River is learning a lot in her new home.
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| "What is this BOO of which you speak?" |
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| River will yield to a poking finger, but dressage whip tapping cues are new. |
The lesson that came before the "weird stuff" lesson is this: People have cookies.
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| She had to figure out how to move away from the tapping whip without crowding the human. Hmmm. |
River is a big fan of cookies.
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| She's never been asked to move hindquarters and forehand separately before, but she figured it out with some practice (and some cookies) |
Therefore, River is willing to do weird stuff with people...
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| "You hop on up der, Kid, and I'll keep my nose pointed at the pocket that contains all the cookies." |
...because she knows that the people with the cookies
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| "Payoff!" |
...like to share.
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| This is her second "hopping" session. Ever. Not bothered at all. |
The weirder the exercise...
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| Note that Patty's knee is supporting Sirie's foot... and River's nose is pointed at the cookie-pocket again. |
...the more cookies will be involved.
A lot of folks disparage "teaching with food," but I'm a huge fan of rewarding food-oriented animals with food, intermixed with verbal praise and plenty of petting. Intermittent reinforcement makes the strongest impression, as anyone who bought a Powerball ticket this week will tell you!
It makes sense: the people want a behavior, and the horse wants a cookie.
It's a good trade for both sides.
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| River sheds in TWO COLORS. |
River can even do weird things when other horses are doing weird things.
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| Hana Banana Wannacookie works on the longeline while River Gimmecookie works with Patty |
She's almost ready to carry a rider.
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| Stepping away from the tapping whip, but not stepping onto the person on the mounting block = new skill |
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| Take portrait photo, then haz cookie? |
She thinks all that stuff will be fine.
After all, she's pretty sure that we'll bring plenty of cookies with us...and she's also pretty sure that we will share.
