Teaching a few simple tricks
By Tammie Cappuccio
Teaching your horse a few simple tricks is a fun way to learn to communicate with your horse. It can be both an exciting and rewarding experience. The basic principles behind teaching a horse anything is repetition, reinforcement of the correct response and discouragement of unwanted responses. I have found carrots and praise to be a good reinforcement. Make sure to cut your carrots into small enough bits to avoid choking and with a few chews he will finish them. You don't want to have to wait five minutes to resume training waiting for him to finish a piece of carrot. You will always reward a wanted response (reinforcement) and ignore an unwanted response (discouragement). Frustration is the enemy of any horse training and you must not react in a negative way to frustration as any training generally takes time and is not learned in one session. Teaching tricks is a step by step process and each task learned is a building block onto more difficult tricks at a later time.
Teaching "yes" is a good trick to start with. Have a halter and lead rope on your mini and try to work in an area that is not distracting to your horse. A barn isle, stall or other place without grass is a good idea as many horses will be more interested in trying to graze than pay attention. Stand in front of your horse with the lead in your right hand. Hold a piece of carrot in your left hand. Say "Yes" in a clear voice slightly louder than your normal speaking voice. At the same time take a hold of his halter under his chin with your right hand and guide his head go down about four to six inches and release the halter. Tell him good boy and give him the carrot in your left hand. Repeat this six to eight times or until you feel him lower his head on his own before you pull it down. When you start to feel that then don't hold his halter but say "yes" and when you see even the slightest movement of his head down praise him and give him his bite of carrot. If he doesn't seem to get it after a few times saying "yes" than hold his halter and guide his head down and release. You should see more and more movement in his head with each or every few repetitions. When he gets to the point that he will shake his head reliably you can start to refine his head shaking. If he shakes it without you saying "yes" then ignore it. You only want him to do the trick when you ask. If you'd like him to shake his head in a larger up and down motion then take hold of his halter and guide his head in the manner you would like him to shake it and say "more". Repeat and reward each time he does as you ask. Eventually when you say "yes" he will shake his head in response and if you want an enthusiastic "YES!" response you can say "more, more" and he will shake it more enthusiastically. Once this is learned you can add a non-verbal cue. Stand in front but just to the side of your mini, as horses cannot see directly in front of them. When you say "yes" also shake your head up and down in a big motion so he can see it. Reward him when he does his trick. After doing this a number of times try shaking your head and see if he responds by shaking his. Even the smallest response should be rewarded. Often they may only shift their head because they are not sure if that is the response or not. If you reward him, he is then assured the response he gave is what you want and you will see him do it with more confidence. People are delighted when I walk among my small herd and they all start shading their heads up and down when I say, "Is everyone doing well?"
Shaking hands is always a nice trick but you must take some precautions as even a mini could hurt someone with an unintentional hit with the hoof. This trick is also the basis of many other leg involved tricks so it must be taught in this precise and safe way. Stand in front of, but slightly to the right of your mini's head so you are facing his left leg. You should be just in front of his nose so that you take a small step forward to lean down to touch his leg. I always start by giving a reminding cue to stand such as "whoa" or "stand". Holding the lead in your left hand take a step forward lean down and grasp his leg behind the knee. Do not try to lift it by the hoof or cannon bone. Say "shake" and hold it up for a few seconds. Do not pump it up and down. Release the leg, take a small step back and give him a treat and praise. Repeat this same sequence until he starts to anticipate raising the leg and repeat it two or three more times just so he has the idea. Next step is to step forward, lean and say "shake" and reach out but don't touch the leg. Praise him if he lifts it even a little bit. Next time do the same and see if he will continue to elevate the leg up to the desired height. Praise him each time. When he does get it to the height to shake grasp him behind the knee and praise highly. If he stalls and doesn't seem to progress then repeat the previous step and try again. It must be stressed that you do not grasp by the hoof as this puts you in danger of getting hit by the hoof if he panics, tries to pull away or becomes too enthusiastic. This is the same reason you do not pump the leg up and down. As with the shaking of his head, once he learns the trick, do not reward him if he does the trick unasked. You will find that they will soon not need the verbal cue and will shake when he sees you take the step toward him and lean down with your hand out to his leg.
Stand on a pedestal- choose a pedestal that is solid material, non-slippery and does not shake or move. I always leave my pedestal in the paddock so the horses become familiar with it and often see them standing on it by themselves! Once your mini is familiar with your pedestal, set up your training area so your pedestal is beside a fence or barn so he can't sneak around it on one side. Have your mini with his halter and lead rope on and lead him straight up to the pedestal with the fence on one side and you on the other with your mini in the middle. Stop him two steps before the pedestal to make sure he sees it. It's ok if he wants to go up and check it out-let him. Once he is satisfied it is of no concern lead him up to it again and stop the two steps beyond. Take the two steps forward making sure he is paying attention and stop just before it. Say "up" and see if he will step up onto it. Some horses just step up without a fuss. If he trips over it just lead him up to it again and make sure you have his attention by making a small circle before leading him up to it. If he tries to jump it just do a circle and lead him up to it again and say "stand". With your left hand on the halter or on the lead close to the halter lean down and hand place his hoof on the pedestal and say "whoa" or "easy". If he pulls it off set it up there again with praise. You may have to keep a firm hold on his halter to keep his hoof up. Stand in front of him and slightly pull toward you to try to get him to lift his other hoof up himself. Praise him if you see him starting to lift the other hoof. If he places it on the pedestal say "stand" or "whoa" and give him a treat and praise generously. Have him stand half a minute or so. Then say "back" and have him back off the pedestal. Try to keep him straight so he does not jump off to the side. Repeat the process. If he has only the one hoof up and will not lift the other one up carefully switch sides and hold the halter in right hand and encourage him to lift the hoof up where you can guide it to the pedestal. You'll need to maintain a firm forward hold on his halter at this time. Praise him while you do this once he places his hoof on the pedestal. Do be careful at this time as you are leaning in front of him and if he shows signs of jumping over the pedestal you will be in the way. Eventually he will just step right up without even a verbal command. Once this is learned as an extra step you can ask for a shake as he stands with his front hooves on the pedestal.
Teaching tricks can be fun for both you and your minis. People love to see them do tricks, seemingly without prompting from their handler. It's also a way to bond with your mini and develop a basic understanding of the repetition and reward system of training. Have fun!
