Training the War Horse

I taught this class at the Pennsic War in 2012. The class covered the basics of training a horse for activities within the SCA commonly called equestrian activities. These activities include Tilting the Rings and the Quintain, Pig sticking, Javelin throwing, Saracen Heads, Challenge Courses, Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, and Jousting.  The class assumes that the horse has no prior experience with a rider using any hand-held weapons or tools while mounted.

 

PART 1 - THE BASICS:

 

Suitability:

·        Basics are key.

·        The SCA Horse candidate should be sound, healthy, and possess the basic training of any good riding horse. 

·        Any breed is suitable

·         Horse should be generally sound, able to stand in one place for a prolonged time, walk-trot-and-canter soundly, execute simple turns, and stop without injury, carrying the weight of the rider.

·         The horse should be above the level of "green broke" horse.  It should be responsive, obedient at all three gaits, move freely forward on command, stop when directed, stand quiet, and listen to your rein aids (cues). 

·        Neck-reining is a plus as it frees one hand up for weapon control, and allows you to use a weapon independently of your reins.

·        A horse trained to leg aids is another plus.
 

Basic Training techniques:

 

·        Break to the sword and lance.

·        Teach to resist the flight or fight response.

·        A process of slow acclimation, which should never be rushed or conducted in anger.

·        The use of treats is a purely personal choice. The use of liberal, frequent verbal and touching praise is required.

 

Basic tenets of classical training

·        Horses learn from repetition, continued exposure to a stimuli, and reward and punishment.

·        Horses are not capable of higher intellectual functioning. 

 

Horses respond to stimuli, either negatively or positively. They do not look at a task, such as crossing over a set of jump poles at the walk, and say "Now if I do this....my owner who wants to go to this SCA event, will take me and ride me, and everyone there will be happy to see her and pet me too."  This is too complex. The horse instead sees the obstacle, feels the determination of their rider, feels the gentle leg pressure...all things which he has learned to understand as "move forward" and knows that if he obeys, he gets a nice pat from his owner and lots of verbal praise, which the horse likes.  Therefore, he does as he is asked. Remotely in his mind is a memory of that incident when he acted very badly, and briefly felt the negative reinforcement of a heel in his side, or the whip on his butt.

 

·        So follow the basic tenets of classical conditioning. 

·        Reward the horse - a lot. 

·        Refusals to move forward should be meet with firm correction---leg pressure, or a touch of the whip, to remind the horse which direction he is supposed to go. Punishment should be immediate, brief and never in anger.

·        During training, watch your horse's demeanor. Use that to judge whether you can go on, learning more, or call it quits for the day.

 

Does he look tense, apprehensive and ready to bolt, or is he bored, wanting to crop grass, and asking for more? If he looks ready to handle more, go on to the next exercise. If he barely tolerates new stimuli, put him up for the day. Better yet, go for a nice hack through the fields or woods - something you both will enjoy. Always end your training session on a good note, praising the horse, removing the stimulus, and making the horse feel that the whole experience was a positive one.  



Rocky is being willful and rebellious

Here he is relaxed and listening.

·        Continue the next time by starting all over, reviewing what he learned, and reinforcing it. Then move on to new material. In this way, you build a progression of learning experiences.

·        Train a horse to accept stimuli on both sides of his body.

·        All introduction of new stimuli will be conducted first at the Stand.

·        The horse should be made to stand quietly, and obediently while introducing new stimuli.  If he moves, correct him instantly. 

·        Do not drop of throw away the stimulus item, for instance, the sword, if the horse acts up (except in an emergency). The minute you do this the horse has learned that he can do something to make the stimulus run away. Horses learn bad behaviors much faster than they learn good ones. If you are uncertain of your ability to hold onto the stick and control the horse, have a handler help.

·        Maintain strong leg pressure on the side away from the stimulus, thereby pushing the horse back towards it with your legs.  

·        If he is really acting up, out of fear, you are better off moving the sword towards the horse - such as in the position a whip is carried, something he is comfortable with - rather then way out to the side - which appears to the horse to be an object "out there" chasing him.

·        In order to avoid injury or a real emergency situation, toss the sword away.

·        Once your horse accepts the presence of the stimuli at the stand, progress to the walk. Don't go on to the trot until he is perfect at the walk, and the same with the canter. 

·        Each stage is important to building the horse's trust and handiness. Expect this training to take several weeks, even months, to produce a safe and reliable mount.

 

PART 2 - PRELIMINARY SWORD/LANCE TRAINING:

 

Initial Stimulus Training:

Basics-

·        Stimulus training is similar to the old technique of "sacking out" a horse.

·        Use reward when the horse tolerates, doesn't fight and even approaches the stimulus.

·        Use punishment when he backs from, tries to flee, or even fights his handler. 

·        Repeated encounters with the object, with no harm coming to the horse teaches the horse that there is nothing to fear, that he can count on his trust in you, and obedience is best.

 

Start training-

·        Start with a common stable item, the whip.

·        Use a short whip, similar to those used by English hunter riders - about but no longer than two feet in over-all length. 

·        Ensure the horse is securely tied or held by a handler. 

·        Show him the whip, praise him, or feed a very frightened horse a treat. 

·        Slowly bring the whip closer, showing the horse that there is nothing to fear. 

·        If he stands quietly, reward him.

·        Once he tolerates the presence of the whip, step to his side, and gently rub his shoulder with your hand, moving the whip closer, until you are giving him a nice rub with the whip in your hand, the shaft part of the whip rubbing him. 

·        Praise him all along.  

·        Eventually wave the whip around a bit, pet him, wave, pet, etc. until he relaxes and accepts its presence with no wide eye expressions. 

·        Pet him generously and put him up for the day.

·        Repeat this process over the course of the next several days. 

·        You should acclimate the horse to the touch and presence of the whip around and on his body.

 





Rex starting his training

Mounted-

·        Once the horse tolerates the presence of the whip on the ground, you are ready for mounted training. 

·        If your horse is a bit skittish in nature, or mounting is awkward for you, you may want to have a helper hand you the whip after you mount.

·        Otherwise start practice mounting with the whip, being careful not to strike the horse with it accidentally. 

·        Once mounted, repeat everything from scratch, that you did while on the ground. 

·        Don't let him dance away from the whip, but maintain that leg pressure, pushing him towards the whip.  hen he finally stands solidly, reward him.

 

Longer whip-

·        Start to use a longer whip - a dressage or driving length whip, which will help your horse make the transition to a sword, and later lance-sized object, as well as training you to handle such an item while on horseback. 

·        Repeat the process until you and the horse are comfortable with this longer tool.

 

Whip/Sword Maneuvering:

 

·        Only after the horse is confident and relaxed, standing calmly while you hold the whip. 

·        Place the whip in your strong hand. 

·        Slowly swing the whip forward and back, ensuring the horse stands still, and reassuring him with your voice. 

·        Once he is comfortable with that, gently allow the whip to slide along his side. 

·        Next swing the whip more vigorously forward and back, simulating the movement of a sword. 

·        Reward good behavior.  

 

Teach the horse to tolerate you passing the whip from hand to hand. 

·        Pass the whip over the horse's neck, repeatedly, praising his obedience, punishing his willfulness. 

·        Once your horse does this at the stand, practice it at the other gaits. 

·        From this stage, you can start to carry the whip with you when you trail ride. 

·        This provides the horse with a great deal of exposure time to the whip in a non-threatening way. 

 

More aggressive swinging of the whip over the horse's neck, right to left, left to right. 

 ·        The aim: Teach him that the whip is not meant to hit him, but is a tool and nothing else. He will learn through this that the object in your hand isn't really related to him now, especially as you start to use it as a tool, independent of his actions. In other words, it is not being used as a correction for his behavior. This is a process that takes place in the horse's mind, as he disassociates himself from the tool in your hand. 

·        Pick up the speed and intensity.   

·        Be careful that you don't hit him or there is little chance of him spooking at something which would cause him to suddenly raise his head into the path of the whip. 

·        Go with caution, use lots of praise. 

·        Make figure eights over the horse's head. 

·        Swing the whip out along the horse's side, and even over his hindquarters in the same manner. 

·        Do this at all three gaits as well as the Stand, moving to each only once you have both mastered the one before it. 

·        Only after you have mastered the skills with a whip should you move on to a more dangerous object such as a wooden or steel sword.

Rex during advanced weapon training

 

PART 3 - ADVANCED USE OF THE WHIP:

 

The next phase of training acclimates the horse to the sights and sounds of the rider hitting things with "the tool."  The next big jump in faith from the horse comes here.  He will see you using the "tool" but come to understand that though it is being used to hit something, that something is not him. In short, he won't get hurt. 

 

·        Back at the Stand, position yourself next to a fence post, or jump standard if you have one. 

·        Reach out with the whip quietly and tap the fence post. 

·        Do not let the horse step aside. 

·        Keep the outside leg (the leg away from the stimulus) on his side. As you lean out a bit, for instance to the right, it will be natural for your left leg to come up a bit. Don't let it.  Push your left leg into the horse's side and heel firmly down in the stirrup.

·        Quietly tap the post, continue as you praise him. 

·        Remember to do this on both sides. 

·        Next session, pick up the intensity - hit it harder, make more noise.

·        Hit towards the rear of the horse, alongside, etc.  Practice different positions and target areas. 

·        Once you master this at the Stand, go on to all three gaits. 

·        After your horse is confident in the ring where he feels safe, and you know he can't get away, add all this training to your outside rides.  Hit tree trunks and branches, and posts.

·        Make it fun for you both.

 

Once your horse is at this stage, substitute the whip for a sword. Review everything from the start...including the ground handling and introduction of the object to the horse. Some phases will go very quickly as the horse remembers the prior lessons.  If the horse appears nervous at any stage, go back one step and repeat until the horse is calm and accepting. 

 

Rex during weapon training - hitting posts

Hitting and dealing with objects moving

 ·        You have to train your horse to accept the movement of the head coming loose from the post top, or the Quintain spinning.  Flying, fluttering objects tend to scare horses. 
·        Review hitting the fence post or jump standard. 
·        Place small items, like apples, or balls, on the post. 
·        At the Stand, hit these items, praising your horse for standing by quietly. 
·        Practice throwing apples while mounted, to a helper, who can then approach the horse and feed him the apple. This is strong reinforcement for the horse not to flee but actually approach the cause of his concern. Eventually throw other objects including saddle bags, plastic, cloth, offering occasional rewards from the contents. Be imaginative, and have fun while you are training.  
·        Do all this from the Stand. Once you can do these things, move on to actual heads on poles. 

Introduce the long lance to the horse in the same fashion, going through each step. 

·        Great caution should be used in striking objects. 
·        Its easy to get unhorsed, and possibly injured, so I don't suggest hitting solid, unmovable objects. Stick to lancing through rings or hitting a Quintain.

If this sounds too simple to be true - you are right, it is simple.  That's the secret all horse trainers know. Horse training is not rocket science. It is simple, repetitive exercise to teach something to the horse - slow and steady wins the day, or the tournament.

Happy Riding and Happy Training.