I have a two fold question for anyone out there that has taught their horse tricks. I was looking at teach my yearling to bow while I cant ride her. I thought it would be something new to do. Just wondering if teaching tricks seems like a good idea or not and if so most of the ways to teach are to use treats. Then once they have got the trick you only give them intermittent treats so the behaviour doesnt require a treat every time. Thoughts on this?
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We do treat our horses by hand, however only at certain times and there is a signal for them all that the treat has finished and they go back to grazing. Only one horse have we used treats for tricks and that is our BamBam, but treats for tricks did not start until he was 3 years old. My daughter does the trick treats with him and found that if she asked for a trick then treated him, he would lose focus on the trick and just want the treat, he was 2 at the time. Now he is 7 and she has to take him to the working area and only there can she do treat tricks, but he is rewarded each time with a treat. Other times if we ask him to do a trick to show off to people he is willing to do at the delight of the viewers.
Many have different opinions, Monty is very much no treats at all by hand which you will see in the videos as you go through them.
For youngsters who are still developing their human / horse habits, you risk the development of nipping if the treat reward is not consistent in the horse's mind. If the treat is not consistent this could cause unwanted behavior habits, so to treat intermittently, how does the horse know when he is going to get the treat? There has to be consistency for the horse to know where he or she stands.
Trick training your horse can be done through mimicking, starting with working in hand and do walk and trot but aim to work your legs in time with the horse, once the horse is happy with this they want to start to work in time with you, so you can change your stride and the horse will start to mimic your stride. As they start to mimic you it can be taken further, bows, tapping the leg in counting, kisses etc. I would not suggest rears with a youngster. At the end of little session you could offer the treat in a feed bucket, so leave the training area and reward with an apple in a bucket. This way they come to know that something awaits at the end. Again, it must be consistent.
The best rewards are praise be it verbal or a good rub on the neck when they do something you are trying to teach them.
I am sure others will have their input, we are all different in how we do things. I hope this helps a bit.
Mel
melaniehetfield-equineservices.com
It's all about the horse.
If you have already cracked all the leading, touching and leg handling work then how about lots of desensitizing. How about getting really creative with obstacles and getting your yearling super brave to go over, under, through everything you can imagine. Tarps, loads of squashed plastic milk bottles, an old bad mattress to walk over etc or a hoop to jump through. Have a look at the Horse Agility books for lots of ideas.
And rather than bowing how about carrot stretches. Attach a piece of carrot to a stick and put it between his front legs or to each side of him etc. Then you are also helping keep him supple.
Do be careful what you teach as tricks. A long time ago I taught one that if I picked up a front leg and put it on a box he was to step up on to the box. Not so clever when the farrier came, picked up a front leg onto the stand so the horse stood on the farriers back with the other leg!
Mel
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