Learning About Horses - Training a Horse - Principals of Training

Principles of Training

summary of principles of Warwick Schiller 

Principles behind the techniques

1. Make the Wrong Thing Hard and the Right Thing Easy

• MISTAKES are how they LEARN
• you HAVE to let them make MISTAKES
• mistakes are when you add pressure
• release AS SOON AS they are doing what they are suppose to
• it will take them time to figure it out
• don't NITPICK
• Horses DO NOT learn from pressure
• horses learn from RELEASE of pressure
• RELEASE pressure as SOON as they figure it out
• leave them ALONE when they are doing the right thing
• not using more pressure
• being more strategic with pressure
• when apply and when release 
• whatever you are doing when you let go is what the horse is going to want to do in the future
• techniques
• spinning example
• circles example
• it mimics how the horses actually do this with each other
• lead horse - lower horse
• hay example
• holding horse by head
• pick feet up
• loading horse in trailer
• stepping forward is the real goal
• adding more pressure when horse is doing right will CONFUSE the horse
• jumping horses

2. Don't Go to Bed Angry

• If horse gets uptight, worried - you get the horse back down
• horse spooks when worry cup is too full 
• your job is to make your horse's worry cup is empty as possible
• how to control their emotions
• working on mental up and mental down
• your horse needs to be responsive
• if horse gets hot you have to bring the horse down
• practice mental transition a lot
• if any tension builds up - resolve it before you are done
• problem horses do not have emotional control

two parts to ground work

• desensitize
• things to ignore
• gets them relaxed
• while horse is moving and standing still to prevent shutdown
• sensitize
•  things to pay attention to
• gets them responsive 
• makes them anxious
• get them chilled out where they are not bothered

your horse needs to be relaxed but remain powerful

• be relaxed just responsive
• anytime use a tool and make sure horse is not worry about the tool after
• you have to make sure the tool DOES NOT bother your horse
• horses feel anxiety when they feel like they do not know how to control something
• flag does not bother him
• horses can learn how to shut down if they are stoic
• have to be careful horse does not shut down
• they do not actually relaxed
• basically say "I'm FINE"
• techniques
• horse and rabbits

3. Do the Opposite

• mentally and physically balanced
• get them in the middle
• do the opposite of whatever they are doing
• relax - responsive - relax
• emotional intelligence
• ground work
• horse is going to dictat what will happen again
• transitions between the two makes over and over and over and over helps the horse get to middle balanced
• equal amounts of relaxation and responsiveness
• what they need is the opposite of what they want
• vises are an excess of our virtues
• get horse waiting for you

4. Choose Where You Work, Choose Where You Rest

• horse is always wanting to go to his rest
• always choose WHERE you want them to rest
• horse is carefully watching when they rest and where they work
•  VERY observant where they have to work and where they do not have to work
• technique examples
• trail riding
• structured lessons
• let him go to his rest so you can show him it is NOT rest
• work him where he wants to rest - 3. Do the opposite
• spooking problems
• work where horse wants to rest
• riding horse on its first ride
• people make horse ride away from a rest
• lead a horse to the opposite side of the exercise area
• and then ask the horse to walk forward
• has forward walk
• straighter
• has no problem
• relaxed
• back to place where she is going to rest
• as soon as you get down to the area horse wants to go - have horse do a trot
• bend her to stop give her a place to rest
• rub on her a bit let her rest
• have go to walk 
• when head is down and swinging it means they are relaxed 
• she will go further and further
• horse training with cow

5. Donkey Kong Principle

• it is set up to teach you how to learn
• you keep going to the first obstacle until you learn the 
• you get to go back again to the beginning
• you will practice the first thing more than the second
• taught how to learn 
• learn first before you go to the second
• before you do second thing prove you can do the first thing than do second thing
• Techniques
• learning people's names
• young girl - eventer who was anxious
• 4 hours - bend to stop
• 2 day - checked on the bend took 15 min than started the second step - get him responsive - can bend head and get him to respond to leg
• desentizing
• bring whip ground gradually stop when the horse makes a mistake (tenses)
• keep that same place until horse relaxes - stop
• go back to beginning

6. They Need to Know the Answer Before You Ask the Question

•  do not ask a question they do not know the answer too
• being aware of the nature of horses
• flight first
• first response is to run
• if a wave a flag unhandled horse
• teach him to control the flag
• apply a cue
• ask him to go
• take a step toward him
• move the flag
• when get response you want stop asking stop when he runs
• teaches horses that you are predictable
• stop and go the other way
• step back and that will draw towards you 
• things going towards them makes them go away
• things going away makes them go towards them
• anything interesting that is not a threat will come towards it
• two things they will do 
• run and come
• they know how to eat
• use feed to get horse to want to come to you - use hay
• start with something they know how to do and work your way along from there

7. Application of Your Aids

• go forward aids build on each other
•  subtle seat aid
• subtle leg aid
• dressage whip aid
• horses do it
• face
• ears
• move towards baring its teeth
• bites, kicks
• stops when other horse does what they want
• they flow - they do not start and stop
• make sure we get a response before we go
• not just your seat and legs
• apply that aid consistently
• always have have slack in rope 
• it has to mean the same thing 
• they worry because they can not control what happens to them
• DO NOT lead by the chin
• get the little things than get the bigger things
• you HAVE to be use the same orders - keep them in the same order all the time
• remember to TEACH a horse to do something
• more and more subtle aids as they do along

4 Quadrants to Training

positive reinforcement you increase the likelihood of it happening again  addition of something	negative reinforcement  you increase the likelihood of it happening again  this is what horses do with each other about the removal of something removal of pressures that's what marks that thing
positive punishment  decrease the likelihood of it happening again	negative punishment decrease the likelihood of it happening again

8. Anticipation Your Best Friend Your Worst Enemy

• teaching horse to anticipation

1. foot in stirrup
2. bounce to get up
3. land in saddle
4. reach for stirrup

wait 20 seconds 

1. kick till horse goes

if you repeat 

horse will anticipate 

be careful where you teach anticipation

if you want your horse to anticipate do the same thing over and over

if you do NOT want your horse to anticipate - change things up break things up not the same way every time

• anticipating something else
• pre-cue cue you add before - have to be careful - what a horse learns wrong
• pre-cues can be a bad thing

9. Isolate, Separate, Recombine

• how well your basics are
• take the perfect basics - put them together
• technique
• leg yield - simple basic 
• which element doesn't work
•   separate and work on it
• than recombine it

10. Create a Tool Before you Use a Tool

• try to solve a problem - but the tools do not work
• if your tools do not work than your work will not work
• make sure tools work before you try to solve a problem
• technique
• loading a trailer
• leading or sending
• groundwork
• tying a horse up
• stand quietly
• pressure on halter
• unflappable
• don't startle
• principals "don't go to bed angry" and "they need to know the answer before you ask the question"

11. Change One Thing at a Time

• Need to Know the Answer
• head to tail 
• head, heal, heil, hail, tail
• change one thing at a time and the horse needs to understand 
• riding a horse for the first time
• it doesn't matter how long it takes
• saddle gives your horse 6 rabbits and might take it to the 13 rabbit limit
• stay on that part and keep working it until it is fixed
• process of ruling things out
• adding new things only one new change at a time until your horse is good with the new change

12. Work With the Horse you Have Today

• expectation 
• expectation is the mother of all frustration
• those signs that something is different with the horse
• stay in the moment with your horse
• accidents do not come out of nowhere
• accidents are avoidable
• being mentally present
• don't miss "duck" signs
• notice what your horse is doing 
• eyes, ears, tail, tension, muzzle
• they know when you know and know when you don't
• being aware of what your horse is doing
• horse will feel more peaceful
• ultra aware but not present
• don't keep your mind on what you DON'T want to happen
• Keep your mind on what you DO want to happen
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