I thought that I would provide some details of how I have been using a positive reinforcement approach to improve my horses in-hand leading. Any thoughts/comments welcome.
A bit of history to start. Ben has also been difficult on the ground. He used to plant himself and not move, and used to walk so slowly that I ended up dragging him along. I started in-hand showing and we did really well, but constantly got marked down for our trot because he basically wouldn't do it. I would end up literally dragging him along and it looked and felt dreadful.
Over the last few years I have tried lots of methods to improve his leading. I have carried a schooling whip to tap him into trot and keep him going. This didn't really work because he ended up swinging his quarters round to avoid the whip and even when I tapped him he didn't really respond. I think that this is because I never really hit him with force and as our relationship developed he knew that I never would. I was told several times to give him a good wallop and to 'make him scared of me'. Maybe I am too soft, but this approach didn't sit right with me.
I tried a dually halter which did help with the planting, but it didn't help with the activity in his walk or the trot.
I tried getting someone to chase him with a whip. This had the effect to him basically jumping into my arms to get away from the scary person and whip and had no influence on his trot activity when I was alone.
I tried using a noisy shaker (bottle with stones in it and a childs rattle) to get him to increase his energy, but he just ignored it.
I then started to get into horse agility and TREC and started to do lots more in-hand work and reading about how to train horses to complete the obstacles. I started to do some liberty in-hand training and met some lovely knowledgeable people who suggested a different method to train him.
So, my first exercise was to go into the school and let him off the leadrope. I then walked away about 15 steps and waited for him to come to me. It was important that he made the decision to do it himself. When he came to me I gave him a reward (just one polo) and lots of fuss and pats. I then walked away and repeated the exercise. Over a short period of time (about three sessions lasting about 5 to 10 minutes) he started to walk towards me immediately. It was important that I didn't bribe him or put him under any kind of pressure. He had to understand the 'game' and make his own decision to come to me.
When he mastered the process above, I started to reward him as soon as he walked alongside me. So as soon as I took a step, if he also took a step immediately after me he got a reward. Over the course of another 3 sessions (of about 10 minutes) I made him work harder for his treat. So to start with he got a reward for just one step and then a few sessions later he had to do one full lap of the school alongside me before he got the reward. So the aim was to gradually make him work harder for the reward.
The next stage was to start to differ my pace in the walk to get him to match me. So if I walked slowly and so did he, he got a treat. If I walked really quickly and he did too, he also got a treat. Over the course of another 3 sessions I was able to walk round the arena differing my pace and he completely matched me. He got a treat periodically but by this stage he was happy with just a pat anyway. It had become a game and he really seemed to enjoy it.
The next stage (and one which I am still working on) is to increase my fast walk to a trot and get him to match my trot strides. This is similar to the walk game above.
The aim is that when I go into the show ring I will obviously have a leadrope attached, but it won't do anything at all, it is just there with a big loop in it simply because I am required to have one. Hopefully in the show ring he will remember our 'game' and match my pace as he does at home. As he is already doing this for minimal treats, I am hoping that we can build it up so that it becomes automatic behaviour for him, although I am happy to give him a sly polo every so often.
One huge benefit is that since I started this work, he has been 100% for the yard staff to catch. He has a terrible reputation for running away from them and is normally OK with me (although can have his moments). For the last 2 weeks he has been perfect to catch every day.
So I know that this is long, but I wanted to explain in detail what has worked for me and why I support the positive reinforcement method. I am not saying that this approach can be used for every horse and to solve all problems, but it is another 'tool in the bucket' when other methods have failed.
A bit of history to start. Ben has also been difficult on the ground. He used to plant himself and not move, and used to walk so slowly that I ended up dragging him along. I started in-hand showing and we did really well, but constantly got marked down for our trot because he basically wouldn't do it. I would end up literally dragging him along and it looked and felt dreadful.
Over the last few years I have tried lots of methods to improve his leading. I have carried a schooling whip to tap him into trot and keep him going. This didn't really work because he ended up swinging his quarters round to avoid the whip and even when I tapped him he didn't really respond. I think that this is because I never really hit him with force and as our relationship developed he knew that I never would. I was told several times to give him a good wallop and to 'make him scared of me'. Maybe I am too soft, but this approach didn't sit right with me.
I tried a dually halter which did help with the planting, but it didn't help with the activity in his walk or the trot.
I tried getting someone to chase him with a whip. This had the effect to him basically jumping into my arms to get away from the scary person and whip and had no influence on his trot activity when I was alone.
I tried using a noisy shaker (bottle with stones in it and a childs rattle) to get him to increase his energy, but he just ignored it.
I then started to get into horse agility and TREC and started to do lots more in-hand work and reading about how to train horses to complete the obstacles. I started to do some liberty in-hand training and met some lovely knowledgeable people who suggested a different method to train him.
So, my first exercise was to go into the school and let him off the leadrope. I then walked away about 15 steps and waited for him to come to me. It was important that he made the decision to do it himself. When he came to me I gave him a reward (just one polo) and lots of fuss and pats. I then walked away and repeated the exercise. Over a short period of time (about three sessions lasting about 5 to 10 minutes) he started to walk towards me immediately. It was important that I didn't bribe him or put him under any kind of pressure. He had to understand the 'game' and make his own decision to come to me.
When he mastered the process above, I started to reward him as soon as he walked alongside me. So as soon as I took a step, if he also took a step immediately after me he got a reward. Over the course of another 3 sessions (of about 10 minutes) I made him work harder for his treat. So to start with he got a reward for just one step and then a few sessions later he had to do one full lap of the school alongside me before he got the reward. So the aim was to gradually make him work harder for the reward.
The next stage was to start to differ my pace in the walk to get him to match me. So if I walked slowly and so did he, he got a treat. If I walked really quickly and he did too, he also got a treat. Over the course of another 3 sessions I was able to walk round the arena differing my pace and he completely matched me. He got a treat periodically but by this stage he was happy with just a pat anyway. It had become a game and he really seemed to enjoy it.
The next stage (and one which I am still working on) is to increase my fast walk to a trot and get him to match my trot strides. This is similar to the walk game above.
The aim is that when I go into the show ring I will obviously have a leadrope attached, but it won't do anything at all, it is just there with a big loop in it simply because I am required to have one. Hopefully in the show ring he will remember our 'game' and match my pace as he does at home. As he is already doing this for minimal treats, I am hoping that we can build it up so that it becomes automatic behaviour for him, although I am happy to give him a sly polo every so often.
One huge benefit is that since I started this work, he has been 100% for the yard staff to catch. He has a terrible reputation for running away from them and is normally OK with me (although can have his moments). For the last 2 weeks he has been perfect to catch every day.
So I know that this is long, but I wanted to explain in detail what has worked for me and why I support the positive reinforcement method. I am not saying that this approach can be used for every horse and to solve all problems, but it is another 'tool in the bucket' when other methods have failed.
