Some (scattered) thoughts on a recent moment with Fool’r:
- We’d just taken a break and he was eating across the arena, so I went to the mounting block to see what he’d do. I figured he’d wander over, but I didn’t expect the trot.
- It’s a good sign that the work we’ve done is okay and he knows what I’m going to ask next, but it’s not the whole picture.
- Here’s where it can go poorly - this looks like enthusiastic participation, and for this part it is, but it was trained, so it’s not a guarantee that he’s 100% all in, it just means it’s worth the trade for timothy pellets. That’s not terrible.
- I still have to be careful to back off when he’s no longer leading with yes, and it doesn’t mean he won’t change his mind. (He did on this day after a short ride, but he doesn’t always).
- This is important because we’re still in the foundation phase with riding in particular, where many small wins are necessary now for some larger leaps forward later.
- Once a horse has got the game, you have a lot more latitude in the affordances you have and the environment and antecedents you can take advantage of. In doing that, you have opportunity to try to develop more intrinsic motivation for the game itself, and less so for the food. This is where it gets fun, and where we’re at right now on the ground. More and more this is where I’m taking a closer look at my training and looking for ways to find ways to let the horse lead as well as find the right balance of challenge to ability, hopefully employing more intrinsic motivation.
- But we have to make sure the ground is solid enough first, and one of the clearest ways I can do that is with R+ (though, as always, other things are always happening).
