The story is as old as the hills. Horses are grazing animals and when we are working on green pasture and any grass areas our horses will gravitate to the grass. Most equestrians I talk to find the available grass annoying at best and downright unacceptable at worse.
Have you been faced with a pushy, heavy headed horse that requires constant reminders and corrections to keep their head up off the ground. Maybe you have resorted to working your horse in a well kept arena with no nibbling opportunities to tempt your horse. This isn’t the worst option but it definitely doesn’t solve the underlying problem you are having.
It’s not uncommon for me to hear people embarrassingly admit they are working on it as they snap the leadrope at their horse's face or yank abruptly on their halter. Most call their violent corrections “working on it” but the way I see it they are waging an ongoing battle between the horse's instinct and design and their own strong opinion of what a “good horse” looks like.
I know first hand how exhausting battling instinct in any animal can be. It’s not a war you are likely to win without seriously damaging the animals psychological wellbeing and possibly negatively impacting the animals overall welfare. This is without mentioning the withdrawals these kinds of training methods make to your relationship trust-account with the horse.
Let’s jump into how we can once and for all solve the issue of diving for food with this simple and effective training protocol.
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To begin to right this very natural but viewed as “wrong” horse behavior we need to first reevaluate our expectations of horse behavior.
Take a moment to appreciate your horse in their natural state, eating. Give them their meal or turn them out to graze prior to your training session. Horses spend most of their day eating, it's the way they were designed, the rest of the time is sleeping, and traveling to new water sources or greener ground. Young horses will play, and all horses have the ability to hold deep relationships.
This first task of appreciation and being present with your horse while they do their own thing while they eat is necessary. It’s acknowledging their drive to eat, being part of their horse world, and filling their tummy. Of course you don’t have to stand here doing nothing, you are more than welcome to clean their stall, groom them, braid their mane and tail, clean your tack, or do whatever other things you want around your horse. All the while being aware of them munching away.
Try to imagine that you can telepathically talk to them. If you're like me then talk to them outloud. Tell them about your day, your dreams, or that big fight you got into with your spouse. Horses are the most amazing therapists.
Don’t be rude though by making all the conversation about you. Enjoy listening and closely observing them. Personally, I like hanging out in the pasture while my horse eats if weather allows. This lets me see her move and how she holds herself naturally. Notice your horses conformation, what foot do they prefer to lean on. How do they hold their backs when they are relaxed?
Notice their breathing. I like to put a hand on my horse and take 10 deep breaths matching hers.
This time you spend with them doesn’t have to be all day, I’m simply making suggestions. Once you get comfortable with this idea of feeding and tuning into your horse before you start any training session or make any requests you will find you can do so in a few short minutes. The key takeaway is never work with a hungry horse!
Yes, this first step in teaching your horse to work without diving for grass it’s about ensuring your horse’s belly is satisfied.
If it helps, think about your own ability to perform tasks when you are hungry. It’s been proven through multiple studies that humans make poor decisions and are more likely to react negatively to questions or requests when they are hungry. I know I do this all the time, snap at my partner when he asks me for help with something very simple if I haven’t eaten.
Your horse is the same way and maybe even more so. They are a large animal that if left alone would spend all day eating in order to consume enough calories to maintain optimal function.
Are you getting the picture?
Step number 1: Never work with a hungry horse!
Yay, I’m so proud of you. Not only has your horse had plenty of time to eat until they were satisfied but you also took a little time to observe your horse and gauge how they are feeling today.
[If you are enrolled in a behavior program take this opportunity to log your observations.]
Let’s begin training.
If this is the first Grass Diving training session then take it slow. I do not expect your horse to come even close to perfect. Remember that time, deliberate practice, and consistency will give you the results you are after but there is work to be done.
For a level 5 heavy headed pushy horse you may want to start training in a dry lot area like a round pen until you and your horse get familiar with the patterns and cues.
When you begin working on actual grass it might help to utilize equipment that allows you to comfortably and safely control your horse and prevent them from putting their head down prematurely. Don’t freak out on them if they do and be sure to read through this entire training procedure before starting to train on your own.
Our behavior goal is to be able to lead and eventually ride and work our horses in spaces where grass is available.
This training protocol has two main components. First your horse needs to learn the reinforcement cue that will instruct them when to eat and a stop cue that will trigger them to lift their heads.
Like I mentioned earlier, eating is natural and horses do it alot! With this information we can assume that eating grass is reinforcing to the horse and this protocol is going to use this natural reinforcement to work in our favor.
You can set up small piles of hay around your dry lot. These piles should be just handfuls spaced 3-4 steps away from each other.
OR
If you are working in a pasture setting simply start by walking at your horse’s shoulder matching their steps.
You will allow your horse to move naturally from hay pile to hay pile or patch of grass to patch of grass. If you fed them enough before starting training you should find they are calm in their movements and will offer to lift their head to look for the best grass more frequently.
When your horse lifts their head, say something like “onward”, “let’s go”, “finished”, or whatever stop eating cue that rolls off your tongue. By all means increase your energy and think forward with your mind and signal forward with your body. Match your steps and walk with your horse to the next spot to eat.
Watch carefully and try to say your eat cue just before they stop and drop their head. I like to use the phrase “at ease” to mean you may lower your head and eat. I also signal with my body by lowering my gaze and sweeping my arm/hand out and over the grass.
We are using a form of training called capturing at this stage. This is not a quick process and you are likely to spend many sessions doing this before your horse begins to pick up on the pattern.
DON’T RUSH THIS STEP! You want to be very confident that your horse has pieced together that your cues and signals are related to their behavior.
When it’s time you can move to this next stage in two ways. If you are working in a dry area using hay on the ground then see if there is a way to attach a bucket of hay to your waist and instead of putting the hay out before you start training the hay will come out of your hand.
For those who are working on pasture you want to make sure you have enough control to hold their head up if they try to dive before you give them the signal.
To begin, say your head up cue. I use “let’s go.” and start walking 2-4 steps in a forward direction trying to match your horse's natural movement. Gently come to a stop and as you do say your eat cue, “at ease.” If you are using hay then place a small handful on the ground and wait for your horse to finish eating before repeating the process.
When you are walking use your lead rope and halter to keep your horse's head from going to the ground before you have given the okay. This should be all the pressure you need. Most horses figure out quickly that you will be letting them eat frequently and in just a moment longer that they are willing to hold out for your next release and not fight you.
Remember we are working with their natural instinct to eat so we don’t want to scold them or keep their head up for very long. Most horses are likely to test the rules of the game once or twice to see what gives but if you are consistent and offer to let them put their head down frequently they have no reason to fight you.
Like water your horse will usually pick the path of least resistance and waiting for you to invite them to eat becomes the easier option.
Once you have established this understanding and they are pausing if only for a second before putting their head down then now is the time to very slowly and spontaneously begin to stretch the time between your cues to eat.
If you started in a dry area try to start the process over on boring grass once you feel like the communication and cues are becoming understood. This may be the right time to implement using your knotted rope halter and in really tough cases a chain on the halter. Make sure you are using equipment you are comfortable leading your horse with. For safety I never recommend someone uses equipment that might lead to them losing full control of their horse or being walked on.
A Later training session might look like this:
You move into your training space and lead your horse around, maybe ask for a turn or a step backwards. When your horse responds correctly to your request, use your eat cue like you would a clicker to capture their good behavior and allow them to take a short eating break as a reward. (If you are not sure how clicker training works check out our other resources on clicker training.)
After they eat for 30 seconds to 1 min you will ask them to stop eating and carry on with the lesson. Slowly asking for more time and more challenging exercises in between each eating break. This eat cue has now become what we call a reinforcement marker. Means that it has the ability to mark a behavior that the horse has performed well and informs the horse what type of reinforcement is now available.
Remember to enter this protocol in your lesson library and record your sessions in your tracker and by video submissions for feedback from your trainer.
If you are enrolled in the Education or Coaching program then discuss this protocol with your trainer to receive personalized training session instructions that are based off of you and your horses unique situation.
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