When you apply for a job as a Police Officer the first thing they ask you for is your High School Diploma. That is to make sure that you have enough education to be able to pass the entrance exam and to understand the the cariculum should you be accepted to the academy. This requires that you attend school on the average of twelve years. You will only spend on the average of six months in the academy to become a police officer.
With the numbers of Mounted Units growing rapidly we have noticed that the number of trainers that specialize in mounted enforcement has increased dramatically. We have also observed that success rate is very low. One reason for that is the 40hr. crash course that certifies a person to be an instructor in this discipline. The big reason for the low success rate is the lack of basic education for the horses being put into this type of training. In other words they didn't get a high school diploma before going to the academy.
All to often we see horses trying to learn basic maneuvers such as side passes , and turns while trying to navigate an obstacle course. This is the equivalent of teaching officer safety and english literature in the same lesson.
At the very least the horse needs to be proficient in basic skills, and well disciplined before going to enforcement, or sensory training. The better educated they are the easier it is for them to cope with intense situations.
Bits and Other Apparatus
If I had to pick the one thing that dislike the most it would be the bit, and in second place would be the other apparatus that is commonly misused on the horses head.
Bit abuse is the root of most of the problems riders have with their horses. Proper use of the bit, and it's function in the horses mouth and in the riders hands should be the kindergarten class of the horses basic education . With bit abuse comes the need for all the other apparatus, a cavason to tie the horses mouth shut that is gaped open because of irritation or pain from the bit . Then theres the tie down to keep the horse from throwing his head . Most often when a horse throws his head it is because of some physiological problem, you guessed it , the most common cause is the bit or as a result of bit abuse followed by sore feet, backs, and other less common ailments. When frightened a horse in a short tie down will throw himself on the ground trying to escape the restriction.
It is a common belief that control is in the mouth, but at every class we prove that is not so. For years I have ridden my horses bare headed whether it is in the arena, on the trail, or even on patrol. None of the Mounted International staff enters the arena mounted unless the horses head is bare, and most always have a few of the students doing it before the class is over. We're not trying to get every rider to throw away their bits, we just want them to ask themselves "if I don't need a bit why am I pulling on it so hard?". Training pictures.
Take the time to get a bit education, and not from someone having the same problems that you may be having. When you've found the proper bit educate your horse to yield to it. Don't use the trial and error method it's too costly to your horse, if you don't know don't fake it, ask some one who does.
COMMON SENSE VS. UNCOMMON SENSE
You have all heard the term "horse sense", and the term was used to refer to someone with good common sense. In reality only horses have horse sense, and while we must use a certain amount of "common sense" when it comes to horses it is more important that we learn to do just the opposite that our common sense tells us to do. To begin, even though we don't have horse sense if we are going to work in harmony with the horse we have to learn to understand what goes on in the horses mind, or the way he perceives the things that go on around him, and how he will react when he is threatened.
Example: Your riding your horse down the street and a passing car backfires making a sudden loud noise, your horse is frightened by this and reacts. You on the other hand have heard cars backfire many times and are not frightened, but the horse makes his move and your common sense kicks in. In this case the part of our common sense which we will call our instinct for survival takes over to try and save you from being injured from the horses action. Your brain has said to you to hold on tight and by any means that you can. You are now frightened, and this heightens the fear in the horse and everything suddenly become a frenzy, you have a death grip on the horse and are probably causing him at least some pain in his mouth to add to his fear. The car and its noise were gone in only a fraction of a second, but you have now became a much bigger problem to the horse, and have put yourself in more danger.
To prevent this from happening we have to do something that goes totally against our nature. We have to use what I call "uncommon sense", and because it goes against our nature it has to be learned and practiced. To teach my students to slack the reins and take the legs off the horse and relax at the moment the horse is startled, and starts to react may be their most difficult lesson, it is certainly one of the most important. Almost every time you take your horse from his stall you ask him to do something that is not his nature to do.Somethings are more traumatic than others, but just asking the horse to stand tied or to walk into the washrack goes completely against their nature, and challenges their instinct for survival. We have trained the horse to accept these things passively and in a way have taught them to use uncommon sense.
Still, we have to make use of our own instinct for survival, and incorporate it with what will become the natural and habitual use of uncommon sense. After giving the horse the freedom to react to what ever has startled or frighten him, having trained and practiced for the occasion we calmly collect the horse, and continue to enjoy our ride.
At the top of our class on uncommon sense we will begin our gunfire training ( discharging a fire arm while mounted) and in less than one hour each person in the class( usually 20 horses and riders) will have fired a gun from the horse. In all our years of training, not one rider as ever been unseated while firing a pistol or shotgun from their horse.
This is a simple, but difficult lesson, and must be done properly if you are to be successful.
Ground Work / Round Pen
Ground work is without a doubt the root of a good basic education we begin here to structure the horses life and build the discipline that is so important in developing a good working horse.
In order for the horse to have a healthy mind he must be highly disciplined and well educated. All too often because we plunder into trying to train the horse discipline is replaced by fear. That is, the horse will do certain things for you because he fears the consequences. That fear comes back to the horse any time he is with you, so add a noise or an obstacle to that when your out riding and you have all the ingredients for a good wreck. To overcome our own ignorance we can apply some simple rules to live by while educating the horse on the ground.
1. Always remember that a training session is not the time for exercise. During this time everything must remain calm and slow. The horse should not sweat or breath hard. Frenzy must be avoided completely if you want to be successfully in your efforts.
2. Avoid mindless exercise, the horse learns nothing by running around in circles.
3. Know what you want from the horse before you begin training and how you are going to go about getting it. If you don't know what you want the horse certainly can't give it to you.
4. Keep your tools in hand at all times so that the horse is not always trying to figure out what it is and what your going to do with it. I highly recommend that you do not use whips. I carry a 16ft. catch rope coiled in my hand at all times so that seeing it is no surprise to the horse and I find that I don't need anything more to do all of my ground training.
5. Give the horse plenty of time and opportunities to respond to your requests. Let them know that you are not happy with their performance in a manner that doesn't cause frenzy.
6. Begin your training in short increments( 15 minutes is a good place to start)
7. Ending the training on a good note sometimes means just to quit while you are ahead, and not to keep pushing until you win. Sometimes the horse gets a stubborn streak and its important to recognize that , back off and he'll probably give you what you want willingly next time.
8. Remember that fear and discipline are not the same thing. What you accomplish with fear will come back to haunt you.
They Already Know That
This is a really easy one but about 100 times a year I'm asked how can I teach my horse to side pass ( or back, or turn, etc.). My answer is always the same and I always get the same puzzled look when I say the horse already knows that.
I will then explain in detail that you only need to ask in a way the horse clearly understands and then allow them to do it for you. A perfect side pass lesson usually lasts thirty minutes, twenty six for the human and four for the horse. If it takes longer you are definitely doing something wrong, and if you are clucking like a chicken and shaking or pulling on the reins your condition is even more serious.
Horses know just about all the things we are trying so hard to teach them they perform all the maneuvers dozens of times everyday without any help from a rider.If you are having problems go back and start with a basic education for you and your horse it'll make life a lot easier. Written by Gary Whited. Reposted with permission.
This is 'Jet Star's Allusion' (aka Indy) a 5 y.o. TWH whom I purchased
in Feb. and started clicker training in June. My original intent with
the clicker was to teach him to do the RW. I knew he could RW from a
chance encounter once are twice but I couldn't get him to do it on cue
and I thought the clicker would give me the precision of "YES" when he
accidently did it. It worked wonderfully and we've moved on to more
fun stuff.
These are the only two pictures I've got so far and they could be much
better! (As you can see, we need to work on the facial expression while
'parked-out'.)
He also does other things via clicker training (say 'yes' & 'no', lie
down, fetch and will touch ANYTHING ).
I am involved in a mounted search and rescue group and the horses have
to be de-sensitized to just about everything (noise/visual) you can
think of. Our certification class is the last two weekends in Sept.
and hopefully I will get some pics. We are working on gun-fire right
now and doing great!
I know most of you are having great success with the clicker and so
this post is mostly intended to inspire the newer people to c/t or
those still lurking and thinking about if they want to try it.
This past weekend Indy (my horse) graduated from mounted police
training school!! Woooo Hooooo!!!
We have been using the clicker for the past 4 months and it has brought
a different level to my training that has given my horse such
confidence in me that we were able to complete the obstacle course in
about 5 min. without a single refusal. (We were not allowed to dismount
for any reason).
We were the second 'team' in the arena and he had not seen the set up
before. I did not use the clicker during the course but instead used
my "click-no-treat" word of a sharp "good" to let him know it was O.K.
and to proceed through or 'accept' the obstacle.
The obstacle course consisted of:
Walking through a solid smoke-screen of burning hay while someone
pitched fire-crackers under his hooves,
riding into and then backing
out of a NARROW L-shaped set of panels, riding over/through a tarp,
over a large teeter-totter,
across a wooden bridge, pushing a 72 inch
"crowd" ball around with his chest,
walking past and standing in front
of a police car with lights, sirens and horns going off, walking into
and pushing over a 'wall' of stacked 55-gallon plastic drums filled
with golf balls, going through the center of a row of sparking,
spitting, hissing flares, backing and side-passing through some cones
and having a shotgun being fired at random the whole time about 20 feet
away!
There was a visible difference in Indy's attitude compared with the
non-clicker trained horses...so much so that afterwards 75% of the
people quizzed me about c/t and how it is used, including the Sheriffs
giving the school (and these guys are old school cowboys). I passed
out about 15 sheets with info on Alaxandra's book and where to get
clickers, etc.
Thanks to all of you who offered advice on my post a few weeks back
about getting him to accept gunfire. The most I did was pop a few
balloons in front of him and under him at liberty and then from his
back, givint a c/t for standing still. Although he did flinch
everytime the shotgun went off while on the course, he didn't give it
any other notice. Heck, I flinched everytime it went off...It was
REALLY LOUD!
A few non-c/t related things I learned from this police school that I
thought to share:
1) If you are on horseback in a very public place (like a parade,
patrol, etc.) DON'T let stranger pet your horse on the head. Some
people think it is a hoot to nonchalantly slip the headstall over your
horses ears and then flap a hat in their face as you scramble to gain
control.
2) Don't let a stranger feed you horse. It is also popular to taint
carrot, apples, etc and give them to horses to make them sick. The
Lieutenant giving the school has trained his horse to not accept ANY
food from the hand because he knows of a few that have died from
poisoned carrots.
3) Teach your horse to ride with a neck-rope or an emergency stop
cue...See #1 :)
Thanks for letting me share,
Anna (one proud Mom) and Indy the Graduate!!
