My biggest concern when starting R+ training was how would I eventually apply this to the show ring? I can’t bring a clicker in there with me; I can’t stop on a good lope stride and treat a horse in the middle of a class. So before I jump into how showing an R+ trained pony went, I have to explain how I decided to communicate to my horses in a more subtle way.
I always was one for carrying as few tools as possible. When I started out I had my clicker and would click and reward every time the horse made the right move. Then I started using a verbal cue every time I clicked as well. But I quickly grew tired of the clicker. I really have very little patience, it’s something I work on daily! But I found that if I used the verbal cue instead of the clicker it had the same affect. I just have to use the same tone and same word each time at the correct time.
Once I got the timing down of the verbal cue with the reward I started noticing my horses relax as soon as I opened my mouth. I was amazed how fast I didn’t actually have to use feed as a reward. When I used my verbal cue, which was “good”, my horse immediately settled into what they were doing. Fast forward a bit and I was down to probably only rewarding 4-5 times by feed and the rest was verbal and pets.
A lot more explanation could go into the actual training part, but my point is, I didn’t need to carry around many extra tools now. I was adding R- into this as well, I would move a horses body off my leg pressure or guide his nose with my bit and do my release. When they gave me an especially good move I added a positive reinforcement, a “Good” and a pet or a treat. Even with the combination my horses started trying harder! Constantly looking to me to see if they had done well. An added bonus was their focus on me! For a young one headed into the show ring, added focus on a rider was a plus!
With treats and feed down to a minimum and still finding a big difference in my horse’s demeanor after a verbal cue, I felt ready to experiment with a show pony!