I’m teaching Chloe tricks. Pamela Rickenbach sent me a link to a site with Things to do with your horse other than ride and we’ve been doing them together. One of the things is teaching Chloe tricks. It’s like training a dog in a way.
Right now we’re working on “touch”. That is, I get Chloe to touch something with her nose (a bucket or feed pan is what I’m using) and because she’s curious, always has her nose in everything anyway, she makes it easy. So when she touches the bucket with her nose, I mark it by saying Yes! then give her a treat.
“Touch” is the first step in many tricks. Once we get that down, we’ll move on.
Doing tricks with Chloe is not about making her look silly or even making her do what I say. It’s about us learning to communicate and bonding. We do it just a few minutes a couple of times a day. I’m keeping it fun, otherwise it won’t work for either of us.
I’ve been starting trick training here at Sweetgrass Ranch, too — it’s a great way to continue to bond in the cold, stormy months. Thanks for the link to your trick training site. I’m going to check it out!