The Click That Teaches
January 2009: Hip-Shoulder-Shoulder
by Alexandra Kurland on 04/23/11
On Jan 1 Keri posted some questions about hip-shoulder-shoulder.
Hi Keri,
Hip-shoulder-shoulder has many layers to it, many different approximations. You want both the "I need you to yield your hips now" safety-net version of hip-shoulder-shoulder, and the nuanced, performance version. The later is the one with the "Gene Kelly glide" in it, the one that leads to gorgeous rein backs and magnificent gaits.
The "I need it now" is your safety net. It's the one that lets you stop drift and keep it from turning into something dangerous. It helps the horse get back into balance and settle emotionally. For this version, think fully extended arm. How far down the rein do you have to go to connect directly to the hip? There's a visual explanation of what this means on the new "Helen House Horse" DVD.
If this mare is just bending her head around to the side and spinning in circles as you've described, it may be that you are not getting far enough down the rein. Remember, the set-up for hip-shoulder-shoulder is a good, better, best process. Each time to pick up the rein you will be reaching a little bit further down to connect with your horse. How far down the rein you have to go shows you how disconnected she is from her hind end. It sounds from your description that the answer is very. The question is why? Is this simply a training issue, a puzzle she hasn't figured out yet, or is there an underlying physical issue interfering with the process? That's something you always want to be monitoring as you get to know a new horse.
What many people do when they are heading for the hip is they get in a hurry. They slide down beautifully for the gives of the jaw, going a bit further down the rein each time. The horse is set up perfectly for success. But then these riders reaches for the jaw and because the horse is so soft they slide only part way down the rein. They are no where near the contact point for the hip, and the horse ends up walking tight circles with it's head cranked to the side. That's not fun for either of them, so you need to monitor the good, better, best, bestest nature of the process.
I think it's important to know how to reach down a rein and in one stride connect with the hip. I also think it's important to teach the more nuanced version, in part because it is more polite. It has more prep work built into it, and it's the one that leads to feels-like-heaven gaits.
The nuanced version of hip-shoulder-shoulder, the one that has the "Gene Kelly glide", is built out of three-flip-three. You keep asking for deeper flexions, with more of a lateral step built into them. When you first ride three-flip-three, the horse will be stepping out towards one or two o'clock with his outside front leg. You don't want him to step towards three. That would be too sideways too soon, and you would lose the all important forward element of the exercise.
Here's an image to help you visualize the clock. If you were to teach a horse to step sideways along a ground pole, he'd be stepping over towards three o'clock with his outside front leg. If he weren't, he wouldn't be able to stay over the pole.
But teaching a horse to sidepass along a ground pole is not a good way to get into three-flip-three. Yes, you'll have a horse moving over sideways, but you won't have the type of lateral flexion that I'm looking for in three-flip-three. You want to start with a slight bend and the horse reaching out to one or two o'clock. That will keep his hind end from becoming blocked.
As the horse becomes more proficient with three-flip-three, you'll begin to ask for a deeper flexion, and now he'll be reaching more with his outside front leg. He'll begin by stepping towards one or two, then three. Then he'll step out and back so he is stepping more towards four o'clock. He'll have all of his forward momentum intact. You aren't blocking or stopping energy, just redirecting it.
As he reaches over and back, it will become possible for him to catch the balance point of a rein back. Instead of stepping sideways, you'll feel him line his front end up with his hips so he can easily glide backwards. You have just used the set-up of three-flip-three to create the rein back steps of hip-shoulder-shoulder.
The "Gene Kelly glide" refers to the ever so soft float of the shoulders as the horse flows into the rein back. It isn't a jarring, stiff, blocked, awkward transition. The shoulders glide underneath in a way that always makes me think of Gene Kelly in that famous scene from "Singing in the Rain", the one where he is singing the title song.
I finally got some really good video of the evolution of the equine version of the "Gene Kelly glide" so a hip-shoulder-shoulder DVD is on the winter project list.
For now, you might want to work on three-flip-three with this mare. Click and reinforce any movement that feels slightly deeper, softer into her shoulders. Follow that thread and see where it takes you. Remember the expression: the longer we stay with an exercise, the more good things we see that it gives us.
Don't be in a hurry with this. If she's a reluctant backer, tinker away at it, and you'll be amazed at what grows out of little things. Hip-shoulder-shoulder will give you backing. I'm not sure I'd try to get her to back outside of the hip-shoulder-shoulder process - at least not under saddle. I'd tinker away at it instead and enjoy the process of watching little things grow into major ripples. And I would be on the lookout for physical issues that may be an underlying cause for her to be reluctant to take weight onto her hind end.
Alexandra Kurland
Copyright 2009
Index page for the Click That Teaches posts
by Alexandra Kurland on 04/23/11
NEWSLETTER
In January 2006 I started an on-line study group for my new book: 'The Click That Teaches: Riding with the Clicker". I set it up as a yahoo email discussion list. If you order the book through my web site, you'll receive an invitation to join. I realize that not everyone has time to keep up with yet another email group, so I'll be putting some of my posts to the lists here. You can also check the "Frequently Asked Questions" section for other posts from the list. If you are new to this section, I suggest you read the posts in chronological order.
I will be updating this section on a regular basis, so do please bookmark this page. Also, please note, I am usually months behind keeping this log updated, so if it the last entry was six months or more in the past just know that is normal and I will eventually get caught up.
"The Click That Teaches: Riding Book Study Group:
Welcome Everyone!"
"Let's get Started: Training Journals"
"Journal Experiment"
"Single-Rein Riding" by Katie Bartlett
"Single-Rein Riding" by Alexandra Kurland
"Discovering Single-Rein Riding"
"Head Lowering is not a Forward-Moving exercise, Stopping for a Treat, and More Work on Foundation Lessons"
"Clicker Communication"
"Training Plans, The "Why Would You Leave Me?"Lesson, and Three-Flip-Three"
"Training Choices"
Single-Rein Riding Mechanics
Helen House Horse
A Riding Lesson: Cone Circles
April 2006
Clicker Expo, Rhode Island
WA Clinic Report
Biting and Advanced Concepts
Hip-Shoulder-Shoulder
Know What You Are Teaching: The Importance of Good Basics Context Cues, Choosing your Shaping Method; Solving Trailer Loading Issues, Biting and other Behavior problems with good basics.
Following Hands: A Riding Question
Basic Leading Question
More Food Delivery Basics
T'ai Chi Structure
Strategies for dealing with Biting
How Does The Horse Know What I Want?
How Does the Horse Know What I Want?
More on Head Lowering and Three-Flip-Three
Three-Flip-Three
Three-Flip-Three
Safety Always Comes First
Incompatible Behaviors and Foundation Lessons
Why We Click
Shaping on a Point of Contact
Shaping on a Point of Contact: New DVD
Foals and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome
A Christmas Letter
****************************************************
2007
Are You Releasing Enough?
Living Peacefully
T'ai Chi Rope Handling Skills: New DVD
Calming Your Horse
It's Worth Repeating
Are You Releasing Enough?: Questions and Answers
Homecoming: Why Do We Clicker Train?
Happy Horses
Poisoned Cues
The Training Game
House Breaking and Magic Hands
The "Yes Answer" Game
Whale Stories
Three-Flip-Three: New DVD
More On Three-Flip-Three
Redirection of Energy and Chains
Behavior Chains
Behavior Chain Questions: Definitions, Cues as reinforcers, "Punishing Parents", and More
MicroShaping: Finding the Smallest Try Part One
MicroShaping: Finding the Smallest Try Part Two
Preparation
What is Riding?
Teachers: Stories from the Horses
Ears: More on the Foundation Lessons
Holiday Greetings!
New DVD! Overcoming Fear and the Power of Cues
Christmas Gifts
****************************************************
2008
Grass
Poisoned Cues
Poisoned Cues Postscript
New!! Microshaping DVD
What is Clicker Training?
MicroShaping and Clinic Report
Pantomimes
More on Microshaping
Microshaping: The use of Targeting in the Microshaping Strategy
MicroRiding: The Next Evolution in Riding Instruction
MicroRiding: More Layers Deep
MicroRiding Gets a "Hooves Up" from our Horses
More Thumbs Up for Microriding from Clinic Participants: Four Posts from the Click That teaches List
Which DVD?
Clinic Notes by Elsie Wain
White Birch Clinic Notes
The "Why Would You Leave Me?" Lesson: Head Position
January 2009: Happy New Year!
by Alexandra Kurland on 04/23/11
Happy New Year Everyone!
I see from the list we are all slowly emerging back onto the computer after the Holidays. This current discussion on praise makes a wonderful transition from one year to the next. Jane noted that I talk to my horses - a lot. When I'm training, I do indeed use praise in conjunction with food treats. I love my horses. I love being around them. I love seeing all the wonderful, funny, amazing, beautiful things they surprise me with. I love telling them they are wonderful. Who knows what effect that has on them. I'll leave it to the behavior analysts to decipher the merits of praise in training. What I do know is that the use of praise has a very positive effect on me! If I'm tired, if I'm feeling grumpy, it's almost impossible to stay that way during a training session. One or two clicks in and all the conditioned responses that have been established over many thousands of clicks take over. I'm in a good mood! And so are my horses.
All this is an important reminder that praise is a classically conditioned response. Praise can mean all kinds of things. As Jean Donaldson so skillfully points out in her book, "Culture Clash", It can mean: "phew, I just avoided being scolded. I'm safe for the moment." Praise, in this case, is an indicator that punishment has been avoided. The dressage horse successfully figured out his rider, managed a clean trot transition, and is being told he's a good boy. From his point of view that means he's avoided the sharp jab of the rider's spurs - at least for the moment. Praise isn't experienced as a celebration. It's more a source of momentary relief.
That's not what I want my horses to be feeling when I tell them how wonderful they are, so I take care in my training to make sure that praise has good associations for them. I pair praise with treats. I tie it up tightly with fun games, special rewards, activities I know my horses enjoy. I want my horses to feel as good being praised, as I feel praising them.
So there are some rules I use for implementing praise. Rules may actually be too stiff and rigid a word. Patterns may be better. When I am shaping a new behavior, I am quiet. On the behavior side of the click, I am not using praise, verbal encouragement, or keep going signals. Shaping requires focus and thinking. It's a time to be quiet. You watch. You wait. You give your horse time to think things through. You get a clickable moment. You reinforce. You watch again.
In the early stages of shaping a new behavior, I tend not to add in verbal praise. Rates of reinforcement are high. The training forms an efficient loop. You get a small increment of behavior. You click, treat, and the horse returns promptly to the behavior that is being worked on.
As you work, you will get an increment of change where the horse has clearly connected some major dots. Click, treat - and the praise erupts. "Aren't you good! Aren't you smart!" I am layering the verbal praise on top of the treats. I don't lose any efficiency in the rates of reinforcement. It doesn't take any longer for my horse to get and eat his treat, but he is getting so much more in his reward package. Pair your enthusiasm with goodies and a puzzle understood, and your horse will come to really love and value your enthusiastic praise.
I can then use that praise, and my enthusiasm, in other contexts. When I am working on polishing a well know behavior, praise is woven into the process. In a liberty session, when Robin picks up one of his gorgeous trots, it is accompanied by a chant of "Look at you! Aren't you gorgeous!" When he hears my voice, he puffs himself up even more. What fun we are both having! I can say that, not as wishful thinking, but based on the long reinforcement history that this behavior has.
Praise is a wonderful thing, and we need to remember that it shouldn't be reserved just for our horses. This is the time of the year when we thank people who have been important in our lives. We show our appreciation in so many ways. We buy gifts. We bake cookies. We do special favors for people. We send Holiday greetings and notes of thanks.
This is also the time of the year when we think back over the cycle of the seasons. Over the Holidays I've been reviewing the microriding video I shot this summer. What a wonderful way to revisit the past year. We all live so far apart, but watching the video did feel as though I was visiting with good friends. In a season of thanks, I want to be certain to thank all of you who made it to clinics, who took time to write about clicker training on this and other lists, who shared clicker training with your friends, who dared to go against what others were telling you and who chose instead to make clicker training a part of your lives. Thank you everyone! It's been a great year for clicker training!
When I woke up this morning, it was snowing outside, and there were six deer bedded down in the backyard. It was a perfect, peaceful winter scene. They are still there as I write this. They remind me what a beautiful planet we live on. It feels good to praise and appreciate.
So many people are going through a rough patch with the economy at the moment. Turn on the news and you get bombarded with one economic downturn after another. We live in a culture of fear. It is good to go out to the barn where the horses know nothing of this. Life becomes so much simpler when it is about a pocket full of pony nuts and simple appreciation. Thank goodness for horses and the love they give us.
Happy New Year Everyone
Alexandra Kurland
Copyright 2009
