Moving Away From Pressure & Dominence

[Blair Witch]

I'm having a hard time getting my horse to move off my legs or pressure on the ground. He walks foward and backwards alright on the ground, but he will not move sideways. When I ask him to move sideways he braces himself or leans on me. He even tried to nip me yesterday when I asked him to move his hindquarters. I think there could be a bit of a dominence issue here as well. I've tried the Parelli (Porcipine) game with no results.

How can I show my horse that I'm dominent and he has to move when I ask him? I have no problems with my mare at all.

[teabiscuit]

maybe he's having a hard time understanding?

or maybe it's outside his comfort zone and he's having a whinge about it.

if he's not got any physical issues, just keep asking, be prepared to be patient, it takes some of them a long time to pick it up.

try and reward the slightest attempt he makes to get it right, even if he only does it by accident.

ETA a horses natural inclination is to go into pressure, so he's doing what comes naturally really.

[Bay Mare]

maybe he's having a hard time understanding?

try and reward the slightest attempt he makes to get it right, even if he only does it by accident.

ETA a horses natural inclination is to go into pressure, so he's doing what comes naturally really.

Agree ... agree ... agree :D

I think that maybe some clicker type training would be useful in that you ignore the unwanted behaviour and reward the try no matter how small, even if he just rocks away from you slightly. I'm finding clicker to be more and more rewarding and we're getting some excellent results with it :D I've gone from being seriously underwhelmed to I love it!

[mayoguinness]

Yep proberly doesn't no what your on about. Mayo used to lean into presure when I first got him, and just through doing NH and working through it he got the idea. For sideways (on the ground) have you tried lining him up to a fence or side of an indoor/outdoor school, asking him then to yield fore qauters by putting presure on the eye and then where your leg would go by swinging the rope (not touching him) at him. Thats what I did with Mayo to start off with and then moved on to without the gate;)

[Blair Witch]

I haven't tried it with the rope. Maybe I'll give it a shot. I've seen it done quite a few times and some horses seem to respond well to it. Right now I"m praising him for the slightest shift of weight. Hopefully he'll get the idea soon :P

[NoviceNic]

Agree with Bay Mare on trying Clicker Training. Captain doesnt like me moving his shoulders over. So we use Clicker. I use "Over" for his front legs and "across" for his hind legs. It helps us manouver gates and small spaces without him thinking he has to walk through me....:rolleyes: :D

[Tootsie4U]

If you're not getting results on the ground (with the porcupine) game, then I'd bet my next supper that he just doesnt know that he's supposed to move away from pressure.

The key to teaching him is the release. Without a good release (as in release of pressure), teaching will take longer. With a good release, he'll know what you want in a half an hour.

In the beginning, you need to reward (release) the try. The immediate second you *think* he's going to move away, release. If he even just ever-so-slightly moves his weight away, release. In the beginning, you cant just look for actual movement away. You have to reward the try so he understands he is supposed to *do* something when you apply pressure.

Good luck - patience and persistence will get you through it. :)

[julia gulia]

Agreed...just remember that all your horse wants is to find the right answer to what you are asking him to do...as soon as he gives you the slightest clue that he might be on the right track...reward big time with a release and lots of praise...timing is everything...set him up to succeed!!

[Yann]

That's how I'd go about it too, look for the smallest response and reward it. Escalating pressure in this sort of situation can be counterproductive.

[suneanarab]

i find that clicker training for something like this is not that great if you haven't done other stuff before hand so that the horse knows exactly what is going on. also because he has already got to a stage of nipping. this means that he's already shouting at you to make you listen to him. however, what i would do is to say that horses find it far easier to move the back and front end individually from a slow walk rather than a stand still.

the esculating pressure is no good, as yann says, at all if all he does is lean in to you which as said is what he is designed to do. if he's doing this he doesn't know what you are asking for or he is just trying to show you that actually he thinks he should be the leader between you. if you give in to the pressure he puts on you he has done what you are trying to do to him. so make it easy for him. i'm assuming that he will bend his head to you? if not you need to sort this out first.

ask him to bend to you and walk forwards around you, as he does this you transfer your aid to his quarters with the lightest touch and ask him to move over. when he does you stop everything and praise him. you should get exactly what you want without even having to get to level 2 in your pressure. if you make sure you ask for the move over as his inside back leg leaves the floor he is more likely to step under himself and you can stop right there. you will need to watch him for the nipping thing. this is just his way of trying to get you to listen to what he is saying. he may still try that on coz he now expects you to ingnore him. just block it as you would any other time and show him that actually you are listening.

this principle also works for the front end.

suzanne