When you work with your horse, voice cues can be a real game-changer.

When you start your horse from the ground, you can take those voice cues in the saddle. It will make the transition from groundwork to riding easier.

What is a 'cue'?

Once a behaviour is trained and predictable, we pair it with a cue. A cue is a signal that becomes a predictor of a potential appetitive (something the horse wants to receive). If the horse is trained well, he'll be focused on your cues: they are important to him.

How to Test the Strength of Your Voice Cue

Most horse owners think that their voice cues work, but they are mistaken. They think "Walk On", "Whoa", "Trot", and "Canter" are solid.

In reality, the horse pays attention to a combination of cues: your body language (arms, legs, where you're looking, tension in your body) and maybe even the tools you hold in your hand (target stick).

Isolate the Vocal Cue

If you're convinced your horse will start to walk on your voice cue "Walk On", test it by isolating the verbal cue from your body language.

When the horse starts to walk, your voice cue is solid. Congrats! You've done a really good job training your horse.

When Your Voice Cue is NOT Solid

When your horse is not responding to your voice cue, you want to give more information. You can use a target in front of him or use mats, to entice forward movement. Repeat until the behaviour walk is strong.

Don't Fall Into This Common Pitfall

Here's what most people often forget when training their horse. They forget that their training tools, like the target, must be faded out. Only then can you train your horse purely on a voice cue.

Fade out your mats, target and body language. you walking first, can become the actual cue for your horse to start walking. This will become a bottleneck in At Liberty because your horse will only walk as long and as fast as you are walking. When you put the "walk" on a voice cue, your horse will walk without you.

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