Now, THAT’S a Back Up! (2nd session-ongoing series)

Okey dokey, here is the second video in the back up series. I discuss a bit about the targeting and how to strengthen this behavior. The stronger your horse gets at following the target the more willing he will be to follow it when it gets a little tougher. This goes back to the reinforcement history. In a nutshell, our horses make decisions constantly. They will opt for the things that have a good association. The more positive reinforcement associated with a task or behavior the quicker they will choose that behavior. So the better they know the target the harder they will try. Really pretty simple when you think about it.
 
I decided in this video to practice backing up with the target myself. Bugs association with me is stronger (more positive reinforcement) than his association with David. Therefore he does try harder for me than for David, at this point anyway. The target is the common thread so I want to help him understand what to do when the target moves towards his chest. They were both kind of hesitant and I want to minimize undo confusion.
 
Confusion can lead to frustration. I know it is a breakdown in communication and that it is my job to take smaller steps, to somehow figure out how to make it clearer. Training is never a recipe with precise measures but more a set of guidelines. Horses being individuals means things need to be adapted to the individuals’ personality. That is the best part of the new technology, we can work through things together and share insights.
 
Anyway, Enjoy this session with Bugs and the back up and let me know how it is going for you Mandy (and anyone else who is following along). And yes, our barn has an outdoor pizza oven!! As always, I love thoughts and comments.