaping a behavior’.

Shaping a Behavior: This is our second session of Free-shaping Head-Lowering

Putting a behaviour on signal/cue: In the next clip, you will see me re-setting the task repeatedly as I show Boots that a click&treat will only be forthcoming if I give the signal/cue for this behaviour, which is dropping my head and shoulders forward. We don’t want the horse forever putting his head down.

Putting Head-Lowering on Signal/Cue

A human example of shaping a behavior is teaching a child to write. The child starts with holding a pencil and using it to make random marks on paper. At some point the random marks become conscious curves and straight lines.

When the time is right, we introduce writing letters of the alphabet. Eventually the child can group letters to make words. Words are then arranged into meaningful sentences. Some children go on to write coherent paragraphs, essays, stories and books.

If the child loses confidence with any of the slices of the process, an element of discomfort creeps in, along with typical avoidance behavior. Not enough practice then results in a poorly shaped skill.

When a horse loses confidence in his ability to understand what we want him to do to earn a click&treat, we get typical avoidance behavior. He shuts down, stops trying – moves away if he can. Keeping the learner’s confidence is the essential role of a teacher.

Writing is an interesting human endeavor that starts at two years old and is still being shaped many years later at high school, tertiary education and beyond. There is always room for improvement.

Another way to look at successive approximations is to think of a sculptor starting with a piece of stone. He works in careful stages until the shape in his mind is visible to the rest of us in the shape of the stone.

In the same way, we gradually tease a series of movements (or stillness) out of a horse to yield the task we want. This is a bit harder than shaping stone because horses have minds of their own!

General Key Points

The more quickly you click&treat, and simultaneously stop any signal/cue, when the horse complies, the faster the horse can learn to recognize just what it is you want.
Once the horse understands your intent, refine your signals/cues and be TOTALLY CONSISTENT with them.
If you keep nagging with a signal/cue by repeating it, you will desensitize the horse and make him disregard the signal. Nagging is an easy habit to get into and hard to break. If the horse does not understand the first time you use the signal/cue, back up in your teaching until he does.
The energy you use to communicate with a signal/cue will change with the situation and what you are asking the horse to do.
To teach with the free-shaping, the horse learns without a direct signal/cue from you to initiate an action because you have set up the environment to make the action you want likely to happen. The horse does the action of his own free will. You mark the action with a click and reward it with a treat. Once the horse offers the behavior reliably, add a signal/cue to it. The signal/cue is usually determined by the nature of the task. It will be unique to you and a particular horse. For the haltering task in the video clip at the end of the blog, I started with the horse’s natural curiosity about the hoop, and shaped the haltering procedure from that.
Just when everything is feeling really good is the time to STOP. Avoid at all costs the urge to do it again to see if we can. Change to something relaxing instead.
One of the key skills of horsemanship is to read the horse accurately to be able to decide on the best activity (or rest) for the moment we are in. It is part of the concept of ‘feel’.
When things go awry (which they will), always go back to where both you and the horse feel confident again, and gradually work forward from there.

When we watch a horse and his trainer perform a complex task, it is not always easy to see the steps the handler took to reach the smooth end behavior. Even if we can find out how the horse was trained, that only tells us about what worked for that horse and that handler.

Here are some questions we have to ask ourselves.

What did the horse know already before learning that task?
How experienced is the handler?
What method(s) of reinforcement does the handler use?
How long have the horse and handler worked together?
How long did it take them to reach this point?
What were the tricky bits along the way?
How often did the horse get confused?
How often did the handler have to go back a few steps and work forward again?

Seeing a horse carrying out a task that grabs our fancy is the beginning of our own adventure. It gives us the inspiration to teach our horse something new. The starting point for any Individual Education Program we set up for a horse will be unique to us.

Here is the definition of thin-slicing again.

Thin-slicing is a shorthand way of saying: split the overall task we want the horse to learn into its smallest teachable parts and teach each part in a way that makes it as easy as possible for the horse to understand.

Resetting a Task

When we teach something new, we are experimenting with our signals/cues and the horse is also experimenting to work out what it is we want him to do. It’s not unusual for things to get a bit complicated and messy.

If either you or the horse lose track of what you are doing, pretend it was perfect, relax (but no click&treat), pause. Count to ten and rotate your shoulders. Then go back to the beginning of the task and try again, starting with your visualization of how a good effort will look and feel.

The magic about pretending it went well (when it actually turned into a mess) is that it dissolves the natural frustration we feel when our communication is not getting through. Horses instantly pick up on the changes in our body when we are frustrated or angry, and will want to move away from the negativity, so any teaching/learning moment is lost.

If we can smile, breathe out and relax our body before the reset, we don’t upset the horse or make him anxious. We simply start again.

When someone tries to teach me something new on a computer or cell phone, they invariably go so fast that I have no idea what they did or what I should be doing. I think that is what often happens with horses.

The following two clips demonstrate teaching with successive approximations. Our sessions were never much longer than three minutes.

First Successive Approximations for Learning to Put on a Halter

In the next video clip, be aware that to make it shorter for easier watching, I cut out the bits where I reach into my pocket, after the click, so it is a bit jumpy. Everyone’s progress will be different.

From the Hoop to the Halter

Thin-Slicing Explained

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Thin-slicing is a shorthand way of saying: Split the overall task we want the horse to learn into its smallest teachable parts and teach each part in a way that makes it as easy as possible for the horse to understand.

As each tiny part of the task becomes ‘ho-hum’ for the horse, move on to the next part. Gradually all of the parts will come together so the overall task is seamlessly carried out with confidence and willingness.

It means starting with the most fundamental lessons and gradually adding complexity, one click&treat at a time, until we have shaped the whole behavior we want.

As each small part, called a ‘slice’, is mastered, we begin to teach the next slice, either separately or as a continuation of the first slice. If taught separately, once the second slice is learned, we link it to the first one.

Proceeding like this, we gradually chain all the slices together until the horse can do the whole task as a continuous movement with one click&treat at the end.

Some tasks, of course, like haltering, saddling or harnessing, mounting up, worming, vet inspection, grooming and foot care, require the horse to stand still.

When we teach these ‘standing still’ procedures, we begin with a release (click&treat) for relaxation during each tiny slice of the overall process. Gradually, as the horse can relax more, we do a bit more before each release (click&treat).

It’s crucial to remember that ‘standing still’ during an unusual situation is not something a horse in the wild would ever do.

Asking a horse to ‘stand still’ while we do all sorts of things to him, is a big ask.

To teach a flight animal to ‘stand still’ on request means we have to actively teach the horse to be inactive.

In other words, the horse learns to be actively inactive. His instinct will be to move his feet if he feels uncomfortable. Good training will give him the trust and confidence to keep his feet still when we ask.

This concept is explored in teaching the art of standing still, or ‘Parking’. It’s important to promptly move to the front of the horse to deliver treat so he doesn’t form the habit of turning toward you. Perhaps start by standing in front of him rather than to the side as in the video clip.

Example 1: Park & Wait

The key to good training of any kind is to keep the horse being continuously successful in his responses to our requests. If the horse understands our request and is comfortable with it, the chances are good that he will respond willingly.

Example 2: Free-shaping standing on a mat.

Example 3: to teach my horse to walk through a square of ground rails filled with squashed plastic bottles (a Horse Agility obstacle that shows up occasionally), I split the overall task into a series of tiny slices. It’s a great exercise to allow the horse to become more confident with putting his feet onto unusual surfaces like tarps, ramps, trailers, bridges, water, balance beams or mattresses.

Example 4: This clip looks at thin-slicing walking through a water obstacle. We start with things the horse is already familiar with. If walking across rails and tarps are new for your horse, that is where you would start and work with until they are ho-hum.

Example 5: This clip looks at free-shaping ringing a bell.

Thin-slicing and consistency are the holy grails of horse training. By using the mark and reward (click&treat) dynamic, we let the horse know what will earn the treat and therefore increase to probability that he will happily do that action (or inaction) again.

ROPE RELAXATION

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ROPES: It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of educating our horses to be totally comfortable with ropes. Our main enjoyment may be to play with our horse at liberty and teach everything using targeting, voice and gesture signals. But sadly, horses in captivity are totally dependent on people for their well-being. Other people may regularly handle our horse or something may happen so that help from other people is needed. In case of fire, flood, or if you are hurt, or your horse must be moved, he will need a solid foundation of rope confidence. If he is sold, we want him to be comfortable with ropes.

If we take our horse out into public places we need him to be relaxed on a lead rope. If we tie our horse up, we have to get him comfortable with that. Rope Confidence includes ropes moving around him, ropes constricting him and ropes touching all parts of his body. The same is necessary if you want to teach your horse long-reining and maybe driving. Sooner or later we are going to drop a rope or rein and it is better if the horse does not see this as a reason to panic, which can lead to running into or over fences, or danger on a road.

#121 HorseGym with Boots in clip called Stick and Rope Confidence shows a way to begin. https://youtu.be/WIpsT4PPiXo

We don’t have to begin with a rope.

There are several elements to Rope Relaxation. #22 HorseGym with Boots in a clip called Rope Relaxation shows some of the elements mentioned in the list coming up. https://youtu.be/6Y34VlUk0Iw

The last part of this clip shows building confidence with dragging ropes.

We want to gain the horse’s confidence to remain parked while we do the following activities.

Swing a second rope (not attached to the horse) near him.
Gently toss the end of a soft rope all over his body, including around behind, under the belly and around the legs. It should feel like horses standing tail to nose swishing flies off each other with their tails. Start with a second rope not attached to the horse, then graduate to using the end of a long lead rope.
When the rope is attached to the horse, make sure you keep a constant drape in the part attached to his halter while you toss the other end around his body. You want to avoid putting touch pressure on the halter.
Toss a coiled rope (not attached to the horse) in the air across him.
Randomly drop a coil of rope (not attached to the horse) onto the ground in various positions around him.

We also want to continue building his confidence with the rope when we:

drag a second rope while we walk along with the horse on a loose lead as in the second video above.
attach a second rope to the horse’s halter which he drags while we walk with him on a loose lead, including walking curves and corners where the dragging rope may touch the horse’s feet or legs, as in the second video above.
If the horse has reason to move when his rope is attached and dragging, we want him to be calm about it.
And eventually, with careful shaping, we can leave the horse ground-tied in different situations.

I’ve created a reason for Boots to walk forward dragging her rope on her own, so if she is ever in that situation, it is not unfamiliar.

Eventually we can practice ground-tying in different situations. The dropped rope and the gesture/verbal WAIT signals tell her that staying in place will eventually earn her a treat.

Here is the link to the complete ‘Ground Tying‘ BLOG: https://herthamuddyhorse.com/2019/10/31/ground-tying/

The Importance of Pause and Wait

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In the photo above, Bridget and Boots are at ‘pause and wait’ while I explain the next part of their task.

How does our horse know when we want him to stand relaxed beside us or when we want him to do something?

It is essential that we learn to manage our body langue to make it crystal clear to the horse when we are asking him to do something and when are in pause/no intent/ relaxed mode.

Horse sensitivity to the body language and intent of others is much more refined than ours because it is their primary language. In humans this ‘reading of body language’ has been dulled because we talk so much.

But we can stop talking and become aware of what our body language is saying to the horse. Body Language includes our orientation to the horse, our energy level, our breathing rate, our heart rate, our body temperature – these all communicate our level of calmness or agitation to the horse. To that we add the intent we hold in our mind.

Once we have a good awareness of our body language, we can begin to use its different aspects to communicate more clearly with our horse.

No Intent

In the photo above I am standing at ‘pause’. My orientation is not directed at the horse, my energy is down. I’m looking nowhere. My hands are quiet laid across my belly. My shoulders are relaxed. My breathing is slowed down, which also lowers my heart rate. My mind is quiet, not thinking of the next thing to do. This posture shows the horse I have no ‘intent’, allowing her to also relax into the ‘wait’ time.

Intent

In the photo above, my body language expresses clear intent that I would like Boots to step across the barrels. My focus is where I want her to go. I’m indicating ‘walk on’ with my outside arm and I’m stepping along with her.

Emotion Exercise

Find a stick and an inanimate object you can hit hard with the stick.

First, hit the object as hard as you can three times. Channel a time when you were angry or frustrated and put those feelings into thrashing the object. Your breathing, blood pressure and temperature will go up.

Second, kneel down beside the object and caress it lovingly. Channel your soft feelings for your horse or any other living creature. When you feel nicely relaxed, go back to hitting the object violently three times. Then kneel down and caress it lovingly.

Repeat a few times. Be sure to do this where it won’t upset your horse, dog, chooks, children, friends, partners, passer-byes or and other farm animal in the vicinity.

Take note of how your emotions mirror your actions. Keep this awareness. Horses need us to be calm and collected, especially when things go awry. If we are not calm and collected then the horse has no chance of being so.

No Intent

We can express ‘pause’ or ‘no intent’ sitting down.

Intent

My energy is up, I’ve asked her to walk with me and and while I maintain the increased energy and keep moving, she will move with me. When I come to a halt, I first drop my energy, release a long breath out and drop my weight down into my butt. And because I’m human, I also say, “Whoa”.

Strongly Reward the Pause or Wait Time

It makes sense to click&treat when the horse moves in the way we are asking. It makes equal sense to reward when the horse can relax into a pause/wait. We are not doing nothing. We are teaching active inaction. It can be difficult for horses to learn when most of their interactions with people caused movement or pain or restriction.

If you have already taught your horse to enjoy putting his front feet on a mat to earn a click&treat, use the mat to start building duration of the pause/wait.

Eventually we can incorporate ‘parking spots’ and have the horse WAIT while we stand in different positions around him. I am in my ‘no intent’ pose in a position where she can see me in her peripheral vision. It takes time to build up the duration. In each new spot start again with a few seconds and work forward from that.

Use a High Rate of Reinforcement

If the horse can stand still for 1 seconds, click&treat. Pay attention to your own body language. Start with whatever time the horse can offer, adding one second at a time before a prompt click&treat. Make sure the horse is not hungry and not needing to move to release pent-up energy.

Keep sessions short enough to maintain calm (you and the horse). Do some ‘pause and wait’ every time you are with the horse.

This video clip looks at using a mat to build duration. Number 9 in the Blog Contents List (link at the top of the page) has a number of detailed videos about using mats.

This video looks at staying parked while the handler moves further away.

A couple of more recent clips.

Precision Leading

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Synchronicity is a fundamental horse behavior. Horses living naturally stay in visual contact and move together. A warning snort by one horse will immediately alert all other horses within hearing. One horse startled into action will immediately be joined by the rest of his group. The body awareness of horses, like that of schooling fish and flocking birds is so acute that even at top speed on uneven terrain they don’t run into each other.

Horse body awareness is so well developed that even in full flight they do not run into each other.
*Photo by Gigi on Unsplash*

It’s possible for us to become part of this incredible sensitivity if we train ourselves to become clear and totally consistent with our body language. Once a horse realizes that our body language is significant and reliable, he tends to watch it closely. If we systematically strive to improve our body language, we will reap the benefits when we lead our horse.

We inevitably need to lead our horses from A to B. We might be leading our horse:

Between paddocks.
Between stable and paddock.
Into and out of stalls.
To and from our training area.
Along a road or track for a walk.
Alongside other horses.
On the uneven road verge or ditch if large or unusual traffic comes along.
Through gates of varying width.
Through a narrow space.
In a new area the horse has not seen before.
Into a familiar area which suddenly has new things in it.
Up and down slopes.
Around obstacles.
Through water.
Across ditches or gullies.
Into and out of a truck or trailer.
Around a vet facility.
Between cars and horse trailers.
Past or among strange horses and strange people.
Past pigs or donkeys or other animals unfamiliar to the horse.
Past loud or aggressive dogs.
Near children.
If we take our horse for walks, we may be in bush or forest with logs to step over, water to cross, other trail users to meet and pass.
If we trail ride, we may have reason to dismount and lead the horse in narrow, unusual and sometimes dangerous places with poor footing.

I’m sure this is not an exhaustive list, but it makes the point that it is definitely in our interest, and in the horse’s interest, to make precision leading part of our horse’s repertoire.

The ‘gates’ in this exercise are pairs of markers set up in a random pattern. The task is to organize the approach to each gate, so the horse can navigate it fluidly. We start with the gates well spread out and roomy to walk through.

I’m using a variety of markers to create a series of ‘gates’. The direction of our body axis is essential information for the horse to know whether he will be going straight, turning toward us or making a counterturn to head toward the next gate (as in video below).

This first short video looks at how we can use clear, consistent changes of our body’s axis as a major signal for the horse.

As always, there are quite a few PREREQUISITES. If you want/need to review any of the key prerequisites, I’ve put direct links to them at the end of this blog.

PREREQUISITES:

Horse responds willingly to ‘walk on’ and ‘halt’ signals in a relaxed manner.
Horse responds to soft rope signals.
Horse backs up willingly with the ‘finesse back-up’ and/or ‘shoulder-to-shoulder back-up‘
The horse understands the significance of the handler clearly changing his/her body axis to indicate direction.

ENVIRONMENT & MATERIALS:

A work area where the horse is relaxed and confident.
Ideally, the horse can see his buddies, but they can’t interfere.
The horse is not hungry.
Halter and lead. A shorter 8-foot lead makes it easier to keep a soft drape in the rope.
A series of five or more gates made with pairs of markers such as cones, tread-in posts, pieces of firewood, rocks, containers of water (5-liter plastic containers of water are especially useful), barrels, jump stands, rags – anything that is safe to use.
Each time we set up this exercise, we can put the gates in a different configuration. The number of gates is only limited by the size of the training area.
Once well established at home, we can expand the idea to new venues.

AIMS:

Handler uses clear, consistent orientation, gesture, voice and halter-touch signals that allow the horse to smoothly navigate through each gate.
Horse begins to seek out the next gate by reading the handler’s body language and gesture signals.
Clear communication for:

Walk on through the gate.
Halt between the ‘gate’ markers.
Halt and back through the gate.

VIDEO CLIP:

#158 HorseGym with Boots: PRECISION LEADING

NOTES and SLICES:

Very short frequent sessions work best. Stay with each slice until it feels ho-hum to both of you.
Before asking the horse to negotiate the gates, walk through them yourself and visualize the order in which you will ask the horse to do them. Also explore the best way to approach each gate from various directions. The less hesitancy in your actions, the easier it will be for the horse to read your intent*. It’s fun, and hugely helpful, to have a second person be your pretend horse. Even better is for you to be the horse and have a friend guide you through the gates using body language only.
Set out five or more gates well spread out, with a good-sized gap for each gate so it’s easy for the horse to walk through.

Walk to each gate in turn and ask the horse to halt between the markers; click&treat each halt. If he wants to stop to sniff and investigate any of the markers, allow him all the time he needs to satisfy his curiosity. Wait with zero intent* for an ‘okay to proceed*’ signal. [Terms with an Asterix (*) are defined in the glossary which you can access through the link at the top of the page.] In this situation, the ‘okay’ signal is when the horse brings his attention back to you. He may also sigh or breath out audibly.
When 1 is smooth, halt in every second gate you come to; click&treat.
When 2 is smooth, halt in every third gate you come to: click&treat.
As the horse shows he is ready to do more, carry on adding one more gate before the halt followed by click&treat, until you can do a whole series with one click&treat at the end of the series.
When 4 is good on one side of the horse, start again with slice 1 on the other side of the horse.
When 4 and 5 feel smooth and light, ask the horse to back up two or three steps after a halt in a gate. Work up to a series of occasional ‘halts followed by a back-up’, in-between walking forward through the gates.
Mix up:
- Walking straight through gates.
- Halting in a gate and walking on.
- Halting in a gate and backing up.
- Trotting through some or all the gates.
- Put gates in different venues and/or use different markers.
We can also use the gate as a stopping place to practice the WAIT.

Pausing in a ‘gate’ to play with increasing the duration of the WAIT GAME.

LINKS TO PREREQUISITES

Zero Intent and Intent: https://herthamuddyhorse.com/2018/11/30/dec-2018-challenge-no-intent-and-intent/

20-Steps Exercise: [#68 in the Blog Contents List] https://herthamuddyhorse.com/2020/09/05/20-steps-exercise/

Smooth Walk-on and Halt Transitions: [#16 in the Blog Contents List.] https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5TT

Soft Response to Rope Signals exercise: [#86in the Blog Contents List.] https://herthamuddyhorse.com/2022/01/03/developing-soft-response-to-rope-rein-pressure/

Smooth 90-degree Turns: [#31 in the Blog Contents List.] https://herthamuddyhorse.com/2019/06/29/smooth-90-degree-turns-handler-on-the-inside/

Smooth Counter Turns: [#35 in the Blog Contents List.] https://herthamuddyhorse.com/2019/09/30/smooth-counter-turns/

Weave Prep – more detail about using our body axis orientation. [My YouTube playlist called Weave and Tight Turns contains more clips about how I gradually developed these skills]: https://youtu.be/dQ4Qkz74pcQ

Finesse Back-Up: [#40 in the Blog Contents List.] https://herthamuddyhorse.com/2020/02/02/finesse-back-up/

Mat Madness

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In the photo above, I’ve asked Boots to put all four feet onto our plywood mat.

With so many new people taking up equine clicker training, I will find some of my favorite blogs from years ago when I started sharing them. The first video clip below demonstrates 22 different tasks we can play using a mat as a focal point. A mat allows us to have a specific conversation with our horse. If we have an exact idea of what we’d like, it is easier to shape the horse toward our goal and reinforce him for each small slice toward the goal behavior. Some further relevant YouTube clips are listed at the end.

Different types of mats are best suited to particular tasks. In this clip we use a plywood board, an old bath mat and pool flotation mat. Rubber door mats are good in that they don’t bunch up like the bath mat does.

The challenge for you is to choose one task and create a training plan to teach the horse as seamlessly as possible. When your first task is mastered, choose another one. Some tasks are much more complex than others. Most of them (but not all) require the horse to know the task before adding the mat into the picture.

Hints: Start with what the horse can already offer. Work in multiple mini-sessions. Three attempts are often ample for one mini-session. Stop when you get a good response or ‘try’. Maybe you can fit several mini-sessions into one longer session when you are doing chores other things with the horse. Work on new tasks one at a time.

Experiment until you and your horse agree on a clear signal for each task. Pay attention to your consistency using the signal. I struggle with staying consistent, but when I achieve it, things suddenly get much better.

Some people life to teach everything at liberty. I like to start most things with halter and lead so I can easily give the horse more clues about what will earn the click&treat, causing less frustration.

List of 22 Tasks: The list below is in the same order as shown on the clip.

1. Horse targets mat as his own idea, at liberty. https://youtu.be/xMaZWt5gK2o

2. Use a gesture to send the horse to a mat.

3. Walk together around the mat before asking the horse to target the mat.

4. Person asks horse to wait, goes to stand on the mat, then returns to the horse.

5. Person asks horse to wait, walks to stand on the mat, then asks horse to recall to the mat.

6. Mat moved to a different venue, encourage horse to target the mat at liberty.

7. Short recall to the mat, handler facing the horse but not standing on the mat.

8. Short back off the mat; handler facing the horse.

9. Back off the mat; handler shoulder-to-shoulder with the horse.

10. Back off the mat; handler behind the horse.

11. Handler on the mat, horse circles to the right and left and halt on the circle.

12. Front feet stay on the mat, yield the hindquarters, from right and left sides.

13. Walk across mat and halt with hind feet on the mat.

14. Yield hindquarters off the mat, from right and left sides.

15. Yield hindquarters onto the mat, from right and left sides.

16. Yield forequarters off the mat, from right and left sides.

17. Yield forequarters onto the mat, from right and left sides.

18. Left front foot onto a mat.

19. Right front foot onto a mat.

20. Right hind foot onto a mat.

21. Left hind foot onto a mat.

22. Handler in front of the horse, ask horse to back both hind feet onto the mat.

These clips may also be helpful or interesting.

#9 HorseGym with Boots, Putting the Mat Target on Cue (on Signal). https://youtu.be/eEGayCdECeQ

#10 HorseGym with Boots, Generalizing Mats. https://youtu.be/wdptBQ0EtK4

#11 HorseGym with Boots, Mat-a-thons. https://youtu.be/Lj9xrwVtRUQ

#15 HorseGym with Boots, Parking with Duration & Distance. https://youtu.be/CYJwu-CyIVE

Starting with a Shy or Timid Horse

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Introduction

It’s tempting to think of horses as big, strong creatures – which they are. But in reality they are just giant squirrels, constantly on the lookout for danger and aware that flight is their best response to anything unusual. So building confidence with every new situation is everything.

Eternal vigilance is what keeps prey animals alive.

A Familiar Feed Dish

Using a familiar feed dish can help if we are working with a shy or timid horse, or one unused to humans. We can use free-shaping to capture the behavior of taking a treat from the feed bucket. If he is not yet interested in eating carrot or apple strips, use handfuls of soaked chaff or whatever bucket-food he is getting, or twists of good quality hay, or freshly plucked long-stemmed grass if you have access to this.

Here is the Thin-slicing for a Possible Training Plan.

Place the feed dish between you and the horse. The horse’s response will show you how close you can be without causing him to move further away.
While watching the horse, be careful not to stare directly at him, but to turn a bit sideways to him and observe him discretely with your peripheral vision.
Wait in a relaxed manner until the horse looks at the feed dish – click and quietly move to the feed dish and toss in a treat. Then immediately move twice as far away as your former position, giving the horse more than the personal bubble size he needs to feel safe enough to approach the feed dish. It’s good if the treat makes a sound when it hits the dish. If the wait time is quite long, take a chair. Sometimes a person sitting in a chair is less threatening than a standing person.
Wait for the horse to retrieve the treat. If he can’t do it yet, move further away or go do something else and come back later. He’ll usually check the dish while you are away.
Approach the feed dish until the horse moves away (if he hasn’t already). As soon as the horse stops moving away, stop as well and shift your body sideways so you are not directly facing him. Watch for him (without staring at him) to look at the feed dish – click as soon as he does and quietly move to the food dish and toss in a treat, then glide away again to a distance that respects the horse’s current personal bubble.
Repeat 10-20 times or as long as the horse shows interest. He will gradually begin to connect the click with the food treat about to be tossed into his dish.
Each horse is different. Some horses easily shrink the size of the space they need to feel safe and soon approach the dish readily. Others will find it harder to build confidence.
It’s possible to do this procedure on the other side of a fence from the horse. This is protected contact for us, but it can also make the horse feel safer from his point of view.
Gradually we can shift the ‘click point’ to wait for a step toward the food dish, then sniffing the food dish. At the same time, we may be able to gradually decrease the distance we have to move away before the horse will retrieve the treat.
Eventually we can sit in a chair with the bucket near us, then right beside us, then on our lap and the horse will come to retrieve his treat from the bucket.
From there, we can introduce our hand into the bucket and get him used to the idea that he can pick food off our hand.
Eventually we can dispense with the bucket.
It’s essential to work with each horse’s timeline, no matter how long it takes. Each horse is unique. If we give him the time it takes to make up his own mind that approaching the dish (and eventually us) results in good things, he will have a positive outlook to our presence.

The treat has been dropped into the green bowl and now the person will move away just a step or two because the horse is confident enough to come to the bucket as soon as he knows a treat has been put into it.

The Twirl and the Whole Sequence

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INTRODUCTION

In the photo above I am doing my twirl at the same time as Boots is doing her twirl. She is always careful to keep an eye and ear back so she knows where I am. As soon as she comes around to face me again she earns a click&treat.

The ‘twirl’ in this context is a turn on the forequarters. A ‘spin’ usually describes a turn on the hindquarters.

It’s great fun to recall our horse and ask him to do a twirl as he comes in. Once Boots knew this task, she enjoyed showing it off, at walk and trot.

The Twirl is the last task of the dance sequence we worked on for the year. Now we can chain all the tasks together. At first we did the tasks in the same order each time. Eventually we could mix them up.

AIMS

To have the horse able to remain calm and connected when we touch a rope to his legs and wrap a rope around his body.
As the horse recalls at liberty, we have a signal for the horse to do one or more twirls during his approach.

PREREQUISITES

As usual, we must have each of the prerequisites in excellent shape so we can smoothly build this multi-part task.
Horse is relaxed with a long rope moved along and wrapped around his body and tossed over his head. #22 HorseGym with Boots: Rope Relaxation. https://youtu.be/6Y34VlUk0Iw. And #121 HorseGym with Boots: Stick & String Confidence. https://youtu.be/WIpsT4PPiXo
Horse and handler have developed a good WAIT. Number 65 in my Blog Contents List. (The link to this is at the top of the page).
Horse responds readily to handler’s ‘recall’ signal. Number 90 in my Blog Contents List. This training plan details mainly teaching the recall. https://herthamuddyhorse.com/2022/05/01/recall-back-up-in-rhythm/. Also: Simple Recall Part 1 at https://youtu.be/XuBo07q8g24. And #240 HorseGym with Boots: Wait and Recall. https://youtu.be/_gxXZ7J7eAE

VIDEOS

#256 HorseGym with Boots: Teaching the Twirl. https://youtu.be/tenhwp6tQmI

MATERIALS AND ENVIRONMENT for THE TWIRL

A training area where the horse is relaxed and ideally can see his buddies, but they can’t interfere.
Horse is not hungry.
Horse and Handler are clicker savvy.
Horse in a learning frame of mind.
Handler is relaxed.
Halter and long lunge line or similar, long enough to wrap right around the horse.

NOTES

As with all our training, this is a task to build up slowly over time, so the horse looks forward to it because it results in a click&treat that he enjoys.
Two or three repeats each training session is plenty. Over weeks and months, it will become a solid part of your repertoire.
If things don’t go well, work out which of the prerequisites needs more development. Complex interactions with our horse simply consist of the basics done really well.
The beginning of video #256 shows a fun way of doing a twirl using a food lure. But I don’t recommend this. To teach a twirl while the horse is moving toward us, or even from a halt standing in front of us, it is much easier for the horse to understand if food only appears at the end of the twirl via a regular click&treat.
Often the most recent thing we are working with becomes the horse’s favorite thing to show off. Be aware that your horse may want to show off his twirl when you are not prepared for it, especially if other people are nearby. He can run his butt into you without meaning to. Also, other people might be threatened when the horse offers to move his butt this way. In other words, be prompt about putting the twirl ‘on signal’ or ‘on cue’. Don’t reward it unless you’ve asked for it.

SLICES

Once the horse is comfortable with a rope touching him all over his body (Prerequisite 1), attach one end to his halter and bring the rope around behind him and along his other side as shown in the video clip.
Ask the horse to wait with the rope around him. Click&treat staying at zero intent, starting with one second and building up to about five seconds.
Face the horse and introduce an arm/hand gesture and a voice signal as you apply a halter touch signal via the rope to cause the horse to turn away from you and turn on the forehand until he faces you again. Click&teat (major celebration).
Each session with the horse, repeat 3 above two or three times. As the horse begins to recognize your arm/hand and voice signals, ease off on the halter pressure via the rope until you no longer need to use it.
Ensure that your basic RECALL is smooth (Prerequisite 3).
When 4 above is smooth, play without the lead rope and slot in a little recall before you ask for the twirl. If it falls apart, simply and quietly reset to using the wraparound lead rope again, as lightly as possible. Horses learn at different rates and handler skills are variable. Usually if we strive hard to perfect our own skill with giving clear, consistent signals, the horse magically improves.

GENERALIZATIONS

Play in different venues.
Play on a slope.
If the horse keenly recalls at a trot, ask for a twirl before he reaches you. Boots would happily fit in two or three twirls, one after the other, before reaching me.
Do half a twirl and morph it into a back-up. This was an interesting Horse Agility challenge from www.thehorseagilityclub.com. Here is the clip:

The Whole Sequence Clip

#281 HorseGym with Boots: All the Slow Dancing Tasks https://youtu.be/mDjUAH6jzbA

The Balancera Exercise

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INTRODUCTION

In the photo above, Boots and I are walking a few steps forward shoulder-to-shoulder. We will then pause forward movement and step backwards an equal number of steps remaining shoulder-to-shoulder.

Horses have an inherent ability to move in synchronization with each other. We can play with this wonderful ability. One way is to devise an exercise where the ‘walk on’ signal balances smoothly with the ‘back up’ signal.

This is fun to work with once both our ‘walk on’ signals and our ‘back up’ signals individually result in fluid moving together shoulder-to-shoulder. We simply bring those two tasks together to form a sequence of dance steps.

We pause forward movement momentarily, so the horse’s body has time to organize itself to step backwards. It can look and feel rough at first, but by spending a short time with it often, the change-over can become calm and polished.

AIM

To fluidly change from walking forward to backing up, staying together in the shoulder-to-shoulder position.

PREREQUISITES

Horse responds willingly to ‘walk on’ signals when the handler is beside his neck/shoulder. See Number 16 in my Blog Contents List: Smooth Walk-On and Halt Transitions. (Access my Blog Contents List via the tab at the top of the page.)
Horse understands touch, voice and gesture ‘back-up’ signals. See Number 40 in my Blog Contents List: Finesse Back-Up.
My Playlist: Backing-up (in my YouTube channel: Hertha Muddyhorse), has further clips which show teaching the back-up in a variety of ways. Click here.

VIDEOS

There is a third video at the very end of the blog.

#173 HorseGym with Boots: Balancera Clip 1 of 2.

#174 HorseGym with Boots: Balancera Clip 2 of 2.

ENVIRONMENT & MATERIALS

A work area where the horse is relaxed and confident.
Ideally, the horse can see his buddies, but they can’t interfere.
The horse is not hungry.
Halter and 8-foot lead (kept loose as much as possible, as we want to use body language for communication, not rope pressure).
A selection of barriers toward which we can walk the horse and ask for ‘halt’.
A safe fence or similar to work beside.
Materials to build a simple dead-end lane. You may have a corner or a fence and an open gate to use as two of the three sides of a dead-end lane.

NOTES

* Boots’ demonstrations on the videos is the sum of many short sessions over a long time. When teaching something new, we stay with each slice of the task until it feels easy and smooth, then move on to add in the next slice.
* Whenever anything feels ‘broken’, go back to the slice where both the horse and the handler feel confident, and work forward from there again. Click&treat at a rate that keeps the horse continuously successful at earning his next click&treat.
* Teach everything again (from the beginning) on the other side of the horse. You can do this with each slice, or you can get it all good on one side and then repeat all the slices on the other side.

SLICES

Check you can ‘walk on’ together fluidly, staying in position shoulder-to-shoulder.
Check you can ‘halt’ together fluidly, staying in position shoulder-to-shoulder.
Set up a lane and walk the horse through it in both directions. Horse is in the lane, handler on the outside.
When 3 above is ho-hum, walk the horse into the lane and ask for a halt about halfway along; click&treat.
Repeat 4 above, asking the horse to wait a second longer before the click&treat, until he comfortably waits up to 4 or 5 seconds.
Block off the lane with a barrier about half a horse’s length inside the lane. Walk the horse into the lane and halt at the barrier; click&treat.
Hold the rope in the hand nearest the horse. Lift your rope hand straight up and jiggle the rope lightly to put a distinctive touch signal on the halter. If you have taught a voice ‘back’ signal, use that as well. At first, watch for any movement backwards, even a body shift back, to click&treat. Since the way forward is blocked off, it will make sense to the horse to step back.
Repeat 6 and 7 above, gradually building up to several steps back.
Once 8 above is good, block off the lane a little further along in stages until the horse is halting right inside the lane. Repeat 6 and 7 above aiming for a fluid, confident back-up out of the lane.
Now we want to switch the halter-jiggle signal to a hand signal. At the same time as you lift the rope hand (nearest the horse) straight up to jiggle the rope, lift your outside hand to the horse’s eye level and make a backward gesture with it. Also use your “back-up” voice signal. Click&treat for stepping back. Return to click&treat for just one or a few steps at first, then gradually all the steps needed to exit the lane.
Repeat, using the outside hand and voice signals BEFORE you lift your rope hand to put jiggle energy into the halter. The moment the horse begins to step back, stop jiggling the rope but ask for another step or two with the outside hand and voice signals.
When the horse moves back readily with just your outside hand gesture and voice signal, fade out the rope-jiggle. It’s there to be used in times of need.
Now we want to combine the steps forward, pause, steps backward with one click&treat after doing both. Walk into the lane, halt at the barrier, signal for the back-up; click&treat for any back-up that is offered. Because we are introducing new complexity (changing a parameter), we relax our criteria for number of steps back.
Gradually, over many very short sessions that always end on a good note, ask for more steps back after the halt before you click&treat. Work up to about 10 steps.
When 14 above is in good shape, practice with a lane of ground rails. Still have a barrier at the front (e.g., a fence). Most horses usually veer right or left when they back up, due to the natural asymmetry of their bodies. One hind leg pushes off harder, so their hind end will veer away from the stronger leg.
By frequent backing through a lane of ground rails, we help the horse organize his body to stay straighter. I regularly use this task as part of our gymnastic work.
Practice with a barrier only on the far side of the horse. This gives you another opportunity to note which way his hind end tends to veer.
Generalize by halting facing a fence or any free-standing barrier, then backing up without the prop of a lane.
When you feel the time is right, ask for a halt away from any barriers, followed by a back-up. Celebrate hugely when you get this. Done with finesse, the horse becomes light and keeps his full attention on your body language so he can maintain the synchronization. I always click&treat after this task.
Gradually build up to 10 steps forward (click&treat) and 10 steps back (click&treat) but vary the number of steps each time you do it. Work toward this over many short sessions.
Once 20 above is smooth, begin the actual Balancera exercise. We’re changing a parameter, so start with about 3 steps. Ask for 3 steps forward, then three steps back before the click&treat.
When 21 above is good, ask for 3 steps, 2 steps, then 1 step forward and back before the click&treat. This is the Balancera. With frequent short practices, the horse becomes more adept at shifting his weight from forward to backing up. This takes considerable energy and effort, so treat it gently. The horse will soon realize that the click&treat happens after the 1 step forward and back, even when you start with ten steps.
When 22 above is smooth, gradually ask for more steps to begin with, then reducing by one step until you are doing one step forward and one step back; click&treat.
Most of all, keep it fun. Stay within the horse’s ability that day.

The Spiral

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INTRODUCTION

Horses on their own tend to move in straight lines unless they are engaged in play or disputes. But they move a lot as they graze and to access water. A study of wild horses in Australia found that mostly they walked. Sometimes they trotted. Occasionally, they cantered or galloped.

Horses in captivity often have restricted freedom of movement. Anything we can do to encourage movement adds color to a horse’s day. This spiral exercise is an interesting task we can make part of our repertoire. It encourages and maintains flexibility.

Horse can only bend laterally (to the side) in three places on their body. (1) from the junction of head and neck and along the neck muscle. (2) at the base of the neck. (3) Between the final lumbar vertebra and the sacrum which consists of five fused vertebrae. Bend in this last area is extremely limited.

The ‘haunches in’ exercise develops the little bend possible between the last lumbar vertebra and the sacrum by the horse learning to stretch a hind leg to step well under the belly as in the next photo.

Horse doing her best to keep her whole body on the arc of the tiny circle she is walking around me. She is placing her right hind leg as far under her belly as she can.

As with all the other tasks that we teach, the key is to do a little bit often. Over weeks and months, the horse’s suppleness will gradually improve and can easily be maintained with frequent short repeats of a variety of stretching tasks.

AIM

The horse moves in a tight curve around the handler who turns on the spot.

PREREQUISITES

Horse and handler smoothly walk together in the shoulder-to-shoulder position with the handler on either the right or left side of the horse. See numbers 16 and 68 in my Blog Contents List at the top of this page.
‘Rule of Three’, which is a way to organize training sessions to maintain high interest and motivation. See Number 46 in my Blog Contents List.

VIDEO

#273 HorseGym with Boots: The Spiral. https://youtu.be/sQ-ELVlIzZA

MATERIALS AND ENVIRONMENT

A training area where the horse is relaxed and ideally can see his buddies, but they can’t interfere.
Horse is not hungry.
Horse and handler are clicker savvy.
Horse and handler in a relaxed frame of mind.
Halter and lead for the teaching phase.
An object to mark the center of a circle.

NOTES

* Start with as large a circle as the horse finds comfortable. If he starts to swing his hindquarters out of the arc of the circle, the circle is too tight for the horse’s current ability to flex laterally.
* Short sessions as often as possible, as well as exercises such as weaving obstacles, figure 8’s, 90-degree turns (Number 31 in my Blog Contents List) all help with lateral flexion.
* Playing with 180-degree turns also helps (Number 23 in my Blog Contents List).
* Click&treat as often as you need in order to keep the horse interested and engaged.
* The horse may be much stiffer in one direction. If one side seems especially difficult for him, check out the possibility of current soreness or historical injuries.

SLICES

Set a marker (not a mat that the horse expects to stand on) into the center of your training area.
Walk the horse in a large circle around the marker with you on his left side, which means your circle will be walking anti-clockwise.
Very gradually reduce the size of the circle each time you come around, in a gradual spiral fashion.
Watch carefully for the point at which the horse’s hind end is no longer following the arc of the circle. That tells you when he is beginning to find it too hard. We don’t want him to develop the habit of swinging his hind end out, so when you reach this point, spiral your circle outwards again.
With frequent short repeats, done amongst other things you are doing with your horse (see Rule of Three – Prerequisite 2), you will be able to gradually achieve tighter circles with the horse keeping his whole body aligned on the curve.
Remember, horses have extremely limited bending at the hip area. In the video you can see how Boots moves her outside leg way to the side so she can draw her inside leg well under her belly to keep herself on the curve of the circle.
When you can turn on the spot beside the marker with your back against the horse’s shoulder, while the horse curves around you, you have achieved the task.
Repeat from the beginning on the horse’s right side. As mentioned in the Notes, you may find one side much stiffer.

GENERALIZATIONS

Play without a marker but in the same area.
Play at liberty.
Play with it in novel venues.
Play on a slope.

Recall to Heel

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INTRODUCTION

This is a fun task we often teach our dogs. We call the horse toward us, then ask him to walk past our side, turn 180 degrees behind us and slot into the ‘heel’ position on our opposite side.

In the photo above, Boots has walked toward me, passed my left shoulder and is about to slot herself into position standing beside my right shoulder.

In the photo below, Boots has walked toward me, passed my right shoulder and is about to slot herself into position standing beside my left shoulder.

Boots is about to step into position beside my left shoulder where she will earn her click&treat. To make it easier for her I can move forward a step or two.

AIM

The horse walks to us, then past us, turning behind us to end up standing beside our shoulder.

PREREQUISITES

Horse and handler have developed a good WAIT. Number 65 in my Blog Contents List which you reach via the tab at the top of the home page.
Horse responds readily to handler’s ‘recall’ signal. See Number 90 in my Blog Contents List: Recall and Back Up in Rhythm.
Horse understands ‘walk on’ voice and gesture signals. See Number 16: Smooth ‘Walk On’ and ‘Halt’ Transitions and Number 68 in my Blog Contents List: 20 Steps Exercise. We want this in place so we can ask the horse to walk past us and around, rather than coming to halt in front of us.
Horse has perfected the 180-degree turn. See Number 23 in my Blog Contents List: 180 Degree Turns.
Horse and handler have developed clear WHOA signals in a variety of situations. See Number 33 in my Blog Contents List: Willing Response to a Voice Halt Signal.

VIDEO

#274 HorseGym with Boots: Recall to Heel. https://youtu.be/Giut6wim9KE

MATERIALS AND ENVIRONMENT

A training area where the horse is relaxed and ideally can see his buddies, but they can’t interfere.
Horse is not hungry.
Horse and Handler are clicker savvy.
Horse in a learning frame of mind.
Halter and 12′ (4m) light lead-rope to start with.

NOTES

* Have the horse warmed up before asking for 180-degree turns.
* You can also teach this using a target, but as is often the case, phasing out the target can present its own challenges if the horse’s mind is fixated on following the target. I prefer to teach with gesture, body language and voice signals, helped at first with a lead rope.
* Check that your WAIT is in good shape.
* Check that your RECALL is in good shape.
* Check that your WALK ON gesture and voice signals are in good shape.
* Check that your WHOA is in good shape.
* Check that your 180-degree turns are in good shape and the horse knows your voice signal for turning (I use “Around”).
* Devise a signal for asking the horse to walk on past you rather than halt in front of you. Practice this with another person standing in for the horse so you can get it fluent. I adapt my WALK ON arm/hand gesture that I use for walking on when we are shoulder-to-shoulder and that seems to work okay.
* I use a halter and lead to initially teach things like this. I can use the lead rope to indicate that I want the horse to walk past me and then turn behind me. That means he never gets confused about what will earn his next click&treat. Once the horse realizes that the click&treat happens when he shows up on my other side, the lead rope is no longer necessary.

SLICES

Halter and light lead on the horse.
Ask the horse to WAIT while you walk a few steps away in front of him. Turn, pause, then ask for a RECALL.
Before the horse reaches you, signal with gesture and voice that you’d like him to walk on past you. As he does, step forward so it is easy for him to make a U-turn behind you. Then walk a couple of steps forward to draw him into a nice position alongside your opposite shoulder: click&treat.
Teach it consistently on one side and when that is smooth, teach again from the beginning on the other side.
As the horse gets fluid with this task, you can gradually not step forward as he comes around. But if he gets lost, always resume stepping forward so he is not ‘wrong’.

GENERALIZATIONS

Work at liberty.
Work in new venues.
Work on a slope.
Recall across rails or through a gap/tunnel or over a tarp.
Teach moving into the heel position after a recall without stepping around behind the handler.

Line Dance Face-to-Face

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INTRODUCTION

Horses move sideways by crossing one pair of feet while the other pair is spread.

The hind feet cross over while the front feet are apart.

Moving sideways in rhythm is not something horses do much in their everyday life. It may therefore take the horse a while to get his legs organized smoothly when we first teach this movement.

You can get a sense of how it feels if you step sideways crossing your legs. While your legs are crossed, spread out your arms. While your legs are apart for the next step, cross your arms. If you’ve never done this before, it is tricky to synchronize at first. Horses have to adjust four legs. I’ve seen horses needing to think hard to get this sorted, so be especially patient and celebrate small successes.

We usually first teach sidestepping in position beside the horse, facing his ribs and asking the front and rear ends to move over independently. We gradually build up this skill until we can ask the horse to move first hind end and then front end – in rhythm, ideally keeping his body in one plane (Prerequisite 1).

Moving sideways encourages suppleness via gymnastic stretching of the muscles. It helps develop the horse’s spatial awareness, his foot awareness and his body awareness.

Sidestepping is useful for safe maneuvering on the ground – negotiating gates and for asking the horse to line up with a mounting block for mounting and dismounting.

It is also a fun maneuver to add into our slow-dancing routine.

AIM

Sidestepping to the left and right with the handler in front of and facing the horse.

PREREQUISITES

Usually we first teach sidestepping facing the side of the horse. For sidestepping away we teach touch and gesture signals at the girth area.

In case you have not yet taught basic sidestepping, Number 29 in my Blog Contents List (link at top of page) presents a detailed training plan for teaching sidestepping with the handler beside the horse as in the photo above.
Horse is relaxed with touch signals given with our hand or a body extension (stick). See #87 HorseGym with Boots: Relaxation with Body Extensions. https://youtu.be/nkwxYwtCP_Y

VIDEO CLIPS

This clip demonstrates a way to teach sidestepping while face-to-face with the handler. #276 HorseGym with Boots: Line Dancing Face to Face. https://youtu.be/wc53IZfUBkc

This next clip puts together the first five tasks of the Slow Dancing routine.

#277 HorseGym with Boots: First Five Dance Moves. https://youtu.be/UW_oE85ZhsM

ENVIRONMENT & MATERIALS

Work area where the horse is relaxed.
Ideally, the horse can see his buddies, but they can’t interfere.
Horse is not hungry.
Handler in a relaxed frame of mind.
Low barrier between horse and handler, a few meters long.
Halter and lead.
Stick to act as a body extension.
Horse well warmed up before asking for these yields.

NOTES

Some people may prefer to have the horse target ribs to a body extension rather than move away from a touch signal given by a body extension. I use the ‘moving away from a touch signal’ because it is easier to give the horse a clear signal while maintaining the position in front of the horse. As well, it’s usually the signal taught as a riding signal for moving sideways.

2. It is also much easier to morph the stick gesture into an arm gesture rather than try to fade out a long hand-held target. I soon didn’t need the stick. I then gradually toned down my arm gesture as the horse learned to tune in to my intent and my body language of crossing over my own feet plus a voice signal, “Across” and the direction of my body moving.

3. I like to begin new tasks with a rope and halter but use touch on the halter via the rope as little as possible. The halter and lead are there in case the horse needs clarity about what I am expecting him to do. After a while I lay the rope over the horse and when that is all smooth I work at liberty.

4. Most horses will find this easier on one side. Aim to eventually become equally smooth on both sides. Check out Right-Side Neglect* and Right-Side Anxiety* in the Glossary.

5. At first, be happy if he can only sidestep with his body at a 45-degree angle to the barrier. With frequent short practices, he will develop the muscles and flexion to be straighter. What you see Boots doing in the video clips has been built up over many years with frequent flexion practice in different guises.

6. It’s important to warm the horse up with general activity before asking for yields like this.

7. If the horse shows resistance to a specific move, it is essential to get muscles and joints checked out. Arthritis and/or past injuries may restrict or severely limit certain movements.

8. As we gradually develop and then maintain these sidestepping exercises, our horse’s flexibility will gradually improve.

9. Doing a little bit often gives the most reliable results. As usual, we are teaching a habit in response to a signal. We never want to make the horse sore or reluctant.

SLICES

Find or set up a low barrier a few meters long. In the video I used a long plank, but a low fence or a rope/tape between two tall cones or other uprights would do the job.
The handler is face-to-face with the horse, with the low barrier between them. Gently use a long stick to create a touch/gesture signal at the girth area to ask the horse to sidestep from left to right, away from the touch/gesture signal.

At first, click&treat for any inclination to step sideways. As the horse catches on to the idea, gradually ask for more until you are able to click&treat every time the horse reaches the end of the barrier or markers you’ve set up. The end of the barrier gives the horse two ‘destinations’ where he knows he will stop and get his click&treat. Like us, horses like to know what is going to happen before it happens.

3. Repeat 2 above going from right to left.
4. Repeat 2 and 3 above until the horse is smoothly sidestepping a few meters to both the right and left. As mentioned in the notes above, he may find one side harder. Accept what he is able to do and work gradually from there.
5. When 4 above is ho-hum, use ground rails as a barrier between you and the horse. The purpose of the barrier is to let the horse know that stepping forward is not part of the task.
6. When 5 is good, ask the horse to step the front feet across the ground rails and ask him to sidestep along the ground rails. This will help him stay straight rather than inch forward or backwards.
7. When 6 is smooth, ask for sidestepping face-to-face with no barrier between you.
8. When communication is excellent, play in different venues.
9. When it all feels ho-hum, play at liberty.

GENERALIZATIONS

Play at liberty
Play in different venues
Play on a slope

Develop ‘the box’ exercise as in this clip. The clip was made a while ago when I first taught Boots about sidestepping with me while I was facing her: #275 HorseGym with Boots: Thin Slicing ‘The Box’ Movement. https://youtu.be/1CiUBJQf-JM

RECALL & BACK UP IN RHYTHM

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INTRODUCTION

Having smooth ways of asking a horse to back away from us and to come toward us on request is worth its weight in gold. We teach each of these separately and then meld them together into rhythmic dance steps to use as a suppling exercise.

AIM

The horse distinguishes clearly between our signals for backing up and coming toward us (recall) and readily repeats a few steps of each in a rhythmic fashion.

PREREQUISITES

Horse has learned a solid WAIT. See Number 65 in my Blog Contents List at https://herthamuddyhorse.com/2020/12/16/the-wait-game/
Handler has developed clear, consistent back-up signals so the horse backs up readily when face-to-face with the handler. See Number 40 in my Blog Contents List for details about teaching backing up. https://herthamuddyhorse.com/2020/02/02/finesse-back-up/

VIDEO

#271 HorseGym with Boots: Recall & Back with Rhythm. https://youtu.be/7TVgr6_oXlI

The next clip puts together the first four slow-dancing moves we’ve worked on: Bow, Line Dance in position, Do-si-do to change sides, Rhythmic back-up and recall.

MATERIALS AND ENVIRONMENT

Handler in a relaxed frame of mind.
Two or more rails. Low markers at the ends of the rails can be helpful at the beginning. A safe fence is also helpful to keep the horse straight.
Halter 12′ (4m) long, light lead during the teaching process.

NOTES

Before starting this task, we need a solid WAIT (Prerequisite 1).
We first teach a solid face-to-face back-up in a variety of situations using a high rate of reinforcement, so it becomes a favorite task for the horse. Ideally, we do a little bit every time we are with the horse (Prerequisite 2).
The slices in this training plan outline teaching the recall and then putting the recall and back-up together in a rhythmic way.
Teach everything on both sides of the horse.
Use a rate of reinforcement that keeps the horse continually successful.
Essential to keep a float (smile) in the rope unless using it momentarily to clarify our intent for the horse.
Keep sessions short in among other things you are doing with the horse.

SLICES

Set up your rails (or hose or rope) as in the photo in the Introduction. Use a fence on one side if you can.
Walk the horse parallel to the ground rails furthest from the fence, while you walk between the rails and the fence. At the end of the rails, ask him to make a U-turn toward the fence and step into the lane created by the fence and rails. Walk backwards to draw the horse to you. Click&treat when he reaches you. The fence will encourage him to make a precise U-turn rather than a loose and sloppy one. Set the width of the gap to suit the horse’s current flexibility.
Gradually send him around the end of the rail from further away, as illustrated in the video clip, until you can stay with your feet stationary at one end of a rail.
As he makes each U-turn, add a consistent voice signal. I say “Around” for the turn.
As he begins to come toward you, develop a clear, consistent body language signal and a voice signal. I say “Come In” for the recall and bring both arms forward and down to make a round shape with my arms.
When it all feels smooth, use a pair of rails away from a fence.
When 6 is ho-hum, use just one rail.
When 7 is ho-hum, use just a low marker to send the horse ‘around’.
Now we want to tidy up our WAIT task so we can ask the horse to stay parked while we walk away – so we can recall him (Prerequisite 1).
Once the recall is solid in lots of situations, we want to either teach or polish our back-up while we are face-to-face with the horse (Prerequisite 2).
Once we have clear, consistent back-up body language and voice signals established, and the horse responds willingly, we can begin to put the back-up and the recall together in a rhythmic fashion.
Set up two parallel rails about a meter apart. Ask the horse to wait at one end of the rails; click&treat. Then ask him to recall between the rails; click&treat. Walk a loop together and repeat a couple of times.
Ask the horse to walk between the rails and halt between the rails. Then ask him to back up a step or two; click&treat. Then another step or two; click&treat. Then recall him forward again, between the rails. Walk a loop and reset a couple of times.
When it feels right, ask for a recall; click&treat, then ask for a back-up; click&treat. Work with just a few steps at first. As the horse becomes more adept, gradually increase the number of steps, but stay within the horse’s ability.
Ask the horse to walk with you almost all the way through the lane of rails so you can ask for the back-up first; click&treat. Then recall; click&treat.
Once 15 is smooth, chain together one back-up and one recall before the click&treat (or one recall and one back-up).
Work toward chaining two repeats of back and recall. Then maybe three repeats before the click&treat. But always stay within the horse’s capability. Rushing will wreck things.
When it is ho-hum using the parallel rails, do the task without them. Go back to Slice 14 and work forward from there.

GENERALIZATION

Play with it in different venues.
Play on a slope.
Add one or more rails which the horse crosses during the recall and back-up.

Dancing the Do Si Do

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INTRODUCTION

Once the horse and handler have mastered smooth forequarter yields and smooth hindquarter yields, we can build the DO SI DO. It consists of asking for a hindquarter yield first. Then, as the horse’s hind end is moving away, we stand upright and move back slightly so the horse brings his head through, and we end up in his other eye.

It is a way of changing sides by the horse doing the moving. Once that is achieved, we add a yield of the forequarters.

If the horse’s lifestyle keeps him supple, this series of movements is a good stretching and bending exercise. If the horse finds it hard, we have useful feedback to use in our planning.

AIM

The horse is able to execute a smooth 360-degree hindquarter yield followed immediately by a smooth 360-degree forequarter yield.

PREREQUISITES

Horse and handler agree on signals to yield the hindquarters. See Number 83 in my Blog Contents List.
Horse and handler agree on signals to yield the forequarters. See Number 84 in my Blog Contents List.

VIDEOS

#270 HorseGym with Boots: Do Si Do. https://youtu.be/EJ2w_sX_uOk

MATERIALS AND ENVIRONMENT

A training area where the horse is relaxed and ideally can see his buddies, but they can’t interfere.
Horse is not hungry.

NOTES

Use a rate of reinforcement (how often you click&treat) that allows the horse to easily work out exactly what he has to do to earn his next click&treat.
As the horse begins to understand the sequence of movements, gradually move the click point along until eventually there is one at the end of the whole series of movements.
Whenever the horse gets ‘lost’, immediately return to click&treat for what he can do and work forward gradually from that spot.
Do a little bit often, as this is hard work for the horse.
Be aware that when we give signals with the non-dominant side of our body, they may not be as clear and precise as when we use the dominant side of our body. We can improve this once we are aware of it. In the same way, the horse may find yielding in one direction more difficult. If you notice a difference, begin teaching using the direction he finds easier. Later, do a few extra repeats on the difficult side.

SLICES

Ask the horse to yield is hindquarters with body language, energy and a gesture signal (and voice if you like – I use the word “Away”) about a meter out from his side. Move along with him, keeping your relative position and using ‘constant on’ signals (body orientation, arm gesture and energy) until you want him to stop (at which point you stand up straight and stop all signals). Click&treat.
Click&treat each single step away at first, then gradually work toward click&treat for a full 360 turn. How long it all takes to get smooth with this part of the task depends on previous training and how clear our signals are.
At some point, stop following the hindquarters around, stand upright in one spot and move back a bit so that the horse can bring his head through the space in front of you, which puts you on his other side – in his other eye. Click&treat. Spend the time (via many short sessions) to get this part smooth.
Teach 1-3 above from the beginning on the horse’s other side. He may find one direction harder.
When 1-3 above are in good shape, gently build and consolidate your forequarter yield by itself until you have a smooth 360-degree turn on the haunches. Start with click&treat for one good step and build from there.
Repeat 5 above on the horse’s other side. Again, he may find one direction harder.
When all the above are going well, after completing slice 3 (and click&treat on completion of slice 3), ask for the forequarter yield. Just a step or two at first, before a click&treat, but gradually work toward the full turn on the haunches.
Work toward a 360-degree hindquarter yield (turn on the forehand) followed immediately by a 360-degree forequarter yield without a click&treat stop in the middle. We can call it achieved when a full 360-degree yield in both directions is ho-hum.
Work with 8 above starting on the other side of the horse.

GENERALIZATION

Practice in many different places.
Practice on a slope.
Start with forequarter yield and morph into hindquarter yield.
Once we have the simple bow, line dancing in place with the front feet, and the do si do mastered, we can chain the three tasks together.

The Simple Bow

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INTRODUCTION

It’s fun to teach a simple bow to use at the beginning and end of a movement routine. The bow itself becomes a clue for the horse that a chain of tasks is about to begin and equally it tells him when the chain of tasks is finished.

We can teach the simple bow by capturing any downward movement of the head with a click&treat. Or we could use ‘luring’ while changing our posture as we put a treat on the ground, plus add a voice signal.

AIM

The horse mimics the handler’s bow from the waist by lowering his head, then raising it again.

PREREQUISITE

Horse and handler are clicker savvy.

VIDEOS

This clip uses the process of luring, which is detailed in the thin-slicing steps below.

#269 HorseGym with Boots: Simple Bow. https://youtu.be/vwtxTdWaRRQ

These two clips show the process of free-shaping.

#257 HorseGym with Boots Head Lowering 1. https://youtu.be/AoqtJj2X1bU

#258 HorseGym with Boots: Head Lowering 2. Putting it on signal. https://youtu.be/Ol-BHB1QCnw

MATERIALS AND ENVIRONMENT

A training area where the horse is relaxed and ideally can see his buddies, but they can’t interfere.
It can help to park the horse on a mat, if he knows about mats, to let him know that moving his feet is not required.

NOTE

When we use the luring with food system, we will be placing a treat on the ground and we don’t want to put it on sand or loose dirt. If that is all you have available, perhaps use a mat or similar on which to put the treat.

SLICES (for teaching with luring)

Stand the horse in a spot where he feels comfortable; click&treat. Maybe have his front feet parked on a mat.
Stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the horse; click&treat.
Practice a bit of duration standing quietly together at zero intent with head forward; click&treat for x number of seconds, depending on where you are with developing this task.
Quietly remove a treat from your pouch or pocket, ideally during a moment the horse is busy eating his previous treat, so he doesn’t notice you getting the treat.
Show the horse the treat in your hand then bow from the waist to put the treat on the ground for the horse to find.
Wait until he lifts his head and has eaten the treat. Repeat, adding a voice signal to go with your body language. If you’ve previously taught head-lowering you may already have a voice signal.
Once the horse responds to your body language and voice signals, click as the head goes down, but feed the treat as the head comes up again as you straighten your body. For this we don’t want ‘duration’ of keeping the head down.
Teach on both sides of the horse.

GENERALIZATION

Practice in many different places.
Practice around different distractions.
Incorporate into any routines you do as ‘begin’ and ‘end’ points.