Look, Ma, no bridle!

I spent a couple of hours in the round pen on Monday. I ran all the horses in... I hearded them in, no lead ropes. Then I asked them to "Walk-on". They didn't like it, especially Ms. Paisley and Cracker Joe. We kept reversing and walking around and around. JD was the first one to calmly accept the task and walk around with his head low and one ear tuned on me. I called him into the center, asked him to follow me, and lead the way out of the round pen. He was free to go and for a moment he was confused at his liberation.

Paisley and Cracker Joe had no humility in their hearts so they kept dashing around the back side of the pen. Around and around. If they just walked calmly I asked them to whoa and to follow, but it took another 30 minutes before Paisley quit looking to Cracker for guidance and she listened to her conscience. Several times she did the whoa and the comeup just fine, but she wouldn't follow. Around and around, reverse, reverse... reverse. Finally she gave in and consented to follow. She followed out the gate.

Cracker was a hard nut. He wasn't going to just walk calmy around, but we just kept at it. I drug a tire to the backside of the roundpen that he would have to go around so I could force him to travel near the rail. He started working it out after 45 min. The slow down was all it took. He is a good follower.

Tuesday, I ran all the donkeys out of their run and used it as an equine grooming parlor. One by one they were allowed in for brushing, hoof care, and fly spray. They stood just outside the gate waiting their turns. After grooming they got three circuits around me on the lead rope, a turn and three circuits the opposite way. I made a big deal out of compliance by lavishing praise and cookies on them.

Today (Wed) we did a repeat grooming session and then a refresher on back up. The rules had changed. If they took two backward steps when I said "back" they got an X and a horse cookie. If I had to wag the lead rope, they didn't get a cookie, but I stopped as soon as one foot moved. If I had to wave the stick at them, I just swung it back and forth between us and let it wack them if they didn't get out of the way.

My plan is now to reinforce total compliance with cookies and just use negative reinforcement as their second opportunity to respond. Hopefully compliance itself will become the reinforced behavior.

After the backing each one got to do what they do best. Joe and Paisley got to do the circle and turn dance. Paisley did so well, I let her get up on the pedestal, which she always really likes. I sat on Cracker Joe for a few moments and fed him cookies. Then I rode JD bridless.

YES!! The wiley mustang allows himself to be ridden with nothing more than a string around his neck! Maybe the bad ride with a resistant hinny put me off on positive reinforcement, but riding that mustang in total trust and with excellent control of his speed and direction is living proof that positive reinforcement builds relationships worth having.

The lesson I learned from this is 1) get the critters respect by controlling its movement; then 2) train for relationship using positive reinforcement. Find a balance between using the natural dominance hierarchy and operant conditioning. The critters all benefited from their time in the round pen, and once they were giving me the respect I wanted, it was easy to work with them again.