Rescuing Rusty

I have a friend who is great at working multiple horses at liberty.

Sometimes I would look at her and the things she is doing and say that it’s nice that she can do that. My horses can’t though. It’s different. They are different. If my horses were like hers then we could do it too. But they aren’t so we can’t.

Rusty is out there chasing and trying to eat any horse that gets close. There’s no way we could ever manage something new and different like that.

We all have a tendency to look at new things with that outlook.

Sure THEY can do it, but only because their horses just happen to be able to. Only because they’re lucky. Only because things happen to be just right for them.

It’s different for me. My horse doesn’t know how. I’ve tried it didn’t work. We just can’t.

That’s not how it works though.

Every time someone says oh, your horse is so smart to know how to do that I have to laugh a little inside. My horse didn’t come knowing anything but how to run people over. Anything he knows is a result of hard work and training. Yes he is extra smart and willing but without guidance that could all be used to wreck havoc on the world instead of to do good.

The last time I thought that about my friend and her horses I stopped and really thought about it. Instead of saying I can’t what if I thought about what it would take to make it so that I could? Sure the end step was impossible for us just then but what about a tiny step towards that goal? How could I work with my horses to help them to be able to handle working together?

Everything is impossible if we only look at the end goal. If instead we look at the tiny steps everything is possible!

People always want to know if they HAVE to use food to train their horse if they are going to use positive reinforcement?

Technically the answer is no. A reinforcer does not have to be food. All it has to be is something the horse finds rewarding. Something that they are willing to work in order to receive.

In the spring when winter coats are shedding my horse is far more interested in scratches than treats.I offer food and Rusty moves up to position me properly at his itchiest spots.

We can take advantage of times like that to teach certain tricks that are easier taught with that reinfrcer. Asking a horse to step over to you for example. Give some good scratching then step away a small step. When they move towards you go back to scratching. They learn without even trying. Start adding a cue and you have it down!

When the green grass begins to grow and there is nothing else a horse can  think about, cookies aren’t able to compete. I spent way too much time this spring trying to feed store bought treats before it occurred to me that we were walking through a plentiful supply of free reward. A treat bag stuffed with handfuls of grass is far more interesting.

Even using grass as my reinforcer I can’t compete with free grazing. Before working with the horses I try to make sure they get plenty of tie out eating the grass before we try to work. The horses don’t have free access to the grass. They would all be fat and foundered if they did. Letting them have enough to take the edge off helps them to think  about something besides eating, while I train them by letting them eat 😉

There is a difference between offering food that they want as a reward and trying to keep their attention on me instead of the grass we are working on top of though. I’ll be happy when the new wears off and we can go back to the calm  ropeless sessions we are used to. Until then I will be walking around with grass sticking out the sides of my treat pouch like an over stuffed scarecrow.

On the other hand, if they’ve been out eating grass for a few hours they will sometimes turn their noses up at my offering of grass, preferring the hay pellets. What is rewarding to the horses changes constantly and we need to be aware and able to change with them.

There are other things that serve as reinforcers too. Traditionally stopping work and turning a horse loose has been used to reward good behavior. There is a fine line between reward and negative reinforcement in some cases. When we remove something they don’t like, riding in some cases, that is offering relief. Relief is not strictly a reward, it is a reinforcer though. It increases the chances of the behavior happening again.

It often works well to stop what you were doing and just hang out as a reward. Especially if grazing is included in that. Stopping work can also be a punishment though. When the horse enjoys what you are doing and you stop that is not reinforcing the behavior you wanted. Mine will often be confused and go back  to what we were working on looking back at me as if to ask why we stopped the work they had been enjoying so much?

Spending some time with horse friends the other day we talked about some of the tricks my horses can do.

I was asked the question, “Is there a practical application for that?”

I was caught unaware and without and answer. Is there a practical application for a horse knowing colors? For being able to bow or smile or give a fist bump or Spanish walk? Umm, no? I was unable to come up with an answer to what you could use those exact behaviors for. We all laughed and said fetch prevented you from having to get off tog et your hat when it blows off. The real question went unanswered though.

I haven’t been able to get it off my mind.

What possible benefit is there to teaching a horse silly’ tricks?

The true answer to that goes so far beyond the act of the trick itself. The benefit to teaching any trick goes into ever other aspect of riding and interacting with the horse.

By  teaching a trick we engage the horses brain. We ask him to think, to use his mind and work through a problem instead of reacting. By teaching new skills a horses brain builds new connections allowing him to follow new thought paths instead of the same old ones that lead to the same old behaviors. A horse, any animal, with a greater repertoire of behaviors is better able to help himself in difficult or scary situations. There is a wonderful example in a story from a zoo in Mexico. There was an earthquake and the animals who had been trained were able to find ways to save themselves. Far fewer trained animals died than untrained even though they shared the same habitat. Think how useful that will be when your horse spooks out on the trail or gets caught in wire.
By teaching a horse tricks we teach them that things which might otherwise be considered scary are actually fun toys. A tarp? Not scary, a great thing to stand on and receive rewards. A plastic bag blowing in  the wind? No reason to run. Chase after it instead and when you catch it grab it to hand up to your person. By teaching the horse to interact with unusual objects we take away fear and build confidence. The horse learns to overcome fear as a fun game that he wants to play instead of running scared in a round pen.

By teaching tricks we teach our horses that WE are fun to be around.  Working on traditional training we can become overly focused  on results and perfection. Sometimes it becomes not so fun  for the horse resulting in a horse that is hard to catch and has no interest in being around us. By taking the pressure off and playing instead we can become interesting again. All while building skills that will benefit the more serious sides of riding. Taking the time to add a few tricks in while working on other training can serve as a reward for sticking with you on the not so fun stuff.

Teaching tricks can make training fun again but it also helps with all other training. Everything we do with a horse is a trick to the horse. They don’t know that fetch is silly but having a person on their back is not. Everything we teach a horse helps everything else we do with a horse. Or hurts if they don’t enjoy what you are doing. Teaching tricks builds trust and communication. When your horse wants to listen to you and understands what you are asking it will improve everything you do with your horse. Not to mention the confidence and lack of fear that makes it easier to work on other aspects of training.

In the end the practical application seems to be that teaching tricks improves everything! That is the most practical application I could ask for in anything. Once you get used to the freedom and joy in working that teaching tricks brings into your relationship with your horse is can be difficult to get beck to ‘normal’ horse training in the way that you knew it before. Halters become an extra and a nuisance. Horses come running asking to work. Remembering why you ever did anything differently becomes the difficult thing.

I know this seems pretty basic to most people but, halters are a useful tool!

Yes, it comes as a shock to me.

We almost always work at liberty. It works very well for us. We accomplish what we set out to, the horses are happy, we get quite a bit done.

Right now with the spring grass growing fresh and green though, I can’t compete. The horses have to wear halters. Saying no is one thing. Choosing to leave to go eat the grass they aren’t allowed to have anyway is completely different. That was the subject of another post though!

Using halters I have come to the shocking conclusion that they are very useful tools.

They help us give clear, precise information to our horses. They help in the same way that using any other sort of pressure helps us communicate with our horses.

They can help an energetic enthusiastic horse slow down. They can help a horse who wants to fetch everything know what you don’t want them to fetch. I suppose they would help with leading, who needs a halter for that though.

Like with the use of pressure a halter can be used badly. We can yank on the leadrope add nose chains and generally work hard to make our horses miserable, just like we can gouge with spurs and yank on reins. The difference is in the use of the tool, not that the tool was used.

Can people get the same job done without a halter? Without ever using pressure? Yes, it can  be done. There are people who can teach horses to do amazing things without ever touching them.

How many of us are truly capable of that though?

How many of us instead let our horses flounder about confused and trying desperately to figure out what we are asking?

What is worse? To use a bit of pressure, some negative reinforcement, in a calm clear way? Or to have a confused worried horse?

I am going to try to remember this lesson about the use of halters even after the grass isn’t so lush and tempting. Sometimes a bit of extra guidance isn’t a bad thing!

I am a firm believer in allowing my horses to have a choice in what we are doing, anything I work with actually, children, cattle, our dog, anything. When allowed the option to say no we feel more in control of our lives and generally happier to say yes. Being able to say no makes us much more likely to willingly say yes.

But.

As with all things there are conditions and the answers must be considered carefully according to the individual situation.

Right now the horses are all being worked in halters. They have the option of saying no, the goal is to never actually pull on the leadrope. All options are not available to them though.

There is free choice and there is true choice.

We all have the option of staying in bed all day, deciding not to go to work. There are consequences though. When making choices we are always aware of what each choice means.

Few horses would choose to turn down the first hints of spring grass. How can any treat begin to compare with that? Going out to graze freely whenever they want isn’t a true choice though, any more than staying home and giving up work is for us. No matter how fun that would be.

By putting on a halter I am taking away that option that is not truly a choice. If they weren’t working with me they wouldn’t be out grazing in  the yard, they would be in their pen  hanging out with friends and eating free choice hay. That is their other option. They are fat little ponies, all of a breed prone to founder. The grass is young and tender, grazing now isn’t good for it either. Working with me or going out and causing damage to them and the future grazing is not true choice. That is not the other option.

Choice is very important but that doesn’t necessarily mean a choice between working or anything else in the world. We can offer actual, practical, choices. A choice between doing two different behaviors, a choice between different treat, the option of not wanting to work just now. The other options should be good ones. A choice between doing what you want them to or doing something they don’t like is no real choice.

We need to find that sweet spot in the middle. True choice.

That doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy any of that yummy green grass. What better way to end a session than by rewarding with some hand grazing!