Gee & Haw

I spent the afternoon teaching my equines gee (right) and haw (left).
I sequestered them (one at a time) in the chute of the stocks and
started by tapping on the rails and saying the word. It did not take
long to shape the neck bend but I couldn't really tell if it was less
confusing for them to just start getting both commands or if they did
better when I taught one, got a good consistent response, then taught
the other. Infact when they were allowed to get a little bit TOO
CONSISTENT, then they really got anxious about the change to the other
side. The donkeys picked it up just as fast as the horses or mules.
None of them took longer than 15 minutes to start getting some
discrimination between the commands. The targets were the rails of the
sides of the chute.

This has really showed me something about the equine mind. They are
very aware of right and left. You always have to train both sides, but
I didn't realize that they were conscious of the difference.

Secondly, I wasn't sure that
equines were capable of discriminating verbal commands well enough for
it to be effective. This proved they can more than I thought possible.

My short term goal with this is to have them all tied along a fence
and have them facing one direction, then turn their heads on cue in
synchrony. I will make a video of it when it happens and post it here.

Cisco the wilder mustang did not get this training because he would
not be comfortable working with me confined in the chute. Instead he
just got to go in the chute and eat some grain. He'll probably be
ready for it in a week.

Yrs,
Patricia