Post by Calaminty Jane on Jan 30, 2010 14:53:45 GMT -5
Motivator and Reward
What do you think of as a reward for you? I like ice cream myself. But I think of that as just a treat. Not much of a motivator. I would like to have won the saddle that Dennis offered a while back for my hard work. That would have been a nice reward. That saddle was a real motivator. When I think about motivating my horse to do what I would like, it’s not hard to figure out the motivator. Dennis and my horses tell me….. pressure. And the reward …..the total release of pressure… rest.
What I have been thinking about is how can I use this “Concept” in different ways? I know I can put pressure on my horse… maybe even drive him forward… to get him to stop and look at me. Some folks use this same concept with out realizing it. I heard a story the other day about a famous race horse that won his first 17 races. When he lost the 18th coming in second, his jockey couldn’t stop him from going to the winners circle. They said it took 5 men to remove him so the winner could come in. The race was a real motivator and the winners circle was the reward. If you watch someone train a horse to spin, many will work the horse in a very small circle… winding the circle down until they can stop the hind end and take that momentum into a spin. After the spin, the horse gets the rest/reward. Soon the horse can’t wait to spin. He begins to say “Can I spin now! Can I spin now! “Pretty soon, the circle isn't necessary. The horse would rather just get to the spin. Mac can be very claustrophobic. When I was trying to open a gate with him, I couldn’t get him close enough to even touch the gate. I took him a few feet away… made several tight and quick circles and then went to the gate to rest. We were still 5 ft from the gate. It took about 5-6 times and we were parked at the gate. Now the gate draws him like a magnet.
Natural horsemanship to me is understanding how horses learn and how to motivate them. When I have a problem now, I think about how I can use this concept. If the rest doesn’t seem to be working or the horses attitude is a little “ho hum” ….. maybe I need to “step up” the pressure/motivator. Ah! That’s how you get, as Dennis says “Sparkle”!! This seems to work for me as long as the horse has a thorough understanding of what I'm asking.
Carol
I never met a horse that says "No".
I've met lots of horses that say "I don't know"
What do you think of as a reward for you? I like ice cream myself. But I think of that as just a treat. Not much of a motivator. I would like to have won the saddle that Dennis offered a while back for my hard work. That would have been a nice reward. That saddle was a real motivator. When I think about motivating my horse to do what I would like, it’s not hard to figure out the motivator. Dennis and my horses tell me….. pressure. And the reward …..the total release of pressure… rest.
What I have been thinking about is how can I use this “Concept” in different ways? I know I can put pressure on my horse… maybe even drive him forward… to get him to stop and look at me. Some folks use this same concept with out realizing it. I heard a story the other day about a famous race horse that won his first 17 races. When he lost the 18th coming in second, his jockey couldn’t stop him from going to the winners circle. They said it took 5 men to remove him so the winner could come in. The race was a real motivator and the winners circle was the reward. If you watch someone train a horse to spin, many will work the horse in a very small circle… winding the circle down until they can stop the hind end and take that momentum into a spin. After the spin, the horse gets the rest/reward. Soon the horse can’t wait to spin. He begins to say “Can I spin now! Can I spin now! “Pretty soon, the circle isn't necessary. The horse would rather just get to the spin. Mac can be very claustrophobic. When I was trying to open a gate with him, I couldn’t get him close enough to even touch the gate. I took him a few feet away… made several tight and quick circles and then went to the gate to rest. We were still 5 ft from the gate. It took about 5-6 times and we were parked at the gate. Now the gate draws him like a magnet.
Natural horsemanship to me is understanding how horses learn and how to motivate them. When I have a problem now, I think about how I can use this concept. If the rest doesn’t seem to be working or the horses attitude is a little “ho hum” ….. maybe I need to “step up” the pressure/motivator. Ah! That’s how you get, as Dennis says “Sparkle”!! This seems to work for me as long as the horse has a thorough understanding of what I'm asking.
Carol
I never met a horse that says "No".
I've met lots of horses that say "I don't know"