Addressing unwanted behaviour is pointless without acknowledging wanted behaviour

Are you constantly on your horses case?

More bend!

More forward!

More frame!

… More, more, more!

One of the biggest things I have to remind my students of is to say good when they are trying, give them a break and give them pats for their good effort.

It’s not that we are purposefully hold out (although sometimes we are taught not to pat or say good boy/girl) but that we get caught up in what we are doing and trying to get the results. On focus is so centered on results that we forget to even congratulate ourselves for our effort and this has flow on affects to the horse.

When we acknowledge wanted behaviour with positive reinforcement (at Equestrian Movement we call them emotional motivators or our horses love language), our horse actively seeks the answer and therefore the reward. An added bonus of the win for the horse is the release of happy hormones associated with task completion, and if we have associated our emotional motivator with our connection with our horses, they will look to do it for us to please us and not just satisfy their own desires.

When we constantly say no, use negative reinforcement and hassle our horses, they eventually stop being curious and stop trying.

If every time they put effort in and try they are told wrong or not good enough there is no reason for them to try and nothing for them to enjoy in the learning process.