Question: How long does it take to train a horse?
Answer: As long as it takes.
This is a follow up post to my previous post, In a Whisper or In a Shout? Training under Time Restraints, which discussed training unhandled colts in 2 1/2 hours.
Do you remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? The hare is fast at the beginning, but ends up having a bit of trouble at the end. The tortoise is slow and steady, hardly seeming to make any progress, but ends up winning the race. With horse training, people often want to see results and they want to see them fast. But good horse training is like the tortoise, slow and steady will pay off in the end.
We had a mare at the rescue named Rosie who I worked with quite a bit over the past year. I’ve written about her quite a bit on this blog. She’s 4, and a braver soul than me probably could have put a few weeks of basic groundwork on her and started riding her fairly quick last spring. She was a bit hesitant about being caught and touched when we started, but wasn’t horrible.
Instead, we’ve spent the last year going really slowly, building a rock solid foundation. Getting her completely comfortable with being touched, desensitization with bareback pads, saddle blankets and the big green ball and teaching her to pick up her feet. Playing around with the first 5 Parelli games and the weave and figure 8 patterns. Lots of long walks around the property, sniffing and smelling things. I stood on a mounting block once brushing her and leaning on her back, but never in the past year got on her or rode her.
A young man adopted her about several weeks ago. He does team penning and trains his own horses. He got on her the first day he had her and within a couple days was using her to check fences and riding her up and down the roads and around her property. Likes riding Rosie better than he likes riding his broke horses.
No problems, no hesitations, no bucking, no difficulties with any of the first rides. Partly because she’s a smart little mare, but mostly because she had a nice solid foundation.
Most complex skills and behaviors that we teach the horse are really just foundation skills that have been expanded or repackaged. We run into problems later with more complex skills because the horse has a weak foundation. If we build a strong foundation from the beginning, than later skills are easy to teach.
In the end, prior and proper preparation pays off. It’s important to make sure you have a plan with logical steps to teach whatever we’re working on. Also you must make sure the horse understands what has been taught and is comfortable and relaxed before you move onto the next task. The amount of time this takes depends completely on the horse. If we train at the horses pace, we save time and effort in the end.
Amen! That’s one reason I’m so against “colt starting contests” – they give people a false idea of how to effectively work with horses and are nothing better than stunts – and the horses usually don’t look too happy either!
Mary,
I agree with your “shout” assertions in your prior blog post noting “breaking” in record time may cause long-term challenges (although do admire those able to pull it off), but do not feel the “tortoise” approach works for all horses, and quite frankly, most trainers don’t have that liberty when clients are paying the bills.
Some horses are eager to to have a job and learn. Others take more time, but too much time can make even the toughest cases bored. Personally, I’m a huge believer (it took me a few decades to learn this) in extremely short session with young horses (I try to limit them to 10-15 minutes – sometimes even five will do if the horse is responsive and puffed up enough to quit), unless, of course, you encounter a problem that needs to be resolved (sometimes this can take hours – particularly with alphas). Ideally you try not to go there, but stuff happens and it is sometimes necessary to finish a request. By keeping lessons short and easy, you can make great strides in record time by asking just a little and letting the horse succeed quickly so they learn to trust and respect you while enjoying your company and guidance.
On a personal note (and I’ll keep client horses out of this and focus on home-bred and/or farm-owned stock), I learned a very interesting lesson this year. Most horses want a job and relish the opportunity to work with a human that understands their penchants and talents. I fenced in twenty-six acres figuring the gang would delight in this “natural” herd environment and the associated freedom. What I found is those culled out for training (some starting under saddle, others focused on higher-level learning) were the happiest and most eager to come running.
One mare in particular would insist on continuing the lesson when I thought it should end because she was so eager to do more, learn more and get it even better (this is a mare being transitioned to a new career after racing).
Another I thought might break some bones (super alpha filly who is athletic as they come and figured out she was bigger and stronger than humans about the moment she dropped with a determination to assert this realization at every opportunity) melted when she was chosen as student, nuzzles the saddle when she sees it and is eager to move quickly to new challenges and opportunities to excel.
So, I think you really need to be able to read the horse and adjust the approach based on the horse is trying to tell you.
These two gals proved me wrong in my best guesses on how they’d behave. Stepping up the pace was a great joy for them and a thrilling learning experience for me.
For what it’s worth.
Thanks for the comment Nanette. I agree wholeheartedly with most of what you said. Short sessions are excellent. I’ll work with a horse for an hour, but in 6-10 sessions spread out over the day.
Maybe my Rosie example wasn’t the best one for this post. By slow and steady, what I really would want to emphasis is the steady. And by steady, I mean not starting task B until the underlying foundation for task B has already been taught and proofed. In many cases, it’s often possible to move on to the next task and “get the job done.” But I find often if I wait to move on, then when I do I can actually get the job done well the first time we try it.
I recently introduced Sebastian to the saddle. He stood at liberty in the round pen and let me put the saddle on, fiddle with the girth, tighten it up, then clip on a lead rope to his halter and take him for a walk. Besides for all the extra clicks to tell him he was doing great, you would have thought he had worn a saddle plenty of times before. If the horse is uncomfortable when I introduce something new, then I’m moving too fast and haven’t built the right foundation.
I think the pace can be fast or slow, as long as its the horse’s pace, and not our own.
Mary
This is so very true. My first thought on reading the title was “forever” because they never stop learning…even when we “stop training”.
I recall reading about the Lipizzaner stallions at the Spanish riding school. They live into their 40’s, but don’t have riders on their backs until late in life, after years of groundwork (8?). I firmly believe the strong foundation provides less stress in life, and thus longer lifespans.
Great point, Chrystal. We should remember that training never stops!
I know several of the endurance riding associations won’t let people compete on horses until the horse is 7 or so. Which sounds good to me. Horses are healthier and live longer if they are started later and started slower. None of the silliness about riding 2 year olds (or even yearlings!)
~Mary