By John Mallon

Welcome back, and thanks for tuning in . . .

Simplicity and consistency. Remember those two most important words? Simplicity so that the horse can understand us, and consistency so that he may learn to trust us.

We visited a bit about consistency the last time we got together, so let's work on how to keep things simple, for ourselves and for our horse.
The surest way to reduce the incidents of "mistakes" in training is to have a plan.
(I use quotation marks to bring home the point that they're not mistakes if we didn't know what we were supposed to do in the first place. They only become mistakes when we repeat them, hoping for different results. How about if we refer to them as errors in judgement? A little easier to accept, I think, and confidence is gained once you realize that your judgment will improve with experience.)
I'm not talking about a five-month plan, a five-day plan, a five-ride plan, or a five-minute plan, but a five-second plan. THE PLAN consists of these four elements:
1. What, exactly, do I want to happen in the next five seconds?
2. How, exactly, will I convey this to the horse?
3. How, exactly, and
4. When, exactly, will I reward the behavior I wanted?
By making, and sticking to, a plan each step of the way, both you and your horse will be able to stay focused, stay relaxed, and have a reasonable chance of accomplishing your goals.

I like to suggest that folks visualize using a video camera in their training sessions, then play it back in frame-by-frame slow motion to help them break down the lesson into five-second increments.
Take trailer loading, for example. Now, any fool and his brother-in-law can make a horse go into a trailer, but that's not really the object, is it? The idea is to let the horse get into the trailer calmly, with a quiet mind, choosing to go in because the idea appeals to him. For this to happen, though, he must first get within ten feet of it, then eight, then six, etc. So why not teach him each step in the progression to help build his confidence and interest in learning?
If he gets within six feet of the rig and starts to become a little nervous, it would be a mistake, or error in judgment, to yank on him, giving him more reason to fear it. Better to let him relax where he is before asking for more than he can comfortably give.
It would also be an error in judgment to be saying, "Come on, get in, good boy, step up, get in, hop up, come on, etc., etc." while he's standing there resisting, because you'll only teach him to ignore you. You're not "encouraging" him, you are only confusing him.
When you see that these things are not working, then it would be a mistake to repeat them. Or, as a cowboy friend of mine once said to me: "John, if you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you want to do is quit diggin'."
Most of the blunders made in training are simply bad judgment calls, not mistakes, but it is always a mistake to blame the horse for not understanding a lesson, to mistake confusion for stubbornness, to confuse talking with communicating, or to give the horse more than he can handle at one time

So on to the lesson and THE PLAN. Understand that the following scenario has more to do with understanding how to make, and implement, a plan. Rather than a step-by-step training session, I am assuming here that the horse has had the initial inner-tube foundation lesson and knows how to yield to the pressure of the halter.
The horse is standing with the halter on and light lead attached. Let's break it down to tiny increments that the horse (and I) have some reasonable hopes of accomplishing. Rather than expect the horse to take three steps in response to the cue, let's see if we can get him to take one step. No, let's make it make it a half-step. No, let's reward him getting "light in the leg." No, wait. How about if we just ask him to tip his nose very slightly in our direction. Whew! Now, that's breaking down! So, Part One of the plan is covered (what, exactly, do I want to happen in the next 5 to 10 seconds).

Part Two: How will I convey this to the horse? By standing off to the side of the horse, at the end of the rope, and picking up the slack in the lead rope, using two fingers (I wasn't kiddin'), then applying about two ounces of pressure to the halter. If the horse's nose does not tip in my direction within two seconds, I will increase the angle, by moving back toward his flank, rather than increasing the pressure-think butterflies, not buffalos.
By using no more than two ounces of "pull," we will ensure a "light" leader. We do not "yank" or "tug," but very gently lift the lead rope and very gradually apply the pressure. Remember, we are not trying to make the horse turn his head by force, but by giving him a cue, which when responded to properly, will result in a reward (alleviation of pressure). Which brings us to...

Parts Three and Four of the plan: How, and when, exactly, will I reward the desired response? I will immediately "throw him the slack," full slack, the instant he starts to turn his nose in my direction (away from the pressure of the halter). That's it, simple as that. Once he has performed this amazing feat a few times from both sides, we can then go onto more advanced work, such as asking him to move his feet.

Begin the same way, with a plan. This plan will basically be the same as for asking him to tip his nose toward you. Only this time, we have set our immediate goal a bit higher, asking for him to "get light in the foot." After that success, ask for him to actually move it. See how it works? It makes sense, doesn't it?
More importantly, it makes sense to the horse's cause-and effect mind, and will result in a horse who does not resent the halter and lead rope. "Stubborn" or "hard-headed" horses are not born that way. They are trained to be that way by rough, heavy, impatient hands.
It is critical that you do not look into the horses eyes to "offer encouragement" or to "see how he's doing." It will only intimidate him, and, additionally, will cause you to miss your cue for his immediate reward.
I will also strongly discourage you from talking to the horse during this training for several reasons: he will not understand anything you are saying and will be distracted from the lesson; we will be discouraged by his lack of responding to our words (we wouldn't use them if we didn't expect something from them, right?).
Talking is not to be confused with communicating. Let's let the lead rope do the communicating, by way of the halter, and concentrate on request and response instead.

Remember, too, that a very common example of human nature is to keep "pushing" the horse into making a "mistake" that we can correct. I think you'll be much happier with the results if you always look for something to reward, even the slightest effort on the horse's part.
On our next visit, we'll get into more detail about building confidence in the trainer, and how to always know what to do in a given situation.

Until then . . .
Happy Trails

John Mallon, owner/operator of Cow-Horse Ranch in Ramona, has conducted over 350 training clinics worldwide. he can be contacted as www.cowhorseranch.com or 760-789-7944.