How to get more Go than Whoa!

by Diana
(Unitied States)

I have a delightful 16 year old left brain introverted Icelandic gelding, Galsi. He had been abused and had a huge trust issue with people. With a LOT of patience on my part I'm able to do much with him on the ground though at a walk. I have found that giving him multiple tasks to do arouses his curiosity and he becomes more forward moving. I'm certain that the more new things I introduce (i.e. weaving around trees, backing through mazes, etc.) the more he looks forward to play. I've also found him to be food motivated. My question is how can I ask him to move on to a trot and actually enjoy himself while exerting more energy?

Answer:

Clicker Training! Clicker Training!, Clicker Training! These left brain introverts “love” clicker training because they are easily food motivated and it answers the question for them “What’s in it for me!”

We will be publishing our Clicker Training Guide to help you get started very soon. In the meantime maybe you can try this game.

Take two bowls and place them at least 70 feet apart. Put the tiniest bit of the food your horse loves the best (oats, carrots), just enough for a mouthful. Now go get your horse and become very enthusiastic about getting to one of those bowls! Start jogging yourself, use the word “trot”, then “cluck”, then “kiss”, creating pressure and energy. (Utilize phases of pressure so you can discover how much or how little you need to get him going) Even if the horse doesn’t trot, don’t worry, get to that bowl and let him discover the goody in there. Pat and praise while he eats it. The moment he’s almost done, get going and excited to get to that other bowl!. Keep repeating until you see him getting the idea. (it may be helpful to have another person help to put the goodies in the bowl too, because you’re going to get some exercise here too!) Before long he should understand that those bowls contain something worth getting to.


The goal here is to give him a reason to get going but it’s not about the food only. Your job is to see what you need to do to help him understand you want him to move faster.

A word of caution. It can be difficult to change the natural characteristics of a horse. Horses that are slow and calm don’t suddenly become energetic just like a high energetic horse doesn’t become calm because we want them to. It takes time and communication. Much like a good marriage, it’s based on trust and respect first but if we think we would like to change our partner into something they are not, we’ll lose every time! :0)

Elaine Polny
Horses by Nature