Groundwork with a horse that's TOO clever

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kgj66

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My horse is on rest at the minute. She is a 5yr old tb and was starting to get bored of turnout and grooming so decided to teach her a few tricks.

Her ground work is already very good-will move away from the slightest pressure/tap with stick, stops when I stop without touching leadrope-unless she is in a wound up mood!

Anyway, the next thing I could think of was teaching her to bow and pick up her feet on command.

She already picks up her feet just by my touching her fetlock so moved onto tapping it with a stick-she picked this up in 5mins! The bow is a little trickier- she's taking a little longer to get that she should go down on one knee rather than just stretching down-but we are getting there(though any tips are welcome!)

She picks things up incredibly quickly- today I went into her stable and straight away she started to lift her foot without me even asking.

I am fully aware that she is doing this because she knows it equals treats, and she isn't greedy/snappy with it. She loves to learn-and the difference after doing that little bit with her was great-she was very proud of herself! However I don't want her doing anything unless asked! Is there anything I can do? I'm thinking just ignore her unless I've asked, and maybe don't work on it everyday?

Also any other thing I can do with her-preferable in stable/yard rather than school would be great.

Thanks
 
To stop her from offering you behaviours unless you ask, what you need to do is to get the behaviours under stimulus control. So basically, you need a command or signal for each thing that you teach her. For example with her feet you could say 'Lift' or 'Up' just a you are going to ask her to lift her leg. If she is a quick learner as you say, she will very quickly start to understand the command. Then all you have to do is remember to completely ignore her (and make sure you don't treat her) if she ever offers you the behaviour without you asking for it.

Have fun!
 
If you have a look at clicker training, you'll find clear instructions on "getting behaviours on cue" :) This means that the horse only does the things you've trained when you give the cue, instead of doing them every time they see you in the hope of a reward. It's easier for you, and more relaxing for the horse.

I would suggest e.g. Shawna Karrasch's book "You can train your horse to do anything". Or have a look at Peggy Hogan's inexpensive downloadable starter instructions - lots of ideas for new fun things to train, as well as clear instructions on how to avoid the "begging with behaviour" problems ;) (google Peggy Hogan and The Best Whisper is a Click).
 
Thanks for replies so far! Will def have a look into those things.
Amy may she is on rest due to bruised soles/problems in feet.
 
kgj66 said:
Thanks for replies so far! Will def have a look into those things.
Amy may she is on rest due to bruised soles/problems in feet.
Click to expand...

In this case, I would not want to be doing exercises that intentionally shift weight off four legs and onto three...for even a small amount of time. I would give the foot lifting a miss.

Love that you are doing so much to keep her occupied though.

Equine massage is great, my mares both love it. There is one very wound up competition pony on the yard and it is the only thing that gets her to actually enjoy human company apart from being ridden.

Also, I taught my old pony to recognise shapes. I made a play board out of 12mm plywood and got a few different shaped object from around the yard and house. I would always put a treat under the square (an ole ice cream tub) and would move them all around in between goes. He soon learned the square one and loved the game. I would make him stand and wait while I did it and it was like playing with a dog. I would hold my hand up and tell him to wait, then drop my hand and say, "find it". He loved it soooo much. I started to do it in other areas too. I would make a little coral and put all sorts of things in there...then put Mischief in and tell him to find it. He would go for literally hours sometimes. He'd find it, I would take him out, rearrange and put him back in for round two.

There is loads you can do. Good luck x
 
Touch a target would be a good one for her, I used a whip and threaded a tennis ball on the end, and trained mine to touch the target with his nose. You can train her to pick things up in her mouth and give them to you, to give you a kiss, take your hat off... But DO be aware of the nuisance factor of any of these if she offers it spontaneously, like the hat one! You could get her to swish her tail on command, possibly even to vocalise on cue. What about nod or shaking her head for yes and no?
 
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