Get the Answers From Julie Goodnight
AD AN A E OF ME, Part 1
MY HORSE TAKES V T G
Q: Hi Julie! I have a 3-year-old Quarter Horse that I want to train for English pleasure.
He was born at my family’s stables, so I have been with him just about every day of his life. We are very close. That is where the problem is. He knows all my weaknesses, as I do his, and I think sometimes he tries to take advantage of that. Now we are learning somewhat more difficult things, like cantering, and he is getting a little headstrong. I really don’t want to hurt him by train- ing him wrong, and I really feel badly if I have to use a crop. And, believe me, he knows it. I am not really an experienced trainer, but neither my parents nor I have money for a real trainer. What can I do? Kirsten
A: Dear Kirsten It sounds like you have a realistic view of the relationship between you and
your horse and that for the most part your horse respects you, but when push comes to shove, he is not always obedient. Since horses communicate mostly with body language, they are far more adept at reading and understanding body language than we are. They know your emotions and intentions better than you know them yourself. Your young horse can read and feel your lack of commitment very well, and as long as you are not committed to following through on what you ask him, he knows he doesn’t have to do it.
Two concepts to think about 1. Don’t anti-train your horse. Don’t ever ask a horse to do something that you are not capable of, or committed to, following through on. If you can’t make him do it, don’t ask. That’s because if you ask and fail, you have suc- cessfully trained your horse to be disobedient. Once you ask something of a horse, it is imperative that you follow through with whatever means you have at your disposal; otherwise you are anti-training him.
A common example of “anti-training” is when you ask a horse to turn in a direction he does not want to go (like away from the barn). He resists and tries to go the other way, and you cave in and allow him to turn that way. Even though you may plan to take him all the way around to the point you were headed to begin with, he has been rewarded for resisting your request by being allowed to turn the way he wanted, not the way you wanted. He has 32 March-April 2012 | Honest Horses Magazine
no conception of the fact that you circled him all the way around to the direction you wanted to go to begin with. All he knows is that by resisting you, he was able to go the way he wanted to go.
2. Ask, Tell, and Command. There is a theory in cueing horses called “Ask, Tell, and Command.” It means that the first time you ask a horse to do something, you ask lightly and politely. The second time you tell the horse with greater authority. The third time, you let the horse know you really mean business. If you are asking beyond three times, you are training your horse to ignore your directives. This concept only applies to trained horses that know what the cue means.
I see this problem all the time in clinics and it always stems from a lack of follow-through from the rider. The rider may ask the horse to trot (or canter, or go to the rail), but with a lack of confidence and determination. The horse detects the lack of con- fidence and determination in the rider and simply ignores her. So the rider gets frustrated and instead of reinforcing the cue, the rider just quits. And now the horse has been trained to ignore the rider’s cue, and this cycle goes on and on. Typically, a confident rider can get on this same horse, and, in seconds, the horse will respond promptly and willingly to the rider’s cue.
Next time, I’ll offer more tips for Kirsten.
About the author Julie Goodnight is an internationally respected trainer and clinician with experience in many types of training. Learn more about Julie and her training program at
www.juliegoodnight.com.
Julie
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40