A crutch for the human

Lately Ive seen a few posts asking for advice on R+ training lists. Great idea asking for advice, but a lot of the questions, and many answers, seem to miss the point.

The question – prefaced with ‘I want to do R+ with my horse‘ is

I have an unhandled horse – how do I get close enough to put a head collar on him?

Or

Ive had my horse 6mths and I still can’t get the headcollar on him.

A couple of big things wrong with this – if the horse is unhandled and frightened, the process of getting that headcollar on will surely frighten him more.

If you do manage to get it on – what then?

He is unhandled – he has NO IDEA what a headcollar is for, or how it is supposed to work. Positive reinforcement (R+) OR negative reinforcement (R-) He has no idea.

His main thought at this stage would be his safety.

I have seen SO MANY animals- dogs, horses, alpacas, cows, sheep, to name a few – that literally PANIC the first time that rope goes taut. All of a sudden (when chances are extremely high the horse is WAY over threshold anyway) that rope can go tight and restrict him, prevent him from getting away. Panic. Definitely not R+ regardless of intentions! Actually it is even badly executed R- The aim is ALWAYS to keep the learner UNDER threshold.

If you use that headcollar, even quietly, to teach the horse to give to pressure so you can then lead him (and leading is a very important skill for any horse!) Guess what – you’ve just jumped that force free barrier. You are no longer in the R+ realm. You’ve just taught him using negative reinforcement.

If your plan is to use the headcollar solely to keep him close to you so that you can train him, again, there is nothing R+ in that aim. You are ultimately FORCING him to stay with you, preventing his escape if he needs to.

Let go of the crutch. Let go of the traditional mindset.

Change your process and change your thinking to reflect the horses needs and emotions

First have him learn to feel SAFE in his new environment

Next have him acclimate to you, to your coming and going.

Let him start to view you as a predictor of good things, which if you are taking him food regularly he should start to do reasonably quickly.

Set up your environment so that there are less stressors for him. Have him somewhere quiet away from commotion and sudden noises and un-announced appearances.

Have him somewhere with quiet equine friends who will help him de-stress. Have him with unlimited forage, and with enough space he can move around, run and roll and scratch. When he starts to settle, setup your environment so you can start your R+ training through a barrier. Protected contact.

Start your R+ training so he has choice. So he can choose to interact with you.

Once he feels safe, once he understands that he has autonomy over the training process, once he realises you are not going to restrict or force him, or subject him to stressors over his threshold, then suddenly you won’t NEED that headcollar. He will choose to be with you.

He will choose to interact, choose to join you in his training, choose to learn what you are teaching.

Then you can teach him via R+ how to lead ‘leash free’ before you add self haltering and tactile headcollar cues.

But teach him first that time with a human is NOT scary, that it can be a partnership, That it can benefit him.

No headcollar? No need!

Written by Vicki Conroy for PPGA Equine sub-committee