Horse Problem - Back-Up Lesson - Horse turns away and tries to leave when rope jiggles

YOUR ADVICE IS GREAT!  Got my horse on the right track with backing up. Started all over slowly and calmly tapping the 12' lead rope, making the rope move just a little until I got the slightest try (horse stepped back one step), stopped, let him rest, and praised him. Tried again, he stepped back. Again with just wiggling the rope, he stepped back. He's definitely figuring it out that when the rope wiggles: move back. The key for me was once he figured out to move back with the rope wiggling, I did not need to wiggle it as hard as I did the first couple of times to get backward movement. I noticed only the slightest side to side wiggle, he knew to step back. I think my earlier problem was I was wiggling it too hard, hence he was scared and was turning around to get away. After a few more successful tries, I ended on a positive note. By the way, coming in again to me is never a problem with this horse as he loves to lick between my fingers! Thanks again.

Think of it as a volume switch. Always (always always!) start low on the volume when asking for/teaching a behavior, and only increase the volume incrementally until you get a try, then turn off the volume completely, no pressure for right answers. The faster your release there for right answers, the faster the horse learns, so get your release timing very quick. The release of pressure is the reward, though a praising, stroking hand (no pats) afterwards on the horse always speeds along learning.

Lowest on the volume is: thought. You THINK what you want and a horse complies. So start with that always. You won't get them responding to just your "thought" at first, but after a while, if you always started there, eventually you will get them responding to your thought, believe it or not. Horses are amazingly perceptive, bright creatures. And pretty soon, up the road, you'll be riding your horse with just your mind, it will feel like, and that's the softness and easy compliance that natural horsemanship creates. But if you didn't start every ask with thought first, how will the horse ever learn to respond to just the thought?

Natural horsemanship is about teaching a horse using "soft feel." You just experienced for the first time what "soft feel" is all about. Doesn't mean we don't turn up the volume when we need to, when the horse isn't listening, we indeed do, but if you start low on the volume always, this gives the horse a fair chance to think about what's coming next (higher volume). It's via thinking that a horse learns. Not forced, but: learned. And what gets learned, stays learned. Horses are designed by nature to recognize patterns quickly. And that's exactly what you're showing the horse there...low on the volume increases steadily until the horse responds, then the volume goes completely off (pressure off) with right answers and the horse then goes, "Oh, okay, I get it, there's a pattern here. If I respond low on the volume here, it never gets increasing pressure put on me. Cool. Got it!"

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