Training a Horse to Harness using Positive Reinforcement - Paperback

by Hertha James (Author)

When I was no longer able to ride, I embarked on the challenge of teaching my horse to work in harness. I wanted to see how far we could get using clicker training, which was such fun. This illustrated book contains the detail of my planning for this project. The plans guided me through careful consideration of all the mini-skills involved with: -Long-reining.-Handler dragging strange things on a rope.-Staying parked in narrow spaces.-Stepping back into tight dead-end spaces.-Rope and stick relaxation.-Familiarity with the harness at different gaits.-Pulling tires - traces but no shafts.-Walking beside the cart pulled by human helpers.-Familiarity with the idea of shafts.-Hitching up and driving at home.-Generalize to different places.The key was to expand the horse's comfort zone slowly by making sure she always knew what to do to earn her next click&treat. I filmed each step of the process and the book includes links to the video clips.