Tag Archives: sidestepping

Line Dance Shoulder-to-Shoulder

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INTRODUCTION

In the photo above we are using a rail to consolidate line-dancing shoulder-to-shoulder. Once past the rail, the horse earns a click&treat. The rail helps in that: a) I don’t ask for too much, b) the horse quickly realizes that a click&treat happens when he sidesteps past the rail, and c) it encourages straightness.

Try stepping sideways by stretching out your arms to the side while you cross your legs. Then cross your arms while stepping apart with your legs. This is how a horse organizes his body when he move sideways keeping his body relatively straight. Front legs apart while back legs cross over. Hind legs apart while front legs cross over.

If horses tried to cross both front and hind legs at the same time, it would be easy for them to lose balance and fall over.

As mentioned when discussing sidestepping face-to-face with the horse, moving sideways in rhythm is not something horses tend to do in their everyday life. It may therefore take the horse a while to get his legs organized when we first teach this movement. Our horse may have to think hard to get this sorted, so be especially patient and celebrate small successes.

AIMS

  1. The horse understands body language, voice and a gesture/touch signal at the girth to move sideways away from us as we sidestep toward him.
  2. The horse understands body language, gesture and voice signals to sidestep toward us.

PREREQUISITES

  1. In case you have not yet taught basic sidestepping, see Number 29 in my Blog Contents List: Sidestepping. There is a link to my Blog Contents List at the top of the page.
  2. Targeting shoulder to hand is the background needed to initiate movement toward us with a hand gesture signal. See Number 27 in my Blog Contents List: Target Shoulder to Hand.

The training plan for this can also be found in Chapter Twelve in my book: Horse Training: Fun with Flexion using Positive Reinforcement, in case you have that book.

  • Hip to hand is the other part we need. See Number 28 in my Blog Contents List: Targeting Hindquarters to our Hand. It is Chapter Thirteen in the book mentioned above.

Once we have shoulder to hand and hip to hand, we can introduce the idea of the whole horse moving sideways toward us.

VIDEO

#280 HorseGym with Boots: Line Dance in Motion.

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.
  • Handler in a relaxed frame of mind.
  • Halter and lead unless teaching at liberty.
  • A lane a few meters long with a barrier in front and behind. For example, a fence and raised rails, a fence and a line of barrels. We can use fencing tape between tall cones or jump stands, as long as the horse is comfortable working around fencing tape which is not electrified.

NOTES

  1. It’s important to warm the horse up with general activity before asking for yields like this. As we develop and maintain such exercises, our horse’s flexibility will gradually improve.
  2. Most horses find this easier on one side. 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. Boots’ ability to sidestep has been built up over years.
  3. A horse with arthritis and/or past injuries may have restricted or severely limited movement for this type of work.
  4. Doing a little bit often gives reliable results and keeps the horse keen to seek out his next click&treat. As usual, we are teaching a habit in response to a signal, so we never want to make the horse sore or reluctant.
  5. For the slow-dancing routine, we only need a few steps away and a few steps toward us.

SLICES

Sidestepping Away

  1. Set up a lane with a barrier behind and in front of the horse so that moving sideways is an easy option for him to choose. Have it wide enough to be comfortable for the horse.
  2. Have a nose target or a barrier a few sidesteps away on each end of the lane so that the horse has a destination where he knows he will get his next click&treat. I used our shelter because it ensured that I did not ask for too many steps at once. The horse quickly realized that reaching the other side of the shelter resulted in a click&treat.
    • If the horse finds one side easier, start on that side. Using your orientation facing the horse’s side, ensure you have smooth yielding of shoulder and hindquarters, then consolidate a light touch/gesture signal at the girth to ask the whole horse to move over (Prerequisite 1).
    • Once 3 is smooth, begin to align yourself shoulder-to-shoulder with the horse. At first, you may need to face him for the original signal but strive to change to using a gesture or light touch while you stay shoulder-to-shoulder. Three-five sidesteps is plenty.
    • When 4 above is good, teach it again from the beginning on the horse’s other side.
    • When 5 above is good, remove either the front or rear barrier. Work on both sides.
    • When 6 above is good, work without the barrier props. Work on both sides. Be careful not to ask for too much. Celebrate small successes.

    Sidestepping Toward the Handler

    1. Set up as for 1 and 2 above.
    2. If the horse finds one side easier, start on that side.
    3. Using your orientation facing the horse’s side, ensure you have smooth targeting of shoulder and hindquarters in rhythm, then develop a gesture signal to ask the whole horse to sidestep toward you. (Prerequisites 2 and 3). At this point, don’t worry about your body’s orientation to the horse. Use whatever signals the horse finds easiest to understand. Celebrate hugely when you get the first sidestep toward you.
    4. When 3 is coming along nicely, teach it all again from the beginning on the horse’s other side.
    5. When 4 is good using the props, remove either the front or rear barrier. If the horse tends to back up, remove the front barrier first. If he tends to inch forward, remove the back barrier first.
    6. When 5 is smooth, remove both barriers.
    7. Now it’s time to focus more on your position so you can stay shoulder-to-shoulder with the horse as much as possible, but don’t make it a big deal.

    GENERALIZATIONS

    1. When the task is sound in a familiar training area, play in different places.
    2. Work on a slope horse facing uphill.
    3. Work on a slope horse facing downhill.
    4. Work with the horse parallel to a gentle slope.

    Movement Routine 12 – Rags as Focus

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    INTRODUCTION

    For this routine we lay the rags out in a line. Only the horse weaves the rags while the handler walks parallel to the rags. Each request for sidestepping is followed by walking a circle, to give variety and vary the flexion throughout the routine.

    AIM

    To link weaving, standing together quietly, walking circles together and sidestepping.

    PREREQUISITES

    1. We have stepping on a mat strongly ‘on cue’ or ‘on signal’ or ‘under stimulus control’. #9 HorseGym with Boots: Putting Targets ‘On Cue’: Click here. More info about putting targets ‘on cue’: #5 HorseGym with Boots: Putting Nose Targeting ‘On Cue’. Click here.
    2. Smooth transitions staying shoulder-to-shoulder. Smooth ‘Walk On’ and ‘Halt’ Transitions. Click here.
    3. While walking shoulder-to-shoulder, the horse changes direction in response to handler moving his/her body axis toward the horse or away from the horse. #170 HorseGym with Boots: Body Axis Orientation Signals. Click here.
    4. Weaving. #70 HorseGym with Boots: Only Horse Weaves. Click here.
    5. Horse understands a signal for sidestepping. Sidestepping. Click here.
    6. Handler has developed a clear ‘Zero Intent’ signal so the horse knows when standing quietly is what is wanted. ‘Zero Intent’ and ‘Intent’. Click here.

    ENVIRONMENT AND 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 relatively short lead (~8′) when not working at liberty.
    • Six rags (or any even number) laid out in a straight line with enough space between them so the horse can easily weave the rags.

    VIDEO CLIP

    NOTES

    1. Only the horse weaves the rags. The handler walks a line parallel to the rags.
    2. Click&treat as often as appropriate to keep the horse continually successful.
    3. This is concentrated work, so after doing the routine on one side of the horse, it’s best to do something relaxing before working on the other side.
    4. For the sidestepping tasks, you could be in front of the horse as I am in the video clip, or on the side asking the horse to either move away from you or toward you.

    TASKS

    1. On the left side of the horse, weave the rags in both directions. Put in a halt and a few seconds of ‘wait together’ at each end of the weave.
    2. Walk a circle to line the horse up with his belly beside the first rag.
    3. Ask the horse to sidestep so the first two rags pass under his belly.
    4. Walk a circle to line up the horse’s belly with the third rag.
    5. Repeat the sidestepping across two rags followed by a circle to line up for the next two rags until you reach the end of the rags.
    6. Use a jackpot or Triple Treat to indicate the end of the routine on the left side of the horse.
    7. Repeat on the horse’s right side.

    GENERALIZATIONS

    • If you can run with your horse, trot the weaves.
    • If the horse understands sidestepping with various signals, mix up the way you ask for it.
    • Work on a slope if you have one handy.
    • Do the routine with imaginary rags. I do this often and if I’m careful to keep my signals consistent, it’s amazing how well it works once the horse knows the routine.

    Movement Routine 11: Fence for Focus

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    INTRODUCTION

    As we build up a collection of routines, we can:

    • Improve on tasks we’ve done before.
    • Add a new aspect to a task, e.g. different handler position.
    • Do tasks in a different order.
    • Introduce new tasks.
    • Add trot to some of the tasks.

    AIM

    This routine links together a finesse back-up, targeting shoulder to hand, sidestepping, counterturn circle, ‘wait’ while the handler walks around the horse plus signaling a back-up from behind the horse.

    PREREQUISITES

    1. Smooth ‘Walk on’ and ‘Halt’ Transitions (staying shoulder-to-shoulder). https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5TT
    2. Finesse Back-Up. https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5XL
    3. Target Shoulder to Hand. https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5SH
    4. Smooth Counterturns. https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5WK
    5. Horse has learned to ‘wait’ until handler gives a new signal or clicks&treats. Mats: Parking or Stationing and Much More. https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5S9
    6. Horse and handler agree on clear ‘stay’ signals. https://youtu.be/UvjKr9_U0ys
    7. Horse understands a back-up signal when the handler is behind the horse. https://youtu.be/501PSnAA-po
    8. Triple Treat. https://youtu.be/FaIajCMKDDU

    ENVIRONMENT AND 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 12′ (4m) or longer lead if not working at liberty.
    • A safe fence line to work alongside.

    VIDEO CLIP

    Movement Routine 11: Fence as Focus (filmed at liberty)

    NOTES

    • Be sure that you have mastered each task before chaining them together.
    • Chain pairs of tasks to begin with, then gradually join the pairs together.
    • Click&treat at a rate that keeps your horse being continually successful. As he learns the routine, ask for a bit more before each click&treat.

    TASKS

    1. Walk shoulder-to-shoulder with the horse nearest the fence.
    2. Smoothly turn to face the horse and ask for a Finesse Back-up. Eventually work up to ten steps back.
    3. Ask the horse to target your hand with his shoulder to turn him 90 degrees so his butt is against the fence.
    4. Ask the horse to sidestep one direction, then in the other direction. You could be facing the horse, at his side asking him to yield away or at his side asking him to step toward you.
    5. Take position alongside the horse’s head/neck so you can ask him to walk a counterturn half-circle with you, then halt. A counterturn has the handler on the outside of the turn.
    6. Put the rope over the horse’s back, take if off, or ground-tie if your horse knows that. Ask the horse to ‘wait’. Walk forward and right around the horse. Click&treat when you return.
    7. Complete the counterturn circle so you are both once again parallel to the fence; the handler will be nearest the fence.
    8. Ask the horse to ‘wait’ with clear voice and gesture signals. Walk backwards and around behind the horse to end up standing beside his hip furthest from the fence.
    9. Ask the horse to back up while you move to remain beside his hip. Alternately, you could keep your feet still and ask the horse to back up until his head is at your shoulder.
    10. Use your ‘end of routine’ routine to let the horse know the routine is finished for now.
    11. If you started walking on the horse’s left side, teach it again walking on his right side. One side may feel harder.

    GENERALIZATIONS

    • Work alongside as many different safe fences as you can find.
    • When it is super smooth with halter and lead, play at liberty.
    • Use a line of ground rails instead of a fence.
    • Do the routine in an open area with no fence or ground rails.

    Movement Routine 8 – Rags as Focus

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    Photo: The first task is to weave the rags together.

    INTRODUCTION

    Maintaining mobility is an important aspect of keeping horses in captivity. Usually they live without the freedom of movement over large areas with varied terrain. We can take a small step to encourage whole-body movement with short routines done often but never turned into a drill.

    AIM

    To combine weaving (serpentines) with sidestepping, backing up and recall using rags as markers.

    PREREQUISITES

    1. ‘Walk on’ and ‘halt’ transitions staying shoulder-to-shoulder. Smooth Walk and Halt transitions: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5TT
    2. We have established clear mutual signals for weaving obstacles. https://youtu.be/mjBwyDsVX6Y. As well as this clip,there are several more in my playlist called Weave and Tight Turns.
    3. Horse understands a signal for sidestepping. Sidestepping: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5RL
    4. Horse understands a ‘wait’ signal to stay parked while we move away so we can do a recall. Park & Wait: https://youtu.be/UvjKr9_U0ys
    5. Horse understands signal for backing up face-to-face with handler. March 2018 Challenge: Backing Up Part 1: https://youtu.be/6YYwoGgd_0Y
    6. Horse recalls after staying parked. https://youtu.be/XuBo07q8g24

    ENVIRONMENT AND 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 a lead long enough so we can keep a nice drape in the rope but not so long it gets in the way. 12′ (4m) is a useful length.
    • Six rags laid out in a straight line far enough apart to allow comfortable weaving of the rags walking the pattern together. As the horse becomes more supple, the rags can be put closer together.

    VIDEO CLIPS

    #203 HorseGym with Boots: Routine 8, Rags as Focus:  Click here.

     

    #204 HorseGym with Boots: Routine 8 at Liberty: Click here.

    NOTES

    1. It helps to memorize the sequence of tasks by walking the pattern without the horse. If you have a willing human friend, take turns being the horse or the handler. Usually, as handler precision improves, horse precision improves.
    2. The aim is to keep the rope with a nice drape or loop as much as possible, so the horse is getting his signals from our body language and signals rather than rope pressure. We want the horse to find his own balance rather than be pushed or held into a certain outline.
    3. Click&treat at a rate that keeps your horse being successful. As a horse learns a pattern through frequent short repetitions, we can gradually ask for a bit more before each click&treat.

    TASKS

    1. Handler on the horse’s left side, weave the rags together.
    2. Turn at the end of the rags and weave in the opposite direction.
    3. Walk a circle around the last rag to end up between the last two rags plus several steps beyond them.
    4. Halt, then ask the horse to back up between the rags. If he backs up on his own, go to the horse to deliver a click&treat.
    5. Ask the horse to sidestep to put him in line with the middle of the next two rags.
    6. Ask the horse to ‘wait’ while you walk between the rags to the end of the rope.
    7. Ask the horse to ‘recall’.
    8. Ask the horse to sidestep so he is in line with the middle of the next two rags.
    9. Halt, then ask the horse to back up between the rags. If he backs up on his own go to the horse to deliver a click&treat.
    10. Ask the horse to sidestep so he is in line with the middle of the next two rags.
    11. Ask the horse to ‘wait’ while you back away to the end of the rope.
    12. Ask the horse to ‘recall’.
    13. Ask the horse to do the final sideways so he is in line with the middle of the last two rags if you are using six rags.
    14. Ask the horse to back up.
    15. Do an established ‘end of routine’ celebration. I use a ‘Triple Treat’.

    GENERALIZATIONS

    • Repeat with the handler on the horse’s right side for the weaving.
    • Practice in different venues.
    • Use more rags.
    • Play at liberty.
    • Have only the horse weave – handler walks a straight line.
    • Practice on a slope.
    • Carry out the same sequence of tasks without marker rags.

    Movement Routine 7 – Fence as Focus

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    Photo: Parking for up to 10 seconds with the handler standing behind. This is the seventh task of the routine.

    INTRODUCTION

    This routine refines 90-degree turns, stepping sideways, parking, and backing up with the handler in two different positions.

    AIMS

    1. To improve the precision of handler/horse communication by linking a series of tasks into a sequence.
    2. To do a series of gentle gymnastic moves to engage the horse’s mind and muscles.

    PREREQUISITES

    1. Smooth ‘walk on’ and ‘halt’ transitions staying shoulder-to-shoulder. Smooth Walk and Halt transitions: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5TT
    2. Smooth 90-degree Turns: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5VM
    3. Horse understands a signal for sidestepping. Sidestepping: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5RL
    4. Backing up with handler shoulder beside withers and beside hindquarters. https://youtu.be/501PSnAA-po and https://youtu.be/MWAH_Csr960
    5. Horse understands a ‘wait’ signal to stay parked until further notice. Mats: Parking or Stationing and Much More: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5S9
    6. Handler has developed a clear ‘Zero Intent’ signal so the horse knows when standing quietly is what is wanted. ‘Zero Intent’ and ‘Intent’: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5RO

    ENVIRONMENT AND 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 a lead long enough so you can keep a nice drape in it but not so long it gets in the way. Or work at liberty.
    • Safe fence line or similar.

    VIDEO CLIP

    #201 HorseGym with Boots: Routine 7 – Fence as Focus. https://youtu.be/548G5Ektt4c

     

    NOTES

    1. I find it easier to memorize the sequence of tasks like this by walking the pattern without the horse and then visualizing the sequence often. If you have a human friend, take turns being the horse or the handler. Usually, as handler precision improves, horse precision improves.
    2. The aim is to keep the rope with a nice drape or loop as much as possible, so the horse is getting his signals from our body language and signals rather than pressure on the halter. Then it will be easy to morph into working at liberty.
    3. Click&treat at a rate that keeps your horse being successful. As the horse learns a pattern through frequent short repetitions, we can gradually ask for a bit more before each click&treat. For this routine I began with click&treat at each halt, then gradually did a bit more before a click&treat.

    TASKS

    1. Handler closest to fence, walk along shoulder-to-shoulder and make a U-turn, staying on the same side of the horse, which will put the horse closest to the fence. Walk to your starting point; halt.
    2. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the horse, beside or just behind his withers, ask the horse to back up several steps; halt.
    3. From halt, with the handler on the inside of the turn, make a 90-degree turn and walk 4 or 5 steps, halt. Repeat three more times so that you have walked an entire square with a halt at each corner, ending up where you started.
    4. From halt, walk the first two sides of the square as you did in 3 above, but with no halt at the corner. Halt at the end of the second side. The horse is now parallel to the fence.
    5. Move to face the horse and ask for sidesteps to the fence; halt.
    6. Ask the horse to stay parked with your ‘wait’ signal. Walk up to a couple of meters behind the horse and take up your ‘no intent’ position. Start with only a couple of seconds of ‘wait’ but try to gradually build up to ten seconds. Over multiple sessions gradually increase the distance you move away.
    7. Walk to stand beside the horse’s butt (facing the same way as the horse) and ask for several steps of back-up.
    8. Jackpot on completion of the sequence.

    GENERALIZATIONS

    • Ask for a few more steps during the back-ups (tasks 2 and 7).
    • Walk a larger square (task 3).
    • Ask the horse to wait longer when he is parked (task 6).
    • Walk further away after asking the horse to ‘wait’ (task 6).
    • Start the exercise with a trot along the fence (task 1).
    • Ask for the second back-up (task 7) from further and further behind the horse.
    • Work at liberty or add halter and lead if you started at liberty.
    • Work on a slope if you have one handy.
    • Change the order of the tasks.

     

    Movement Routine 6 – Rags as Focus

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    INTRODUCTION

    This routine has us alternating frequently between the left and right sides of the horse. The objective is to develop our ‘walk on’, ‘halt’ and ‘turn’ signals to make them as clear and precise as possible.

    AIM

    To improve handler precision by linking a series of tasks into a sequence.

    PREREQUISITES

    1. Smooth ‘walk on’ and ‘halt’ transitions staying shoulder-to-shoulder. (Smooth Walk and Halt transitions: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5TT)
    2. Smooth 90-degree Turns: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5VM
    3. Horse understands a signal for sidestepping. (Sidestepping: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5RL)
    4. Handler has developed a clear ‘Zero Intent’ signal so the horse knows when standing quietly is what is wanted. (‘Zero Intent’ and ‘Intent’: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5RO)

    ENVIRONMENT AND 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 a lead long enough so we can keep a nice drape in it but not so long it gets in the way.
    • Six or more rags marking out a roomy circle. Have an even number of rags.

    NOTES

    1. For this routine, it helps if the rags are a different color.
    2. Make the circle as large as you like. It is small in the clips for ease of filming.
    3. I like to memorize the sequence of events by walking the pattern without the horse and then visualizing the sequence often (a good substitute for counting sheep to go to sleep!) If you have a human friend, take turns being the horse or the handler. Usually, as handler precision improves, horse precision improves.
    4. Walk should-to-shoulder with the horse for all the tasks except the last two.
    5. The aim is to keep the rope with a nice drape or loop as much as possible, so the horse is getting his signals from our body language and signals rather than rope pressure.
    6. Click&treat at a rate that keeps your horse being successful. As a horse learns a pattern through frequent short repetitions, we can gradually ask for a bit more before each click&treat.

    VIDEO CLIPS

    #196 HorseGym with Boots: Routine 6, Rags as Focus: https://youtu.be/tqmY4RPKLrc

     

    #197 HorseGym with Boots: Routine 6 at Liberty: https://youtu.be/KnXk8WEhXiA

     

    #198 HorseGym with Boots: Routine 6 without Rags: https://youtu.be/ZSfK3i2Zq04

     

    TASKS

    1. With the handler nearest the rag and on the horse’s left, stand together beside one of the rags.
    2. Walk a full circle around the rags (anticlockwise).
    3. On completing a full circle, turn into the middle of the circle and halt. Move to the horse’s right side.
    4. Vary how long you stay at the halt each time you halt in the circle’s center. Be clear with your ‘no intent’ body language during the standing together, and your ‘intent’ body language when you want to walk on again.
    5. Walk forward and curve around to circle the rags in the opposite direction (clockwise). Handler walks closest to the rags.
    6. On completing one full circle, turn into the middle again, halt and change to the horse’s left side.
    7. Walk forward and curve into an anticlockwise circle, but this time halt at every second rag. Vary how long you stay parked at the rags.
    8. After one circuit halting at every second rag, turn into the center of the circle again and change to the right side.
    9. Repeat 7 (stop at every second rag) but walking a clockwise circle.
    10. On completing the circle, turn into the middle of the circle and halt.
    11. Ask the horse to back up between two rags, halting when his belly is between the rags. In the clips, I face Boots to ask her to back up, but we could back up shoulder-to-shoulder.
    12. Ask the horse to sidestep either right or left so that one of the rags passes under his belly.
    13. Large Celebration on completion of the sequence.

    GENERALIZATIONS

    • Practice in different venues.
    • Change the size of your circle.
    • Add more rags to your circle.
    • Build in walk-trot-walk transitions.
    • Repeat each task before changing to the next task.
    • Add walk-trot-walk transitions.
    • Add halt-trot transitions.
    • Add trot-halt transitions.
    • Play with it at liberty.
    • Carry out the sequence of tasks in an open area without marker rags. For the three halts along the circle (tasks 7 and 9), halt after each quarter circle.
    • Practice on a slope.

     

    Movement Routine 5 – Fence for Focus

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    Photo: Task 3: Walking a half-circle away from the fence.

    INTRODUCTION

    The purpose of this series of movement routines is to regularly have the horse doing a series of gentle movements that aid his overall flexion and suppleness.

    We need to consider both physical suppleness and mental suppleness. Mental suppleness is about the horse’s ability to understand the signals for each task and to move calmly between tasks.

    Once the horse is adept with each of the tasks in the routine, this whole routine takes about two minutes. But it might take weeks or months of short daily practices to teach each element of the routine to the proficiency needed to link them all together.

    I like to mark the end of a routine such as this with a celebration which in our case is a triple treat (details in Prerequisite 8).

    AIM

    To link this series of tasks into a sequence:

    1. Walk together.
    2. Recall toward fence.
    3. Walk a half-circle
    4. Yield shoulder to put horse’s butt at 90 degrees to fence.
    5. Back butt against fence.
    6. Two steps forward, one step back.
    7. One step forward, one step back; repeat once.
    8. Yield shoulder so horse faces fence and morph into sidestepping away.
    9. Sidestep in the opposite direction.

    PREREQUISITES

    1. Smooth ‘walk on’ and ‘halt’ transitions staying shoulder-to-shoulder. (Smooth Walk and Halt transitions: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5TT)
    2. Horse can smoothly U-turn into a recall when the handler changes from walking forward to walking backwards. (https://youtu.be/XuBo07q8g24)
    3. The horse understands yielding the shoulder. (Yielding the Shoulder: https://youtu.be/eSlin8ZYcRA)
    4. Horse backs up easily to put his butt against a solid barrier. (#186 HorseGym with Boots: Backing Against Objects: https://youtu.be/SBcdVtV-eCo)
    5. Horse is familiar with backing up one step at a time and recalling one step at a time. (One Step at a Time: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5X6)
    6. Horse understands a signal for sidestepping away from the handler. (Sidestepping: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5RL)
    7. Horse understand a signal for sidestepping toward the handler. (Target Shoulder to Hand: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5SH and Targeting Hindquarters to Our Hand: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5Tk)
    8. Triple Treat: #16 HorseGym with Boots: https://youtu.be/FaIajCMKDDU

    ENVIRONMENT AND 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 10′ (3m) or longer lead.
    • A safe fence or other barrier. For this challenge, we ask the horse to back his butt against the barrier, so something solid like a wooden fence, a wall or a hedge is best. We could also use a line of barrels or a raised rail.

    VIDEO CLIP

    NOTES

    1. Be sure that the horse is confident with each task before starting to link them together. We never want to make the horse feel wrong. He can’t be wrong because he doesn’t yet know what you want. Do a quiet reset and start again if things don’t go to plan.
    2. It is usually helpful to link pairs of tasks at first, then add the first pair to the second pair, and so on.
    3. I like to memorize the sequence of events by walking the pattern without the horse and then visualizing the sequence often (a good substitute for counting sheep to go to sleep!) If you have a human friend, take turns walking the sequence being both the horse and the handler.

    TASKS

    Use a rate of reinforcement (how often you click&treat) that keeps your horse being continually successful as much as possible. As he learns the routine, ask for a bit more before the next click&treat but always be prepared to increase the rate of reinforcement again if the horse needs you to clarify your intent.

    1. Walk along shoulder-to-shoulder with the handler nearest the fence.
    2. Gently change to walking backwards, asking the horse to make a U-turn toward the fence, so he is walking toward you.
    3. Stop walking backwards and ask him to halt in front of you.
    4. Move to the side that allows you to easily walk a half-circle together, with you on the inside of the circle.
    5. Halt when you have walked a half-circle away from the fence. Ask the horse to yield his shoulder 90 degrees so his butt is toward the fence.
    6. Ask the horse to back up until his butt (or tail) is against fence.
    7. Ask the horse to take two steps forward toward you, then ask for one step back.
    8. Now ask for one step forward, followed by one step back; repeat once.
    9. Ask the horse to yield his shoulder 180 degrees so he faces the fence and morph that movement into stepping away from you sideways.
    10. Ask the horse to sidestep toward you or move to his other side and ask him to sidestep away from you.
    11. Finish with a big celebration (e.g. a Triple Treat).
    12. Repeat from task 1 walking on the horse’s other side.

    GENERALIZATIONS

    • Practice in different spots and/or different venues.
    • When it is super smooth with rope and halter, play at liberty.
    • Move away from the fence to do the routine. Change task 6 to ask for a set number of back-up steps or have a ground rail as a back-up destination.
    • Chain the tasks in a different order.

     

     

    WALK and HOCK GYM with OBSTACLES

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    INTRODUCTION:

    A horse training area without obstacles is like a playroom without toys. When we have a collection of obstacles, each one allows us to have a conversation with our horse.

    It’s much easier if our horse lives with us and we can set up and change obstacles as convenient, as opposed to having to book time to use a training area.

    However, we can amass a collection that is relatively easy to set out, pick up, transport and store. Rags make excellent markers and can be set out to weave or act as a rail or delineate a lane. Smaller cones are easy to set out, collect and store.

    Tarps can be folded to different sizes or rolled up to stand in for a rail. If you have use of an indoor arena or it is not a windy day, a collection of cardboard boxes that can be nested for easy storage are useful to act as destinations, create novel gaps, outline lanes or act as rails.

    Ropes can take the place of rails to create lanes. Hoops are light and easy to move and store. I prefer hoops made of hose and joined with doweling (or a twig the correct size).

    If your horse is boarded, there may be available gear that is not too heavy to move to create a circuit. If you have a grazed area for training, tread-in posts have many uses and can be paired with tape to create reverse round pens or high-sided lanes. Some people may have trees, banks, ditches, bridges, stumps, slopes and/or natural water to incorporate into circuits.

    Circuit activities like this are great as warm-up or cool-down exercises, or just to give our horse a stretch of continuous movement and a bit of mental stimulation.

    PREREQUISITES:

    1. Horse and handler are clicker savvy.
    2. Horse responds willingly to ‘walk on’ and ‘halt’ signals when the handler is beside his neck/shoulder, on both sides of the horse. (See LINKED RESOURCE 1. at the end of the post.)

    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 (kept loose as much as possible, as we want to use body language for communication, not rope pressure).
    • A circuit of objects and obstacles. Ideally some to step over for hock flexion, lanes to walk through, gaps to negotiate, unusual surfaces to walk across, slopes if possible, hoops to step into, markers to weave, pedestals to put one or two front feet on, and so on. If your horse likes to pick things up, add that as an element of your circuit.

    AIMS:

    1. To have the horse and handler and horse fluidly navigate a circuit of objects and obstacles at the walk with the handler on the LEFT side of the horse.
    2. To have the horse and handler and horse fluidly navigate a circuit of objects and obstacles at the walk with the handler on the RIGHT side of the horse.

    VIDEO CLIP:

    NOTES:

    • The horse in the video clip is an old hand at negotiating circuits and the circuit in the clip is a basic one.
    • This activity refines ‘walking together shoulder-to-shoulder’ with a draped lead rope or no lead rope. A key is to first establish solid, mutually understood, ‘walk on’ signals that ensure you step off together. It is a common habit for the handler to begin walking without ensuring that the horse is stepping off at the same time. (See LINKED RESOURCE 1. at the end of the post.)

    SLICES:

    1. Make a list of obstacles available and draw a diagram of where you might put them in your training area.
    2. Experiment gently to find your horse’s response to each obstacle: Either one a day or a couple each session, whatever suits your time and facility.
    3. For horses new to this sort of activity, introduce one obstacle at a time and add a new one when he his totally confident with the previous ones.
    4. If the horse is an old hand at this sort of activity, set up your designed circuit. Move on to generalizations once walking around the basic circuit is fluid on both sides of the horse.
    5. Sometimes I use three, four or five obstacles and do various things with each one, or sometimes I set up a longer circuit like the one in the clip which has twelve obstacles.
    6. If new to the activity, stay with each new obstacle until the horse is ho-hum with it. For example, if it takes one session for the horse to be comfortable with a new object or obstacle, and you add a new one each session, you can have a circuit of twelve obstacles after twelve sessions. Or you can do two different things with six obstacles.
    7. But: some obstacles will be harder and take longer than one session to establish comfort and willingness. As long as we always start where the horse shows confidence, and we proceed in small slices when he shows he is ready to do more, things usually progress well.
    8. Success breeds success. Over-facing and going too fast destroy confidence and the willingness to try again. If you notice you’ve done this, simply relax and go back however far you need to go to where the horse is confident and slowly work forward again.
    9. When it all flows smoothly while you are on the horse’s left side, start again on his right side.

    GENERALIZATIONS:

    1. Add in the occasional halt, either between obstacles, in a lane, across a rail, on a pedestal, in front of a rail, just after stepping across a rail, between uprights, with front or back feet in a hoop. Decide beforehand how long your halts will be. Start with one second and work up gradually to five or ten seconds. Once you have duration, ask the horse to ‘wait’ while you move away and/or around him. (See LINKED RESOURCE 4. at the end of the post.)
    2. Add in the occasional back-up between uprights, through a lane, before reaching the next obstacle, backing front feet over a rail, backing all four feet over a rail. (See the LINKED RESOURCES 5. and 6. at the end of this post for training plans relating to backing up.)
    3. Ask for sidestepping away from you or toward you along a rail. (See LINKED RESOURCE 1. at the end of the post.)
    4. Walk a small circle to do the same obstacle twice.
    5. Change your leading position so you are in front of the horse and he walks behind you. See the LINKED RESOURCES 8. at the end of this post
    6. Add the occasional trot between or over selected obstacles.
    7. Long-rein the circuit. (See my Long-Reining book on the ‘Books’ page.)
    8. If you lunge, ask for continuous trot through a series of obstacles set up so your rope doesn’t catch on them. I like to trot an obstacle, then have horse trot a circle around me while I move into position for trotting over or through the next obstacle. This is an exercise that allows continuous sustained movement without being dead boring or stressing the horse’s joints and dulling his brain with continuous small circles.

    LINKED RESOURCES:

    1. Blog: Smooth ‘Walk On’ and ‘Halt’ Transitions. https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5TT
    2. Blog: Sidestepping: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5RL
    3. Blog: Step Aerobics: https://wp.me/p4VYHH-5Sf
    4. Video Clip: Park & Wait: https://youtu.be/UvjKr9_U0ys
    5. Video Clip: Backing Up Clip 1: https://youtu.be/6YYwoGgd_0Y
    6. Video Clip: Backing Up Clip 2: https://youtu.be/safxxu90lkA
    7. Video Clips: This is the first clip in a playlist series about using hoops. https://youtu.be/AfDIAQSOmE0
    8. Video Clip: first of two clips to teach walking in front of the horse. https://youtu.be/n8uZOtO5hEc

    Sidestepping

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    INTRODUCTION

    To teach sidestepping, we carefully and quietly add the forequarter yield and the hindquarter yield together until the horse is able to move sideways in a straight line.

    Teaching willing hindquarter yields on request is one of the essentials for safety around horses. Anything unexpected can cause serious harm around the most benign horse. A willing hindquarter yield eases daily care and husbandry, especially around gates, stables, or any tight space.

    Teaching the forequarter yield makes it easy to ask our horse to stand in the best position for foot care, grooming or saddling. Teaching these yields on both sides of the horse aids in strengthening proprioception.

    Proprioception is an animal’s clear perception about where various body parts are, what they are doing, and the amount of energy needed to carry out a specific activity.

    Sportspeople tend to have much better proprioception than people who spend most of their times sitting. Horses raised in flat paddocks and stables lack the proprioception evident in horses who grew up moving extensively in rugged, hilly country.

    When our horse can co-ordinate the front-end and hind-end yields to smoothly sidestep on one plane, his proprioception will have improved considerably. Some horses almost fall over when first asked to step across sideways with a front foot, so we have to be gentle and take the time it takes with short, frequent sidestepping sessions.

    In horse language, yielding the quarters seems to be an appeasement action. The horse is willing to shift his personal space away from you. Horses with a relatively timid or anxious nature are usually quick to grant you this space.

    Horses with a bold or exuberant nature may be less willing (or extremely resistant) when this task is first introduced. They are more prepared to ‘stand their ground’. Who moves whose feet is highly significant in the horse word. Much the same is true for people.

    How readily a horse sidesteps on request depends on his innate nature, his opinion of the handler and how he is being (or has been) taught the tasks.

    PREREQUISITES:

    • Handler has taught or revised clear ‘Yield Forequarters’ and ‘Yield Hindquarters’ signals with touch, gesture and body language intent.
    • Horse responds readily and confidently to ‘Yield Forequarters’ and ‘Yield Hindquarters’ signals.

    Forequarter Yield: April 2018 Challenge: https://youtu.be/eSlin8ZYcRA

    Hindquarter Yield: May 2018 Challenge: https://youtu.be/AkjIT8Tjxw0

    ENVIRONMENT & MATERIALS:

    1. Work area where the horse is relaxed.
    2. Ideally, the horse can see his buddies, but they can’t interfere.
    3. Safe fences or other barrier to inhibit forward movement and to generalize the task.
    4. Ground rails and raised rails for generalizing the task.
    5. Depending on what you choose to do: halter and lead or safe enclosed area for working at liberty.
    6. Horse warmed up with a few active tasks before asking for these yields.

    AIM:

    To have the horse willingly yield six to eight steps sideways away from the handler, in a variety of contexts.

    GETTING STARTED WITH A BARRIER IN FRONT:

    SLICES (Illustrated in Clip 1)

    Click here for Clip 1.

    1. Ask the horse to halt facing a safe fence: click&treat.
    • Repeat a few times until you are both comfortable and confident doing this.
    • If you can, practice at a variety of different fences or other barriers to generalize this first part of the task and make it ho-hum.
    • Teach all the slices on both sides of the horse. One side is often easier. Do a bit more with the harder side until both sides feel the same.
    1. When 1 above is easy and relaxed, while the horse is standing facing the fence:
    • Focus strongly on his hip. Use touch or gesture to quietly ask the horse to yield the hindquarters one step: click&treat.
    • Try to click the moment the near hind leg passes in front of the far hind leg.
    • Walk away from the fence together to a relaxation spot (mat, hoop, nose target): click and treat.
    • Repeat a few times, walking to the relaxation spot after each yield, or walk to another barrier and repeat the task there.
    1. When 2 is easy and relaxed, repeat the procedure but this time ask the horse to yield his forequarters: click&treat.
    • Clearly direct your focus plus touch or gesture signal toward his front-end. Click&treat for one step over. Ideally click just as the near foot crosses in front of the far foot.
    • Walk away for a break or head to a different barrier to repeat, as you did in 2.
    1. Start with either 2 or 3 above, whichever feels better for you and your horse.
    • Some horses may do these yields smoothly after one session.
    • Others may take many sessions over many days.
    1. When 2 and 3, done individually, are smooth and ho-hum, we can begin to put them together.
    • Vary which end you ask to yield first.
    • We still click&treat for each yield, but right after the click&treat for the first yield, we ask for the other end to yield (click&treat).
    1. Now we will ask for front end plus hind end BEFORE the click&treat. This part is illustrated at the beginning of Clip 2.
    • Stay with this slice for several short sessions until you are sure the horse is comfortable with it – often there is a bit of tail swishing, blinking and chewing as the horse is figuring something out.
    • After a good effort, it pays not to do it again right away. A triple treat or a wee break walking to a target or a spot of grazing helps the horse realize that what he did was what you wanted.
    • Be sure not to ‘drill’. We don’t want to lose the horse’s interest or enthusiasm to do it again.
    1. Once we have the horse easily moving both ends on request, with one click&treat after both have moved, we can begin to ask for additional steps sideways.
    • Ask for two sets of sideways steps before the click&treat. Stay with this slice until it is smooth.
    • Ask for three or four sets of sideways steps. Stay with this slice until it is smooth.
    • This is hard work for the horse, so build up his strength to do more sidestepping gradually until he can easily do six to eight steps.
    • Sidestepping is a great suppling exercise when the horse is warmed up.

    GENERALIZATIONS

    Clips 2, 3 and 4 look at generalizations

    Click here for Clip 2.

    Click here for Clip 3.

    Click here for Clip 4.

    • The first generalization was to ensure that the horse could stand comfortably in front of a variety of barriers.
    • The generalizations after achieving part 7 above all serve to help the horse become more fluid with the sidestepping task and to put it into his long-term muscle memory.
    • With each new generalization, start right at the beginning with a high rate of reinforcement. Gradually work toward the point at which the horse easily does 6-8 sidesteps with one click&treat at the end.
    • It’s important to be consistent with our gesture, voice, touch and body language signals, despite the different obstacles in use. Once the horse understands what I am asking, I add a voice signal, which for us is “Across” because we use “Over” for jumping things.

    Generalizations on the video clips include:

    1. Between two rails.
    2. Rail under the horse’s belly.
    3. Half-barrels under the horse’s belly.
    4. Toward a barrier such as tall cones, (or a fence, a wall, the side of a horse trailer).
    5. Toward a mat or a hoop.
    6. Toward a mounting block.
    7. Without a barrier in front.
    8. With handler face to face with the horse.
    9. Around a square of rails (possibilities are: front feet in box, hind feet in box, no feet in box, whole horse in box).
    10. Straddle a rail.