DAY TWO FOR SAM

Jan 26

Day two of Sam’s work. He was very good to the left, the only direction we did yesterday. I didn’t have to touch him with the whip to get him to move, he did it on his own. He walked out and continued to walk on a 15 meter circle without a problem. I did some walk/halt transitions until he seemed to get the hang of that and then asked him to trot. He tried to pull out of the circle a couple of times, but all in all he was very good considering he is clueless as to what is expected of him.

             When he seemed to be pretty settled in his work to the left (about 10 minutes) I turned him to the right. As with all horses, he wanted to go in the direction that he was comfortable with, however, it didn’t take as much convincing to get him to go to the right on the circle. Once he figured out what was expected of him, he was pretty willing for a while.

            Now, I have learned over the years that horses usually learn and resist in sets of three. What I mean by this is that usually if I repeat an exercise for three days, most horses have it figured out and do it with minimum evasion. In keeping with this theory, a horse will usually resist a new exercise three times before he accepts it and the new learned behavior. The exception to this rule is the horse who has been worked and handled so inconsistent that he keeps trying to get his way because he has in the past. These horses take longer to convince that there isn’t an alternative to doing what is asked of them, regardless of how many times they resist. Horses like this have been trained by poor methods to refuse to work.

            Getting back to my theory of three, number one is the resistance of not knowing. As you put the horse into the new exercise, he must learn what it is and sometimes that takes some patient repetition until they get it. With Sam I just had to keep giving him a go forward  stimulus and a place to go, which was to the left originally and then to the right the next day. Once he did it for a while and was praised for his efforts, he will try the number two resistance which is to say “I did this for you and now I don’t want to anymore.” Understandable from the horse’s point of view because he hasn’t given over his decision making to me yet. Once I work through this little trial, he will do what I want pretty well for a while. He is not trained to do the exercise yet, however. Number three resistance is the one where he pulls out all the stops and tries he best evasions. Some he has tried before and sometimes there is a new, more forceful one. You must work through this time and not end until it is finished. Once that has been accomplished and he is doing what is asked, then he has given you his decision power. Each time you work him at that exercise, he will be less resistant and more submissive to your will. He is on his way to being trained to do what you asked him to do.

            The important thing to remember is that just because he seems to catch on to what you want after a few minutes of a training session, that doesn’t mean he is trained to do what you just asked. At least not in the beginning. It takes time to convince a horse to give over his life to you and follow your every command. As the rider/driver of a horse, you take on the responsibility of making smart, safe and reasonable demands.