Training

through

Observation - Feel – Timing – Breath

My teaching style is based on helping to bring a deeper awareness of self and of others. There are many ways to teach this and it is incorporated into these four areas.

Observation

Integral for good horsemanship. To learn how to notice EVERYTHING around you and respond accordingly.

Feel

Both humans and horses follow subtle body cues.

My way of referring to this is to say that we both respond to a feel

This feel can be physical. Touch

This feel can be non-physical. Intention

To be clear for our horses we need to develop both.

Timing

As horses are 8 to 10 times faster than us in their ability to respond (or react!) it is necessary to learn ways to improve our response times.

There are many great exercises and techniques to improve our response times without altering our energy body language or intention.

Breath

Horses notice everything…including the way we breathe. Learning different ways to keep your breathing low down and yet light as well as even has a huge effect on the relationship we have with horses. The way we breathe alters our posture, gives us grace and balance and keeps us grounded as well as light on our feet. It gives clarity and therefore understanding to the feelthat you are offering.

Depending on how quickly we can learn to offer the correct ‘request’ and depending on how good we get at letting them know what they offered was correct will determine the length of time it takes to develop a great relationship based on understanding each other, confidence and trust.

Depending on what method we use to ‘reward’ the attempt they make will influence the quality of the partnership between horse and human. A.E.B. uses the reward most appropriate to the individual horse and human combination. This could be food or voice or grooming or all three. It will always be release of breath and body language and some form of relaxation whether that is retreat or grazing or walking or standing. Again, it is always appropriate to the situation.

What is very important here is to recognise that horses can only understand what we want if we know what it is that we want! Putting it in our mind’s eye will keep us focussed; by seeing what we wish to achieve we can almost put it into our cellular memory, especially if we have practised a lot.

The pattern or exercise or skill set shared with you in your lesson always is practised away from the horse first as it is essential that it is understood and established. Practising should never be done with the horse, it is our responsibility to be clear.

If our request does not match our body language and intention then it is simply confusing to the horse and he will either get confused and frustrated and at worst close down on us or the opposite of shut down; he will try his hardest to leave. This is a situation we should never put our horses in. It is not their responsibility to guess. For our horses to understand what it is that we are requesting from them they need to feel secure and confident to be able to engage with us. There are many ways to help a scared and insecure horse back into a position of confidence and security.

As the saying goes, it is simple, but not necessarily easy! But the good news is that all the above can be achieved. Many hundreds have already not only achieved but gone beyond their own expectations and excelled. You do not have to be born with it. It can be taught, and it is what I teach through private and group lessons; workshops; lectures and my home study courses.

For further information on training please look under services on this website and for further information on the home study course please visit my other website: www.appliedequinebehaviour.co.uk.

Aspects of the Human Herd

Humans have developed many body language signals, some of the most obvious are the way we invite people into our ‘space’ as well as to keep people out of our ‘space’. Humans learn non- verbal skills for the first 18 months of their life. They touch and explore everything by putting it in their mouth, squeezing and throwing it. As we start to become aware of others we go up and touch or stand back and look. We start to share and offer with an open slow hand when willing and secure or we grab and snatch when un-willing or insecure. Our eyes can offend or invite as can our lips, a shrug tells a story of indifference; slumped shoulders often say ‘I give in’; crossed arms usually are a defensive or protective signal. We turn our backs on people to show offence, we look away if embarrassed or walk directly up if we are confident or sometimes over-confident!

All of us are aware of the ‘mood’ that can be given off by another human being and we often refer to it as ‘atmosphere’ and will use expressions such as ‘I could have cut the atmosphere with a knife’ or the air was ‘blue’ or ‘thick’; he was in a ‘black’ mood or green with envy. So whether it is touch or intention or even spoken about through colour, it all boils down to the same thing, the signs are tangible and most definitely readable. They are non-verbal communication.

Aspects of the Horse Herd

Horses have a far superior communication system through their silent language.

Added to this superior language is their more advanced and far superior sense of smell and sound and vision. We are basically quite out-classed in this department! Gaining a strong foundation of how to read a horse and how to have him read you along with knowing where his strengths lay and how we can learn from him are the building blocks to A.E.B. coaching as discussed above.

Horses use body language approximately 85% of the time to communicate with each other. As a prey animal they need to be silent so as not to attract the predator. Like us their body language is a combination of cues with the appropriate posturing and intention necessary for what it is they want to say and how they want to say it!

These cues can be very subtle or very obvious, they can be very fast but can also be slow; it all depends on the situation and of course a mother with her new born foal is going to be far more patient than two mature horses debating territory.

As we know horses use a lot of bluff in the hope that the other will back down so that there is no conflict. They use a lot of posturing signs and this is often all that is needed. However, if the situation is deemed important enough then they will use phases of pressure which mostly start with a light/polite phase, sometimes through touch, mostly through a signal, this builds up until the horse either chooses to move away or confronts the pressure and retaliates OR finds another way to resolve it. Yes, horse’s do have this capacity to resolve conflict without following through as can be seen in wild horse herds. So they use escalating pressure and then release of pressure or resolution.

In other words the horse makes the decision whether to hold his ground or move away from the other horse who is putting pressure on him OR to match the bluff that is being offered OR find a compromise and find another way to be ‘heard’. This last option is fascinating and it is designed to keep them uninjured and safe in the herd without ‘losing face’. These same two horses will be seen hanging out together and probably grooming each other as part of the bonding process. This last option is not often offered in training; but it is an option that is offered in the A.E.B. program.

Humans training Horses/Horses teaching humans

For as long as we are aware, humans have trained using the above method that horses use on each other, pressure and release. This is still the chosen method by most, however over the last two decades it has become very clear that we need a much deeper knowledge of the innate behaviour of the horse and a much stronger awareness of ourselves and our motives around horses

Clicker Training/Food Reward

In recent years there has been an interest in using clicker training with horses. There are many benefits to this and when used wisely, it certainly ,creates motivation as well as being a great reward.

I advise people to use food as a reward and motivator, it is certainly an integral part of training, however I do believe that it is important to understand innate horse behaviour and what your body language is saying before venturing into food reward training, I also teach the smart way of doing this so that your horse neither comes into you nor mugs you or your pockets!

Reinforcement Training

Pressure and Release training has been used for a long time because it copies the way horses teach each other. The equine scientists call this Negative Reinforcement training which simply means that the horse moves away from pressure. The word ‘negative' being a mathematical word meaning minus/subtraction, in this case, ‘taken away’

Positive Reinforcement means the addition (positive = plus). The horse is encouraged to do an exercise and when he gets it right he is rewarded with a click and a treat. The incorrect move is ignored.

These terms have nothing to do with good or bad.

Reinforcement means something that is likely to happen again.

If done well then both training methods work. IF DONE WELL being the operative words.

The important message here is that it is our responsibility to communicate clearly with our horse so that we can build a relationship based on trust and respect.

The development of ‘feel’ and ‘timing’ as well as a strong awareness of our body language and intention is essential to good horsemanship.

The A.E.B. theory course has been written to teach horse owners about the innate behaviour of the horse and its application to welfare and training, so whatever method of training you choose to use, the theory course will have already got you very well established on your journey towards becoming a great teacher and a great listener for your horse.

A.E.B. Training Method

A.E.B. teaches people through its theory course to have a deeper understanding of themselves and horses.

A.E.B. teaches people a huge variety of exercises and simulations to help improve their co-ordination, feel and timing and awareness of self and others.

A.E.B. uses a combination of N.R. and P.R. along with liberty training and ‘body language mirroring’ training.

A.E.B. allows the horse to freely move and express himself.

A.E.B. allows the horse to have a voice and to be able to ask questions.

Before asking anything of our horse can we take the time to stand and simply observe them and listen to them, they are communicating with us ALL the time. Once we have mastered the art of observation and listening, once we have a good understanding of what makes horses tick then we are on our way to towards developing a healthy relationships.