What do you say to your horse, that maybe you didn't say to another one?

newforest

newforest

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Mar 15, 2008
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Bear with me 😂
Okay initially up until she was maybe six we had horsemanship lessons and I was taught not to use voice cues of any sort, it's all about the body language.
Thew that out the window when I went back to lunging because that is what she prefers and she will canter off the voice cue.

Now I chat a lot so that was real flipping hard to keep quiet!!

But anyway.

I use the following with the cob and no idea where it came from.
Good girl - because she's a mare
Sweetie pie - absolutely no idea on that one
A whistle - which means come it's worth it, ie just moved the fencing, I have your bucket, again no idea on the why.
A smooch sound to try and encourage her to go forwards. I don't click.
I also give her a good girl itch on the neck.

As an aside I see that BD are allowing you to use your voice in tests. I always saw it as an aid.
It's horse dependant.
I hack alone most of the time, of course I am going to be giving her some sound from above, it's not all about feel.
 
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I'm dont think there's anything wrong with voice commands. I was taught to use voice commands on the horse when driving. Bare in mind when you drive you have no legs or body aids to use. Therefore ask yourself to be kind to your horse would you pull on the reins to move the horse left or right or much better teach and use voice cues/sounds to ask for movement.
 
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I chatter a lot, Monkey is very responsive to voice.

I use a cluck for more energy, a kiss to canter, I avoid good boy as I inadvertently taught him that meant a treat and he will stop everything to get it 🤦‍♀️ I can just say good though, or well done.

I use yes and no when I’m asking him to do specific things so he knows when he finds the right answer.

I also often tell him ‘don’t worry I checked, it’s not going to eat you’ (whatever perceived monster he’s staring at), ‘congratulations you survived’, ‘you do your job and I’ll do mine’, ‘let’s go’ (means a speedy trot/canter), ‘step-step’ (to be extra careful with his feet), ‘hup’ (to jump something that he could otherwise just step over), and ‘in my hand’ (I want more contact), there’s also several things I say quite regularly that contain expletives 🤣 because he can be a ****
 
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One I did say the other day was "you are a big girl you can go on your own"
She does tag on to pedestrians and if they've given her a fuss.
If you hack solo, not talking at all to me misses the connection with them. And it's a lot of silence if we are the species that makes sound.
 
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With Storm I had to be very careful about what I said because she learned quickly to associate words with different paces. Even if you said canter quietly so that just the two of you could hear it she would GO! Same with trot. Jumping - hup and that was it, she was up and over lol. Mr T used to tease me when I was schooling her and threaten to use the C word if she was being lazy or I was - I would be like "no, no not yet" hahahaa. 🤭
I usually spend my rides on Fuzzy telling her what a good girl she is. If she plants (which she does from time to time) I make a clicky noise to move her on which usually works.
 
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She is the Honey Horse. I have loved them all and she is sometimes disregarded as a boring hack but she is safe and steady and clever and she enabled me to go on riding into my 80s so she is my Honey Horse.
 
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Mine has just learnt something new this morning.
I actually didn't expect it to work but it appeared to.
A simple click of the fingers.
Only been around horses all my life and only just discovered this works, at least for mine. She is sound activated 😂
 
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I talk to Belle all the time, I am a chatterbox though and like you @newforest we hack alone, I’m always saying stuff along the lines of ‘oh it’s only the sheep, you’ve seen them a hundred times before’ or ‘blimey mate it’s warm today’ if I want trot I literally just say ‘ready’ and she’s off, wuuu is slow or stop, a click is a treat cue, useful emergency stop that one if wuuu doesn’t work 😅
 
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Sorry 😂
When I blatantly stuff up and have to say sorry.
Getting my foot mixed up in the electric fencing which upset her. Accidently catching her in the face when doing something else for example, it happens, I can accidently be clumsy.
 
Kite_Rider said:
I talk to Belle all the time, I am a chatterbox though and like you @newforest we hack alone, I’m always saying stuff along the lines of ‘oh it’s only the sheep, you’ve seen them a hundred times before’ or ‘blimey mate it’s warm today’ if I want trot I literally just say ‘ready’ and she’s off, wuuu is slow or stop, a click is a treat cue, useful emergency stop that one if wuuu doesn’t work 😅
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Lovely to hear from you again
 
I'm another who chatters away.

"Really?!" is a word I've used more since buying Luka than I ever did before, usually in a bored tone hoping he'll get the hint but occassionally in utter disbelief at just how ridiculous his latest idea is. It covers vast parts of our life together, and I suspect he has the horse equivalent for me too 🤣
 
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When she napped I told her fine let's deal with this now then.
The lady who saw her doing it said her face was so expressive. Oh yes she's got a face on her alright 😂
 
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