Interpretations of “Pressure”
29. Nov, 2009 
4 Comments
My first trainer was very wise when she reminded us, “What you think of as pressure and what your horse thinks of as pressure may not be the same.” I spend a lot of time wondering about the nature of pressure and the need for it. How to train and ride with it and without it. Especially while writing my Routine Tasks…post, which made me feel awfully guilty about just about everything I’ve ever done with a horse.
Cheryl Ward at I Feel Good, My Horse Feels Good has nailed the definition. No need for me to struggle to reinvent the wheel.
Here it is:
What is Pressure?
Let’s jog on over to a natural horsemanship clinic.(Before I begin, I have a disclaimer. The only reason I have disclaimer is when I tell people I predominately train without pressure, they tell me, with their fists clenched, that it’s impossible and they look like they want to punch me.)
Disclaimer: I am not against the use of pressure. I am against pressure being disguised as gentle, warm and fuzzy or a force-free alternative. I am against negative reinforcement being the only line of communication with a horse. I am advocating a balance of using attraction based methods and pressure based methods in the proportion that horses spend using each during their day. I am for using attraction-based methods to introduce pressure to a horse. Often when I train this way I don’t have to use pressure. I am for understanding the differences between using pressure and using attraction.
Okay, now let’s jog on over to a natural horsemanship clinic. The basic gist at one of these clinics is that horses communicate with pressure and that their deepest heart’s desire is the release of pressure, to be left alone. The conclusion is that the release of pressure is the reward. This theory has left me empty.
You’ll have to visit the link to Cheryl’s blog to read the rest. It’s SO worth it! She has a wonderful counter-definition of the concept of ATTRACTION.
Enjoy!
website
I love Cheryl’s blog. She is doing great things with her horses and really has a knack for being able to communicate with her writing as well.
I recently attended an Alexandra Kurland clinic (still need to write up my notes review…)
She makes a clear distinction between pressure that is trained as information as opposed to pressure that is trained through fear, force or intimidation. The distinction sometimes can be incredibly subtle, but makes all the difference.
Mary H.
http://stalecheerios.com/blog
Mary
I think I need to start reading Alexandra Kurland. Not only am I interested in Clicker Training per se, but I am also interested in the behavioral science and horsemanship theory behind it. Thank you for turning me on to these amazing minds.
Here are the two best places to start (in my opinion!)
Clicker Training for Your Horse
by Alexandra Kurland
http://theclickercenter.com/2004/store/books01.php
A good introduction to the basics. Also includes an interesting case study of a horse that was aggressive to the point of being dangerous.
Don’t Shoot the Dog
by Karen Pryor
(available from Amazon and most major book stores)
Karen Pryor’s classic book. A great, easy to understand intro to the science of behavior. The chapters cover reinforcement, shaping, stimulus control, untraining unwanted behavior, reinforcement in the real world and clicker training. This is an excellent book, I’ve given away more copies of it than I can count.
These are my favorite websites and other resources related to clicker training:
http://stalecheerios.com/index.php?id=2
Mary
I so appreciate the reference materials. I have always known Alexandra Kurland’s name, but never picked up the book. I hope it’s available on Kindle. I think I will want the Karen Pryor to carry around with me. Visiting the site now!