Baker training session 16 - Learning to tie

On Friday I worked with Baker for about 25 minutes.  I had a helper, Natalie, so I decided that it would be a good time for him to learn something new.  We started out with lots of scratching, as usual.  Then I worked on leading him.  When we first started, he was at the front of his paddock.  The goal was to get him to a tree in the back of his paddock where I have a ring attached to which I can work with him on standing tied.  Fiona was eating hay in the front of the paddock, so in order to keep him comfortable and relaxed, we moved her and some of her hay back near the tree as well.  I did make him go first so he could work on leading away from her.  He did fairly well.  He panicked a little when he got too far from her (about 50 feet), but I held my ground, and once he realized that he couldn't get away, and that he was going to be ok, he calmed down.  Once we got to the tree, I attached a longe line (a rope that is about 30 feet long, used for longeing horses - more on that later) to his halter and ran it through the ring on the tree.

 The idea was not to actually tie him, but to let him think he is tied.  I held the other end of the rope, and if he pulled back, which he did do several times, then I was able to hold him and keep him from breaking away, however, if anything bad happened, then he wasn't actually trapped, and I could let go if I thought he was going to get hurt.  The idea is to teach him that when he pulls back, which is a horse's natural instinct, that he won't be able to get away.  We all have a hormone called adrenaline in our bodies that kicks in if we are feeling stressed or threatened.  The hormone works differently in different animals.  You may have heard of "fight or flight".  Sometimes, when adrenaline kicks in, some animals will stand and fight.  They get a surge of energy and can fight harder and longer.  However, with horses, when adrenaline kicks in, all they want to do is run.  They will do whatever they have to do to get away from whatever is scaring them.  It is possible to teach a horse not to react as severely, but this must be done when they are very small.  If you try to teach them when they are older and bigger and stronger, it is almost impossible.  When they are bigger and stronger, they can break away from practically anything you use to hold them.  If, however, they learn that pulling back does not get them what they want, then they eventually stop trying.  This can really only be taught, effectively, when they are younger and smaller and incapable of breaking halters, ropes, and whatever they are tied to.  There are many different ways to teach this to a young horse, and, of course, many different opinions on how to do it.  I prefer to maintain as much control as I can so that the baby can't break it's neck from pulling too hard, or hurt itself in some other way (they are always finding new ways to hurt themselves).  What Baker has to learn is that pulling back will not get him what he wants, and that he should yield to pressure applied to his poll (the area just behind his ears on the top of his head - the highest point of a horse's body).  He has already had a few lessons on yielding to his poll - whenever I put pressure on the halter to lead him, that exerts pressure on his poll.  Remember, I release the pressure as soon as he steps forward.  So, he has already learned that when he feels pressure there, he should step forward.  Teaching him to stand tied, just takes that lesson to another level.  When training a horse (or anything, for that matter), there are two methods you can use - positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement.  There is no way to get away from using negative reinforcement.  Anytime you put pressure on a horse in any way for any reason, that is considered negative reinforcement.  But negative reinforcement does not have to be harsh.  While it is impossible to avoid negative reinforcement in training, it is very possible to train a horse without using any sort of positive reinforcement, whatsoever.  I am always looking for ways to add positive reinforcement into my training methods.  Anything I can do to encourage the horse, or make him happier or more comfortable, is going to get him to do what I want much more willingly.  So, that being said, once we had Baker "tied" to the tree, I held one end of the rope (taught if he struggled, but loose if he was relaxed), while Natalie worked on grooming him and loving on him (thus, positive reinforcement).

 If he started struggling, she would stop doing all the nice things that he really liked.  But as soon as he stopped struggling, she would start loving on him again.  He soon learned a couple of things:

1. If he struggled and pulled back, he didn't get hurt, but he didn't get away either.

And

2. If he stood still and behaved himself, then Natalie would keep doing things that he liked.


He is a very smart baby and a quick learner, so by the end, he was standing pretty quietly and enjoying his spa session.  I think the ability to stand tied is something that a lot of horse people take for granted, but it is definitely not something that comes naturally for a horse.  So, if you have a horse, or work with a horse, who stands tied quietly, please thank the person that worked with that horse as a young baby.  I will repeat this lesson several more times before moving it to the next level, but it will all be worth it when he is 16 hands tall and 1200 pounds.