Has anyone ever trained their horse to do tricks?

[4hooves&featheredfriends]

I would say that other than "bow", I have not taught my horses any tricks. As an instructor, I have seen "tricks gone wrong," so I can provide an experience on that note.

Case in hand, I was asked to work with a horse that has some neurological issues and the owner wanted to learn how to work the horse on the ground to build the horses topline and hind-end.

She told me that she had taught her horse to rear/lavade when she lifts her arms and says,"get up." As this horse has issues keeping all four on the floor I was thinking that this might not have been such a good thing.

Anyway, when she wanted the horse to move forward on the longe line she started saying,"get up" of which he stopped, faced her and reared. So we quickly changed the vocabulary to walk on/trot on. He also likes to move in on the circle, so as I tried to move him out by "sending him" away with my arms apparently my arms came up so that he thought,"oh, I am supposed to rear."

Consider the language or cues that they can be easily differentiated by horse and human as these are conditioned responses you are looking for.

Have fun. Be safe. Ride Well.

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

My favorite thing that Rhett does for me is one that I got "spoken to" about by a old trainer friend of mine. I clean his stall with him in it. Also tack him in his stall. I figure he is a x race horse, this should be pretty normal to him.
Anyway. All I have to do to get him to move a foot or such is say "this foot" and touch his leg. Or "butt" and he swings his haunches away from me so that I can clean where his rump was.
No treats have been given. No abnormal amount of praise. I just say a simple "Thank you" and go about my work. When I am on his other side he just moves out of my way without a word being said or a touch.

I have had him for, 4 years now. Seems longer.

But I think he and I were just always in tune with each other from the beginning. Heck I had vivid dreams about him before I bought him.(sight unseen besides a photo or two on the Canter site) Then having him have an abscess the first year we were together. Well that sort of solidified things between us. Long walks, hours spent with him standing in a tub with me brushing him. Yup. Sometimes I think he and I are closer than my dh and I are

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I almost never use treats with my animals. I just don't like the idea of them. Honestly, if I ask an animal to do something for me, I want it to be done out of respect for me not for a treat. Most everything I do as far as training is done with release of pressure as the reward. I've done the same with my dog and he listens better and better every time I train him. Once he got it through his head that "Oh, pressure means I need to do something and when I do it right the pressure's gone!" I had to train him very, very little before he learned something new. He USED to do tricks for treats and that's when I decided that I didn't want him doing a trick FOR the treat, but for me. He still does his tricks, but with more respect for me.

Anyways, I am going off topic. I have no intention to teach my horse to rear although I think it is beautiful when I see the professional trainers do it! I don't need her to do that, nor do I want her to start. I do like the idea of clicker training though...seems like that is similar to pressure and release. I will be reading more on that as it is a technique I have been meaning to try at the parrot sanctuary where I work.

We'll have to see how Cheyenne comes along with her training and whether or not she will be a good candidate to learn these things. Ultimately, I want to be able to move any part of her body with minimal pressure, just as they do in dressage. I think trick training is really just an extension of that thought if done right. If you have control of their mind, you have control of their body. I realize it takes a lot of work to get to this point and admittedly, I am still learning. I have experience under my belt, but I am trying to go at this horse differently this time so as to avoid the mistakes I've made in previous years. Sometimes its difficult to express yourself accurately via a message forum, but I assure you that I am not going into this blindly! Obviously there are people here who have a lot more experience than I do.

I often put myself out there and ask for opinions (whether I like them or not) every time I post a question here on BYC and I guess sometimes that makes me seem ignorant. I just always think its interesting that people who have horses typically each have a very different way of doing things. That's really why I ask so many questions, because I like to see all the differing ways people do things. Its always easier to ask questions in real life and honestly I do, but I like asking my friends at BYC too.

Ok, I've digressed quite a bit

I still look forward to hearing about others' trick training adventures! I think it is very interesting, both the good and the bad stories.

 

[Kanchii]

My old TB mare would nod. I'd ask her a question like "do you love me?" and then if she saw me hold the treat near my heart she'd nod her head. Then I'd say "give me a biiiiiig kiss then!" And turn my head so that my cheek faced her and shed gently nose my cheek. Then she got the treat.

She loved grapes more than anything!

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

I am a professional horse trainer. We show reining, cutting, and we break for these disciplines and trail riding. ETA: I should say semi professional...we do the Non Pro competition right now which is really as professional as Pro but it won't be long *fingers crossed* and good Lord willing.

I have a Peptoboonsmal baby, Megastar Kid baby, and High Brow Hickory baby in training now.

I FIRMLY believe in starting a horse from birth. They should be imprinted from the time they drop to the ground! They should be exposed to anything you could possibly imagine to expose a horse to. They should be taught respect and light groundwork from weeks old. I can go on and on....if anyone would like to know more, PM me. Would be glad to help anyone out in pointers.

Anyone around these parts will tell you that I have the safest, most respectful, and well taught horses of anyone in these parts. I really believe that is due to the process we start from BIRTH. They should never be given more than they can handle as you can damage joints, ligaments and such. But it does not take a genius to train a horse, just common sense and knowlege of horses. You have to take each horse on an individual basis as they don't all learn at the same speed and others can handle a bigger work load than others...some are just lazy

Treats are great for horses too, they need good things that make them feel good and happy too...just like anything or anyone else...NEVER feed them from your hand though, always put your treats on the ground or in a bucket. And never train a horse with treats.


Tricks are great, you need to have all of your GW under your belt and then you will find that anything new you try and teach the horse will come like a piece of cake to them.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Thanks Chicks and Horses! I've Pmed many with questions in the past, so I'm sure I will be contacting you in the future as well!

We do give our horses carrots and apples occasionally, but usually we stick them in their buckets at meal time. Except for our one old gelding. We feed him from our hand because he is the most gentle thing. He can be a butthead sometimes, but he would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.

We are trying very hard to socialize our girl. Once I get her good with the trailer, I am going to trailer her to a local park and walk her by hand around the lake. I think this will be an excellent exercise for her because there are usually people walking with dogs and bicycles. If I have her trained well on the ground before this, she will get used to all the sights and sounds of a trail ride before actually being ridden. (BTW I guess I should mention that this park IS horse friendly. Its only about a mile loop trail, but its a nice place to practice or go for a short ride and its only about three minutes from my house)

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

Sure, anytime, would be glad to help...just a pm away

Love your Scarlet macaw avatar...We have a Scarlet too. And a Catalina, B&G, and Green wing.


I have got to get my BYC page up with pics **will work on that tonight**

 

[farmgirlie1031]

I second the no treats out of hands. Put them in the feed bucket and tell them the treat fairy brought them a present. I have seen several horses in the days when we had to board our horses elsewhere besides our own barn that would bite people because they were demanding treats the owners gave from hands. I have one pushy mare and I told people do not feed her treats. They didn't listen. She got to where she would bite at my pockets looking for treats. It took me awhile to break her of that bad habit. Boy was I mad they didn't listen to me. Tricks are fun when they are done correctly.

I wouldn't teach rear though. I have seen that one go wrong with a horse even flipping completly over with a rider on board.

Luckily the rider fell clear of the horse but it could have been much worse.

 

[Cara]

Some of these posts make me eternally grateful for my fear of horses, or self preservation instinct. Having a truly well-broken horse is challenging enough, why anyone would take the time to teach tricks which encourage dangerous behavior (e.g. pawing) is beyond me.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I'm not trying to argue at all, because I certainly do agree that there are people who teach their horses dangerous things, but I think a person who encourages bad behavior is NOT training their horse. They are just encouraging bad behavior.

Tommy Turvey actually touches (And does so with much emphasis) on the dangers of trick training in his seminars. There are a lot of things he does so that his horses do not perform tricks when they are not supposed to. When someone is watching his show, they might not see him doing these little "safety" cues. People see the horse doing neat tricks and they want to train their horses too...but Tommy Turvey makes it clear that it is not as easy as just getting your horse to do what you want, but rather to do it ONLY when you want!

I understand how it feels to be scared of a horse though. People have good reason to be afraid. Horses are big...they can be HUGE, and powerful. I've had my share of falls, but I've realized that every single one was MY fault. I've been lucky and I've never been seriously injured (though I've broken a fence or two!...and I've had some nice big bruises

) What has cut down my fear of horses is knowing that every time I was injured around them, it has been my fault. Horses don't beat around the bush and by understanding their thought process and reactions I've been able to understand them more and more. I'm excited to be able to work with a youngster because not only will I be able to teach her, but she will teach me. (Again, I'm going off topic! Sorry!)