Consistent Horse Training

The Horse Information lives Here! ©
The #1 Horse Industry Information Advertising Directory! Contact Ann to include your company.

Consistent Horse Training; Is Your Horse Still a Push Button Horse?

Bob Jeffreys and Suzanne Sheppard

At a recent expo appearance we were asked by an audience member why, after having purchased what she called a “push button horse”, don’t his buttons work anymore?
By Bob Jeffreys & Suzanne Sheppard - TeachingTwoasOne.com

Let’s start by defining the term “push button horse”. Most people use this term to describe a well broke horse who goes when you ask, at the speed you ask, stops when you request a stop, picks up specific leads on cue, and steers where you want to go. Some might also include collection and other upper level training but for most the above abilities will give us a reliable, dependable trail mount.

Imagine that you buy a horse that fits this “push button” description, you try him out and he’s everything he’s supposed to be. You ride him for a few weeks or a few months and all is well. Then one day he tries to rush on the way home, or he doesn’t want to leave the other horses when
you ask him to or he ignores your request to trot or canter. You don’t think much of it and ignore the specific behavior because you think everything else was fine. You just let this one little thing slide. Then before you know it you let another thing slide because you love your horse or what he did wasn’t too bad or you felt it was unimportant. Then you make an excuse why one more little undesired behavior is allowed and so on and so forth. Pretty soon your “push button” horse has lost all his buttons and you are left wondering what happened.

If you find yourself in this position, first recognize that you are not alone. Many, if not most, riders get to a point where they have similar problems with their horses at some time or another.
I’d like to point out why and how our horse’s training seemed to disappear and then concentrate on getting those “buttons” back. If you’ll indulge me for a moment, try to think of the perfect horse (listening and responding to all your requests) as a closed circle. But now just the tip of a huge wedge is inserted into that circle. Not so bad, but now the wedge is pushed deeper into the circle and it occupies 10 or 20 percent of the circle. Still not too bad, but then it’s inserted further into the circle occupying 60 or 70 percent and so on until the original space within our circle (which represents our perfect horse) is now fully occupied by the wedge (which represents bad habits and
undesirable behaviors).

What has occurred is that you lost your consistency.
When you ask your horse to do something that he knows how to do (please remember here that it is unfair to ask our horse to do something he hasn’t been taught to do) you must:

1. Make your request clearly.
2. Get him to respond.
3. Release your cue when he does.
This is extremely important. Since your horse can’t determine when something should count and when it shouldn’t, you must be sure that your cues or your requests to your horse always count. Only in this way can you expect consistent behavior from your horse. In fact your horse should and will eventually draw his consistency from you.

Horses are not like tools or equipment that have no learning capabilities or feelings. If your car has no brakes you take it to the shop and they install new brakes. Afterward every time you apply your foot to the brake pedal your car slows or stops. It doesn’t matter to the car whether you’re concentrating on stopping or talking to Aunt Mable or even if you change your mind midway thru your stop. Your horse, however, is alive. He is a thinking, feeling being who has great days, good days and days when he doesn’t feel so good. He is always learning, sometimes really good stuff, sometimes not such good stuff. He is either learning that you are consistent in your cues and the release of same or that you are not. In the former case he will be attentive to your requests and become consistent in responding to them. In the later case he will learn that sometimes your requests don’t really count and that he can at times disagree with you and make the decision to reject your request and do what he feels like doing instead.

The good news is that even when we have made the mistake of being inconsistent and our horse is making some decisions on his own, we can start over and teach him otherwise. This is the good part of how horses are always learning. So if you want to repair the perfect horse buttons and push that wedge of bad habits and undesirable behaviors back out of the circle, be consistent with your cues, pay attention to what you are doing and never allow your horse to ignore you.
Keep it safe and enjoy your ride.
©Bob Jeffreys & Suzanne Sheppard August 06

Contact: Bob Jeffreys and Suzanne Sheppard
168 Tamms Road
Middletown, New York 10941
Phone: 845- 692-7478
Email: bob@bobjeffreys.com
Website: www.teachingtwoasone.com

Send This Article To A Friend!
Your Name:
Your Email:
Your Friends Name:
Your Friends Email:
A Message For Your Friend:
Opt-In to the Inforhorse Newsletter

Have a Product or Service that would benefit Horse Owners? Contact Ann

Home, Articles, Academic Schools, Arena Maintenance, Animal Communicators, Barn and Accessories,
Barn Equipment and Tractors, Blankets Books and Videos, Breeders, Camping Gear, Career Schools, Carts and Buggies, Clinicians, Clothing, Dogs and Puppies, Horse Fencing, Fine Art & Furniture, For Sale, Fly Control, Foal Care, Footings, Gifts, Health and Nutrituon, Hoof and Leg, Horse Rehabilitation Farms, Horse Insurance, John Lyons Certified, Lawyers, Leather Care, Links, Health , Horse Property, Photography, Portable Stalls Areanas and Roundpens, Richard Shrake, Riding Schools, Schools, Services for Horses, Shipping, Skin and Coat, Software, Specialty Trainers, Summer Camps, Tack, Trainers, Trainer Educational, Trailers, Treats and Snacks, Truck Accessories, Trucks, Vacations, Western Lifestyle