How to handle over excitement #positivereinforcement #connectiontraining

We talk all the time about relaxation, relaxation, relaxation! But all horses go over threshold sometimes and today we’re talking about excitement 🐎

Horses can get too excited during training because they’re young, they have loads of energy or because you’re working on something fun, playful or speedy. This can lead to what I call ‘bouncing’ - playful running, bucking, rearing, general contortions and airs above the ground.

We usually love to watch our horses doing this in the field, but not so much when we’re training on the ground and definitely not when we’re riding! So, I try to keep bounces to a minimum when I’m working with my horses so that they learn and expect that our time together is a little more controlled and calmer, even when we’re doing something fun. More like a game of rounders than free-for-all playtime at school!

To do this, choose the level of challenge for your horse so that they can stay calm, and gradually expand on it. If you’re working with an exciteable horse, don’t start running around. Instead, work on walk, halt, back up, targeting etc. Once they’re calm with that, go faster walk, trot transitions and immediately back down to walk and so on over time.

But, even advanced horses can still have the odd bouncy moment as India shows here. What do you do about it?

The real key here is:
**ONLY CUE THE EXCITING THING WHEN YOUR HORSE IS CALM AND CONNECTED**

You can usually feel the build up of excitement as you start to approach or cue the behaviour, so you can redirect it at that point if necessary.

And if you think your horse won’t be able to do the thing without losing it, just ask for other, calmer exercises until you both feel ready.

Happy horse training!

Видео How to handle over excitement #positivereinforcement #connectiontraining канала Connection Training