Training Methods

At Pinpoint Horsemanship we use a mix of different techniques, because there is no magic spell that works on every individual horse and their context. Our violence-free methods are rooted in behavioural science, natural horsemanship, psychology and backed by years of hands-on experience.

Natural Behaviour

Our methods are based on the horse's natural behaviour and psychology. We can use our body and tools to mimic body language that the horse already knows from instinct and its life in a herd. This way we can teach them their job, whatever it may be, in a way that makes sense to them.

Safe Space

We find it important to educate people about effective and violence-free training. However we understand that people may have come from different backgrounds and ways of doing things. We want to create a safe space for people to ask their burning questions and learn new techniques, regardless of past experience.

Owner Involvement

You are a priority! We don't just come out to your yard to do a training session with your horse and leave. We highly encourage you to be a part of their journey! We will give you the tools to continue what we started. Whether it takes one or four sessions, we always make sure you too can be a part of their progress and know what you are doing.

Principles

Every trainer has their own way of training a horse. Some work with food or a clicker, others with a stick and string. Next to our formal education in horse behaviour, we have seen a wide variety of training methods all across the globe. We have put the things we liked in our ever expanding toolbox and have left the ones we didn't. Simple as that!

The root of most of our training lies with 'pressure' and 'release'. Pressure is asking a certain question, like 'can you go forward', by adding leg of a voice cue. Release would be taking that pressure away as a reward and a sign that they are giving the right answer. A release of pressure is not the only way to reward a horse, we also like to fuss them when they do something right. This principle applies to most of those 'questions' and 'answers'. But how do you know how what kind of pressure and how much? Or when to release? And how to offer that extra reward after a release? Being able to have the right dosage and timing in your training is vital, and it is one of the most important things we teach in person. Apart from pressure and release, there are other factors that impact learning.

Like for humans, the best state for a horse to learn is when they are slightly challenged but feel safe enough to try their best to give the right answer.

When there is not enough of a challenge or puzzle and the question is too easy for the horse, they will get bored and not pay too much attention. When the question is way too hard and far exceeds their abilities at that point, the horse will either shut down and stop trying or protest.

It is very important for the horse, young and old, to feel safe in their learning environment. A horse that gets pushed from happy, calm, alert and present to go over their threshold into a fight, flight, freeze or fawn state, will not learn! They will associate feelings of being scared, being in pain or distrust with you, the location or the question you were asking them. It is all about finding the right balance and creating an environment to accelerate their learning. Not just because we think using violence in training is wrong, but also because it simply does not work as well in the long run. We want to create good foundations based on understanding, trust and confidence rather than one based on fear of consequence.

Just imagine you're 9 years old and back at school (horrifying, we know). You have just learned to do maths to a point where you can answer basic multiplication questions and you're really good at adding and subtracting. You would get bored and start day dreaming at '2+5' questions. You would slightly struggle with '21x47', but be really proud when the teacher says you've done a good job. And then all of a sudden there is an algebra question straight from a rocket science book... You don't know the answer, you have never seen anything like it! You give it one look and give up, if you're a really good student you try twice. And still, nothing makes sense. You stop trying and feel bad for not understanding. A teacher standing over you with a threatening ruler would not make a difference, would it? In fact, it would only make you hate math class...

At Pinpoint Horsemanship we are very aware of how a horse learns and how to adapt our training methods to their level and suit their individual needs when learning something new or correcting a behaviour that is undesirabe. By taking the rocket science one step at the time and explainig it to the horse in a way they can understand, we can teach them how to do most things. All without the ruler :)

A teacher threatening with a ruler would not help you understand, it would only make you hate class.

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For Example

Horses learn predominantly through action and reaction. But not all of our reactions have the same effect when we are trying to teach a horse.

For example: your horse is afraid to walk through a puddle and you want them to go across. What do you do? There are four different approaches to this, and all have a different effect.

1. You can chase behind them with a crop until they jump the puddle.

2. You can lure them across with a bucket of food.

3. You can tie them to something on the other side until they get across, even if it takes the whole day.

4. You can ask a step at the time and release pressure every time they shows curiosity or try something.

Let's Break it Down!

The first one is what we call in behavioural training a 'positive correction', not positive as in good, but positive as in 'adding something', in this case it is adding fear and a possibly painful consequence to the puddle problem. This is punishment. The effect of this is that the horse will likely associate the stress of the crop and/or pain with the puddle, making it more stressful the next time. This method does get results, because the fear of pain is usually bigger than the fear of the puddle. However, this example is only a stressful quick fix that can easily cross the line towards abuse and can cause trouble in the future.

The second is one many people will have used in their time as a horse owner! This is called 'positive reinforcement'; adding something nice as a reward. Food (and clickers) can be very helpful to teach horses specific skills and tricks. Using some food or licks can also help to create a pleasant accociation with an otherwise scary place to be or to help anxious horses calm down. As we all know, some horses are more food oriented than others. The success of this method depends on that, and just how scared they are of, in this case, the puddle. For each horse there comes a point where a situation will be scarier than the bucket of food is appealing. Why is that? A dog will respond well to a cookie, because food is their reward in the wild for hunting. A horse only has to put their head down to get to food. A horse's biggest issue in the wild is not finding food, but staying alive! The biggest reward for a horse is to feel safe and relaxed, not necessarily food.

The third could be an example of 'negative correction'; taking something away as punishment. The tying up applies pressure, however leaving a horse there until it does what you want is taking away a lot too. It can't eat or drink, relax or have contact with either you or its friends. Horses are unable to read minds (shocking, we know!), and they can't guess what you want from them just because you left them in an awkward situation. We think tying horses up until they stop resisting is not the way to go. It can cause damage to the poll and it can cause them to shut down mentally. Horses usually want to give you the right answer, we just need to find the right explanation for them to understand the question. Even if it is just a puddle.

The fourth option is the one we found most effective over time. In behavioural training we call it 'negative reinforcement'; taking something away as a reward. If we want a horse to go through a puddle and not freak out, we need to explain it in a way the horse can understand. By breaking the task down into easy to understand steps and rewarding 'good' behaviour, we can shape the right answer for them. We ask them to come off pressure first, so if we put a little pressure on the halter, they take a step forward. As soon as they take that step we reward them by taking the pressure away, letting the horse know it did the right thing. This way we can for example start by going through the middle of two puddles, then shape it up to going through a small puddle and then increasing the size of it until we have reached our goal.

The Bottom Line

This is just an example to show the four principles of behavioural training and there are lots of nuances that can be overlooked. There are many ways to apply these principles into your training in a good way. In real life we would be likely to combine some of these principles to make it even clearer to the horse. For example, instead of just saying YES by releasing pressure, we also like to add a nice rub on their head as a reward. It can be hard to understand something by just saying YES. We also say NO and set boundaries when the horse shows behaviour we don't want. Try playing a game of 'hot and cold' at home to find an object or do a certain task, and notice the difference between just saying 'yes' or 'no' instead of saying both!

The bottom line is that at Pinpoint Horsemanship we are very aware of how a horse learns and how to adapt our training methods to suit their individual needs when learning something new or correcting a behaviour you don't want them to have.

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