b'Try While standing beside the horses head,horse returns to making that try again place your right hand just behind hisand if you are frequently late, you risk poll. Now, with your thumb and the tipsextinguishing a try entirely.of your first two fingers, apply pressure. If your horse is accustomed to yielding inUpping the Antea variety of situations, hes likely to lowerNow, heres another potential sticking his head instantly. You, of course, wouldpoint to be aware of. If you consistently be delivering an instantly timed release.reward just the thought or the try, the thought or try is all the horse will Buddy Uldrikson What frequently happens, however, isdeliver. Therefore, once the horse is Buddy Uldrikson Trainingnothing. No yielding. No searching.consistent about offering a try, you then at Rancho Rio Bonita:No try. In this case, you maintain themove the finish line, up the ante, andbuddyuldriksonhorsemanship.com pressure and continue to wait. Whenask for more.the horse tires of the pressure, hes likely to search for relief by raisingLets say, for instance, as part of a young Y ou apply pressure to the horse. After some searching,his head. Since this movement doeshorses groundwork education, you begin he makes a tentative, partial effort to yield in thenot match the response you had in mind, you maintainthe process of teaching him to back up. direction you want. Such an attempt is referred to as athe pressure and wait. Finally, as he thinks aboutEach time you take hold of the fiador knot and put light try. Its a small fleeting moment. Its also a pivotal event. Iflowering his head, through your fingers you sense thepressure on the noseband of his rope halter, he tucks his the horse is to learn the yielding movement you want yourhorse relaxing. To reward or encourage this thought,nose and rocks his weight back. Each time, you instantly correctly timed release, in response to his try, is crucial.you instantly deliver a release. Theres no need to movereward him with a release. Since the horse is consistent with Heres why. your hand, just cease the pressure. Its a subtle exchangethis try, its time to expect more. Heres how.between you and the horse. So subtle, in fact, as to Starting a Dialog perhaps go unnoticed by anyone watching. Now, when you put light pressure on his halter and he tucks In the pressure/release communication system you use tohis nose and rocks his weight back in response, instead of bring a horses movements under your direction, his try isChances are the horse came to this try after searchinga release, you hold and wait. Be ready for him to search, actually a question: Is this the direction toward a release?convinced him that, by pushing against the pressure youthats okay. You continue to hold and wait. As he shifts a Your instantly timed-release provides him with a yes, thatsset in place, he only puts pressure on himself. After a fewfront foot back a bit, you instantly deliver a release. When right answer. seconds pause, apply pressure again. Given that successfulhes consistent about shifting a foot back in response to behavior gets repeated, this time the horse offers a quicker,pressure, its time to ante up again. You now expect a step. So it is that, through his try, the horse enters into ansurer try. You instantly acknowledge this try with a release. The next level would be two steps. Then, once the horse important dialog with you. Your correctly timed releasebacks readily straight back, youd move on to backing lets him know that the yielding direction he attempts is theOn Being Late quarter circles, half circles, and full circles in each direction. way toward a release. Since what works get repeated, theAs skilled horsemen know, to mark a horses try as theAnd so the process goes.horse is encouraged to yield in that direction the next timeright choice, you must react instantly with your release. If he feels the same kind of pressure in a similar situation. Tomore than a half-second passes, the fragile cause-and-effectAs you bring a wider range of the horses movements under better understand how this works, lets look at teaching yourrelationship between a try and release is usually lost. Also,your direction, hes learned to yield to pressure in a variety horse to lower his head. by the time your late release arrives, the horse will haveof situations; its become second nature to him. Through moved on to another behavior, perhaps resisting. Beinga properly recognized and carefully nurtured try, a solid late has another downside. It could be a while before thehorse/human communication routine has evolved. 32 July 2020'