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Friday, November 21, 2008
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Positive Training Solutions » Training Articles » Understanding round pen work
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| Understanding round pen work
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From time to time I am asked about round pen work. The question is, "Why would anyone chase a horse away in order to get him to come to you? It seems like a contradiction!" It is a contradiction because that isn't what is (supposed to be) done!
People who don't understand 'round pen' work think what they see is chasing the horse away. Not so. Certainly not if you are watching a really good horseman. And let me say for the record that many of the best 'names' aren't presenting truly masterful work. A real master of the art of horsemanship only wants one thing, to capture the horse's interest and attention. To get him on his team. If the horse runs off it is because he thinks he needs to but it should never be the horseman's intent to CHASE the horse away. The horseman needs to be mindful of where the horse's attention is. The horse starts to notice the human because he or she is QUIET, even retreating when ever the horse looks at the human. This says to the horse *I* am not threat to you. This piques the horse's curiosity and gets him thinking it might be OK to check out this being. Eventually he discovers not only is the human not a threat but an ally. Particularly with respect to that itchy spot on the belly. ;-)
This is how I learned roundpen work anyway.
If a horse is concerned for his safety for whatever reason he can't really be thinking about food. This isn't IMO the time to start clicker training. I want the horse to already have decided that I'm OK and he is OK with me. So, we are in the roundpen and he is worried. Of course he is, he doesn't know me from Adam. It is my job to assure him, through proper work in the roundpen that I'm a FRIEND and that he can leave me or come back to me with equal confidence.
Is there stress involved in round pen work? Is that a bad thing? While we DO want to minimize stress the fact is learning is sometimes stressful. Change is stressful. Our objective when training should be a horse that he is calm, attentive and 100% OK with what was presented in the lesson.
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