​What's In It For Me? - The Reward

​What's In It For Me? - The Reward
By Gaye DeRusso
 
I was  training this Ex-Show  Tennessee Walker to canter. He was trying but had no clue what I was asking and then he finally did a canter step. I stopped and made the biggest fuss and told him he was the best horse in the world and gave him a nice long scratch and a small treat. He turned around and looked at me and you could see it in his eyes the recognition that he finally had done something right. If he could have blushed through his hair, I am sure he would of. The facial expression he gave me was priceless  and at that moment, I realized, no one had probably told him he did something right before.  
 
Each day I rode him, we gaited then worked on the canter. Each day he gave me more steps and each day, I rewarded him with telling him he was doing such a good job and a nice long scratch every time he tried and got it right. Step by step we proceeded until he could canter a full circle. It did not take months or years, it took weeks. Because as soon as he understood what the right answer was, he tried so hard to get that answer right every time. 
 
So many people ask and ask horses to do all these things we want. Many times, they do not understand what we want, but they try. When they get it right most people simply give a pat and say good job and immediately ask for more instead of letting the horse soak it in. A reward is not doing it again. A reward is something the horse enjoys, a rest, a scratch, a treat, giving them vocal recognition that they did a great job. You may think I am making this up, but they do understand when you do this, and they will try even harder the next time. 
 
Horses try so hard to do the right thing. They are totally willing to work for you, even without a reward, but they will work harder and think more about what they are doing if you give them a good reward. When you scratch them where they can't reach or in their favorite spot when they do something right, you can bet your darnedest they are going to try and do better and do it again, because it means so much to them and finally, they understand that you appreciate their effort. 
 
It takes time for horses to figure out what we want. That’s why you try to show them and then reward the horse's smallest try to let them know they are going in the correct direction. Then over time you ask for more and reward and then ask for more and reward and before you know it, the horse just starts to do it for you because they have figured it out.
 
If you are not making progress, there can be many reasons such as the horse really has no idea what you want. Or the horse tries but you make them do it more and more, so they don't want to try anymore. So, you must figure out what is going wrong, why is he or she not understanding and then the next time you try, and they try at all to do what you’re asking. Stop and make a big fuss, tell them they are the best and you are so proud of them and then give them that scratch and rest. If it’s the first time they get close to what you want, you might want to just quit after the reward and put them away. You just might  be surprised how much better they are,  the next time you ride them.