I went out to the barn to feed Merle and put some treatment on his foot. I was the only one at the barn since it was so early, so I decided to start working on target training because I ed I have a target I made. Also since I was the only one at the barn I felt more confident to do some +R bc I'm the only one who does it at my barn and I feel like people judge me lol.
![Playing with the target-[C]I went out to the barn to feed Merle and put some treatment on his foot. I was the only one at the](https://image.staticox.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpm1.aminoapps.vertvonline.info%2F7849%2Fb518f125076a3ffebb716496db5abe3c8092ca1dr1-1024-2048v2_hq.jpg)
Before I introduced the target we worked on some treat manners just to refresh them in his brain.
Before these videos I showed Merle the target and anytime he accidentally touched it by smelling it, I clicked and gave him his treats, and he caught on pretty fast!
After he got the hang of it I put the target where he had to reach for it
One thing I always forget is to work on both sides, so I did that this time. He was a little confused at first but quickly was like "oh we just did this I know what we're doing"
Overall he was a super good boy and I think he enjoyed playing with the target too. After an hour of letting him graze I wanted to play with him again and he was so good. We even got to where he would take a step or two to touch it!
Comments (3)
If anyone ever questions you or make you feel weird, just explain why you do it.
"Why are you making her touch that? The treats will make her aggressive!"
"Actually, i'm training her so She won't be aggressive with treats! It's a very effective way to teach manners. And the target helps with that, and can then be used for many things like trailer loading, training long and low, tricks or building confidence. If you want I can explain what I do?"
I find often if you explain, take concerns seriously and never judge the other person, they're likely to accept weird methods. It's just One of many good ways to train, so you want it in you and Merles toolbox so you have more options when running into a training problem.
If you insult their method or sound above them though, be prepared for defensive rudeness and not accepting your method. Some might do this simply from someone not doing stuff their way, but those would also judge traditional methods they don't use. Be confident, be kind and offer to explain or not explain what people would like to know (with "i'm not sure" and "as far as I know" also being good answers, better Than answering something with wrong info as fact)
Thank you! There used to be a person at my barn that did +R but left when I first came to the barn. I believe there's a lady that does +R here but I rarely see her around. Luckily I've never had anyone be mean or question me in a rude way, and my friends actually think it's interesting! But you know sometimes you just get nervous around people especially me bc I'm still new to training this way.
Reply to: happy trails
Just follow the general rules - Respect their way, be kind and don't lie. Being new isn't anything bad, no respectable rider looks down at a beginner for struggling with the simple stuff, R+ is the same. A skill to learn, a training method added to the toolbox you have to help the horses you meet. If someone don't understand the concept of beginners having limited skill sets and not being an accurate representation of using a method, they might need a reminder about how being a beginner work