I started my horse to teach piaffe and after 3 weeks I can see great results. Now Im teaching her to speed up the half steps. I can always go back to the vidoes and refresh the information. Thank you Joseph!
I know this is probably going to sound silly to you but if you get the response you want from your horse and "mark" that response with a signal (verbal "good") and immediately reward with a treat, he will learn much more quickly and happily without the tail swishing, ears back and bucking behavior. Once a horse gets used to the pattern of cue, response, signal, reward, they will really happily strive to give you the behavior that resulted in the signal that indicates they will get a reward. I've trained both ways -- pressure, response, release of pressure vs. reward based training -- and the difference is incredible. I also use verbal praise to communicate to them that they are getting it and to continue what they are doing to get a reward and a simple scold of "ahah" for incorrect behavior. My horses now know how I train and what our communication is and they learn so quickly. With my old way of training, I had horses that didn't want to be with me to now where they all line up to come in the pen with me. One evening it took about 5 minutes to teach one of my horses to come to the mounting block, stand, and to turn so I could mount from either the left or right side all with zero tack, and zero physical pressure. I didn't even have to touch him as the communication was all verbal and body language. Anyway ... just my 2 cents. Your horse is absolutely beautiful by the way.
Of course was it one one the Newcombs that had the perfect video on what I needed 😆 When do you know that a horse is strong enough and ready for learning the half -steps?
Hi Joseph. Thank you so much. You have finally answered a question that I have been looking for the answer for years. I am in a country where there are no access to expertise and I cannot afford to go to overseas. I have had to turn to DVD/videos to help me with small issues that come up. I have struggled to find someone ( in video or real life) who could explain the connection of leg lifting to half steps to me - demonstrated in my country it never works as they don't understand either - there is never any rhythm - just a random tapping with the stick - as result the horses never understand what they must do and it turns into a circus trick which does not even vaguely resemble piaffe. Most DVD/videos shows horses doing it perfectly already - that is extremely frustrating when trying to learn. Yes, I know how it should look! But how do I get there? I knew that if I didn't understand it I had no chance to teach it to my horse. Now I understand and I can break it down for him without it turning into a stressful experience for him or for me. He is very powerful and finds it actually quite easy physically, but mentally it's very stressful for him (he is very frightened by whips). Now I know exactly how to explain to him. Really, from the bottom of my heart I cannot thank you enough.
Celeste Opperman hey there! I'm glad this was helpful! It really is about going slow and breaking it down into parts that the horse understands. Where are you located? It's cool to have so many people following along around the world! Good luck!
Celeste Opperman that is great. I actually have a thing with really wanting to travel to South Africa. Do you know of anyone who would help organize a clinic for me. I have wanted to go there for many years now. Ive heard there is a small community of dressage people there. Let me know. I'd be happy to chat with you guys.
When you are tapping with the sharp end of the whip are you still tapping on the outside of his legs? (It is hard to see.) Thanks for your time and these videos!
Shari DeVoogd Hey Shari! Sometimes it is on the outside sometimes I am reaching through in front. It just depends on what works best for each individual horse. I would try both and see how they work for your horse. Go with whatever gets you the best result. "Adjust to fit the situation." Good luck.
Nicely explained, thanks or uploading! But what I'm a little concerned about is that you don't reward (not necessarily with food of course). Is the pressure-release enough?
Hannah Sweens great question. I find that rewarding with food in this instance distracts the horse and sometimes makes them mouthy/not focused on the work. Some people do and that's fine but for me I haven't liked the results. I feel that staying true to herd dynamics and how horses teach each other in the wild works well as long as you're super fair.
I agree, I give my boy food he becomes mr ADHD with his mind on the food, he might focus and give me an answer to get the reward but then his mind is on the food and we lose the consistent focus.
Hello, im trying your method, day 3 now and getting quicker already behind. Question is, how many days a week do you do this exercise (6?) for the time line goal? And, for how long each session? Looks like you are at Arroyo.
Kristine Kondian Hey! It really depends on the horse as to how many days per week. Sometimes I can do just a little leg lifting before I ride or other times work on quite a bit more. It really depends on each day what I'm feeling from the horse. But I will work then a few consecutive days in a row so they can get the hang of it. I am training at Arroyo. Are you located near by. Maybe I could swing by and take a look at your horse if you're close. Joseph.
Hey Joseph I have my horse at the leg lifting stage and cluck response My question is where are you tapping him with the whip to have him do the quick steps? It looks like it’s under his belly near his flank
Hi Joseph - I’m getting good leg lifting but struggling to get the transfer happening (ie I will get good left leg lifts but then struggle to get left -right) Do you have any tips?
I've been trying to get the first basic steps with my horse and I could be tapping his leg for a really long time and he won't pick it up. Any suggestions? I was thinking maybe a lunge rope looped around his foot and pull it up as I tap?
