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Lewis & Clark

Mustang History, part 2

APPROACH & RETREAT / PRESSURE & RELEASE
Lesley Neuman is a master at "Approach and Retreat" gentling of wild horses

The term "Approach and Retreat" is often used to describe the basic principles of Natural Horsemanship. And yet, what does it mean? It can easily be misunderstood. As a friend once lamented, "But every time I approach, he retreats!"

Perhaps a better term would be "Pressure and Release," or "Ask and Reward." To teach anything to a horse, you ASK, which the horse experiences as pressure. When the horse does the right thing, you stop asking, which the horse feels as a release from the pressure. In this way, s/he learns what it is you want.

This concept, combined with the horse's natural "hard-wiring" to look for a leader, and his/her recognition that the leader is the one who can move his/her feet, combine to make gentling possible.

The whole key is TIMING: you have to learn to recognize when the horse tries, and reward it instantly. How to reward? Simply "release the pressure" - stop asking. Stop, release the rope if you're using one, step back a step, praise verbally. Some people find that the use of a clicker to accentuate the desired behavior can be helpful. Classical clicker training involves the use of a food treat as a reward, but I personally do not advise using food treats for horses that you do not have a very solid relationship with already - They can turn into piranhas!

Here are a few examples of "Pressure and Release:"

Reddy Colt, a 2-year-old BLM colt with one failed adoption already under his belt. As BLM Volunteers, we took him to halter train in hopes of getting him a better  home. It worked.
Step 1: Movement Reddy arrived with LOTS of movement, but it was frantic, explosive, and not safe to be around. So we started by simply asking him to move Our first goal was to get him moving under our direction in a soft and relaxed manner. We wanted him to become responsive rather than reactive.	At some point the horse figures out that we are simply asking him to go in a circle - we are not "after" him or trying to eat him.  He drops his head, licks and chews, and his feet stop pounding the earth. He just trots along in a nice, relaxed fashion. Now we can start asking him to stop and face up toward us - the first step toward catching.
While still at liberty, long before even trying to touch him, we started teaching the basics of ground control: various turns both toward and away from the human, shoulders away, hind quarter yield, etc. It's all in knowing what you are asking for, and then releasing anything that resembles that. Shoulders Away: The foot closest to the human steps in front of the stationary foot, performing the first part of what will eventually become a roll-back (when he is under saddle. But this is where it starts)	Note the right hind foot stepping under the belly in front of the stationary left hind foot. This indicates that the horse is softening and flexing, accepting your leadership. This is called "yielding his hindquarters." It means that the horse is letting you be the leader, so he doesn't have to be braced and ready to flee.
Step 2: Catching Once we got some ground control, we could start asking Reddy to start to connect with us. We did this by asking for movement, then stopping and offering him a place to stop. ASK: Invite him to look at you. REWARD: When he looked, we'd step back, praise, and rest a minute, as long as he looked at us.	As soon as he stopped looking, we'd ask for more movement. Then stop and ask for another look. Then step back to reward. We repeated this over and over again, over a period of days, and gradually we started to see progress. The looks lasted longer, and Reddy began to face up with his whole body. And finally, he began to take a step or two toward us.
At this point, we began to offer him a sniff of our hands. If he didn't accept, we'd just ask for movement again, and then offer again for a look, a step forward, and a sniff.	It was good to have these pictures, to prove to ourselves that there really was progress, because sometimes it seemed so slow that it was hard to recognize the very real progress we were making.
	Before we knew it, we could attach a lead rope to his halter. Now we could do conventional ground work training.
Step 3: Leading
ASK FOR FORWARD STEP: Note the tension on the rope is taut enough to clearly communicate to the horse that movement in one direction is desired. Yet it is not an aggressive tug that the horse might feel threatened by	REWARD THE TRY: The horse take one step toward the human, so pressure is released. Note the rope is already slack before the step is completed. it is the THOUGHT you are rewarding. As soon as the horse indicates by any ever-so-slight movement that it is processing the thought correctly, release the pressure, wait a second, and start again. Don't be greedy! In the early stages, even leaning in the right direction is enough. Do not demand that the horse perform perfectly at first.
ASK AGAIN: This time the horse resists. Don't tug, just hold your ground.	Release immediately for correct response
	It all pays off!
Yielding to the pressure of the rope (very LIGHT pressure!) and performing a great shoulder yield	Trotting circles on a slack lead line
	At this point, Reddy began to really let down and start trusting. And, as luck would have it, at this time someone adopted him. So that is as far as we got with Reddy. But we gave him a good start - hopefully the new adopters will take up where we left off.

Annie's new PMU filly, October 2004 This filly arrived with some health issues that needed treatment. But you can't treat a horse that you can't catch! So Annie asked Mike to help get a lead rope on her. He did this and then worked a little while on starting the horse toward leading and being handled:
Ask by gently tugging on the lead rope	Reward a forward step or turn toward you, by releasing the tension on the rope	Teach the horse to lead by gently "asking" and releasing with each correct movement
It didn't take too long before the filly was able to stand to be petted on the side of her neck. (Touching the side of the neck is preferable to touching the face, as wild horses generally feel the most protective of their faces and feet)	Annie takes over	DAY TWO: Annie's new filly stands easily for handling
While our goal is always the very softest of handling, the gentlest of cues, it is important in the early stages to always "give the horse the right answer." (a quote from my wonderful teacher, Jerry Tindell) The horse remembers the last thing that happens, so if you allow it to do something that you have not asked for, or allow it to avoid doing something you have asked, you have taught it to do just that. Stick with it - gently and with compassion - but still be persistent, until both you and your horse get "the right answer." (another quote from my wonderful teacher, Jerry Tindell)
Lesley Neuman: The First Touch Gentling Your Mustang $45.00 FORMAT DVDVHS

since 10-09-05

copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Nancy Kerson, all rights reserved - I'm happy to share, just need to be asked and credit given where due.

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