Equiosity

One thing leads to another. In this case a discussion of the function that a behavior serves takes us to an examination of “polite" behavior. How can we teach our horses how to safely co-exist in the environments we have chosen? There are obvious constraints limits on the freedom that we give our horses. Fences and closed stall doors limit their movements. But when we teach our horses behaviors that we refer to as “polite manners”, we are expanding opportunities to gain access to environments and activities they enjoy. Good manners don’t just benefit us. Good training creates more freedom for our horses.

​In this week’s episode our long afternoon conversation continues. Last week we focused on cue communication. If cues open up the possibility of a two way conversation, this brings us to the question of how do you respond when your animal says no? You’ve asked for something, and he says: “I’d rather not." How do you respond? Do you let his behavior modify yours? What does it mean to truly listen to another individual - horse or human? What does it mean to “test the waters”?

This episode is part of a long conversation Dominique Day and I were having one afternoon in late May. Dominique had been rewatching the Loopy Training DVD. So our conversation began with a discussion of movement cycles and poisoned cues. Last week we focused in on Loopy Training - what it means and how it brings emotional balance into our training. That discussion brought us to cue communication - the main focus of this week’s podcast.

Cues are contrasted with commands. Command-based training is the norm in the horse world. It is: "I tell - you, horse, respond (or else)." Cues, in contrast, are an invitation. There are no threats backing them up. Commands-based training shuts down communication. Cue-based communication opens it up. We explore the difference these two mindsets create for our training choices and outcomes.

It was Dr. Jesús Rosales Ruiz who gave us the name “Loopy Training”. That’s a name that seems on first glance to be silly and frivolous but it's really grounded in the very sophisticated concept of movement cycles. This week’s podcast is part of a long conversation Dominique Day and I were having one afternoon in late May. In this podcast we continue on with the discussion of poisoned cues. We explore how loopy training can help retrain behaviors that have poisoned cues attached to them.

That takes us into a discussion of what it means to have clean loops and how to use loopy training to create a balance between calm energy and enthusiasm in your animal learners. Not surprisingly food delivery becomes part of the conversation. We end with cue communication - an important topic which will be the main focus of podcast #13.

Karen Pryor coined the term “poisoned cue”. She commented that behavior analysts can easily set up experiments that look at pure positive or pure negative reinforcement. But Karen said that’s not the real world. The real world is filled with mixed consequences. What happens when a cue can lead to good things happening or to bad things happening but you don’t know which it is going to be? That’s the poisoned cue. Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz explored this question in a study he conducted with one of his graduate students at the University of North Texas. In this podcast Dominique Day and Alexandra Kurland describe his findings and discuss how this relates to horse training.

Movement cycles give us the beginning kernel, the beginning small step in our training out of which we can grow great changes. In this podcast movement cycles are first defined, then we describe how they can be used with the foundation lessons to create dramatic changes in a horse’s balance.

So how do you learn to recognize good balance? How do you know what you’re clicking for? This leads us to a discussion of kindness.

Goblins and Ghosts - Oh My Oh My! What do you do when your horse spooks? That’s the opening question of this podcast. We explore what it means to be a constructional trainer. You want to build the skills you’re going to need BEFORE you need them. A great skill building exercise is the creativity game: “101 Things a Handler Can Do While A Horse Stands on a Mat.” We describe how you can use this to prepare your horse for a world filled with novelty.

It’s spring here in the Northeast which means the Siren’s call of the grass is pulling at our horses. In this podcast we talk about how to turn the grass from a distraction into a reinforcer. That takes us to the general training principle of “Train where you can, not where you can’t.” We define Loopy Training and look at how that teaching strategy can help create clean training.

Be sure to listen all the way to the end. We’re including a bonus article with this week’s podcast.

How well does your horse adjust to change? When you take your horse on a weekend outing or you move him to a new barn, how well does he settle in? Do you recognize his signs of stress and do you adjust your expectations based on his needs? These are just a few of the threads we follow in this week’s conversation. We wind our way around to the homecoming many of us find when we begin to explore clicker training.

Have you ever gone on a treasure hunt? A good treasure hunt should follow the Goldilock’s principle. If the clues are too hard, you’ll become frustrated and quit. If the clues are too easy, there’s no pleasure in solving them. When the clues are just right, at first they puzzle you. What does this clue mean? What is the answer? And then you get it. That little feeling of frustration turns to pleasure. You got it!

Over time that feeling of being puzzled is welcomed. You have become a confident puzzle solver. You KNOW you can solve the puzzle and you welcome each new challenge.

When we’re teaching rope handling we are setting puzzles. If we make them too easy, our learners won’t become smart puzzle solvers. If we make them too hard, our learners will become frustrated. But get them just right and our learners will dance with us! Good rope handling is connected to choice, to communication, to connection.

Part 2 of this podcast on Rope Handling follows several threads that take us to creating eager puzzle solvers.