Training and Detraining Horses
- Suzy Maloney B.Eq.Sc.
- Oct 1, 2017
- 3 min read
Updated: May 30
Everything we do with our horses is training them or de-training them. We call it training when the horse ends up doing something ‘better’ than they had previously, and we call it de-training when they end up doing it ‘worse’. The horses themselves don’t know the difference between training sessions and just hanging out. Everything we do when we are around a horse will affect their behaviour in the future, for better or for worse.
Sometimes when people buy a new horse they have been trained by a professional or an experienced horse person. The horse is quiet and easy to handle and knows what to do when asked. Around 2 months later, I get a phone call. The beautifully behaved horse has changed and the situation is deteriorating rapidly. This is extremely common. Younger horses de-train faster than older horses, which is why for beginners it's always recommend to get an older horse. ‘Young humans with old horses and old humans with young horses’ is the saying but you can put the words inexperienced/experienced in there too.
Here are a few examples of what happens. A common one is picking up the hooves. Initially the horse picks up their feet beautifully. One day they pulls when the human is holding the hoof and the human lets go respectfully. The horse can stand with all feet on the ground, which of course they prefer. The next time the horse does it again and the same thing happens, the human lets go. The situation deteriorates until the horse pulls the hooves out of the person’s hands consistently. This is de-training. In this situation what was needed was to hold onto the foot until the horse stops moving, and then put it down.
Another situation is when the horse keeps moving while being groomed. It usually starts the same way. One day the horse moves when being groomed. The human stops grooming. The human starts grooming, the horse moves and the human stops again. Very quickly it's nearly impossible to groom the horse. The way to re-train this is to put a hand or brush on the horse and keep it there until all the moving stops, even if only for 1 second, then remove the hand. We repeat this as many times as necessary, removing your hand every time the horse is still. In this way we are rewarding the standing quietly, not the moving. Stopping doing something and removing pressure is a reward for horses. One beginner I worked with recently struggled with this idea. She'd always had dogs, where we move into the dog as a reward. With horses moving away releases the feeling of pressure and is seen as a reward by them.
There’s an old rule of thumb that if a horse does something three times they have learnt it. I have found this to be true. If I am working with a horse/human combination and I see the human do de-training twice with the same thing, I usually ask if I can step in and re-train then ask them to try again. Sometimes de-training situations can result in very dangerous behaviours in horses. It’s important to get professional help before things deteriorate too far. One inexperienced rider I knew purchased the perfect horse and in a few months this same horse was chasing them out of the paddock with their teeth bared. This type of situation starts out with the smallest little mistakes and escalates. Being aware that everything we do influences our horse, and rewarding only the behaviours we desire can ensure that de-training doesn’t happen. Training and detraining horses is happening all the time, and by being aware of this we can make positive moves forward with our beloved horses.
Suzy Maloney B.Eq.Sc.Dip.Couns.
Happy Horses Bitless
Considerate Horsemanship
Lismore, NSW, Australia
Ph: 0401 249 263
Email: suzy@happyhorsesbitless.com
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