Years back I found myself at a horse expo in Idaho and made a point to really investigate what the trainers and clinicians there had to say. While I can’t remember this trainer’s name, he was showing how he got horses to get used to being clipped for the first time. Hey kept using the same quote over and over again, and it’s stuck with me through all these years: “Where you release is what you teach.”

When you want a horse to do something you apply pressure. That pressure might be a nudge or a push or simply be getting close to them, but a common misunderstanding people have is that this pressure is what teaches the horse. But that’s wrong. When that pressure is removed is when the horse learns and is rewarded. Now there are different kinds of pressure. One that is less easily described is implied pressure. Have you ever been in a restaurant and felt someone staring at you, only to turn around and make eye contact with another patron? This feeling is shared with horses as well. I’ve simply walked into round pens with a mustang and had them go ballistic trying to climb out. My presence alone implied a pressure they didn’t want. Implied pressure can be used to train horses by averting your gaze or backing off as soon as they tolerate that pressure with a bit of discomfort. In order to use the removal of pressure to teach correctly the trainer has to know exactly what they are doing. You need to be aware of what behavior you are looking to reward, recognize the signs the precede that behavior, and reward the horse immediately by removing pressure once they’ve attempted to do what you wanted. Being deliberate, patient, and careful are how you make sure that you reward your horse for the right behaviors and don’t accidentally reinforce behaviors you don’t want.

Key Takeaways

The biggest obstacle most people face with this training is accidentally reinforcing the wrong behavior. If you remove pressure when the horse does something you don’t want, the horse isn’t going to have a clue. Make sure that you are on the lookout for the correct behavior and back off as soon as it happens or is approximated.

There are four magic questions you can ask yourself that will help you apply and release pressure at the appropriate time:

1. 
   
2. 
   

   What do you want?

   
   
   
3. 
   

   What do you want the horse to do fair?

   
   
   
4. 
   

   Can you communicate what you want in a way the horse can understand?

   
   
   
5. 
   

   Did the horse do what you wanted, and was it perfect or close to what you wanted?

   
   
   

Look for and recognize your horse's body language and signs. If you know what behavior you are looking for you can keep an eye out for signs that the horse is about to act that way. You can release then and slowly the horse will come to realize its experiencing success in a recognizable way.

A lot of folks look for alternative ways to train their horses, with the most common of these being with treats. But look at how horses learn in the wild. They are grazers that eat all day long and then momentarily give bursts of speed and energy to flee a threat. Training them with treats will lead to a horse evaluating whether or not food is worth their effort- they are eating all day afterall. What is more effective and more natural is to emulate that pressures they experience in the wild. Making a horse uncomfortable will lead to reactions they can learn from more easily, empowering them with the knowledge of what behaviors produce the release of your pressures.

What do you think?

We want to hear your questions, comments, and suggestions. Share them in the comments section below, reach out to us on the Van Hargis Horsemanship Facebook page, or email me! We want your suggestions for topics we can address in future episodes, so if there’s a particular area where you’re struggling, or just curious, let us know!