My horse doesn't know what her buttons are for.

[ak]

The extent of my horse experience is that I have watched a number of Chris' videos online.  When trying to implement the lessons of leading in hand, our one year old doesn't respond to any of her buttons.  Through blocking pressure and keeping my core in, I can get her to stop eating grass and stand next to me relaxed and straight.  But when I touch, tap, whack, tickle or rub her 'go' button, she just stands there as if nothing is happening.  I get a similar response from touching the girth or shoulder.  I can get the hips to move out if I push hard enough.  I know I'm not doing it right.  Any advice is greatly welcome.

[confidence_coach]

Hi, AK ... Without actually observing you and your horse together it is difficult to diagnose exactly what is going on in your situation.  I can give you some general information that may be useful and help you diagnose the problem.  The following are some reasons that horses do not respond to the "buttons":

1) Just because we ask, the horse does not necessarily comply to our request by saying "yes".  Some horses are "no" horses that simply say no to any request.

2) The person may not have earned enough trust and/or respect for the horse to give to the requests.

3) The person may not be putting the pressure in the right place.  The "button" might be in a very specific location initially.

4) The person might be inadvertently getting in the way.  For example, asking the horse to move forward but the person is standing (even slightly) in front of the shoulder.  Try standing just behind the shoulder.  Part of the body (shoulder, hip, arm or the core) might be sending energy in front of the horse creating a block to the horse going forward.  If you are asking the horse to move the hip over, the push goes to the hip and there must be nothing blocking the head or front end from turning in.  As the hip goes out, the front end comes in. 

5) Something in the environment might be distracting the horse or getting in the way.  Check out what is in or near the area you are working in.  Is the horse hesitant to move away from another horse (even horses in a paddock within eye sight) or is the horse being pushed into an area they are uncomfortable going into to (eg. the scary end of the arena) or are they being asked to move into another horse?

6) The horse might initially respond more to drawing energy rather than pushing energy to encourage him or her to move forward.

Good horse training requires more than applying techniques.  It also requires awareness of ourselves, the horse and the environment.  Add to that some detective work to diagnose the overall situation - including how our horses are relating to us, and if our communication clear and appropriate.

Keep us posted with your progress & keep asking questions.

Cheers

Anne

[ruthabell]

I have a pony colt that at the same age behaved in a similar way and as Anne said he simply was not ready for push energy and only responded to drawing body language. Now at two he is much more responsive and I am ready to try again. I also made the mistake at the same time of asking him to work in hand with his nose ahead of my body and he was not mature enough to handle being "in front" of me. After having persisted until I got something to reward I went home and slept on it and realized that the poor little tyke at his tender age of 10mths would instinctively feel more comfortable flanking other "horses" than leading any explorations. So I dropped the issue as he led politely just behind my elbow. Somewhere around 22mths he naturally drew up level with me and was ready to poke his nose beyond my middle. He is a humble, compliant fellow and obviously a late bloomer without many ambitions.