Concepts Of Training The Horse
what are Aversions/avoidance in a horse
(negative reinforcements) teaches the horse to move away from unpleasantness. A lot of horses are trained to avoid possible unpleasantness for example they see the whip and before you hit them with it they move (escape condition/avoidance conditioning foundation of horse training
types of restraints that are the level 2 restraint
2. Nose chain, Wooden handle Twitch, Chifney bit, Wooden handle twitch with chain more severe, Metal twitch
types of restraints that are the level 3 restraint
3. chain through the mouth, skin twitch, shoulder, roll,( falls in between 3 and 4 depends on how it's used)
types of restraints that are the level 4 restraint
4. Holding an ear when clipping, gum chain, Lip chain, twisting an ear, ( falls in between 3 and 4 depends on how it's used)
types of restraints that are the level 5 most effective severe restraint
5. Chemical restraint/tranquilizers (xylozene, ace promezyne, dimersodan)is different than the rest of physical restraints because slow down reaction and nervous system takes away some of his abilities acts in a different way than others
What Does It Mean Giving A Horse A Choice?
According to Westall " that you make the right choice for the horse easy and the wrong choice hard for the horse" it could be as simple as letting him be comfortable when doing the right thing no crop being used or making it very uncomfortable when he's doing the wrong thing crop when he's not responding. example is if you know a horse likes to raise his head while clipping his ears stand him under a low beamed wash stall so when he lifts his head he realizes its uncomfortable that's an example of setting him up to make a choice
what does the A stand for in the acronym S-T-A-T-E-S
Attention- of the horse and his focus
How do humans communicate with horses?
Body language is the biggest form of communication to the horse everything you do feel think exhibit say is communicating to a horse, aides, cues
what does the E stand for in the acronym S-T-A-T-E-S
Energy of the horse. Is energy good or bad in training a horse? Excess energy is not beneficial when training a horse. What do we do to get out a horses excess energy? Lunge, turnout, exercise, hacking, consistence schedules, feeding/diet make a difference in the horses energy level
How has the horses survival instinct adapted?
FLIGHT instincts are to run away an example we shake the shavings bag in front of the horse that is domesticated they have learned adapted not to run away they adapted their natural instinct to flee. Another instinct the domesticated horse has adapted is FIGHT a horse only fights when cornered. Another survival instinct a domesticated horse has adapted is to PROTECT THEIR FEET an example the fact that a domesticated horse allows you to pick his Feet is a survival adaption. Another survival instinct the horse has adapted is PROTECTING their BACK and HEAD a domesticated horse has adapted and allows you to get on their back and touch their head. The domesticated horse has adapted their survival instinct of CLAUSTROPHOBIA a domesticated horse allows you to put them in a stall. Another survival instinct a horse has adapted is their SAFETY in numbers HERDING instinct they allow you to take them out by themselves to ride
How has the horses hearing adapted?
Horse's ears move to better detect sound when you're riding or around the horse the horses ear position can tell you what the horse is focused on for instance one ear back one ear forward the horse is listening to you and what's in front of him
How has the horse's sense of touch adapted?
Horses are more sensitive in their vulnerable areas they have a high sensitivity near their ears, legs, belly, lips, eyes when you're clipping a horse they will generally be more sensitive to their vulnerable areas
What Does Reasoning With A Horse Mean?
Horses don't reason the way people do the horse realizes things through cause and effect for instance the horse starts slowing down you squeeze him with your spurs he realizes that the cause of the discomfort if he slows he get the spurs that his sense of reasoning
Why Would You Use a Restraint?
Safety of you and the horse, control to accomplish a task
What Makes a Good Horse Trainer
Patience, Analytical asses why the horse is doing or not doing something and decide how to go forward, Understanding of horses instincts, persistence, know your individual limits, confidence, Be Just don't take things out on the horse you should be calm and if you're not maybe its not a good time to teach , Be tactful know when its a bad or good time to teach a horse based off of his behavior is he upset maybe its not a good time to teach something new, be consistent, grateful rewarding of good behavior, good communication, be moderate slowly build on the prior lesson and be aware of the horses limitations, Be Kind, Boundaries, Safety Oriented both you and the horse, Knowledge and Experience
What does the second R in the acronym Conditioning (S-R-R) stand for and what does it mean
Reinforcement- The trainer provides the reinforcement. The message we give the horse when we reinforce the horse's response makes a difference. We can reinforce bad behavior by negative reinforcement and we could reinforce correct behavior by positive reinforcement. Your reinforcement should be crystal clear to the horse that he is either wrong or right.
How do you now get the horse to do what you want?
Repetition but balanced repetition don't make the horse keep repeating something he knows he will get confused as to why you're making him do it again and again, set the horse up for good experiences and success. We also use Punishment slash Praise, Pressure slash Release to get a horse to do what we want, psychologically mentally conditioning a horses behavior
What does the first R in the acronym Conditioning (S-R-R) stand for and what does it mean
Response- the horses answer reaction after asking him to do something. In the response category you have unconditioned response an automatic natural response from the horse. In response you also have a Conditioned stimulus response which is set up through repletion. The conditioned response is in the later training of a horse
what does the S stand for in the acronym S-T-A-T-E-S
Signs- from the horse through his body language
What are S-T-A-T-E-S?
Six concepts of training the horse
what is Conditioned stimuli's
Something that gets a response because it has been learned through repetition. An example is using a whip simultaneously with your leg the repletion of this will teach the horse to move when your leg is put on him. He learned this by association
what does the second S stand for in the acronym S-T-A-T-E-S
Space- the horse needs to accept us in his space in order for the horse to be domesticated we need to be able to be in his space for example grooming tacking up riding we are in the horses space and the horse has to respect your space
types of restraints that are the level 1 least restraint
Speaking soothingly, bribing with a treat, cross tie ,Halter with lead rope, Stalls ,paddock, Lifting a leg, neck rope, stock
When we say "Training a horse" what does that mean?
Teaching, instilling habits, instilling discipline, instilling fear, instilling different things, improving, refining, you can un-train him by teaching him Bad habits, change his behavior, affect a change, make him better
what does the T stand for in the acronym S-T-A-T-E-S
Tension- of the horse and handler, fear induces tension in the horse, tension reduces sensitivity to your requests and reduces the horses responsiveness. Tension is never helpful in training a horse
How has the horses Sight adapted in horses?
The horse's blind spots are right in front of his nose and behind him it is not natural for a horse to have someone on their back or to have a cart hooked behind him because they cannot see them it's fighting their vulnerable instincts to flee.
what does the T stand for in the acronym S-T-A-T-E-S
Timing- of action and learning action (there are three types of timing)
What does it mean you need to understand the horse?
Understand the horse's instincts characteristics for example they are flight animals, they are claustrophobic, they want to protect their feet, they are sensitive to smell, they can't see up close they have blind spots, their anatomy, you need to know what motivates the individual horse every horse may have different things that motivate him, know the horses personality in regards to what they are like on a day to do basis throughout the day at different points, know what changes or influences an individual horses behavior, know how to communicate with the individual horse, horses communicate through body language they talk to us with their body language, people use a mix of body language voice/tone different aides cues
What are some good examples of unconditioned stimuli to get a response from a horse
an example is you crack the whip to get the horse to move the horse is reacting to his flight instinct hence an unconditioned stimuli
what and when should Bribes occur
are different from rewards when you use a bribe the horse can see the bribe before he completes an action
what is punishment when training a horse
can be useful when used correctly and should be used sparingly for example discouraging biting pushing kicking. Punishment is not useful when used to teach a horse a new action. Misuse of punishment in training causes a horse to have resistance in training. Even harsh words can be punishment to a horse who is used to being praised the horse he can feel our tension and that he dislikes. Therefore when we train a horse by praise it is extremely helpful when you need to use harsh words because that will be enough of a punishment for him. If a horse is trained via punishment he will be trying to escape the cause of that punishment
Conditioning(S-R-S) is one of the primary ways trainers shape a horses behavior why
conditioning sets up a set of circumstances for the horse so you get a desired reaction from the horse
Positive reinforcements
encourages positive attitudes vice versa negative reinforcements encourages negative attitudes
how is Positive reinforcements helpful when training horses
encourages positive attitudes vice versa negative reinforcements encourages negative attitudes
what and when should Tidbits occur
feeding of tidbits while well intended is unnecessary and often leads to trouble. When befriending a horse it is best done in ways that are natural to him for example grooming standing near him calmly and speaking nicely to him
what and when should Rewards occur
happen during and right after an action to encourage the horse to do it again
what is Unconditioned stimuli
illicit a natural response without the horse having to learn it. Often time's unconditioned stimuli's can be used to get a horse to do something. The horse has natural instincts such as flight when he is uncertain threatened etc... he responds by running.
what is Primary reinforcement
is going to be something that satisfies a need and is naturally understood by the horse as pleasant or painful. An example of a primary positive reinforcement are treats, rest. An example of a primary reinforcement that is negative is discomfort pressure a stick a leg.
what is Secondary Reinforcement
is something that has to be learned by association and repetition by the horse. Using our voice soothingly would be an example of secondary reinforcement. The horse had to learn that your voice is as an association of a positive reinforcement. You probably spoke kindly to your horse while simultaneously giving the horse a carrot he now associates your soothing voice as positive. An example of a negative secondary reinforcement is a growl saying no or quit it the horse had to learn this.
what does micro timing mean?
is the timing of aides, rewards, and punishments.
On the side of the horse they have Monocular vision what does that mean
is vision in which both eyes are used separately. By using the eyes in this way, as opposed to binocular vision, the field of view is increased, while depth perception is limited. The eyes of an animal with monocular vision are usually positioned on opposite sides of the animal's head, giving it the ability to see two objects at once. The word monocular comes from the Greek root, mono for single, and the Latin root, oculus for eye.
What does S in the acronyms in Conditioning (S-R-S) stand for and what does it mean
it stand for stimulus. in any environmental factor that causes a change reaction or response, the question, request, the demand, is what falls into the category of a stimuli's
What are the three types of timing in the T of the acronym S-T-A-T-E-S
micro timing,time of life, mood time
how does a horse communicate
mostly communicate with their body language and some vocal language
Horses have Binocular Vision in front of them what does that mean
the ability to maintain visual focus on an object with both eyes, creating a single visual image. Lack of binocular vision is normal in infants. Adults without binocular vision experience distortions in depth perception and visual measurement of distance.
what does time of life mean
the consideration of the horse's age, maturity, physical development
how is Tone of voice helpful when training /working with horses
tone of voice can be used as a reward or as a punishment
what does mood time mean
train the horse with their schedule in mind. Such as their schedule of turnout, feeding, a mares cycle. Set up your training session with your horses success in mind take into consideration for example is it dinner time for this particular horse is this particular horse unable to focus during feeding time
how do you decide on what restraint you should use?
you should start with the least restraint and slowly crawl up the ladder if the least isn't working
Buck Brannaman training method
• "Hooking on" he tends to talk about the horses attention being on him. • Disengaging the hindquarters of the horse getting the horse to move his feet give the front end to you giving me his attention. • Repetition of the question to the horse to get and improve a response. • Drive don't pull your horse you want the horse to listen • Transitions