TheHorse.com just posted an interesting article regarding food rewards being a more effective training reward than physical contact.

I agree but it probably depends on the horse and it’s all about balance. But if the horse can behave with treats present and you aren’t dependant, why not use treats to create some excitement in your play sessions?

I wonder if left brained horses work better with food rewards and right brained horses work better with physical touch rewards?

Grayson definitely tries harder when food is a reward but he feeds off praise too! Needy fellow, huh?

Grayson and I had an unexpectedly productive play time yesterday. My intention was just to do some tricks with treats but once I started, it turned in to a full blown play time.

We did the yo-yo game, sideways with a fence and trot to back up.

Yo-yo Game – Grayson’s yo-yo has improved immensely. He typically backs up by phase 2. The issue I’m encountering now is as soon as I send him back and stop his backwards motion, he comes back without asking. We’re working on that but his yo-yo has a lot more spunk than it did two weeks ago.

Sideways – Grayson’s never really had a issue with this although sometimes his butt lags a bit. I’m sure this is my fault. He’ll do it but it’s definitely not perfect; although I think it’s time to add some obstacles.

Trot to back up – If you remember we had some issues with this and Grayson being a bit dominant. He’s improving on line but believe it or not we’ve made the most progress at liberty.

A couple months before I started Parelli, I decided I wanted Grayson to work for his treats. This is how I taught him paw. So at the end of every play session I take off his halter and we do our “tricks.” I’ve realized he works super hard when I have treats and he’s actual learning some manners and not mugging me…so I thought I’d take advantage of this. If I need to teach Grayson something new, using the treats at liberty works. I don’t know why but it does. Grayson was amazing last night when it came to trot to back up at liberty…he stayed right behind me, no angry ears, stopped on a dime when I asked and backed up with gusto. I was beaming with pride! ha ha!

I’m looking forward to doing my level 1 audition so I can move on to some at liberty stuff…I think Grayson and I will work really well without a line. Also, I found a guy in town that has 55 gallon barrels…woo hoo I think Grayson will enjoy jumping the barrels.

Also, I’ve fine tuned my cues to Grayson when I want him to back up after we walk or trot. At first he just turned his head to me when I stood next to him and backed up but I discovered if I have an overly enthusiastic march, he completely understood what I was asking. Amazing.

Speaking of asking…in my post a couple days ago, I mentioned we went to see a local trainer and her little mustang. During the demo, the trainer mentioned she could teach her mustang anything if she could figure out how to ask. I feel the same exact way about Grayson. If I can calm my brain and ask politely, Grayson will figure it out.

Earlier this week I got notice about a Kelly Sigler clinic in mid-September. Kelly Sigler is a level 4 graduate and a 3 star Parelli professional. It’s a two day clinic and I think I’m going to audit the level 2 sessions in the afternoon. I didn’t get to go to the clinic last weekend so I’m pretty excited about this clinic. I’m hoping to get the gist of the clinic and take Grayson to one in the near future.

I’ve noticed the number of pictures I’ve taken since I started Parelli has definitely decreased!

Happy Monday!

I played with Grayson both Friday and Sunday…I’ve noticed I’ve been looking forward to it more often than I used to. That’s probably a confidence thing on my part.

I was in a weird mood on Friday and was rushed when I attempted to play with Grayson…never a good thing. This was the first time I’ve noticed how he gets pushier and more dominant when I’m slacking off as a leader. <- One of my commenters mentioned something about this last week. He wasn’t bad, just annoyed with me…ha ha! I should know better. I need to either get in the right frame of mind or just a have some UT time with him.

Saturday night we went to a demonstration with a local trainer and the mustang she adopted to compete in the Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover. The woman had ~90 days to gentle and train this mustang and boy were they amazing. <-Made me feel like a slacker with Grayson.

After Saturday night’s performance, I was a little bit inspired and had a great play time with Grayson. We mostly did yo-yo and I’m also trying to teach Grayson to neck rein from the ground using a neck rope.

I’m not sure if you can teach neck reining from the ground but I’m trying. ha ha! I’ve been so excited with the neck reining thing but then I come in this morning and read Keri’s post on following instructions. The gist of the article: the Parelli’s developed the step by step program for a reason and skipping a step because it’s too hard or too easy may hurt progress in the long run. I don’t know if I’m skipping a step or just adding something else. Hmmm…

Curious about the chain saw…believe it or not

Does training a horse improve his self esteem and confidence? I really don’t know but I’m going to go with yes. In the past month or so that I’ve been doing Parelli with Grayson, I’ve noticed a little change in his attitude…he has more confidence and he seems to be challenging Jude (his head honcho buddy) in areas that he hasn’t in the past.

Remember when Grayson ran circles around Jude? Was that because of the training I was doing with him at the time?

Maybe it’s not a self esteem thing but rather a dominance thing (I guess they could be intertwined). I’m the herd leader (let’s hope) with Grayson and Jude. Is it possible Grayson isn’t happy with being number 3 and is trying to replace Jude in the number 2 position?

Hmmmm perplexing left brained horses…

The little monkey is finally putting some weight on!