more educated, you can make them more challenging.
Renowned horse trainer and animal behaviorist Linda Tellington-Jones has long used ground poles set in a “labyrinth” formation to help horses focus and pay attention to their handler. The exercise also improves the horse’s balance, patience and self-control, while actively engaging them in an activity that makes them “think.” You can find out more about Linda’s groundwork exercises in her book The
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fig. 2.5 a
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fig. 2.5 b
fig. 2.5 c
fig. 2.5 d
fig. 2.5 e
2.5 A–E You need the following basic equipment to begin agility training: five cones (A); a tarpaulin, plastic sheet or piece of carpet (B); two hula hoops (C); a ball (D); and eight poles that you can arrange in various configurations on the ground or in jumps (E).
Ultimate Horse Behavior and Training Book (www. horseandriderbooks .com) and on her website (www.ttouch.com).
As you can see, the beauty of Horse Agility obstacles is that in early training, the tools and items needed can fit very easily into an ordinary vehicle. So “play sessions” with a few friends are easy to organize.
Equipment You Won’t Need
Whip, Stick or Treats
None of the horses in this book was motivated to perform using a whip, stick or treats. Often people turn up at a Horse Agility training session with a whip in one hand and a pile of treats in the other. I immediately dispense with both because the handler is going to be far too busy communicating with the horse to have time to use them.
A whip is entirely unnecessary when training any animal. If the handlers in Dog Agility hit or intimidated their dog when he hesitated at an obstacle, there would be an outcry (and not only from the dog).
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Unfortunately, this habit is seen as quite acceptable in the horse world. If horses yelped like dogs when struck, use of a whip or stick would have been banned from riding arenas years ago. A trainer may very occasionally use a straight stick as an “extension of her arm” when handling horses that might kick, or to guide a horse through an obstacle from a distance. But once the horse understands the trainer’s arm signals, such an “arm extension” is not necessary.
Two of my horses were extremely dangerous around food when they came to me—biting, pushing and attacking any horse or human who got in their way. They had been trained to do this inadvertently by the people who raised them. Wild horses do not behave like this because food is always available in one form or another, and even when it’s in short supply, they just graze farther apart from each other to find it.
It took me some time to train this behavior out of these two horses. I just ignored it and instead rewarded any quiet “soft” moments they offered when around food. Another option is Clicker Training.
Clicker Training to Correct
Food-Related Misbehavior
I experimented very successfully with Equine Clicker Training with one of the ponies—Fudge. He simply took it into his head that he would just run away when he felt like grass was more enticing than Horse Agility—and it became a habit. It was too easy for him to leave without a moment’s notice, run as far away as he could, and eat until someone retrieved him. This began when he was working free, then when he was put back on the lead rope to rectify the situation, he would pull the rope out of his handler’s hands and leave—and all because he found that he could!
Since food was his motivation for action, I figured I had better find out how to use it to our (my own as well as other handler’s) advantage. Ben Hart, a clicker trainer, came out for one morning and helped with the all-important timing of “click” and “reward,” and after two training sessions with Fudge, the habit was broken. He no longer left nor did we have to use the clicker again. I may have been able to break his pattern of misbehavior by being hard on him, but I preferred this way, and I think he did too.
Always I ask myself ‘Why isn’t the horse doing what I ask?’ What is missing in our relationship if he leaves me when I take the lead rope off? I want him to work with me because I am a safe and trustworthy companion, not because I feed him treats or cause him to be frightened of what might happen if he leaves.
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CHAPTER 3
horse and Handler attitude and suitability
It’s likely that most of you will be handling a horse that was previously owned by someone other than you—one that already thinks he understands what humans want based on his past experiences. For example, when he is “pushy” or “stubborn,” he may well be offering behaviors that were acceptable in the past. In order to “expect better” of him, you need to show him how you want him to be. (Remember he is not a small child in disguise; he is a horse and will always react like one.) You need to appreciate that horses are not born “bad.” They are the “mirror” of their training—and therefore their handler. To be at all successful at Horse Agility you need to know what your horse is “saying.”
Is he refusing to do something you ask because he’s afraid, doesn’t understand you, or is just tired of the whole thing? Once you can “read” why a horse isn’t doing what you ask, you can start to change the question. In the pages ahead, I will outline the ground skills that will help you teach your horse what is acceptable, safe behavior (fig. 3.1).
Reading the Horse
Is the horse happy, tired or frightened? To be a responsible horse trainer, you need to know what your horse looks like when he’s in different moods. The best way to start to learn “horse language” is to watch horses over the course of a whole day. Then, you’ll see a range of signals, from sleeping to threatening behavior. It’s much better if the horses you are watching live as part of a herd—at least for part of the time (fig. 3.2). Horses kept alone do not behave naturally enough to help you learn the body language they use to interact with others.
When you want to learn a new language,
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fig. 3.1
3.1 I have developed the ability to “read” my horse Secret—I work hard to understand why she does what she does, when she does it, so I can react appropriately. This is the basis of our happy partnership.
let’s say Japanese, where do you go to become fluent? You could go to a local college offering night courses and pick up enough simple phrases to get
