Anticipation is one of those ideas that is a double-edged sword. Is it a friend or Foe? At first glance, people think of anticipation as negative, I think it might be more positive to think of it as something we can balance on the teeter-totter. Sometimes, I call it trying too hard.

I want to help you guys think out of the box and not label things in a negative way. When we label anticipation as trying too hard, keep in mind that sometimes the horse will try too hard in ways we want and sometimes in ways we don't want. Either way, you need to recognize that we use anticipation as a training tool in horse training, and that is what this episode is all about.

Show Notes

[02:36] We want the horse to anticipate.

[03:47] In training. after a certain amount of repetition the horse will see a pattern.

[04:11] Anticipation is your friend when it helps in training.

[04:41] There is an arc of anticipation, just like in the bell curve. It starts out as a friend, but a point comes when it can be our enemy.

[04:58] If we don't like the anticipation, we label it as negative.

[07:55] I had been teaching Jac a way of thinking for 50 hours. It involved the use of anticipation as friend. You can actually see Jac remembering what we ended on and trying it.

[09:10] Often times patterns are put into horses by the rider. Switching things can change the anticipation.

[10:08] Horses can anticipate cues, and the rider backs off and the horse becomes more sensitive.

[11:31] Horses will sometimes try too hard and help you out, and the rider gets frustrated.

[12:27] If you can start seeing things from the horse's point of view, he sees a pattern and is just trying to help you out.

[12:38] The first thing you need to see is that the horse is actually trying too hard not trying to be bad.

[13:01] You don't want to get in an anticipation cycle with your horse. Realize when it is a problem for you.

[14:40] Go back in your mind to a time when you recognize anticipation happening. Work out from the horses point of view what he was trying to get to.

Links and Resources:

Stacy Westfall YouTube

Stacy's Video Diary:Jac- Episode 26-Horse training is a conversation between horse and human