BALANCE isn't just physical nor does it only relate to bio-mechanics or self carriage.

Do you wonder if you are making progress or making a mess with your positive reinforcement horse training or when you are clicker training your horse? It's all about balancing REWARDS, BEHAVIORS and REPETITIONS and knowing how  and when to increase criteria in increments that allow the horse to be successful without creating confusion and over training/tipping the scale too far in one direction or drilling. 

We want to balance REWARDS by making sure the value of the reward matches the difficulty of the request FROM THE HORSE'S VIEWPOINT. This can mean using multiple reward types in the same session or even for the same behavior based on the horse's emotional response.

BEHAVIORS: when we are training, we want to keep in mind the behavior that might be similarly cued or similarly performed in relation to the goal behavior that we are currently shaping . We want to take care to address...

During times of stress, like the blustery March days that likely lay ahead, I often wonder about the trigger stacking that can occur when horses are afraid of the rider's aids and then the natural environment exacerbates their fear response. So many times responsiveness to aids is created through FEAR of the rider's aids. I want to ride a horse that is RESPONSIVE and UNAFRAID of me. This can become a matter of life and death when it comes to horses facing fearful environments and elements beyond our control. You see if horses are already triggered stacked because they are afraid of the leg, hand, whip etc. they are so much more likely to lack the impulse control that often keeps a positively reinforcement trained horse calm and safe in the face of things that would normally spook other horses and send them whirling and running in fear with rider's hanging on for dear life. So many times responsiveness to aids is created through fear of the rider's aids, both natural (legs...

Few things are as heartwarming as having our horses GALLOP up to see us at our request. Fortunately, it's (the recall)  a FUN EASY behavior to train. The recall can be taught as a part of our daily routines without needing to set aside specific training session time too. This is especially easy to do using positive reinforcement and clicker training because the horses find the interactions following the recall incredibly reinforcing. It helps horses:

• learn their names,
• do something handy, helpful and fun
• and humans in our program in a variety of circumstances really dig it!

Feel free to contact us. ([email protected]) We’d love to chat about how you can learn to teach your horse the recall in a safe, sound efficient manner that you are both sure to enjoy!

One way to get a Rapid Recall?

• Have a consistent sounding verbal cue.
• Use a hand cue in conjunction with it.
• Give the cues at times that the horse is naturally about to come towards you;...

Reward based training with horses other than our own and with other species increases:

• our ability to adapt to our own horse's changing needs and responses at any given time.
• It can increase our powers of observation, timing, and delivery skills,
• and it's a ton of fun!

Fortunately, I've had the opportunity to use positive reinforcement to interact, build relationships with and shape the behaviors of cats, chickens, alpacas, and goats and very much look forward to training with other species too. Fish would be fascinating! Like many people, I also found positive reinforcement to be super effective in training dogs to enjoy many activities often trained with coercion and punishment and to help them cope with fear. There's no doubt that using +R with our dogs has changed the quality of their lives, our lives and those of our visitors, veterinarians etc., for the better. 

So many wonderful animals have graced me with their teaching, which I so appreciate. These experiences...

How to Stop the Spook

1. Begin building a strong halt or verbal stop cue using positive reinforcement while training on the ground.

2. Then transfer this cue and behavior to under saddle training.  

3. Reinforce it often until the response to verbal and tactile cues from the rider's body is very strong so the horse will halt immediately and reliably.

4. Practice in areas, times, circumstances and locations where the horse is very comfortable (easy change of contexts).

5. Very gradually increase the difficulty of the contexts in a way that the horse is most likely to be successful.

We want to create a strong reinforcement history that will allow the horse to assert impulse control even in scary situations. This will create a horse that is much more likely to respond to the halt cue when under duress and provide the opportunity for us to offer support. 

Assuming we make every effort to AVOID allowing the horse becoming super stressed and over threshold to the degree that...

Have you heard it said that we have to dominate our horses to have safe relationships with them? Do you believe this is true?

If so, I'd like to kindly encourage you to reconsider. In my mind, what we really want to do when we are with our horses, is present our best and highest self and reap the many rewards of consciously connecting. This is true whether we are just spending time with our horses, doing husbandry activities or positively shaping their behavior in way that they and we can FEEL good about.

Think about it. Isn’t this what we would do in any relationship we truly value? Chances are we've all chosen to do certain tasks, go places, visit people and behave in intentional ways to fulfill relational obligations. An example might be attending your best friend's birthday party with a smile when you’ve had an exhausting day at work. Chances are both you and your friend are glad you did it, despite your initial desire to stay home. 

How we behave is...

Question from a Compassionate Horse Click Member: My horse is rushing while liberty leading in the direction of the barn. He acts like I don't exist. Why is this happening and what can I do?

1. Going in the direction of the barn creates an immediate change of context simply by changing direction that is heading toward a place where the horse has been reinforced repeatedly over time. 

2. The horse has experienced food, friends, familiarity and freedom at the barn toward which you are heading and he's found it to have a strong reinforcement history. This may be a strong contrast with going in the previous direction, where he may not know what lies ahead or may have head less reinforcing experiences. 

3. It may help to keep the horse's attention/focus by doing engaging activities. An example might include using object that the horse can focus on such as a target or playing a game or practicing a well known intrinsically reinforcing  behavior and/or including higher value...

Horses naturally desire relationships and connections with other beings when they find the experience reinforcing. How does your horse "feel" when it's with you? It matters to your horse and can make all the difference in your relationship. 

"Being with your horse versus doing something to it ~ it's very different from the horse's viewpoint."
Melissa Deal

This is an old video made years ago that we pulled from the archives and the behaviors are not yet finished. But It's a real life example of how to keep changing things up/introducing variability to maintain the horse's engagement. 

Stay and Play

Variability is something that we want to work into our horse's training in many ways. This video shows how a basic foundation behavior we train in the Compassionate Horse Click Online Course, the stay, can be turned into a new and challenging exercise. It also shows how we can include other behaviors like the kiss, which is one of Eclipse's favorites, as we play/train to help the horse enjoy the process and feel successful when doing something new or challenging. 

The tone of the sessions are just as important as the content. We do our best to make sure that our time together with our horses is light-hearted and fun, which helps ensure it's rewarding for both.

Second portion of Video

My husband is addicted to Port City...

Ears back often? Should I reward for ears forward? This is a question that I'm commonly asked. What we want to reward is positive emotions in our horse. The softness of the face, muzzle ears, topline and body in general are indicators of how a horse is feeling. We don't want to trick train a horse to put their ears up, per se, so that they can get a reward. We would like to reward a horse for having positive emotions especially in situations where they have not had positive emotions in the past, and the ears can be an indicator of how they are feeling.

If you are wondering about the philosophy and methodology behind this Reward Based Training program that helps you enjoy your horse like never before, schedule an appointment for a complementary consultation, Compassionate Horse Click Style. Can't wait? CLICK HERE for more information about our online program or call 910-471-5445.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Melissa Deal ~ ...