subject: Using the Three Ps of Horse Training to Teach Your Horse Good Manners [print this page] Author: Jw Shaw Author: Jw Shaw
This is basic ground manners explained. It simply means that your horse does as you ask. However simple or routine a task may seem, it's important that your horse knows how to move safely. Your horse needs to know that to push, step on or endanger you in any way - either intentionally or not - is unacceptable. It's easy to see that even such simplest annoyances have the potential to cause a person serious injury. Since horses outweigh you by a ton, literally, a misplaced hoof can break your foot. Whilst under normal circumstances you would probably be covered for this under the terms of your equine insurance its always better not to have to find out the hard way! This can be avoided by establishing and maintaining a personal space bubble. Allowing your horse to nuzzle into your pockets in the search for crunchy treats could land you with a nibble in a rather inconvenient place. These love nibbles will not feel as such when made by teeth as big as those of your horse. Horses in a herd treat each other differently than they must treat us. Often they will bite, nip and crowd each other, but they are somewhat more robust than we are. The space bubble lesson is one that many horse owners and trainers have learned the hard way. My first, and subsequently the last, experience with the concept of crowding occurred when I bought my first horse years ago. My wonderful new four-legged friend liked to help me with the paddock cleaning. He liked to place his nose into the manure cart as I was filling it. Then one day he actually lifted his front hoof and put it into the cart when I put a rake full of manure in. He knocked the cart over, which spooked him, which in turn spooked the other three horses in the paddock. Suddenly I found myself within the midst of hooves and tails every which way. Thankfully I was not hurt, but this could have been a mild or even a serious disaster and may have even necessitated a claim on my horse insurance. This happened when our training relationship was in its learning curve phase. I was so amused at his trying to help me with my chores that I didnt think about the potential consequences. I learned about the importance of safety manners that day. It was then that I realised the importance of teaching him how to respect my space when I was in the paddock attending to chores. He had plenty of time to be cute and interact with me when we were training and learning cues together. You can use the three Ps of horse training to instil basic safety manners into your horse. The relationship which you have with any horse - be it your own or one you are training for someone else - is largely dependent on the use of patience, persistence and positive reinforcement. Patience. It's important to remember that your horse does not automatically know what you want. You will go a long way in building trust by showing patience with your horse when showing him what to do, and letting him try and try again until he gets it. Enter the training session with a clear and stress free mind. Take a deep breath and relax. It is part of the natural learning process for your horse to test the waters. He needs to check and see if what he thinks you want is correct. This can occur several times before the horse has confirmed his correct assessment of the task. Persistence. Don't simply give up when things don't happen quickly. It is difficult to communicate at first. After all, you dont speak the same language yet! Stay with it and be consistent in your cues. Horses are very perceptive to even the slightest cue. Your horse will only cooperate when he has learned what the cue means. Positive reinforcement. Whenever your horse does something correctly, show him a signal. It's not always necessary to use a tasty morsel as a reward. Horses love to be released when they have done a job correctly. Imagine the whoa! or stop cue. Its a pull on the bit within the horses mouth. When the horse exhibits the signs that he understands that you want him to stop, release the bit immediately. That will let him know that he's doing things correctly. Horses need to know their limits. How close can he stand to you before you feel crowded? Can he pull on the lead rope if he doesnt want to go the way you are leading him? If he doesn't feel inclined to pick up his foot, will you allow him to get away with this? For a horse this is not natural, even though to us it may seem like common sense. A correctly and carefully trained horse will forever be both a most pleasing companion and could alsorepresent alower liability when it comes to renewing your horse insurance policy.About the Author:
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