How to teach a horse to move away from the whip?

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dali1111

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My newest addition is proving to be a bit of a challenge. He is generally a sweet little guy but he responds to training techniques quite different from how my other horses have. I am trying to teach him to move away from the whip. He won't even be two until the spring so I'm not looking to lunge him on a line right now but he has a lot of pent up energy that needs to be used up before I can work with him. I would like to be able to get him to run around and play in his pen (basically free lunge him) for a few minutes before I take him out. The problem is that if I try to get him to move by shaking the whip or lightly tapping him with it he just stands there stares at me.
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Sometimes I can get him to move a few feet but he always turns around and comes straight back to me. He is in no way afraid or wary of the whip, even when it is making noise. He pretty much just ignores it. If I move closer to him he just wants to sniff and bite and play with the end of the whip.
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He doesn't seem to have any reaction to the whip, no matter what it is doing or where it is placed. With my other horses they instinctively ran away from the whip and all I had to do was teach them that it wasn't going to eat them. I would spend time rubbing the whip all over them and then stand back and wave the whip and they would move. After they ran for a bit I would squat down, still holding the whip but not raising it, and extend a hand with a treat and call them to come back to me. They quickly learned when I wanted them to move, when to come back to me, and when they could ignore the whip. This obviously doesn't work with the new guy. So my question is how do you teach a horse to move away from the whip? The only thing I could think of was to tie a bag to the end of the whip so it makes more noise and see if he responds but I don't want him to be afraid of bags. Any help would be great.
 
I will be watching this one also. As I have one that does the same thing. Only I see the expression on his face .... as if hes thinking ," What do you want?" And he isnt even leary fo the bag on the end of the whip. That expression is as if he is saying. " Are you kidding me?
 
You may have already tried this, but I have always had luck with tapping the bottom of their back legs and ankles (instead of their rumps) with the whip. This may work better if they are on a line, it gives you the ability to keep their head facing the way you want it, rather than having them sniff/try to eat the whip. My horses instinctively get aggitated with having their lower legs/heels messed with and in turn move away with what is annoying them. Like you said,Bags do work too.
 
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If you do not wish to give him a hard enough tap with the whip to get his attention, try taping a plastic bag to the end and shaking it at him- oh, the end of the stock, not the end of the lash!!!
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It sounds like your not being effective when it comes to using the whip. Are you using a lounge whip? I would use a lounge whip and I would point up high to the direction I would want him to go and spank the ground first, if he doesn't move I would get closer to him to the point I would spank his butt and I would really get him going until he moves off to that pressure. If you have a round pen or a small enclosure it would help alot.

I also teach my horses not to be scared of the whip by tossing the string all over them, rubbing them all over with the whip and also smacking the ground with the whip with them just standing there.
 
I would buddy him up with another horse that has already been taught to lunge. In all likelihood, he just doesn't understand what you are asking of him and will learn quickly from the other horse that when the whip is popped that it means to go forward - same with reverse, when you want to reverse, the other horse will teach him that your particular cue signals to change direction.
 
l agree with the above post Dali it's the easiest and you have l'm sure been there done that minis to help teach and get him started on that. Arlie uses Dot to help teach all the yearlings free lunging in the pen and it doesn't take long at all by the second time you get them out they know what it's about and usually the third time they function really well on there own off her body lanuage and the whip is just a long arm giving directions to follow...
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We teach our driving horses to move away from the whip, especially for lateral movement and for bending. You need to start this first in a stall. It also helps if the horse isn't full of winter hair. Our horses are MUCH less sensitive in the winter. We do not use a longe whip, as they are too long to control in a small space. We use a mini driving whip.

We tap, tap, tap on the horse's side (with the shaft, not the lash) until a reaction is produced, no matter how small. If they even lean away from the pressure, we quit tapping and give a "good boy!". Then after a small break, we do it again. Eventually, they figure out that you want them to move over when you do that. Then we move to the other side. Just because they know the cue on one side does not mean that a horse can translate that to their other side. You need to teach them on both.

If we want them to move forward, we use the whip with a lash on the belly when driving (where your riding foot would touch) or the hip if longeing. Do the same thing: tap, tap, tap, until a reaction is produced. You need to have one hand on a 6' (or so) lead rope in the direction you want him to go and the other on the whip. Also, make sure you are not standing in front of the horse. You need to be "pointed" toward the horse's hip for forward movement, and towards the shoulder for stopping. If the horse doesn't quite understand to move forward, you can "cheat" a little by "tugging" them forward with your lead hand while tapping, but then quit when they move/react to the cue. Be sure to use your vocal cues with your physical cues. If you are consistant about the vocal cue, evenutally you don't have to use the physical one at all. And the "structured" lesson won't hurt the colt a bit.. Minis are pretty smart and this lesson usually doesn't take very long, but it does make for a good horse.

No matter what the training technique, pressure on for cue and pressure off for reward works great with horses.
 
I would buddy him up with another horse that has already been taught to lunge. In all likelihood, he just doesn't understand what you are asking of him and will learn quickly from the other horse that when the whip is popped that it means to go forward - same with reverse, when you want to reverse, the other horse will teach him that your particular cue signals to change direction.

l agree with the above post Dali it's the easiest and you have l'm sure been there done that minis to help teach and get him started on that. Arlie uses Dot to help teach all the yearlings free lunging in the pen and it doesn't take long at all by the second time you get them out they know what it's about and usually the third time they function really well on there own off her body lanuage and the whip is just a long arm giving directions to follow...
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I knew there had to be a simple solution to this.
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Using a buddy is a great idea. He gets along best with Bear and Bear loves free lunging so that should work. Thanks for the replies everyone.
 
Good luck with him and I agree with Stacy. A buddy who already understands will do the trick!
 

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