Keep Sessions Short and Sweet: +R for you and your Horse!

Keep it short and sweet (#KISS), I’m often saying in on online coaching sessions, whether group or private, at clinics and when speaking, (for horses and humans, BTW) but I was recently reminded why this is so important!

First, there’s the training apex that we always want to try to stay on the uphill side of…click here to see more details on the training apex

But, there’s so much more!

👀Recently an article came out about humans having greater latent learning between auditory sessions when the sessions are short. This supports my efforts to keep lessons and coaching session to 45 minutes tops for humans. But other data shows that we need to give horses micro sessions within our own training sessions too.

An article from the NIH, Published online 2021 Dec 3,

Spaced training enhances equine learning performance, indicated that horses learning in 2 minute sessions / with 2 min rest breaks, vs 4 minute sessions / with 4 min rest breaks had 94% success in learning while the latter experienced only 34%.

Compassionate horse owners, That’s Huge!

💋So keep it simple (train in small steps) , short (only a few repetitions at a time – no drilling) and sweet (keep it light and fun) in your +R interactions and reap the rewards! (perfect for this hot weather)

👀 Here are some specifics from Search Lab AI too

• Short training sessions can be better for horses for several reasons, including:
• Concentration: Horses, especially young horses, can't concentrate for long periods of time.
• Musculature: Horses may not have the muscles to perform for long periods without discomfort or injury.
• Nervous system: Short sessions can help avoid overwhelming a horse's nervous system.
• Fitness: Short sessions can help improve fitness without boredom or fatigue.
• Consistency: Short sessions can help horses learn that you're reliable and consistent.
• Learning: Horses learn best when training sessions are short, and you stop when they've "gotten it".

PS But, it's important to remember that "gotten it", might just be gotten a thought, or a tiny approximation of the behavior we are trying to train. And if they don't get it, we need to do a short session anyway and rethink our training plan! Better to stop too soon than go down the wrong side of the training apex by over doing it.