Does training ever feel like Groundhog Day?

Have you ever had a really great training session with your horse, walked away feeling like something finally clicked, and then come back a few days later only to wonder where all that progress went?

Or maybe there’s a behavior you’ve been “working on” for what feels like forever. Standing at the mounting block, picking up a hoof, walking calmly beside you, standing still, trailer loading… You can get your horse to do it. You’ve probably done it successfully dozens, maybe even hundreds, of times.

And yet, somehow, you’re still working on it.

Training can feel a little like Groundhog Day sometimes, and one of the reasons this happens is that we tend to measure progress by whether or not we got the behavior we were looking for, rather than looking at how the horse felt about doing it.

Sure, they stood at the mounting block. They picked up the hoof. They got into the trailer.

But were they increasingly comfortable doing it? Were they willing participants in the process? Did they eagerly look for the next step, or did each repetition involve the same hesitation, coaxing, or convincing as the one before?

Because getting a behavior to happen and actually changing how a horse feels about that behavior aren't necessarily the same thing.

A horse can successfully stand at the mounting block while still needing six adjustments to get there. They can pick up a hoof while spending the entire time anticipating when they'll be able to put it back down. They can walk onto the trailer because we've patiently persisted long enough for them to finally go in, while still feeling just as unsure about the trailer as they did when we started.

We accomplished the task, but did we actually make the next repetition easier?

That's a question I find myself coming back to often in my own training, because I don't just want to know whether I can get a behavior today. I want to know whether the way I'm training today is making things clearer and easier for my horse tomorrow.

Sometimes that means paying a little less attention to whether we accomplished the final goal and a little more attention to what is changing along the way.

Is the hesitation getting shorter? Is my horse approaching more readily? Are they staying engaged rather than looking for an opportunity to leave? Does their body look more relaxed? Are they beginning to anticipate the next step with confidence rather than bracing for it? When given an opportunity to disengage, do they choose to come back?

Those details tell me a lot more about the direction our training is heading than simply whether or not I managed to get the hoof picked up or the horse onto the trailer.

Horses can easily learn how to get through it. They can learn that if they tolerate the hoof being held long enough, eventually we'll put it down. If they keep trying at the mounting block, eventually we'll be satisfied and leave them alone. If they finally walk into the trailer, the pressure and coaxing will stop.

We may end the session having accomplished exactly what we set out to do, but only one of those paths is likely to make tomorrow easier.

This doesn't mean that completing the task never matters. Sometimes the hoof really does need to be trimmed. Sometimes the horse really does need to get on the trailer. Real life doesn't always give us unlimited time to train everything perfectly. But I think it's important that we're able to recognize the difference between getting something done and actually changing how our horse feels about doing it, because otherwise it's very easy to mistake compliance for progress.

And then we wonder why we're having essentially the same conversation again next week.

This is exactly why I created The Willing Equine Academy to be more than a library of training tutorials.

Yes, I want to teach you the practical skills—hoof handling, trailer loading, cooperative care, riding, and more—but more importantly, I want to teach you how to think through training.

I want you to understand what’s working, recognize where things are breaking down, and know what to change. Because ultimately, I don’t want you to become really good at following instructions. I want you to become really good at understanding your horse and how they learn.

If that’s the kind of trainer you want to become, I’d love to have you join us.

Stay curious about the why,  

Adele