Working on cues in increased speed and new environment
Riding
After my mistake yesterday, assuming that just because Pipar can do perfect turns on cue at home, he would also know it out on a trek and in a faster gait than walk, I decided to extend his turning on cues. Instead of going on a trek, we went to the river reserve, which is a pretty large flat area where we haven’t trained much.
I did a lot of turning and stopping on cue practice, both in walk and trot/tolt. Training in the reserve was really useful and he was getting the idea of turning there and in gait faster Trahan walk.
Practical tips
Initially when he wasn't so convinced about turning while trotting/tolting, I just sat and waited until he responded and then C/T. He quickly figured out that he wasn't going to get a treat unless he was responding to the cue. I obviously didn’t punish him for doing the ‘wrong thing’, but just let him figure it out.
So, by training in an environment that Pipar is not so used to and also increasing speed, Pipar is starting to learn that the cue for turning are the same even in different speeds and environments. Obviously he still needs to work in more varied environments and speeds. I think one more session in the reserve and then do some training in the SCP. We are also hoping to float the horses to some other location and then I can extend the training there.
Vet training
We also did a bit of touching various body parts, such as nose, lips, and ears. He is not quite convinced about it, but let me do it. Needs more work so that he offers body parts for me to touch.
Practical tips
The reason we do ‘vet training’ is so that the horse is comfortable with being touch in various places in case of an injury or illness that will require us to administer treatment. For example, if I need to put cream in his nose, look at his teeth, it is better to teach the horses about the ‘treatment’ while they are not ill.
