Rescuing Rusty

When it comes to working with horses we all have our own  personal, and strong, opinions on how it needs to be done. We are seldom shy about expressing them. Telling other people what they are doing wrong and how they should be doing things is a favorite pastime of horse people.

The problem  with this is that we have no idea about the other persons ideas, goals, or story when it comes to horses. Before offering help, or worse telling someone what to do, what will work, what wont,  we need to stop and remember that we only have experience with our own lives, that’s all we know. Of course we assume that that is what there is to experience and how everyone experiences life. It isn’t until we grow those gathered experiences and expand upon them that we begin to see that there is a whole other world out there, that everyone experiences life differently and responds differently to those experiences that we realize how much there is that we don’t know.

Just because one thing doesn’t work for us doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work for everyone. Just because we are able to do something one way doesn’t mean that everyone can. We all have our own separate roads to follow. That means that we can’t force others to follow our path or even that they should.

I train using positive reinforcement. Obviously I think its the best way to go. That doesn’t mean other ways don’t also work and make a happy well trained horse when used well.

There are so many different ways to train within the realms of positive reinforcement even. I use pressure and release, it’s a great tool in the positive reinforcement tool box. There’s no need to use escalating force,  no need to make it aversive to the horse. Pressure and release is a way to offer guidance and give clear signals to avoid stressing the horse as he tries to figure out what we want. It can be the equivalent of being lead by your partner in a dance or holding hands with a loved one as  they walk with you down the street. A kind, gentle guidance.

Some people aren’t able to use it well. That is just fine. They don’t need to use that tool if it doesn’t work for them. Nobody should use a training method they aren’t capable of using well. That doesn’t mean the training method is bad, it means the training method doesn’t suit that one person using it.

As we travel this path with our horses, and with the other people traveling the what appears to be the same path with us, we need to remember that even though our roads look the same we all travel them differently. The way that is right for one may not be right for the other.

The important thing, the way to decide if a method is working well, is whether or not the horse is happy. He is after all the one whose opinion matters here.

I saddled Rusty today Planning on a ‘real’ ride.

The kids were busily occupied and I had some time. He has been getting tired  of me riding in  our little arena. Tricks are more fun. He gets to stand around and have food shoveled into his mouth. What’s not to love?

He does seem to enjoy going out and covering country though, instead of the working on  intricate little details that I’ve been wanting to do. He came to the gate as usual but had to stand and think hard about actually coming through it. I thought I’d let him decide what we’d do to start with. He could chose something he liked to do before I asked him to do what I wanted. Once saddled and on I let the reins lay and off he went.

He was going somewhere and in a hurry.

We cut the corner around the trees tight, slipping and sliding on the ice. I was tempted to grab mu reins and steer us to safer footing but then we were through there and there was no point. I thought he was heading for the other horses, but no. We came to them and kept going. That wasn’t where he was headed.
Out to the cattle he sped. Up the lane in  the feedlot.

Now I remembered. We had ridden out here earlier this week. Came to check a tank  that had run over and stopped to share some of the cattle fed while we were here.

Sure enough. He went right to the feed bunk he had enjoyed last time.

When we think about positive reinforcement we usually think about the immediate reward. The click and the treat.

Positive reinforcement is any reward, at any time, that makes a behavior more likely to occur again.

By stopping to enjoy a snack Rusty rewarded himself for riding out there. He wanted to do it again.

When I was in high school my mom  would drop me off at the barn on summer mornings and leave me there to ride all day. Once I rode way down the road to a town with a little grocery store. I tied my horse to the railing at the front entrance and went in. I got a snack for me and a bag of carrots for him. We both enjoyed our treat then rode home.

The next time we rode out he went enthusiastically in that direction. I decided it was because he had enjoyed his carrots. Unfortunately I never put much more deep thought into it. I might have found positive reinforcement much earlier!

What is the point of all that? I’m not entirely sure. Except if your horse is reluctant to leave the barn for trail rides. You might want to consider bringing a snack for him to enjoy at the farthest point.

Mostly though, I think, it’s that positive reinforcement is so much more than a click and a treat. What other ways can we find to encourage the behaviors we want?

Rusty finally did it! And with all the new people here I think we should talk about it. Air our dirty laundry if you will, or airing something for sure 😉

Some geldings will never drop when we are working with them while others like to have it hanging out at all times.

There are quite a few reasons as to why geldings to drop while working with us. One is that they are stressed, overly excited about the food they are expecting to receive, not sure about what they should be doing to get it. In this case it’s a sign that we need to slow down and take a big step back.

Nobody ever tells you about the dark side of positive reinforcement.

We hear all about how our horses will behave better and be happier doing so. About how willing it will make them, how they will want to work with you, about how you will be able to accomplish things you never dreamed possible in half the time. That’s all well and good but with every good thing there has to be a draw back. Doesn’t there?

There is and it’s a big one.

What happens those times when you have to work one horse and another one is left standing at the gate, alone, unloved, abandoned. Standing there calling out, pleading for some attention. Why, oh why would you do this to him. How could you leave him there in an agonized fit of jealousy and longing. Why wont you work him too?

The pain of trying to work one horse while another stands staring over the gate accusingly. He knows what you are doing. He knows that other horse is getting to work and receiving treats. The feel of eyes boring into your back as you try to concentrate is unbearable. The guilt crushing.

Then comes time to put them away. To force them back out into the pasture with their friends and free choice hay.

Not only do you have to drag the horse who has just finished working through the gate, you also have to fight your way through horses wanting to come out and work while pulling along the horse who doesn’t want to go back.

Allow them to chose when they want to work, say the positive reinforcement trainers. You’ll get more from them if you give them choice, they say. That will never work in real life! I’d never be able to do anything but work with my horses! Not that I would mind that so much but children seem to think I should pay attention to them once in awhile and everyone expects to be fed. Then there’s that silly housework stuff, nothing I want to be doing anyway. Sometimes we just have to make horses do as we say.

There comes a time when I just have to put a halter on. There’s nothing else for it.

Go ahead an buy into this positive reinforcement stuff if you will but always remember there is a dark side to the positive side.