AUGUST 2018 THE RIDER /39 ^Between The Ears^ - Fear to Focus Part 4


been doing that has taken away from his good behavior? Have you created a bad asso- ciation? Have you failed to re- inforce the good? Have you projected your own insecuri- ties onto your horse? Have you inadvertently punished the right behaviors? Have you made the wrong behav- iors rewarding? Somewhere in these questions lies the an- swer.


What is rewarding to By Ellie Ross


Part 4 Let’s focus on informing


your horse what you do want vs what you don’t want. In the case of unwanted


behaviors - Ask yourself this very important question – What am I doing to add to this unwanted behavior? If the be- havior is continuing and likely escalating, it is because the behavior you don’t want is indeed being reinforced. For example, if your horse refuses to go through a puddle and you give up and permit the


evasion, why wouldn’t your horse repeat the same tactics It is also important to note that often violence begins where knowledge ends. So a horse that was legitimately afraid of something, now has it confirmed that bad things happen in the presence of the puddle, the corner etc. Fear feeds fear. We should also consider


horses that previously be- haved quite well but have begun the slippery slope to- wards being rude, reactive etc. In this case you need to ask yourself – What have I


your horse? Rewards are the reinforcers of behavior. Any behavior that is getting rein- forced gets repeated so be sure you are only reinforcing behaviors that you want. Tim- ing is critical and behaviour studies have proven that to be the most effective, you need to reward within 3 seconds. Taking longer can still pro- duce results however, you will need more repetitions to achieve your goals. A reward marker indi-


cates to the horse that what they are doing at that moment is the right choice. Saying Yes vs saying No is far more edu- cational. Saying No only in- forms them what you don’t want and leaves it wide open for them to make a million other bad choices. Saying Yes informs them of what you do


want and a behavior that is re- warded will indeed get re- peated! A reward marker can speed up your horse’s educa- tion because its easy to mark behavior as right with your voice and it buys you time to deliver your reward. We want our reward


marker to not have any prior associations so phrases like ‘good boy’ are out. We need to pair the word Yes with good things – the rewards. The horse needs to be condi- tioned that when he hears the word Yes, he knows that something good is coming. That something good rein- forces the behavior that you want to be repeated. Pair the reward marker with a reward and be consistent. Once you have conditioned your horse to the reward marker, the pos- sibilities are endless. It is important to note


that if you are working on the ground and utilizing food re- wards, that those treats are quick for them to eat but more importantly that you shall NEVER give your horse the treat if they try to take it from you. Your horse should never invade your space, grab your clothing, demand it etc. If a good behavior occurred, you will mark it as right by saying


Yes, but if the horse comes in to grab the treat, you will not be giving them the treat. You may have to work on your horse’s manners to teach him not to grab or invade space. It’s not cute and it is not affec- tion.


In the saddle, you are not


going to be tossing treats at your horse so you will utilize rest as a reward. This means the horse gets a break for the right choice. Allow mistakes to happen so that he learns what the consequences of his choices are. I am sure you have already heard ‘ make the right choice easy and the wrong choice hard’. Wrong choices mean harder work but don’t end up away from your goal. Position is important. In the case of fear, it is


important that you start at a point that is before his thresh- old and do not set your crite- ria high. Initially just looking towards what he feared is enough. Reward this and then patiently wait and observe. If he turns his head away, gently steer it back. If your horse shifts his weight towards what he feared, reward it. If he stays there, reward it. If he backs up, don’t get upset. This is a part of his education. Re- turn immediately, to the point


of comfort and start again slowly allowing him to make the choice to move forward. If he chooses again to step back, then its time to work harder. Even one inch forward should be rewarded. Wanted behav- ior occurs, say Yes, reward. If you ask for too much, too fast, you will lose. Next month we will lay


out a plan to teach your horse target training as a way to build confidence and it opens up tremendous opportunity for communication. Your horse will be seeking what it once feared!


Author Bio: Ellie Ross is a professional animal trainer that specializes in behaviour. She has 30 years experience including being a wrangler in the film and television indus- try. Ellie resided in Los Ange- les and was in charge of International Large Animal Air Transport. Ellie was the Pet Expert for CTV, Reader’s Digest, Local, Satellite Radio and Rogers Television. For- merly an Eventer/Dressage/ Endurance rider, she is now active in Extreme Cowboy, Western Dressage and Cow- boy Mounted Shooting.


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