voice aids for transitions - good or bad - and why?

[narkymare]

i cluck my horse into trot, i do not need a whip and he goes - my instructor isnt really impressed - what do you think - why are voice aids so frowned upon if it works rather than a whip?

 

[diggerbez]

i do use voice aids- but specific ones for each pace rather than a clucking noise- find it helps with lungeing and when bringing on babies if they know the voice aids it helps them to learn the 'proper' aids- also find if they are voice trained and for some reason ignoring your half halt or whatever, you can talk to them and they might be more inclined to listen

the danger with cluking or other such noises is that it can become a bit of a habit to do it all the time (possibly without you realising)- used to be a woman on my old yard who was permanently doing it because her horse was lazy but after a while it becomes like a nagging leg aid- horse just switches off! (also used to wind up other horses esp in collecting rings- really bugs me there- think you should be quiet in a collecting ring!) But ifjust using it very discriminately i don't see the problem

 

[Kao]

If you're training for Dressage, you don't use voice aids. They aren't allowed in the ring and that's initially what you're training for. The ring.
You wouldn't trot round a course of jumps on a talented future showjumper because you're training that horse for high level jumping.

I do exercises. Gridwork, poles etc. but I don't do anything at home I wouldn't do in the ring.
Also, silent aids are the best aids and a horse that responds to them is a credit to the rider.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Horses aren't born understanding the aids for various movements so if you want to train yours to respond to your voice and it works for you and your horse, then good for you. The down sides are a) as noted above, if ever you entered a dressage competition, voice aids aren't allowed and b) if ever you needed another rider to ride your horse or if you ever had to sell her, then your horse would be in big trouble pretty quick, possibly labelled as naughty, stupid and dangerous (if she got upset about aids she didn't understand). I'd definitely teach her the usual aids just in case x

 

[Hen]

Seems to me that disapproval of voice cues is driven by dressage discipline convention. Personally, I wouldn't get too far in a reining pattern without voice cues - particularly for a slick stop! Being rather lazy, I enjoy being able to get my horse up and down the gears using my voice rather than body, but if your preferred discipline (or the one you are training your horse for) forbids use of voice, you need to take that into account.

 

[nikicb]

I personally think they can be useful but as words (walk, trot, stand, whoah, etc). My old mare has always been very good with voice commands to the point where when I was still having lessons on her (she's now 34 and semi retired), my instructor had to be careful how she said things. If we were cantering she may have said something like "and after the circle go large and at A trot". As soon as my girl heard the word trot she slammed on the brakes. Great for lunging though. And I was thankful for it one time I was hacking and she spooked. I wasn't really concentrating, and let go of the reins and they whizzed up her neck (years ago, wouldn't dare let go of the reins these days!!). I was able to bring her right back from fast canter to halt in a matter of yards by voice commands.

We did dressage up to elementary level and never had any problems with not using the commands in tests. She learned the tests herself anyway once we ran through them a couple of times. She's a bit quirky! Only a few weeks ago when we had all the snow, my friend who she is liveried with put her in the indoor school for a while as she couldn't turn out. Tiff started trotting perfect figures of eight.

 

[MissTyc]

I use my voice a lot at home, esp hacking out. I can ride my horses at all gaits on the buckle, voice controlled. We perform well enough at dressage and the horses understand silent commands perfectly, but I like to keep them thinking and fresh. It's just another thing we do and another thing they know.

 

[brighthair]

I think it's something useful to have as a back up, especially something for slow down! For instance if you're passing something spooky and they get upset, ignoring usual aids, you can use your voice, but otherwise yeah it gets a bit of a habit, I know because I click a lot, and need to stop it!

 

[only_me]

Voices are a very useful tool when riding. They are a "natural" aid of sorts, along with legs and seat.

However, a horse in dressage is meant to be trained to the smallest of commands/activate buttons, so the aid is usually precise and on the button so to speak.

Tone of voice can be too large a aid really - sure if I shout NO when a horse starts to bugger off/buck/nap etc. they know that it is wrong.
If I speak in a low voice they are relaxed and know that it is fine.
But clucking on or clicking on is a big no no, as it is not really an aid, more of a suggestion if you follow


Lunging is where the voice is the primary aid, then the whip. With your voice you ask your horse to "trot on" and waaaaaallllk.

Riding is primarily with seat and legs

 

[Steorra]

I think it's a dressage aesthetic; a matter of taste and also what you have been taught is correct. On an established horse I prefer not to use voice aids most of the time, because I like our communication to be as subtle and unobtrusive as possible. As a rider I feel I should be in the background, there to show off the horse, and not drawing attention to myself by burbling away (I save that for the forums).

Also, it can be distracting to other horses and riders that I share schooling space with, so I keep quiet if I can.

But like I said it is more a matter of taste to me than being particularly wrong. And I'd infinitely rather see a happy horse responding to voice commands (or clicker training, or semaphore!) than being whipped or hauled around. It's also obviously very useful to establish voice aids with young horses, and estbalishing that whoa means stop can be very useful indeed!

 

[stencilface]

I use voice aids when lungeing, and he's very good at responding to 'whoooaaa' and 'annnnddd walk' commands. Less so the trot on

I think voice aids are useful to have, if I was ever in a situation where my horse ran off, or I fell off and he ran away I would use voice commands along with anything else. When my sisters pony ditched her and ran off, he was shouted at to stand, and he did. Stopped him from going onto a road

I do click at my horse, but its used as an encouragement round xc, or showjumping, just to pep him up if he's switched off a little. Might not be right, but it works for us, and a judge isn't going to disqualify me for it

 

[stencilface]

And I'd infinitely rather see a happy horse responding to voice commands (or clicker training, or semaphore!) than being whipped or hauled around. It's also obviously very useful to establish voice aids with young horses, and estbalishing that whoa means stop can be very useful indeed!

Ditto this.

I'd to see a horse follow semaphore commands too