Ashley Griffin, University of Kentucky

Major maneuvers that a horse performs start out as a series of small responses. Trainers teach many small responses then put them together in a polished maneuver. Responses to new cues may be incorrect, random, and often annoying. The trainer may choose to ignore the incorrect responses and reinforce only the correct response. The best way to understand putting responses together is through an illustration.

Teaching a Horse to Back

To teach a horse to move backward, the trainer first teaches the horse to relax its jaw and shift its weight backwards in response to pressure from the trainer's legs and hands. The trainer requires the horse to make the correct response plus take one step backwards. The trainer keeps adding more steps to the maneuver then adds rhythm and speed until the horse has learned the entire maneuver.

Initial reaction to a new stimulus may result in a random response. Initially, the horse may throw its weight forward into the bit, throw its head up into the air, or step sideways in response to the back cues. Or just as likely, the horse could respond with the correct response and relax its jaw, shift its weight backwards, and back.

During these initial phases of learning, the trainer must decide the appropriate form of reinforcement to stimulate the correct response.