Focus as a form of communication with horses

April 9, 10:14 AMClicker Training ExaminerEve Alexander

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Native Americans relied on the power of focus to guide their horses.

In his book, “Horse, Follow Closely,” GaWaNi Pony Boy explains the three ways humans communicate with horses – verbally, physically and focally.

Horses are not verbal animals like people are, and in fact, domestic horses learn to ‘tune out’ a lot of the verbal commands we give. You think your horse understands your verbal cue but he is responding to the physical messages you’re sending him. Clucking is not your horse’s cue to transition to a faster gait - the horse feels you pulling up the reins, leaning forward, and squeezing with your legs. Those are the physical cues he understands.

Focus is an important aspect of clicker training and is often overlooked by conventional trainers. Clicker training sessions are short, because the intensity of focus is hard to sustain for long periods of time. Focus is a very powerful tool.

GaWaNi Pony Boy suggests you try this test. “Mount your horse and sit on his back in a very relaxed manner. Look at your horse and, without moving your body, say in your head ‘Do something!’. Think this command very intensely as if there were something specific you wanted your horse to do, but do not concentrate on any one task. You will usually see immediate results such as an ear swiveling back toward you or your horse may even take a step or two on his own. By pointing an ear in your direction, your horse is saying, ‘I sense that you want me to do something, but without physical reinforcement, I don’t know what it is.’ By taking a tentative step, your horse is trying out something in the form a question: ‘Did you want me to go this way?’”

Pony Boy explains that Native American horsemen became skilled at riding and training their horses because they “had no option but to focus on what they wanted their horses to do next. When riding amid a herd of bison that was sometimes thousands strong, there was no time to think about commands, body movements or verbal requests. Those buffalo hunters relied both on their horses’ ability to sense what their riders wanted to do, and their horses’ knowledge of the safest and most efficient way to do it.”

Without controlled focus it is easy to send mixed messages to your horse. For instance, you physically ask your horse to move forward, but your focus is on a fellow boarder walking up to the arena gate. Your horse can become conflicted – ‘does she want me to go forward or over to the gate?’

As Pony Boy says, “If what you want your horse to do is not important enough to focus on, your horse may feel that it is not important enough to do.”

Comments or suggestions? Send them to eve@tricknclick.com

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GaWaNi Pony Boy