Conditioning/Repetition vs Education

*For the sake of this article, we are going to call any and all people that work with these hypothetical horses “trainers”.

There is a common trend in training that if you do something long enough, then the horse will eventually learn. This isn’t necessarily wrong, but is there a way that would offer more value to each and every time the trainer is with your horse?

Let’s pick something very simple - turning. A trainer may choose to ride a horse forward and simply turn the horse by using a direct rein. Let’s say the trainer does this 50 times (cond/rep) and at around turn 10, the horse starts to put together that when it’s mouth goes one way, the body follows. The trainer conditions the horse to this response by repetition. The horse simply follows its nose when it feels the rein being pulled to either side. This is not an incorrect or bad way to have the horse learn. By the horse learning to follow its nose it will later have to be corrected when it is heavy on the forehand or falls to the inside shoulder. It might understand what to do when given this simple task but it is no farther along anywhere else.

The trainer might get more value per ride if they educate the horse on how to shift its weight and to bend as they ask it to turn. This is done at the standstill (or in hand at first). This will be educating the horse on what is happening within its body. The trainer will be setting up something as simple as “turning” so that when it comes time for some collection or lateral work, the horse is already educated in what it is supposed to do with its body. IF the trainer will teach the horse to bend off of an indirect rein, the horse will know that it must follow its shoulders when turning, which means that it will understand to not fall in on the inside shoulder. What happens when they are not falling to the inside fore? Where does that weight go?

Why… to the hind legs of course. Why is that important (I’ll leave this train of thought for a different article)?

With the second option, the horse is educated much more thoroughly. Then you can take this one skill and start to condition the horse to it. Repeat it, until the horse is confident and balanced when turning. It still may take the first 10 times for the horse to understand what’s being asked but you see, on the same 50th ride, the horse will be MUCH more educated. It will have a better sense of balance. It will have a taste of shifting weight from front to back. Its shoulders, thoracic sling, and neck will be much more free and supple. Its hind end will be stronger. Now imagine how much more ready this horse will be to progress to another skill. This is the benefit your horse gains from having its mind educated.

Is there a downfall to education without conditioning/repetition? Yes, of course. This is when the horse becomes a “Jack of all trades but master of none”. When the horse gets a taste of a skill but is not conditioned to it enough before the trainer moves onto something new. This can create a melting pot of cues and skills and leave your horse feeling insecure in the trainer's directions. It can leave the horse a bit over anxious about doing the right thing at the right time. Their Rolodex of answers spins too fast and they become mentally off-balance.

This is just one simple example to explain the importance of picking the way to train your horse so that it starts to become confident and content with what’s being asked of it.

Remember, your horse cannot see the box that the puzzle comes in, they can ONLY see one piece at a time. They must learn to see each piece so that at some point you can help them to click individual pieces together. The more pieces that click together, the more clear the picture becomes to them.

So teach each piece deeply, slowly, and thoroughly. So that the pieces fit together naturally and smoothly when the time comes. It’s ALL separate and connected at the same time.

~Sarah Orloff, Still Waters Equitation