Horsemanship 1 RAS 2303

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Horsemanship 1RAS 2303

• Dr. Jeff S. Pendergraft
• 108 ANSC

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Horse Philosophy

• What does it take to become a successful
  communicator with a horses?

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Horse Philosophy

• Must become partners
• Trust has to be developed
• Must become knowledgeable
• Can not take the easy way out
• The past doesnt matter
• Dont be afraid of making mistakes
• Takes time and patience

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Three Training Rules

• The training must be safe for you.
• The training must be safe for the horse.
• The horse must be calmer after the lesson than
  before it started.

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Unwanted behaviors

• Nibbling on you, nudging with the nose
• Fearful, spooky, jumpy
• Crowding your space
• Tail swishing for no apparent reason
• Stomping feet
• Ear pinning
• Refusing to move
• Charging
• Biting, rearing, bucking

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Keep it safe for you.

• Dont make excuses for your horse.
• Never ASSUME anything.
• Repetitions will help eliminate holes in the
  training.
• When you think you have practiced enough, you
  havent even begun.
• When you think your horse has learned it, he does
  not have a clue.

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Keep it safe for you.

• Thoughts transfer into actions.
• Example
• Horse nuzzles your sleeve.
• Horse pins ear when feeding.
• Horse pins ear 2 sec and tosses his head at
  feeding.
• Horse tosses head, pins ears, walks toward feed
  bunk.
• Horse bites when you are grooming him.

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Obtaining a partnership.

• Respect and trust can only be given, not taken.
• Respect comes when you get your horse to
  perform specific actions on cue, whether he wants
  to do them or not.
• Trust is developed from getting control w/o
  inflicting pain.

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Obtaining a partnership.

• Simple control leads to respect and control w/o
  pain leads to trust.
• Control w/o pain Trust Respect Relationship
• Typical problems with relationships.
• Expectations
• You can expect your horse to be perfect when you
  are perfect in every aspect of your life.

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Obtaining a partnership.

• A successful partnership depends on you being the
  most consistent partner and the most forgiving
  partner.
• Never use negative words to describe your horse.
• This will build walls and resentment

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Active and Reactive

• Horses are a mirror image of us.
• Any change that we want our horse to make, we
  must first make in ourselves.
• If we are inconsistent, our horse will be
  inconsistent
• If we are distracted, our horse will be
  distracted.
• If we lack confidence, our horse will lack
  confidence
• If we lack concentration, our horse will lack
  concentration
• If we are afraid, our horse will find something
  to be afraid of

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Active and Reactive

• If we want any changes from our horse, we must be
  willing to change
• our thoughts
• our actions
• and do so consistently

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Active and Reactive

• When horse and rider are working together they
  become partners-
• One is active the other is reactive.
• If the horse is the active partner, the handler
  is the reactive partner.
• If the handler is the active partner, the horse
  is the reactive partner.
• When we come into sight of our horse, we begin
  relating.

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Active and Reactive

• How can you become a better trainer?
• First you need to do a self-evaluation to
  determine whether you are an
• Active
• or
• Reactive person
• Handout

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The Three Aspects of a Horse

• 1. Physical capabilities
• size
• speed
• Strength

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2. Mental capabilities
understanding
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3. Emotional state
Nervousness Vs Fear
ability to relax
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Philosophy on Horses

• Can we all be trainers?
• Dedication
• Understanding
• Repletion
• Plan

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The Three Second Rule

• The horse never has the right to kick or bite.
• Which is worse?
• A horse trying to kick or bite me will result in
  me trying to kill him. (w/in 3 sec)
• The head is off limits.
• As soon as the 3 sec. are up I will completely
  relax and reassure him that I still like him.

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The Three Second Rule

• Reassurance comes from petting or stroking your
  horse.
• Do not slap or pat the horse.
• this is a sign of aggression.
• Also do not little touch the horse
• they are ticklish and may find this annoying.
• Always remember to reassure a horse after a 3
  sec. rule has been implemented.

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The Importance of Goals

• Set daily goals
• Reasonable goals that you can reach
• Always improve on basics
• If a problem occurs go back to where you have
  control again
• Dont over due the goals

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Things to expect

• Problems will come up.
• Try not to get frustrated.
• We have plenty of time.
• Being to anxious or pushing too hard will result
  in bad habits.

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Motivation

• Is the basis for all learning, for all change.
• It gives you a reason to change.
• Once change is accomplished, youve learned.
• The horse needs motivation.
• Positive vs Negative

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Timetable for Training

• Must realize that training takes time.
• Biggest problem is unrealistic timetables.
• Most problems dont need to be solved in one day.
• Learning depends on the horse.
• Incorporate diversity in your training sessions.

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Attitude

• What types of attitudes interfere with successful
  training methods?
• Prejudice,
• An Ugly Concept

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Expert already
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Horse Instincts

• How can the horses behavior be motivated by its
  instincts?
• How can we use this information to improve our
  communication with the horse?

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A Conditioned-Response

• What is meant by a conditioned-response animal?

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A Conditioned-Response Animal

• Reasoning can build control over a horse
• We set condition
• We get a response
• A CUE results from setting the condition
  enough to get a consistent desired rxn or
  response.

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A Conditioned-Response Animal

• Training is a stepwise process
• Must remember, the horse doesnt
  understand right or wrong.

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A Conditioned-Response Animal

• Two reasons why a horse doesnt respond to a cue
• 1. He doesnt understand it.
• Means we havent taught him well enough.
• 2. He understands the cue but chooses to ignore
  it.