Question:
I have been asked a couple of times, as
people watch me train horses here at the ranch, about praise. You
don’t seem to praise your horses a lot or pet them much; is there
a reason?
Answer:
I do care for my horses and I do scratch on
them and give them a rub here and there but I’m not a real warm
and fuzzy guy. There is certainly nothing wrong with rewarding a
horse with a rub or a scratch but sometimes instead of doing that
when a horse has done something right I will say, “Good for you,”
in a real soothing tone. If a horse is doing something wrong, I
may say, “Aw, aw, aw,” in a rough tone and pretty soon we start
setting up a verbal language, as well as body language, that
communicates praise or correction. Discipline is not always a
spur or a stick. Once we start being consistent with our verbal
cues, as well as our physical cues, the horse will start
understanding. When I say, “Good for you,” the horse will soften
the neck, drop the head and relax.
But let’s get back to the praise, meaning
making over, cooing and loving on a horse. There is nothing wrong
with it but I find that too much distracts from the training. It
is a horse’s nature to learn by pressure and release. I ask for a
leg yield and the horse gives me something relatively in the
direction of a leg yield, even if it is only one step, and I
release the pressure. It may not be perfect, but it is something
and release is the reward. That is going to be more effective
than a pat and, if at the same time I say, “Good for you,” I am
establishing the communication and the horse is understanding the
verbal cue as well.
There is another point that is not discussed
a lot and I would like to mention it here. I call it “think
time.” Let me tell a story to illustrate what I mean. About 17
years ago I was working with a horse that I had purchased for my
son. The horse had real issues with side passing at the gate.
For whatever reason, this horse did not want to go up to the
gate. I spent about an hour trying to get the horse close to the
gate but even at 10 feet away, he would get very upset. We could
ride by the gate with no problem but once the horse knew he was
side passing toward the gate, he got upset. Probably, at some
point the horse had been punished for doing something wrong around
a gate. It might not have had anything to do with side passing
but the horse did something a previous owner didn’t like and the
punishment was severe and it really sunk in with the horse that a
gate means “trouble.” I had spent about an hour trying to get the
horse to side pass, and this was before I really understood
patience and I did not have control of my emotions. I finally
just quit out of frustration and, I knew that if I kept going, I
was going to lose my temper. That would not have done either of
us any good.
We all learn things as we go along and I’ve always been told to
leave the emotions on the bench. Sometimes that is easier said than
done. I’ve learned some hard lessons and I have always found that
when I got angry, it cost me more time. So, here is something that
I really learned that day. When I put the horse away, I put him
away in fairly good spirits. In other words, I didn’t let my
emotions take over and I didn’t take my frustration out on the
horse. The next day, I got the horse out, schooled him and went
back to working on the gate. That horse moved off my leg in the
direction of the gate like he had been doing it forever. It was not
a perfect side pass but it was enough of a side pass that my jaw
dropped in amazement.
After a couple of similar situations, I have
found that, thrown in with the concept of pressure and release,
“think time” really seems to work well. The time away was the only
thing that happened. I didn’t get angry, the horse didn’t get
frustrated, no anxiety was involved, no one got hurt, but my
patience was running thin. We are only human and we do get
frustrated but when we do, we are no longer effective. The only
thing that happened in this situation was that I put the horse
away. I came to realize the horse had some “think time.” In other
words, the horse had time to absorb and process what had happened,
however horses process. They don’t have a rational thinking process
like we do but they do process.
I find this technique useful in everyday
riding. If I have been working on getting a horse to stop and not
run through the bit and I’ve had to tip him into the rail to get him
to break his speed, once I get a pretty good stop, I just take the
pressure off and let him relax and process. Just for a few minutes,
I cross my arms and chat with another trainer or meditate on
something that needs to be done around the ranch. Sometimes when
you are working on a problem area and you get just a little bit of
success, it is worth it to give the horse a little “think time.”
I’ve also heard it called “self time” but it is the same principle.
So, when you find yourself in a situation where
you need to get something done and you are sort of hitting the wall
but you get a little something, just leave the horse alone and let
the horse chill and then ask again. The majority of the time, I
find that a break is a very useful tool. That is definitely a form
of praise, not a treat or a scratch on the withers but it is a
release of pressure. Use your verbal cue too, “Good boy,” when the
horse has done something good. They don’t understand English but
they do understand your tone and if you stay consistent, your “Good
boy” or “Good job,” will mean something to your horse.
Praise for your horse is good but if every time
the horse does anything, you scratch or rub it, it becomes less
meaningful. I see riders in class scratch or rubbing their horses
for just about everything they do but, they are not getting any work
done and I don’t see the horse learning any faster. It may make
the owner feel better but in the long run we actually have to speak
the horse’s language. I find that if you release the pressure when
the horse does something good and use the verbal cue to emphasize
it, it is more effective. Also, take time to let your horse absorb
the lesson you are trying to teach. It doesn’t make any difference
what discipline, try this in your training program.
God Bless
Charles Wilhelm
It’s Never Ever the Horse’s Fault |
