Case Study
Halter-training KitKat and Mars - Part 2
By Ali Chew
Last month I started to tell you about some foals I had been halter-training – KitKat, a nervy colt, and Mars, a bold little filly. Both foals by now were happy to approach me.
First Steps
Once the foal would approach me happily in the corner of the box, I moved gradually to different positions and retrained the approach so that position didn’t matter to them and they were already starting to follow. I held a lead rope in my hand throughout this training so that I wouldn’t have to start from scratch when I was suddenly holding something strange.
The next stage was to get the foals to allow me to touch their head and specifically their head collar. Mars quickly learnt to stand still and hold her head still while my hand moved toward her but KitKat preferred to move his head to me so that he would touch his head to my outstretched hand and hold it there. They then had to learn to keep their head still while I moved my hand over their head and held on to their headcollar, initially very briefly working up to a few seconds. Only when I could do this could I expect to try and clip on the lead rope.
On the Move
Once the lead rope was clipped on, I repeated the approach training in different positions and gradually merged the different positions so that we were on the move and the foal was approaching me while I was walking – i.e. following. There was no pressure or tension on the rope from me, no as yet meaningless commands; the horse just had to keep its head toward me and stay with me. However, if the foal pulled away and put tension on the rope I just held on – as soon as the foal relaxed and came forward it was rewarded both by release of pressure and a click / treat.
Training sessions now consisted of clipping and unclipping the lead rope and leading round the stable by the foal following. Mars was quite happy to walk alongside me by now but KitKat preferred to stay behind me.
Heading Out
For the next stage, the stakes needed to be raised as the foals needed to leave the comfort and safety of their stables – this presented some difficulty as, although the stables opened onto a covered yard, the yard opened straight onto a large field. Mars led out of her stable very confidently; her gait on the unfamiliar concrete floor was slightly stilted but she led confidently round the yard and back into her stable (she was obviously very pleased with herself as she kicked her heels up when she was released!).
KitKat, on the other hand, took half an hour to work up the courage to leave his stable – I had to read and reward the subtle cues that suggested he was thinking about moving forward to encourage him. Once he got all four feet outside he walked quickly across the yard (probably unwillingness to have each foot in contact with the strange ground kept him moving). Unfortunately this took him ahead of me which worried him and, when a piece of tarpaulin over the hay spooked him, we ended up out in the field. This was not in the plan at this stage but fortunately I managed to hold on to him until he stopped panicking, at which point he started thinking and came towards me so that we could gradually ‘click’ our way back to the stable – rewarding approach to me, letting him reach me and then moving away a couple of steps and waiting for him to approach again.
The second time of leading KitKat out of the stable, he again took half an hour to decide it was safe enough to leave – normally you would expect the second time to be quicker and easier but the previous episode had frightened him. At this point we tried a handful of grass as the reward and this proved to be much more motivating for him, and he decided leaving the stable was worth the risk. Once out, he was fed some grass on the yard before being led back into his stable and out again, this time with much less hesitation. This was repeated until he was happy to leave his stable and walk calmly across the yard. Mars in the meantime was still coming in and out happily, now with the owner leading her confidently round the yard.
Time’s Up
This was as far as we were able to get in the time available. Mars had learnt most of it in half the time but, with so much fear to get over, KitKat needed much longer. He, however, formed more of a bond with me, and I really hope his new owner takes the time to gain his trust and train him with patience.
Overall, the foals learnt quite easily and painlessly. They both were pleased to see me, eager to be trained and showed off in their own stable while I was with the other! The foal I was with however remained focussed, though Mars preferred not to have her back to the grill between the stables while KitKat was doing his airs above the ground. The owner is also converted to clicker training and it didn’t make the foals bite!
If you have any concerns regarding the behaviour of any of your animals, would like one-to-one help training them or would like to learn more about animal or specifically equine behaviour, please contact Ali on 07799 608125 or ali.chew@virgin.net
