I followed this yesterday with my horse that had recently discovered something scary in the arena that was only obvious to him. I also changed the way that I was reacting to his spookiness. It worked brilliantly. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.
I love your calm attitude, no anger or violence at all! You have a wonderful voice and are so laid back, you make everything seem like no big deal! Thanks for your videos!
Makes complete sense, the person who owned my horse prior to me spent so much time making my horse go to something he was afraid of that my horse lost complete confidence , he is getting better and I will start using this process to help him along , thank you for the video
I searched far and wide looking for a video like then when I was going through this with my horse. My spooking and bolting problem got worse and worse and I probably did everything wrong until I wound up in ICU. The trainer I was working with took the perspective of just ignoring the problem (and called it "working through it" when actually it was just ignoring it. Clinton Anderson videos talked about the process without clearly demonstrating it. But THIS video demonstrates it with a horse that is actively spooking. Thank you so much for this video....I will cherish it always. :)
This video is probably one of the first videos I have seen of Warwick and I had no clue of who he was. Since my childhood, I had been taught to make the horse face its fears and force it towards the object it feared. Although I am typically skeptical about new information I receive, this video changed me and my horse for the better and we are both far more relaxed in new environments. This video is one of the best pieces of advice I have gotten from a horse person. Thank you so much for this video Warwick. I am also happy to have come across the video a second time as, to be honest, I did not recall who had put it out.
I accidentally found the videos of Warwick Schiller a few weeks ago. He's definitively my favourite trainer: his methods and principles are the only one I feel confortable with. I'm srill not a payong customer, because I stopped riding 15 years ago (because kicking, pulling on the bites, fighting the horses all the time wade me unhappy and made me injured). I'm considering riding again, but according to MY terms. If the teacher disagrees, I'll just show Warwick's videos. If the teacher still disagrees, I'll be out of the barn.
Quick 2 questions as you & your training have evolved so much: 1) do you still feel it is safe to ride a 2 yr. old? As in safe for a young horse's spine? 2) have you completely stopped using spurs, & if not, why? Thanks, am so loving your more current training methods!
2 years old is a bit too young imho. I think it's ok to back them a few times, and do a few rides here and there. I would personally not ride them regularly until 4, maybeee 3.
Brilliant, mate! Pure behaviorism applied to a horse. What you are doing is called negative reinforcement. You make his avoidance of the stimulus uncomfortable and his movement towards the stimulus comfortable. Most people inadvertently do the opposite which simply reinforces the avoidance behavior.
I have had a number of jumpers and dressage horses that came in with large issues, and they all ended up being able to walk , tort and canter on a loose rein. That is not a western thing , that is a relexed horse thing. if you cant do that when there is nothing spooking your horse, you certainly couldnt do it when your horse was spooking.
or you could just dismount and take him over to it to show him there's nothing to be afraid of - encourage him to be curious, investigate and connect to it, , sometimes in competition warm-up pens,,,we only get 5 mins to show them the pen - works good when you don't have 20 mins to get them around a spooky or a horse eating trail obstacle - lead them to it , saves time, builds your horses confidence in you too. Thanks for sharing.
I know this was a few years ago, so I guess I won't expect an answer. Why not get off (or ride) lead him to the object, let him sniff and check it out, praising him for doing so? I give a handful of hay pellets when the horse touches it with his nose, sometimes I'll put the pellets on the scary object so he eats off of it. Keep saying it's ok, touch it. It's ok, it's ok. I do this with all scary objects I can around the stable. When out on the trail, something scary is encountered, that "It's ok" mantra comes in handy. This takes about 1-5 mins once they get the idea of the "scary game" that it's ok and they can touch it. Seriously, makes scary objects not so scary but a part of the game we play and we know what to do when encountering the next scary thing.
This should be common knowledge among anyone; for any discipline who handles horses. It isn't working because he's making the horse work more when he is headed away from the object. That is simply a form of mental pressure to make being away from the object more uncomfortable than being near it- reverse psychology. It works because he is relaxing when the horse is facing the scary object. Horses are herd animals they follow a leader or they are the leader. In a rider/horse pair it is a herd of two- either your the leader or the horse is. Sooooo- if your horse spooks and you tense at the same object by pressuring him towards it or grabbing on to him- you have just explained to the horse that his idea was a GREAT one and your going to follow his lead. If you instead relax and every time you point the horse at the object or ask them to walk closer to it you relax pressure- if the horse sees you as a leader then he will relax too. He has simply explained to the horse stay calm follow me- I'm not spooking so you shouldn't be either. Specifically- lets stay calm near or in the direction of this object. Thereby associating the scary new object with relaxation. The more you practice the behavior with the horse- the more reliable they see you as a leader- the quicker the respond to a request to relax around scary things. Eventually they don't spook at things you don't- because they are following your lead.
Oh wow! Really awesome to see you here! I think you AND your sister, Amelia have so much to offer and in general, you both have a greater understanding of the Horse in general, compared to many other “trainers”
Fear is not something an animal chooses to feel, though we/they will often choose to move away from an object that causes fear or anxiety. The human equivalent to this particular anti-spook method would be if you continually flicked me in the shoulder every time I tried to look away from or leave the movie theater when a scary movie is playing. (For context, I hate scary movies and also hate being flicked - it hurts). This doesn't teach me to not be scared. What it teaches me is to now choose fear over pain. What teaches me to not be scared is exactly what you do for desensitization: overcome a frightening stimulus by getting past it at lower stages, realizing after each time that the stimulus will go away and I will be fine. (Like once the movie is over and I'm still alive I realize it might not be as bad as I thought.) This was still accomplished by the end of your video and I think you did a good job explaining your methods. I think the end result from the way you did it DID actually help the horse gain confidence around the scary object, but the desensitization step happened mostly near the end when he was calm and examining the object. I think it would be very easy for someone to watch this video and attempt to do this with the outcome that the horse now fears the person more than the object instead of gaining confidence around frightening objects. Possibly the most important part of this training method is the PAUSE, so the horse can come back down instead of being constantly stimulated by the object, then the kicking, then the object again. The phrase "make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard" is not totally appropriate in this context. It is not wrong for an animal to want to run away from a scary object - indeed, running away from scary things is the whole reason horses are still alive. Right and wrong can foster a mindset that lead to horse abuse, thinking the horse is being naughty or disrespectful when it is only doing what instinct tells it to do. A more accurate phrase would be "making the behavior I desire from the horse easy and making the behavior that I would rather the horse not display hard," but I understand that doesn't roll off the tongue. Thank you for the videos and keep 'em coming!
Abbi, are you familiar with B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning? This is exactly what you are saying and what is being applied here. What is being demonstrated is called negative reinforcement.
I disagree. A plastic bag in the wind is not going to kill a horse- until it is shown that, it will always spook at plastic bags (for example). If there was an angry lion in a cage and warick was making the horse get closer to it...then I'd agree.
You may have had a valid point - except the horse is not being made to face a more painful / fearful option here. Rather, he is being allowed to move away to a more comfortable distance from the scary object and then guided back to the less-comfortable distance. Warwick isn't forcing him to face it directly, and endure it despite it's "scariness". He's allowing the horse to move off, when the horse chooses to move off, and then simply cuing for an increase in momentum and redirecting him back to the general location. As soon as the horse is even halfway-facing the object again, he drops all request for movement or direction, and allows the horse to decide whether or not to continue confronting his fear. He's not trying to convey the "wrong-ness" of running away from the scary thing to the horse, or trying to make himself scarier than what the horse fears. He's just guiding the horse to an eventual conclusion: the scary thing isn't actually scary.
I have a horse who spooks in a certain place in the school. I of course, tense up in anticipation, which takes away all his confidence in me. However, this looks a nice gentle approach which makes much sense and the most important thing of all........I will believe that I am doing the right thing!! So many thanks.
Great training tip! Thank you so much for this and it makes sense not to let spook and just keep going, building them up for a major one down the line. Because now they will know what is going to happen next, they are going to have to walk around and around until they learn not to react. So future reactions might be limited as you are also teaching them this. LOL On the "I'm lazy" Subbed. alarmed, liked.
Hello Warwick, I really appreciate your Videos and am very inspired by them. The only thing I am wondering about is why you are already riding a two-year-old? By my information having weight on the back should be put as late as possible (ideally not before 5 to protect the spine but definitely not before 3). Could you clarify why you are doing it? Because in every other respect you strike me as a very experienced and very sensitive horseperson, probably one of the best trainiers I ever saw. Dearest Wishes, Skilfa
When I boarded my horses on pasture where a private landing strip was laid out between the sets of pastures, the small commuter planes landed frequently enough that the horses got totally desensitized to them. They would approach and land so rapidly you didn't have time to react but even when mounting, the horses totally ignored them. My most habitual spooks occurred in rice fields where invisible ducks would burst up under a cantering horse, squacking:(
What is also making your horse uptight is the bit. Watch the video and you can tell his mind is on it. There was an interesting study done on bitted vs bitless and horses had a lower heart rate and, surprisingly, stopped better when bitless. To me it makes sense; one can think better when calm and the worry of pain (or feeling pain) puts a horse's mind in two directions rather than focusing on one thing. (bit aside, you have a very nice approach with horses)
@Leona Bastet The QH industry is notorious for their futurities for immature babies. Don’t try to justify it. They ruin a lot of horses but nobody cares because there’s a lot of money in it. Waiting til 5-6 may be a stretch but 3-4 would be a lot better for the horses longevity.
Luckily enough, I just saw your video and find it wonderful. Thank you for this session, make bad choice hard and the right choice easy. How can I use your method outside on a fairly busy street with cars and tractors, if my young horse always wants to bolt away. Have worked with him at home in my yard using my own small tractor and trying to desensitize him, but when we are "out" and "not safe" (in his mind -and maybe even mine) then all bets are off. Thank you very much
Another way of dealing with it is following another horse than won't spook. My TB spooked at a park bench, mud patch on the trail and a small stream- until he saw another horse go by/ through. No issues later for similar things.
that's not training though, merely avoidance of the issue. If you train your horse you get a broker horse that will spook at fewer things and not require a mate at all times.
Excellent video. What about desensitization to moving objects like bycicles? I can ride one around him perfectly fine but encounter in them on a trail. Different story.
Personally I would have a friend ride their bike up and down the trail while I walked with my horse on a long line and once he's ok with that transition it to my friend riding around while I'm in the saddle
This is roughly what I've been doing with the mare I ride. When I first started riding her she would jump and spook at almost anything. she now doesn't even flinch when the other horses gallop at her, past her kick and fuss around. she will stand quietly under saddle and wait for instruction. The only thing I have trouble with on her now are sudden movement or loud noise (and thats usually only a small startle) and There's a dead kangaroo on the property that has her spooking pretty badly still.
Warwick, my mare is not broke to ride yet but she is scared of one side of the roundpen (it's against trees and some tall weeds). Can rhjs method be applied from the ground?
I have a mare that is very spooky. When she sees something she is scared of she will stop, back up really fast (no matter how forward my hands are and how much I push her forward), and she will snort and scream. She is great in the arena but as soon as I take her on trail she gets a little spooky. Since I'm on trail and don't have a lot of room to work with, how should I go about her backing up?
With my horse when he spooks he'll spook big, but when i make him go to it and ill stop him there and ill wait for a sign of relaxation and then pat him and ask him to walk on and usually thats that. But i like your method also.
Push on and work them away from the thing, turn them towards the thing then relax into the saddle when they're facing it. What if this teaches them to run from the thing?
Don't make them just "run"- run them to their safe corner, kick them the whole time they are going there, do clockwise circles in their safe corner, and then counter clockwise. It will not make them ever want to run from the thing more if you are consistent
Fair enough if the item being spooked at is visible. I have an anxious 7 year old that seems to be loosing his confidence. He suddenly jumps and can bolt if I don't stop him. I have always taken a calm, slow boost his confidence approach. High winds and the woodland at the bottom of his field cause him great anxiety. What can I do for him?
Often we are on a narrow track without much space, and make the wrong thing hard like here is not possible, there might be cars or just not enough room, any ideas what to do in those cases?
What do you do if ridding at a walk outside and horse stops looks and turns ears in a direction then continues on . I know something caught his attention most of the time it is a deer or cow in the distance but he never jerks or jumps smooth as silk .
What if I have a horse who spooks at every tiny thing, things humans don't notice? I've been doing a lot of desensitizing to random things, but he just doesn't seem to get it. He's not trained to be ridden either. Ideas??
I'm so glad that you nowadays don't work a horse this bad anymore. This is the total absence of communication and listening. Poor horse. Thank you, that you changed to the better!
Ok I think you took the question wrong, if you are with a "group of people" its a hard thing to take this much time to do. I understand training is an ongoing thing, thats no worry of mine Im always up for new things with my horse.
If I go on a trail ride with other people, I make sure they are there to help me train my horse through things , and not just enjoy the scenery. It takes a village to raise a child.
+WarwickSchiller If I only rode with people with enough experience (or who at least gave a darn) to help me, I would always ride by myself. All most people around here want to do is "enjoy the scenery". Actually, the only way I can correct a problem with a horse while on the trail is to drop way back from the pack and do it alone. Otherwise, you get cussed for "starting a fuss" around the group. Plus, I don't want some kid getting hurt because my horse (or someone elses) has a meltdown when I correct something.
How would this work with a dressage horse while maintaining contact? My horse will kinda go on a loose rein but he's an event horse not a western horse. He's a spooky OTTB but he's pretty curious once he decides it isn't gonna eat him. :p
I have a trail horse, who can "get happy" when we gallop and decide to kick his back legs up in the air like he would in the pasture when he is playing. He isn't bucking per se, he is just "kickin' up his heels." How would I go about teaching him that behavior is ONLY when riderless?? I'm not sure how to make the wrong thing hard in this situation. Please help me if you have a moment. Thank you.
The horse I ride keeps backing up when she spooks. Once I took about 5 minutes to get her past a fence on a trail ride which didn't use to stand there (which is why she spooked). Instead of forcing her to go past it I gave her the time she needed to deal with it, but used my leg whenever she tried backing up. Unfortunately, that made her back up harder. But because she didn't turn away I couldn't steer her towards it to release the pressure. I was at a loss how to fix it. Since she didn't stop backing up and we nearly walked into a stream I had to stop using my leg. But then she stood still, and if I used my leg she backed up again. But if I hadn't, we would have been standing there all day. Eventually what I did was just relax and release all pressure whenever she walked towards it instead of backing up to my leg aids. Took us well over 5 minutes but we got past it without any force or fear.
I had this problem too. Another thing you can try is to turn them around and back them up towards the direction you want to go. That worked for me. I was like... You wanna back up? ok, lets back up but not the way you want to go. ;)
My neighbor had an effing dog that kept dodging around to try to nip my horses heels and I could feel her getting ready to dump me and run back to the barn. When the neighbors hired hand was around he would improve the situation by screaming at the dog and lunging at it behind my horse. The dog finally disappeared and I had nothing to do with it (other than the dog the neighbor was a good neighbor) but I could have danced for joy. Definitely a case calling for triple S : Shoot , shovel and shut up!
I can work thru scary objects on the ground but my horse spooked at the sound of a nail gun yesterday. He has heard the sound before so I don't know why it spooked him. I was working him in the pasture going between cones, so I'm sure his mind was busy. Then the nail gun went off behind us and he bolted. I managed to stop him but if I was on the trail and a sound scared him it could end badly. How can I work thru noises that come out of nowhere?
What about those pop rocks, then work him in the round pen or something, have someone outside pop one, and get his mind back each time on the ground. I'm thinking each time it will become easier to get his mind back, and eventually he won't care. Just a thought! I know this was a year ago 😆
Sounds. Play lots of sounds. This one is easy and simple to do :) You could even make a CD of scary sounds at varying times and play it next to the pasture. Guns, fireworks, engines, dirt bikes,you name, just start lighting them off. Eventually he'll get used to crazy sounds. Even better, feed him food after sounds go off, so he associates good thigns with sudden sounds :D
Like they said, play lots of sounds and get him used to all kinds of sounds. Also, if he bolts, do a one rein stop and redirect his feet, wether left, right, back anything to show him again he’s not deciding
I'd love for you to try this with my mare. She'll fight it for 45 minutes. Then do it the next day. Thing is, I don't have the money. Ad it has nothing to do with spooking at a thing, she just plain doesn't want to.
@@WarwickSchiller No, I don't have to money for you to do it. I do it, and it can be successful. But it takes forever and she's angry by the end of it. Longest time was 1h30 for just going up a non spooky hill. She just didn'y want to. Didn't even pretend to spook. Just refused.
@@amberblyledge7859 This exercise is not about winning. The horse in the video went up to the object , rather quickly. Some horses might take 10 sessions to get that confident. The whole exercise is about gaining your horses trust and confidence, by the way you expose them to new and scary objects. If your only goal is to get the horse to touch or look at the object in the shortest amount of time possible, they can sense that and not be confident about you.
+Nicola Carley a good rider is able to wear spurs and not use them every time they put leg on. some riders use spurs incorrectly.. I'm assuming he was using the spurs to finesse a well broke horse doing higher level movements. Spurs can also be used as another aid for a horse dull to leg.. You begin by adding leg, adding leg harder, bumping with heels, and if no response to all that you go to spurs or crop. You teach the horse to go off the first ask, which was gentle leg pressure.
Warwick is not using them, there is a difference between having spurs on and using them. But I have found that when I need my spurs I don’t have time to go back and get them! So better to have them on and not use them that to need them and not have them.
Depending on the type, they can be used for many different things. Mainly for applying pressure or to help make precise leg aids and signals for movement. But he isn't using them here :) Just bouncing his calves on the horse's side, which he talks about.
Actually research has shown horses started at 18-24 months build stronger bone and muscle strength than horses who are not as long as the exercise periods are not overdone. Warwick happens to be one of the most respected horsemen. He treats horses as they should be treated.
Excellent video. What about desensitization to moving objects like bycicles? I can ride one around him perfectly fine but encounter in them on a trail. Different story.
I followed this yesterday with my horse that had recently discovered something scary in the arena that was only obvious to him. I also changed the way that I was reacting to his spookiness. It worked brilliantly. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.
Great work.
I love your calm attitude, no anger or violence at all! You have a wonderful voice and are so laid back, you make everything seem like no big deal! Thanks for your videos!
Kimberly Smiley 😕😕😕
😀😀😀😀😀❤️
welcome to the world off good-looking men
good-looking men like this cowboy are like lesson horse. they stop responding.
sorry for my typos. I was typing with my left hand.
Makes complete sense, the person who owned my horse prior to me spent so much time making my horse go to something he was afraid of that my horse lost complete confidence , he is getting better and I will start using this process to help him along , thank you for the video
I searched far and wide looking for a video like then when I was going through this with my horse. My spooking and bolting problem got worse and worse and I probably did everything wrong until I wound up in ICU. The trainer I was working with took the perspective of just ignoring the problem (and called it "working through it" when actually it was just ignoring it. Clinton Anderson videos talked about the process without clearly demonstrating it. But THIS video demonstrates it with a horse that is actively spooking. Thank you so much for this video....I will cherish it always. :)
Just got my own horse recently and I appreciate this old gem being on here for me to find!
This video is probably one of the first videos I have seen of Warwick and I had no clue of who he was. Since my childhood, I had been taught to make the horse face its fears and force it towards the object it feared. Although I am typically skeptical about new information I receive, this video changed me and my horse for the better and we are both far more relaxed in new environments. This video is one of the best pieces of advice I have gotten from a horse person. Thank you so much for this video Warwick. I am also happy to have come across the video a second time as, to be honest, I did not recall who had put it out.
I accidentally found the videos of Warwick Schiller a few weeks ago. He's definitively my favourite trainer: his methods and principles are the only one I feel confortable with.
I'm srill not a payong customer, because I stopped riding 15 years ago (because kicking, pulling on the bites, fighting the horses all the time wade me unhappy and made me injured). I'm considering riding again, but according to MY terms. If the teacher disagrees, I'll just show Warwick's videos. If the teacher still disagrees, I'll be out of the barn.
Commonsense approach with an excellent outcome, no bullying or forcing....lovely..
Quick 2 questions as you & your training have evolved so much:
1) do you still feel it is safe to ride a 2 yr. old? As in safe for a young horse's spine?
2) have you completely stopped using spurs, & if not, why?
Thanks, am so loving your more current training methods!
2 years old is a bit too young imho. I think it's ok to back them a few times, and do a few rides here and there. I would personally not ride them regularly until 4, maybeee 3.
Glad I watched this - I got it. Thank you for explaining so simply, and showing the timing.
Brilliant, mate! Pure behaviorism applied to a horse. What you are doing is called negative reinforcement. You make his avoidance of the stimulus uncomfortable and his movement towards the stimulus comfortable. Most people inadvertently do the opposite which simply reinforces the avoidance behavior.
I love that color. Chestnut comes in so many shades. Pretty pretty pony.
I lv the riders compassion, he's professional demener is refreshing.
I have had a number of jumpers and dressage horses that came in with large issues, and they all ended up being able to walk , tort and canter on a loose rein. That is not a western thing , that is a relexed horse thing. if you cant do that when there is nothing spooking your horse, you certainly couldnt do it when your horse was spooking.
@Raylan Josue yea, been using Instaflixxer for years myself :D
Excellent! No pressure and he(the horse) relaxed himself....Very cool...wish more people thought this way.
Thanks Warwick! Thank you for you clips showing how to fix something as it's happening. It really helps my learning.
This is so good. Great result.
Thank you this lesson is very helpful. I appreciate you going to the time and trouble to make this video.
Beautifully done! Thank you for sharing with us!
or you could just dismount and take him over to it to show him there's nothing to be afraid of - encourage him to be curious, investigate and connect to it, , sometimes in competition warm-up pens,,,we only get 5 mins to show them the pen - works good when you don't have 20 mins to get them around a spooky or a horse eating trail obstacle - lead them to it , saves time, builds your horses confidence in you too. Thanks for sharing.
Great vid, made your point clearly and concisely in 10 minutes.
I know this was a few years ago, so I guess I won't expect an answer. Why not get off (or ride) lead him to the object, let him sniff and check it out, praising him for doing so? I give a handful of hay pellets when the horse touches it with his nose, sometimes I'll put the pellets on the scary object so he eats off of it. Keep saying it's ok, touch it. It's ok, it's ok. I do this with all scary objects I can around the stable. When out on the trail, something scary is encountered, that "It's ok" mantra comes in handy. This takes about 1-5 mins once they get the idea of the "scary game" that it's ok and they can touch it. Seriously, makes scary objects not so scary but a part of the game we play and we know what to do when encountering the next scary thing.
This should be common knowledge among anyone; for any discipline who handles horses. It isn't working because he's making the horse work more when he is headed away from the object. That is simply a form of mental pressure to make being away from the object more uncomfortable than being near it- reverse psychology.
It works because he is relaxing when the horse is facing the scary object. Horses are herd animals they follow a leader or they are the leader. In a rider/horse pair it is a herd of two- either your the leader or the horse is. Sooooo- if your horse spooks and you tense at the same object by pressuring him towards it or grabbing on to him- you have just explained to the horse that his idea was a GREAT one and your going to follow his lead. If you instead relax and every time you point the horse at the object or ask them to walk closer to it you relax pressure- if the horse sees you as a leader then he will relax too. He has simply explained to the horse stay calm follow me- I'm not spooking so you shouldn't be either. Specifically- lets stay calm near or in the direction of this object. Thereby associating the scary new object with relaxation. The more you practice the behavior with the horse- the more reliable they see you as a leader- the quicker the respond to a request to relax around scary things. Eventually they don't spook at things you don't- because they are following your lead.
Again,this is a great help For my horse(and for me!!) Many thanks...
You're brilliant! Thank you!
Excellent advice.
Another great video Warwick! Extremely helpful and well explained. keep them coming!!
Beautiful horse
this is such a fantastic video Warwick! I really think this whole philosophy is so important! thank you so much!
Oh wow! Really awesome to see you here! I think you AND your sister, Amelia have so much to offer and in general, you both have a greater understanding of the Horse in general, compared to many other “trainers”
your videos are great! Thanks a bunch!
Fear is not something an animal chooses to feel, though we/they will often choose to move away from an object that causes fear or anxiety. The human equivalent to this particular anti-spook method would be if you continually flicked me in the shoulder every time I tried to look away from or leave the movie theater when a scary movie is playing. (For context, I hate scary movies and also hate being flicked - it hurts). This doesn't teach me to not be scared. What it teaches me is to now choose fear over pain. What teaches me to not be scared is exactly what you do for desensitization: overcome a frightening stimulus by getting past it at lower stages, realizing after each time that the stimulus will go away and I will be fine. (Like once the movie is over and I'm still alive I realize it might not be as bad as I thought.) This was still accomplished by the end of your video and I think you did a good job explaining your methods.
I think the end result from the way you did it DID actually help the horse gain confidence around the scary object, but the desensitization step happened mostly near the end when he was calm and examining the object. I think it would be very easy for someone to watch this video and attempt to do this with the outcome that the horse now fears the person more than the object instead of gaining confidence around frightening objects. Possibly the most important part of this training method is the PAUSE, so the horse can come back down instead of being constantly stimulated by the object, then the kicking, then the object again. The phrase "make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard" is not totally appropriate in this context. It is not wrong for an animal to want to run away from a scary object - indeed, running away from scary things is the whole reason horses are still alive. Right and wrong can foster a mindset that lead to horse abuse, thinking the horse is being naughty or disrespectful when it is only doing what instinct tells it to do. A more accurate phrase would be "making the behavior I desire from the horse easy and making the behavior that I would rather the horse not display hard," but I understand that doesn't roll off the tongue.
Thank you for the videos and keep 'em coming!
Abbi, are you familiar with B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning? This is exactly what you are saying and what is being applied here. What is being demonstrated is called negative reinforcement.
My brother taught me not to be afraid of the dark by facing my fear. This is the same thing. Get over it. Literally.
I disagree. A plastic bag in the wind is not going to kill a horse- until it is shown that, it will always spook at plastic bags (for example). If there was an angry lion in a cage and warick was making the horse get closer to it...then I'd agree.
You may have had a valid point - except the horse is not being made to face a more painful / fearful option here. Rather, he is being allowed to move away to a more comfortable distance from the scary object and then guided back to the less-comfortable distance. Warwick isn't forcing him to face it directly, and endure it despite it's "scariness". He's allowing the horse to move off, when the horse chooses to move off, and then simply cuing for an increase in momentum and redirecting him back to the general location. As soon as the horse is even halfway-facing the object again, he drops all request for movement or direction, and allows the horse to decide whether or not to continue confronting his fear. He's not trying to convey the "wrong-ness" of running away from the scary thing to the horse, or trying to make himself scarier than what the horse fears. He's just guiding the horse to an eventual conclusion: the scary thing isn't actually scary.
I have a horse who spooks in a certain place in the school. I of course, tense up in anticipation, which takes away all his confidence in me. However, this looks a nice gentle approach which makes much sense and the most important thing of all........I will believe that I am doing the right thing!! So many thanks.
Great training tip! Thank you so much for this and it makes sense not to let spook and just keep going, building them up for a major one down the line. Because now they will know what is going to happen next, they are going to have to walk around and around until they learn not to react. So future reactions might be limited as you are also teaching them this. LOL On the "I'm lazy" Subbed. alarmed, liked.
Well explained ! Very helpful!
Hello Warwick,
I really appreciate your Videos and am very inspired by them. The only thing I am wondering about is why you are already riding a two-year-old? By my information having weight on the back should be put as late as possible (ideally not before 5 to protect the spine but definitely not before 3). Could you clarify why you are doing it? Because in every other respect you strike me as a very experienced and very sensitive horseperson, probably one of the best trainiers I ever saw.
Dearest Wishes, Skilfa
That is the most gorgeous two year old I've ever seen 😍
amazing, man!!! you are brilliant!
nice and clear , thanks
I already know im gonna use this alot
When I boarded my horses on pasture where a private landing strip was laid out between the sets of pastures, the small commuter planes landed frequently enough that the horses got totally desensitized to them. They would approach and land so rapidly you didn't have time to react but even when mounting, the horses totally ignored them. My most habitual spooks occurred in rice fields where invisible ducks would burst up under a cantering horse, squacking:(
What is also making your horse uptight is the bit. Watch the video and you can tell his mind is on it. There was an interesting study done on bitted vs bitless and horses had a lower heart rate and, surprisingly, stopped better when bitless. To me it makes sense; one can think better when calm and the worry of pain (or feeling pain) puts a horse's mind in two directions rather than focusing on one thing. (bit aside, you have a very nice approach with horses)
Thank you very much.
Riding a 2 year old? This video is made in 2012, @WarwickSchiller how do you now (2019) think about riding a not fully developed horse (
@Leona Bastet
The QH industry is notorious for their futurities for immature babies. Don’t try to justify it. They ruin a lot of horses but nobody cares because there’s a lot of money in it.
Waiting til 5-6 may be a stretch but 3-4 would be a lot better for the horses longevity.
Luckily enough, I just saw your video and find it wonderful. Thank you for this session, make bad choice hard and the right choice easy. How can I use your method outside on a fairly busy street with cars and tractors, if my young horse always wants to bolt away. Have worked with him at home in my yard using my own small tractor and trying to desensitize him, but when we are "out" and "not safe" (in his mind -and maybe even mine) then all bets are off. Thank you very much
I have several videos on this, one is called "teaching a horse to be good with moving objects" and one is the recent one of traffic.
Another way of dealing with it is following another horse than won't spook. My TB spooked at a park bench, mud patch on the trail and a small stream- until he saw another horse go by/ through. No issues later for similar things.
that's not training though, merely avoidance of the issue. If you train your horse you get a broker horse that will spook at fewer things and not require a mate at all times.
Nice & usefull video
wondering about this as well for a jumper. Can't drop contact like that at the trot really.
that horse in the background has the most gorgeous and longest tail ive ever seen!
Excellent video. What about desensitization to moving objects like bycicles? I can ride one around him perfectly fine but encounter in them on a trail. Different story.
Personally I would have a friend ride their bike up and down the trail while I walked with my horse on a long line and once he's ok with that transition it to my friend riding around while I'm in the saddle
This is roughly what I've been doing with the mare I ride. When I first started riding her she would jump and spook at almost anything. she now doesn't even flinch when the other horses gallop at her, past her kick and fuss around. she will stand quietly under saddle and wait for instruction. The only thing I have trouble with on her now are sudden movement or loud noise (and thats usually only a small startle) and There's a dead kangaroo on the property that has her spooking pretty badly still.
Is looping an essential part of the exercise? I've always done small circles to show that "going" is fine, but going away is not.
Warwick, my mare is not broke to ride yet but she is scared of one side of the roundpen (it's against trees and some tall weeds). Can rhjs method be applied from the ground?
I have a mare that is very spooky. When she sees something she is scared of she will stop, back up really fast (no matter how forward my hands are and how much I push her forward), and she will snort and scream. She is great in the arena but as soon as I take her on trail she gets a little spooky. Since I'm on trail and don't have a lot of room to work with, how should I go about her backing up?
With my horse when he spooks he'll spook big, but when i make him go to it and ill stop him there and ill wait for a sign of relaxation and then pat him and ask him to walk on and usually thats that. But i like your method also.
how would you do this 'inhand"? please? with a yearling...for example
Push on and work them away from the thing, turn them towards the thing then relax into the saddle when they're facing it. What if this teaches them to run from the thing?
Don't make them just "run"- run them to their safe corner, kick them the whole time they are going there, do clockwise circles in their safe corner, and then counter clockwise. It will not make them ever want to run from the thing more if you are consistent
Can hear this video at all!
Fair enough if the item being spooked at is visible. I have an anxious 7 year old that seems to be loosing his confidence. He suddenly jumps and can bolt if I don't stop him. I have always taken a calm, slow boost his confidence approach. High winds and the woodland at the bottom of his field cause him great anxiety. What can I do for him?
Often we are on a narrow track without much space, and make the wrong thing hard like here is not possible, there might be cars or just not enough room, any ideas what to do in those cases?
What do you do if ridding at a walk outside and horse stops looks and turns ears in a direction then continues on . I know something caught his attention most of the time it is a deer or cow in the distance but he never jerks or jumps smooth as silk .
Would love to see how to deal with this on the ground
face yer fear horse lol good video
What if I have a horse who spooks at every tiny thing, things humans don't notice? I've been doing a lot of desensitizing to random things, but he just doesn't seem to get it. He's not trained to be ridden either. Ideas??
I'm so glad that you nowadays don't work a horse this bad anymore. This is the total absence of communication and listening. Poor horse. Thank you, that you changed to the better!
My guess is that the horse your riding is about a 2-4yr old gelding colt ur breaking. Got one of them myself. Acts just the same
What do you do while on a trail ride when you can not take the time to train?
*+peachysweetness222* - Sell your horse, buy a bicycle. Problem solved! :-)
If you have time to enjoy the scenery on a trail ride, you have time to train.
Ok I think you took the question wrong, if you are with a "group of people" its a hard thing to take this much time to do. I understand training is an ongoing thing, thats no worry of mine Im always up for new things with my horse.
If I go on a trail ride with other people, I make sure they are there to help me train my horse through things , and not just enjoy the scenery. It takes a village to raise a child.
+WarwickSchiller If I only rode with people with enough experience (or who at least gave a darn) to help me, I would always ride by myself. All most people around here want to do is "enjoy the scenery". Actually, the only way I can correct a problem with a horse while on the trail is to drop way back from the pack and do it alone. Otherwise, you get cussed for "starting a fuss" around the group. Plus, I don't want some kid getting hurt because my horse (or someone elses) has a meltdown when I correct something.
How would this work with a dressage horse while maintaining contact? My horse will kinda go on a loose rein but he's an event horse not a western horse. He's a spooky OTTB but he's pretty curious once he decides it isn't gonna eat him. :p
The sound is bad, or is it my PC??
I have a trail horse, who can "get happy" when we gallop and decide to kick his back legs up in the air like he would in the pasture when he is playing. He isn't bucking per se, he is just "kickin' up his heels." How would I go about teaching him that behavior is ONLY when riderless?? I'm not sure how to make the wrong thing hard in this situation. Please help me if you have a moment. Thank you.
+Eadie Camp The most effective way is to lope (not run) until that foolisness stops. When he lopes smoothly, stop and let him rest.
Thank you!!!
The horse I ride keeps backing up when she spooks. Once I took about 5 minutes to get her past a fence on a trail ride which didn't use to stand there (which is why she spooked). Instead of forcing her to go past it I gave her the time she needed to deal with it, but used my leg whenever she tried backing up. Unfortunately, that made her back up harder. But because she didn't turn away I couldn't steer her towards it to release the pressure. I was at a loss how to fix it. Since she didn't stop backing up and we nearly walked into a stream I had to stop using my leg. But then she stood still, and if I used my leg she backed up again. But if I hadn't, we would have been standing there all day.
Eventually what I did was just relax and release all pressure whenever she walked towards it instead of backing up to my leg aids. Took us well over 5 minutes but we got past it without any force or fear.
I had this problem too. Another thing you can try is to turn them around and back them up towards the direction you want to go. That worked for me. I was like... You wanna back up? ok, lets back up but not the way you want to go. ;)
how do you deal with a barking dog following me and my horse?
Turn around and go straight toward it, follow it
My neighbor had an effing dog that kept dodging around to try to nip my horses heels and I could feel her getting ready to dump me and run back to the barn. When the neighbors hired hand was around he would improve the situation by screaming at the dog and lunging at it behind my horse. The dog finally disappeared and I had nothing to do with it (other than the dog the neighbor was a good neighbor) but I could have danced for joy. Definitely a case calling for triple S : Shoot , shovel and shut up!
My 2.5 yr old goes balistc around dogs ,stresses too much
I can work thru scary objects on the ground but my horse spooked at the sound of a nail gun yesterday. He has heard the sound before so I don't know why it spooked him. I was working him in the pasture going between cones, so I'm sure his mind was busy. Then the nail gun went off behind us and he bolted. I managed to stop him but if I was on the trail and a sound scared him it could end badly. How can I work thru noises that come out of nowhere?
What about those pop rocks, then work him in the round pen or something, have someone outside pop one, and get his mind back each time on the ground. I'm thinking each time it will become easier to get his mind back, and eventually he won't care. Just a thought! I know this was a year ago 😆
Sounds. Play lots of sounds. This one is easy and simple to do :) You could even make a CD of scary sounds at varying times and play it next to the pasture. Guns, fireworks, engines, dirt bikes,you name, just start lighting them off. Eventually he'll get used to crazy sounds. Even better, feed him food after sounds go off, so he associates good thigns with sudden sounds :D
Like they said, play lots of sounds and get him used to all kinds of sounds. Also, if he bolts, do a one rein stop and redirect his feet, wether left, right, back anything to show him again he’s not deciding
I'd love for you to try this with my mare. She'll fight it for 45 minutes. Then do it the next day. Thing is, I don't have the money. Ad it has nothing to do with spooking at a thing, she just plain doesn't want to.
You dont have the money to do this exercise ? Its free , its UA-cam
@@WarwickSchiller No, I don't have to money for you to do it. I do it, and it can be successful. But it takes forever and she's angry by the end of it.
Longest time was 1h30 for just going up a non spooky hill. She just didn'y want to. Didn't even pretend to spook. Just refused.
@@amberblyledge7859 This exercise is not about winning. The horse in the video went up to the object , rather quickly. Some horses might take 10 sessions to get that confident. The whole exercise is about gaining your horses trust and confidence, by the way you expose them to new and scary objects. If your only goal is to get the horse to touch or look at the object in the shortest amount of time possible, they can sense that and not be confident about you.
Why the spurs?
+Nicola Carley a good rider is able to wear spurs and not use them every time they put leg on. some riders use spurs incorrectly.. I'm assuming he was using the spurs to finesse a well broke horse doing higher level movements. Spurs can also be used as another aid for a horse dull to leg.. You begin by adding leg, adding leg harder, bumping with heels, and if no response to all that you go to spurs or crop. You teach the horse to go off the first ask, which was gentle leg pressure.
He says in the video he wasn't really spurring...bouncing his legs
Warwick is not using them, there is a difference between having spurs on and using them. But I have found that when I need my spurs I don’t have time to go back and get them! So better to have them on and not use them that to need them and not have them.
Depending on the type, they can be used for many different things. Mainly for applying pressure or to help make precise leg aids and signals for movement.
But he isn't using them here :) Just bouncing his calves on the horse's side, which he talks about.
I always enjoyed your videos until I saw this one. What the heck are you doing with spurs on!
I have them on in many of my videos.
You make that look easy but it's not
Will you marry me?
Youbtube is getting greedy
2 yrs old ??
toooo young
Actually research has shown horses started at 18-24 months build stronger bone and muscle strength than horses who are not as long as the exercise periods are not overdone. Warwick happens to be one of the most respected horsemen. He treats horses as they should be treated.
Nice of you to use feet (instead of meters) for the benefit of all the Yanks who otherwise wouldn't know what you're talking about! hahaha
The metric system makes way more sense than our Byzantine system of measurements.
Excellent video. What about desensitization to moving objects like bycicles? I can ride one around him perfectly fine but encounter in them on a trail. Different story.