People probably thought I was crazy this summer as I rode my green broke pony at two of the biggest shows of the year, telling him “Good boy!” every time he made a transition. Or when we would sit on the rail for a moment before the class started, he would get a treat for taking a breath. These R+ methods are so silly! But they worked. I could feel him come back to me every time he got nervous or settle into a stride every time I spoke to him.
When I took my pony that understood R+ training into the show ring, it was a whole different experience. He and I had a greater depth of communication and understanding on both sides. I knew what made him nervous sooner and he knew to check in with me before he reacted on it. He excelled in trail for two main reasons: he never looked twice at any obstacle or pole that bothered quite a few horses and he tried his hardest never to hit a pole. He was always rewarded for crossing something he wasn’t sure about and never second guessed my direction because I had built that trust.
Though Flash has always been great about picking up his feet over poles, it was something I had started experimenting with at home with all of my horses. I continue to jog or lope over poles on a loose rein, just letting the horse find their way. As soon as they clear a pole without hitting it I stop and reward. Then I start building up how many poles they can keep from hitting a little at a time. But always by timing my stops and rewards, never once getting after them for hitting a pole or getting the wrong stride. And it’s proved affective on all of my horses!
I did find out it’s very difficult to get treats out of your pocket when your chaps are on! But it was so fun to try this on a show pony and see the results. I bumbled through some of it and hope to get better in areas of my R+ communication for the show ring, but I loved the process and will continue to strengthen this method for my show horses!
