Twista is going to be a jousting horse. She needs to stop at the beginning of a lane, and go forward on cue. She then needs to stop at the end of the lane, and turn back around to the start of the lane on the other side, and again wait for the cue to go forward.
We're teaching her the pattern she'll need to know so that she is confident in her job, and so Erin can concentrate on the actual jousting rather than directing Twista. We're shaping the skills by using targets, in this case fly swatters (cheap ones, from the dollar store!) and cones.
Twista is completely new to positive reinforcement training, so we started first with one fly swatter in-hand to show her the skill of targeting in general. We then moved to two set inside the cones, progressing to moving the cones further apart, showing her the skill of going from A to B. We added a rope to simulate the inside of the lane, and now we're at the stage of placing two cones on the outside of the lane to make it clear that's where Twista is supposed to stop.
Soon, we'll start the pattern while mounted. We'll transfer the body language Erin is using on the ground, teaching Twista how to respond to leg cues and shifts in weight while mounted, so Erin doesn't need to rely on the reins to direct Twista, since her hands will be rather busy with the lance and shield.
