In addition to the use rewards that are more valuable than grass when we are training horses to cross it on cue, we use techniques to create the positive habit of crossing grass on cue. If it's available to you, one of the easiest ways to head off the difficulty crossing green grass with your horse, whether in hand or under saddle, is to make sure that your horse has access to plenty of grass on his own time so he doesn't feel deprived. We realize this isn't always possible for a variety of reasons and that other strategies are important to have in our training tool box and as part of our communication with our horses.

The horse in this video is clearly communicating that he wants to go out to the green grass. We make it a habit to let him out to graze freely anytime we can, but purposely only let him out this particular gate when he going out to graze freely. This can be a reward at the end of a training session or simply something we do at random times. Either way, it's very clear t...

Release versus Reward… What’s the difference and why is it important to our horses?

Let’s put it in human terms to help us understand how our horses feel in similar circumstances of release versus reward.

Example A

If you were put in jail (for a reason that you didn’t understand) and then let out of jail:

1. Would you feel like you had been punished by the experience of being held against your will away from your family and friends?

2. Would you feel like being let out was a reward or simply something you deserved in the first place?

3. How would you feel about the person who put you in jail?

4. Would you be likely to trust this person to be responsible for your well-being in the future?

Example B:

If someone held your hand to a hot burner and forced you to keep it there until it was uncomfortable or even painful, for any reason at all, when they released your hand from the burner:

1. Would you feel like you were being punished when your hand was on the burner?

2. Would you ...

"Lameness can be due to biomechanical restriction.” Diane Howard, PhD, MSc, MMCP

Brilliant quote by Diane who is often a guest speaker on Compassionate Horse Click members only calls. Diane recently reviewed the Horse Grimace Scale for our CHC community. She presented on horses physical expressions related to pain, both physical and emotional. The group is currently studying emotional expression and learned much from Diane’s research including facial expressions that one doesn’t necessarily relate to a horse being in pain. One example that was new to me, specifically, is the ears being held stiffly held out to the side. Moreover, I found her quote especially intriguing because so many times, it is us, the humans, who are causing our horses’ pain through biomechanical restriction (see photo). Often, we don’t recognize it ,and other times we are living in denial. Our emotions can interject, and we can feel offended and/or become defensive if anyone dares to bring it up. We can even beco...

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 this similar b...

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 and hands) an...

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; such as at
...

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 have ...

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 it is likel...

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 largely dependent on how it ...

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 food. 

4. Few...