19th April 2025
This little guy is a big star. Danny hasn’t been at the Faugere Association long and when he arrived he was very unsure of himself. He has settled nicely now, and we had a little play with progressive rewarding today with lifting his feet, in the field, at liberty.
What is progressive rewarding? It is about the “Well Done” and the “Thank you”. Training can be fun!
We all like a well done when we have done something right and/or well. We all also love to be paid for the work we do. We wouldn’t do our jobs if we weren’t getting paid.
Progressive rewarding with horses is about asking for something in the right way, with the right intent, and making it worth it for the horse. The “Well Done” should be every time somebody does something that can be praised, whether it is a pony lifting a foot, or a child putting away a toy. The reward is the Thank you. It doesn’t have to be food. It can also be scratches or sitting down and relaxing. The space in between the well done and the thank you is the progression.
It creates the space for trusted co-operation, where everybody in the relationship benefits.