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I so appreciate how grounded you are. Work arounds sometimes are the best solution. You rarely hear a trainer admit that. Case in point...we had the best Shetland riding lesson pony. He was bullet proof. tolerant, and one in a million. However, if you brought out a pair of clippers, he would come at you on his hind legs....that was the hill he would die on. I decided scissors were fine.
I’ve been around long enough to know that horses aren’t born well-behaved, they need to be taught, whether it’s by the herd or their person. No one size fits all because each horse is different, and your training methods adapt to the horse you’re working with. That’s what helps me the most when I get stuck, your videos are great for either teaching me something new or reminding me of a technique I’d forgotten. Thanks for the video, helpful as always.
I always get something out of what you share. Your description -- through the shifts in brain chemicals/hormones -- of how putting the horse in an uncomfortable, concerned state and guiding them to find the relief from it will create a MORE positive experience than just staying unconcerned was eye-opening for me. I so appreciate that you're fascinated with such things and have made that a study of yours. Thank you!
The statement from your friend regarding pressure (they are anxious if they don't understand it) was proven with science. In an experiment, horses were either rewarded, or got an electric shock, depending on whether they approached a black or white coloured area. It was found that horses heart rates were perfectly stable when they understood which meant which. There was no stress to them being in that area when they knew which part was good or bad. But when the experimenters gradually changed the colours (lightening or darkening each side), the horses became more stressed entering the area. When the colours were both greyish and hard to distinguish, the horses became very stressed. Because they didn't know the "right" answer
Great discussion of the importance of understanding pressure, and teaching horses the strategies of working through it. Thank you. As a profession, veterinarians (at least small animal docs) have had to ride the wave of "positive interactions only", a "fear free" initiative. This can be harmful to the mental fitness of most of our canine patients, and can be quite dangerous for vets and our staff. Teaching animals proper responses to pressure (and a vet exam is high pressure, there is really no way around that sometimes) is vital to their mental health and overall anxiety.
3:30 it would actually be a positive punishment because the fence is adding (positive) an unpleasant stimulus to stop (punishment) the horse from walking into it. Negative reinforcement is when you subtract (negative) an unpleasant stimulus after doing what is told in order to reward (reinforce) the desired behaviour e.g., in your videos the horses get relief when you remove the pressure. Positive - you are adding something Negative - you are removing something Reinforcement - you are encouraging a behaviour Punishment - you are reducing a behaviour Everyone gets it confused because people think positive=good and negative=bad. I hope this helps!
Ryan this video is horsemanship gold. Very well said and explained with examples. Hope people can translate all this in their own horsemanship journey, but great job taking a swing at it Sir.
This is masterful instruction! I've ridden horses and mules, trained dogs, and been a careful observer of human engagement with the world and it's many challenges, from addiction to divorce. The animal differences are as rich as the similarities. It's so rewarding to see an expert at work who is ALSO a terrific teacher. You do a GREAT job of interpreting and translating the horse mind for us novices, and your insights are fascinating and revelatory. In the world of linguistics we learn that language is a direct representation of the minds worldview; so it is with horses - if we adopt our partner's perceptions and pay close attention, a true dialogue is possible. THANK YOU for providing bridges across those gaps!
I know this is a year old, but I appreciate you showing the hard stuff because I have taken on hard cases and I'm just an old intermediate rider. I'm not special. I have a quarter horse in my pasture that I have had to let be a horse for three years and just do ground work with some pressure and release and plus R games to get her unafraid of just being haltered. I have learned a lot from her and she is finally in a state of mind that I can go forward and work on her to learn to take a saddle again and not freeze up in terror at the sight. I have taken in donkeys and ponies that were treated like crap and hit and abused and have had to do both again to gain trust. But I will never do just +R. It's not realistic. Sure it works good in a secure environment but not out in the real world. It's not setting them up for success. And now I have a very pushy mule my husband fell in love with at an auction and she is sweet but she will shove you out of the way and flags are just funny to her. So now I have to use pressure and release only because I'm not going down the +R world with her in the mindset she has 😂. That's asking for trouble. I know this is long but I wanted to say thank you. Keep up the good work. And let the others get triggered.
Hello, I have just started watching your videos. I must tell you that you make me miss my horse and all the great times we had together. We had to relocate and have not had the land to have a horse for many years now. But, we are finally looking around to find a property that will bring back my days of riding. Really enjoy your tips that I have heard so far. Keep making these valuable and interesting videos! Love it!
"Go to a level of pressure to be effective" This idea has helped me a lot to be slow but effective. I needed to bring a horse to my house to give him consistent handling for his owner. We introduced a lot of tools that helped him be better but it wasn't consistent enough to keep him growing. So we needed to see how he would load and we had the tools to help him. It became evident he had learned to say no to the trailer at some point to pull away or run his shoulder into the handler. Understanding using enough pressure to be effective and take the time to teach him HOW to respond to pressure helped me to stay peaceful and calm but effective. He is nice and safe to load every time now!
I have been following your videos for more than 2 years now, living in Belgium, Europe. Your videos really helped me broaden my Horsemanship knowledge. I think you offer, throughout your videos, a wonderful balance between giving your horse time to respond and adding more pressure (and release) when needed. I’m always liking but never commenting your videos. Today, i felt like commenting to show you that your videos changed MY journey with horses. Thank you. You’ll be seeing me on your Patreon soon 😁 Alyssa.
Thank you so much for your videos, I love how you explain pressure and then, more importantly, the release of pressure. I just started looking at riding horses after my horse of 20 years passed away over a year ago and your videos have helped me have more tools when looking at a new horse.
Thank you Ryan, I watched this video twice just to wrap my head around all the concepts. Took notes too just to absorb more. Keep up the great work. If you ever write a book, you could call it "Do Less Sooner" Horsemanship!
You have been an amazing help to me. I've been laid up for months with a broken leg and crush injury from my horse on an outing at the beach. You have helped me to understand him so much more and the error of my ways in lacking leadership. Thank you Ryan you have actually saved both of of us.
Thank you for this thorough explanation Ryan .It is so common to hear trainers talk about pressure but not really explain when & why they use more or less pressure in a given situation.
Your videos are extremely informative. It is wonderful that you show the process of working with each horse to reach a goal. That process is what gives the viewer a chance to learn.
Ooooo half way through you spoke about the rearing upset horse when his buddy left the stable next to him and dropped the conversation on “pressure” in that type of situation in a tight environment… many of us have issues inside and around the barn and don’t have the space we can use in the arenas or round pens or open areas… your approach and how you talk to us is great! Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge! All the way from the Middle East United Arab Emirates… a big thank you!!
I really appreciate your videos and how you explain what your doing. I have never watched a video on your channel and thought you were doing a horse injustice. I know its hard to read negative comments on your videos, and you feel like you have to explain yourself... Don't because someone will always think they are smarter or have a better way. Keep up the fantastic content and ride on🥰
I have learned so much listening to your teaching, it has helped me and my horse tremendously. Not to be picky (psychologist who works with horses here), but this is important to understand. REINFORCEMENT -- whether negative or positive -- INCREASES the likelihood that a behavior will occur/repeat. Every time, Ryan, that you talk about putting pressure on the horse and then releasing that pressure the minute they exhibit the behavior, you are using NEGATIVE reinforcement. You put pressure on the lead rope to get the horse to lower his head and the instant they do, you release. This is negative reinforcement: a noxious, uncomfortable stimulus, in this case pressure of the lead/halter on their head, is released/removed when the horse lowers his head., and so they learn to keep dropping their head (this is exactly the same as when we hear the buzzer in our car that continues until we buckle the seat belt; the obnoxious sound stops when we exhibit the belt-buckling behavior. The negative of negative reinforcement refers to REMOVING the pressure/noxious stimulus, it's taking the pressure away; you are substracting something to get the behavior to recur.) Punishment, on the other hand, like the electric fence, is applying/adding a noxious response to a behavior - the shock stops them from moving into or chewing the fence. Punishment DECREASES the likelihood a behavior will recur. And everyone knows that POSITIVE reinforcement is adding something pleasing/rewarding -- giving a treat, rubbing on them, etc. Hope that helps remove the negative feeling humans have to the idea of negative reinforcement because of this misunderstanding. :))
Thank you for being real with your training! We are all in real life with real issues and need truth not easy scenarios. I watch every one of your videos and love your ideas and teaching and the way horses respond to you. Keep up the great work and keep teaching us what you know ❤
I appreciate the way you impart useful knowledge, often missed by us two-leggeds, in what's probably our own mental projections. Humans often respond from the Amygdala, too, shoving us right into the sympathetic nervous system, and you certainly can't 'talk them off the ceiling' with gentle cajoling, and treats. Does a greater fright shift a horse's mind enough to allow re-imprinting? Now, Cats and Ferrets...amazing how they can drop out of an adrenaline rush as fast as a blink. But then, they're not prey animals. WE, too, have developed some equivalents with these 'throw-back' behaviors, and internalized lack of ANY pressure, + treats, as an optimal outcome. Then we find out, as we mature, that pressure is inevitable; from cells to galaxies, all living things must contend with it, to varying degrees. Great episode. Will have to give it a second listen... 👍🤠
You are the trainer us trainers like. You are a very good communicator w both horse and humans (the humans being the trickier one to communicate w at times). Nice work!
This is the best video you have done. I agree on everything. A few things I would say different, level of pressure, it's the horse that determine the level. You do what the horse need. Attitude is what makes the small Shetland pony dominate huge drafts. Use your attitude. Patience, if one step is not ready don't go to next step. It's always the one with most patience who will win. Let it take time in beginning, you will get it back with interest later. Ground tie is more important then tie up. When you ride, the horse should be in same mental level as in standing still, even if you are cantering.
Your videos have been so helpful! Your willingness to show how it’s really done even when it’s not going the way we wish it would has saved me from having to learn the hard way. I competed hunter jumpers for years but now I’m breaking a colt for the first time. Thank you so much for your guidance and for passing on the craft!
You’re the best horse trainer I’ve watched, besides Buck Brannaman. I’ve been loving watching your training videos, and the amount of respect you have for the horses. You give solid advice. Do you have any videos on young horses that can be on the lazy spectrum when being worked and trained?
I’ve been out of the horsey world for quite afew years, I’ve still ridden on and off but your videos have reignited my interest in horsemanship. Thank you 🙏 going to try to find time to play with my friends horse. She’s a drama queen, we may send you a video of her if things don’t go well 🙈🤣 Loving your method and explanations and so great to see your wife riding the English way, I’m Scottish, quite intrigued about the western way now though. 🙌
Thanks for all the wisdom! So do things slow enough so you don’t scare your horse, especially when teaching new things. And: there are times when it’s better to use negative reinforcement and times when it’s better to use positive reinforcement.
Excellent teaching video which I have implemented with my recent new barn addition of a 3 1/2 YO OTTB. This isn’t my first OTTB but I have been applying your training principles and they have helped the process much easier! For the first time today I had him in a canter collected and he didn’t explode and try to run off (dirt skiing isn’t fun or safe)! Thank you so much for your expertise and it has helped to start to transform this horse, my last OTTB was like a 3 year training process. Thanks again! Love OTTB but you have to understand how they are trained when they are very young and retraining involved but so exciting to see the transformation!
Hi Ryan, you do a great job. I have an Irish Cob and it took her at least 6 months to get used to me after I bought here. She didn't trust or listen to me before, she only felt safe with a buddy a Donkey. Irish Cob's are great but quite sensitive and they need trust...now she knows me and I can calm her down just by talking to her. Being tough with her doesn't work. She doesn't do well with human pressure but if she knows someone she will just do everything you ask from her, quite special. Love her to death.🥰
I have been 'training' horses all my life/ my own personal horses - not for others, but for myself. I have had all sorts of horses/ horses with 'baggage' (as you refer to horses w problems...lol)/blank state horses/and horses with varying degrees of handling and MIS-handling... I can tell you i learn TONS more from your videos when i see you working a horse where things don't go exactly as planned! Because we ALL know things never go smoothly all the time, and having an idea of how to handle "less than ideal" responses from your equine is PARAMOUNT in avoiding teaching the equine student undesirable bits of knowledge/ actions. I have never seen you do anything in ANY of your videos that have caused me concern with regards to mental or physical treatment of the horses you work with.... I have worked with stallions too (most recently, a 5 yr old stallion that had never left his home farm/never been more than haltered and led to and from a pasture) and i am only 5'1" and 68 years old! So there is a lot of truth to the mini hirse bossing around fill suzed equines... lololol Did i have to get physical with that stallion in order to start establishing a relationship with that animal where I WAS THE LEADER - NOT him!!??? You betcha - and many would have watched that and called me an abuser, but he would have hurt someone had i not gotten that first piece of the puzzle in place... an 8 yr old girl ended up riding him in shows (after eventual gelding, which also helped) but the gelding was postponed as this horse was purchased at the start of COVID ....the gelding was almost 2 yrs later after he arrived at my place - and we had to handle and work him in the interim...and i did I hope this video was NOT due to negative responses from people that call themselves trainers..... NOTHING you do is out of line/excessive/unkind... and if people out there think that - they have obviously never watched challanged horses interact w each other... KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK/IMPERFECT RESPONSES AND ALL - Because THAT'S where the boots hit the ground and REAL learning takes place... I can tell you seeing the good/bad/ugly is exactly WHY i decided to follow you and get a Patreon membership KUDOS TO YOU AND THE WORK YOU ARE DOING AND SHARING YOUR EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
I use positive reinforcement training as yet another tool in my tack-room. My understanding of "negative reinforcement" is not so much a "negative" (unwanted/undesired) experience. Positive reinforcement is when you ad something (it's like a positive balance on your checking account, it's PLUS). In horse training you'd ad a treat but it can also be a scratch or a graze. Negative reinforcement is when you take something away. Pressure & release is "negative reinforcement": you take away the pressure (release) as the reward. The taking away is the "negative", it's MINUS. It's not "negative" as in "bad", punishment etc. This is my (no doubt limited) understanding. Your electric fence example is kinda funny. Yes, touching it is a negative experience (I've had my encounters ⚡😲😵) but the negative reinforcement is in the "taking away the shock" when they yield to the fence (like bounce back ten feet). That's what reinforces "as long as I don't touch the fence I'm okay". If the shock wouldn't go away (Google Skinner if you can stomach it) it creates learned helplessness. The experience that it doesn't matter what you do, you are having a bad experience regardless.
Wish my new horse and I could spend a week with you! He gets in a knot anytime we go somewhere new, very stressed. Takes a looong time to settle. I’m having a hard time interrupting his train of thought. Will keep watching your videos, you are realistic and sensible… and your wife rides English 😊. Does she record videos as well? Thanks for the work you do and what you share on YT.
You know, a really good riding instructor operates the same way. He or she knows just how much to pressure a student...just how far outside their comfort zone they can go. (They understand that an overly fearful or excited student can't learn.) And then when the pressure if off (e.g. when the student successfully performs a task and the instructor says "Great! Give your horse a walk on a free rein") there's a huge dopamine release. Or, they have clever ways of redirecting a student when they see fear rising up. I had such an instructor and I can tell you I got to where I craved those lessons even though they included some scary stuff! An instructor that never gets beyond a student's comfort zone will have perpetual students who never become independent.
Excellent explanation of pressure and how it works. I have an ottb that absolutely did not understand pressure. His brain said run as fast and as long as you can. It took a lot of reeducation to lose that mindset. After three years, he still has those days when all we do is work on relaxation. I get you about the pressure levels. Again, good job explaining it
Funny that you mention the pull back as a behavior that you might work around rather than fix. My mare has pulled back and broken crossties and gotten away... She was standing beautifully in the aisleway in the barn yesterday and someone asked me if I wanted to try putting the crossties on her... Nah. She's standing quietly and as long as she is standing quietly I don't really need the crossties anyway, right? They are, after all, actually just imaginary control since they will break if the horse really wants to leave. I hadn't really given it a whole lot of thought until that moment but I do think I'd rather she just ground tie, be relaxed and never put her in a position to feel trapped and want to leave.
Great video and teaching. I have a OTTB that has a few bad habits from the racetrack his baggage and when I lunge him and attempt a canter with a little pressure he braces himself and ends up taking off. So I have went back to the basics and slowed down again with the walk trot.. he has learned from the track to be mouthy so I cannot use treats.
I am a new horse owner have had my horses for about 6 months haven't had to ask them to do very much so the minimal amount of pressure I've been using on them has been fine but now with winter we want to ride them at our instructors Arena indoors which means we have to trailer them watched a lot of videos and followed most of them to the tea with mixed results took the horses today to our instructors Arena and she instructed us on how to load them my gelding who is a princess was pretty easy but our mare was a different story i was surprised at the amount of pressure we had to exert on her to finally get her attention and finaly in the trailer but once the pressure was raised high enough we were able to put her in and out of the trailer. Then with almost no presure get her in and out three times in about 10 minutes I probably never would have applied that much pressure on my own as a new horse owner not knowing exactly how much pressure to use in certain situations could stop you from achieving your goal and only cause you to go backwards I'm glad I asked for help as a first time horse owner your instinct tells you not to do too much or use too much pressure but if you're too easy on them you're just working backwards this is so much different than many other things in life but unlike many other things in life when you see it work and you get success it's so much more rewarding
Most horse training is Negative Reinforcement… Negative Reinforcement = Removing the unwanted stimulus (i.e. pressure) when they do the right thing… Positive Reinforcement = introducing the wanted stimulus (i.e. a treat)… Punishment = adding an unwanted stimulus for doing something wrong
Just in case anyone cares… and no judgement… but an electric fence is considered a ‘positive punishment’, not a ‘negative reinforcement’. Positive punishment meaning you ADD an uncomfortable stimulant to reduce the unwanted behaviour. Negative reinforcement is what he does to (as an example) make a horse stand still. The mildly uncomfortable stimulation of introducing ‘pressure’ is REMOVED to increase the behaviour you want to reinforce… ie, increase… the standing still. The terms ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ describe whether the stimulus is added or removed respectively. The terms ‘reinforcement’ and ‘punishment’ describe whether the behaviour is increased or decreased respectively. Just thought I’d clarify that… as I said, no judgement at all… just a big behaviour modification fan and wanted to share some interesting info with you.
Negative reinforcement is rewarding an animal by removing something they do not like. If you pressure a horse which is something that he doesn't want and stop pressuring him when he does the right thing that is called "negative reinforcement." When your horse does something wrong and you do something he doesn't like like hitting him that is called " punishment." Ryan Rose's system is called behaviorism.
I have been doing this for 62 years and one of my favorite sayings when teaching or training whatever I’m doing is *only as much pressure as is necessary to get the job done* !! I have a horse that I’ve had for 10 years that I rescued from a father and daughter with good intentions no education he’s a firewater flit baby The father wanting to make his daughter happy gave her a three year old barrel bred horse no Trainer no lessons nothing and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the horse well she was spurring and yanking on his face spur yank spur yank so after watching her ride for a couple of minutes I told her to get off and told the father it’s not the horse and it’s not your daughters fault it’s your fault for getting her too much horse and no teacher or trainer I grabbed the kid by the ponytail and pushed and pulled and pushed and pulled and she said oh that’s annoying I said really now imagine that’s a bit in your mouth and metal in your sides! People always go to a trainer always take lessons people want to buy the horse before they learn what to do I had so many lessons into this day I still want people on the ground once in a while! you think you’re doing some thing but you’re not doing it another set of eyes is always good. Take the lessons learn what you’re doing then maybe lease a horse where your trainer is learn some more and then bring one home it’ll be better for you and better for them do it right the first time so you don’t need someone like Ryan to undo your mistakes the only one paying for that is the horse!
I've spent so many training sessions with horses that were treated like they had a human brain and hand fed goodies. They became pushy, they often would nip or bite, their truly loving owner never showed themselves to be the leader or confidence builder. They never worked the horse through whatever caused them to startle, bolt from or refuse to obey. After a lot of tearing down walls and rebuilding their foundation, firm lessons with the owners and psych 101 for horses, they are ready to return home. But for a numbe of these owners who adore and smother their horse they wanted them fixed as if I was a mechanic tuning up their car or replacing the bad parts and all they needed to do was pay the bill and be on their way - problem solved. Months later the sad owner wanted me to come look at their horse because they were acting out, often to the point of scaring them. Or they couldn't force them in the trailer to bring them to the farm. Usually a phrase like" It's as if my horse doesn't like me", was said through the tears. It broke my heart to work with those poor animals knowing the word 'like' should have been replaced with 'respect' but I my attempts to make that clear in the past had fallen on deaf or stubborn ears. I came to hate that the animals were going to go right back to an owner who would never accept their own fault in the escalating disaster. Eventually I learned to apologize and say I couldn't take on any more. I know my blood pressure sure couldn't. I respect your videos, your clear explanations, no excuses for mistakes and handling each horse as an individual and not just apply some cookie cutter method for any horse with that same problem. Age and illness has caused me to step away from even owning a horse any more and it still tears at my heart, but living vicariously through competent and well seasoned folks like you is a joy for me. Thank you for all you do to make life better for horse and rider and to have the strength of character and common sense to tell an owner when they need to move on to a different, better matched horse. It is NOT easy but to this day, I wish I had spoken up to several of those overly kind owners with the sad, puppy dog eyes and saved us all a lot of regret and bad feelings and given the horse an opportunity for a much improved life. And Ryan, ignore the haters. They seem to be on any channel, any topic. If only you could shoo them away like flies.....
Every day we ask Horses to do something they would never do on their own. Just carrying us around is not something that comes natural to them. And then we try to remove what is second nature to them which is their prey instinct. And then have their feet done and stand for this and do that it’s not easy for them think about it if someone came and told you to do something you didn’t want to do something that didn’t come natural to you you would object
