Tag Archives: Horse tack

So, go on, having done the “leading yourself” exercise, hands up if you felt constant pressure, or if there were random tugs on your hat, or if there were no instructions at all.

 Monty talks about pressure and release, and when we are leading this is the basic format:

1. I make a request (PRESSURE) – I apply tension to the lead rein and ask the horse to move.
2. The horse responds – The horse moves in the direction asked.
3. The line goes slack (RELEASE) – as the horse moves towards the line, the tension goes away.

It is at the point of release that the horse learns that they have done the right thing.

 If we lead with our horse feeling constant pressure, and nothing that they do releases it, then they learn to lean on that pressure.  So dawdling horses get slower and slower and horses that tow get faster and stronger.

 If we lead with random tugs, then our horse learns to ignore them, so that when we do apply tension and want a response, our horse will probably ignore that as well.

 If we lead with no instructions at all, then our horse will make its own choice about when, where and how fast to move, which may or may not be what we want.

 If we are going to ask horses to move in our world, in the way that we want, it is our responsibility to make requests that are as clear, consistent and light as possible.  In this way, our horse will learn what the requests mean and respond lightly and quickly.

 So, our aim should be to

• make no request (APPLY NO PRESSURE) when our horse is doing as we want, be that standing or walking with us, or manoeuvring through a gate with us.
• make short, simple and clear requests (APPLY PRESSURE) when we want our horse to do something different, be that speed up, slow down, move left or right, or halt.
• immediately stop making the request (RELEASE) when the horse starts to do what we have asked.  (This is known as shaping the behaviour by rewarding the try.  It’s like babies learning to walk, we lavish praise on their first attempt at standing, not wait until they can walk unaided)

Monty says that there are only five basic movements, and everything else is built on them: forward, backward, left, right and stand, and over the next few blogs, I will pick these up.