12/09/2022
More tips from Trish....
In part 1 we identified the 3 ways your horse may respond when you try to stop them anticipating.
And that none of them solve the problem.
I promised you today's post would help you identify some of the mistakes the Accidental Trainer makes that cause anticipation.
Read on to see if you recognize any of them.
• Your horse rushes the Sidepass and often knocks the rail.
You may have taught them that, by doing the whole rail, and then rewarding/petting them at the end.
Instead, you need to ride one or two steps and reward them.
• Your horse gets confused and argues when you want them to back through the Gate. You may have taught them that we always do it going forward.
Instead you need to teach them to do one step at a time, and wait.
• Your horse gets worse not better. You may have been drilling. They start anticipating and trying to guess the right answer so you’ll move on to something else.
Instead you need to move on to something different. When they show improvement (or do a smaller step of it if you weren’t getting improvement) move on. Then come back to it later, or a different day.
• Your horse gives you extra Turn on the Forehand, Turn on the Haunches or Reinback steps. Those steps put your horse out of position. It's usually because you practice multiple steps.
Instead you need to teach these maneuvers one step at a time.
Use pauses of different lengths between steps so you have control of their feet and mind.
If they make extra steps, you need to first, quit asking sooner. Then block the unwanted movement, and reward the stop.
I know it’s exciting the first time your horse does the whole sidepass rail. Or the whole reinback in the Bell Corridor. You may want to practice that because it’s what you need in a show.
But the problem is the horse begins to do the steps mindlessly.
They don't pay attention to where their feet are, so they knock things down.
When you try to correct them they don’t ‘hear’ you because ‘they know how to do it’ so they don’t have to listen.
Even in dressage, anticipation needs to be avoided. Most tests halt at X. A horse soon figures out to halt, usually early.
Or they begin to slow down to halt and transfer their weight on to their forehand so they’re no longer balanced.
You need to memorize your test, and know where the transitions happen. It’s your job as an Intentional Trainer, to make sure your horse does Not memorize the test and has to listen to you.
When you correct these mistakes, you’ll have a horse who listens and waits for you to direct the next step of the dance.
As an Intentional Trainer you will not cause these problems in the future.
Let me know below which ones you recognized.
Join me for the final part of this series, Break your horse’s anticipation habit, to find out why your horse anticipates.
Learn what you need to do to train your horse not to, so you can lead the dance and keep you both safe and happy.
Cheers,
Trish
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