Teaching is Repitition
- Martin Arnold
- Feb 3, 2021
- 2 min read
“My mentor, Charles de Kunffy, can be heard saying often “teaching is repetition.” When training our horses, especially when introducing a new concept, sometimes it takes doing something multiple times before they really learn it.
When teaching horses something new, the first thing that must happen before anything else is they must understand what it is we want. This is made difficult because the only way we can communicate our wishes is through our aids. Our aids are basically a series of pressures, release of the pressures and then a reward to convey to the horse that they got the right answer. Even with the smartest of horses, we may have to repeat this process several times before it really clicks in what we want.
Getting the horse to understand what we want is the first step, but then we also must be ready to repeat what we’re doing until the horse finds the coordination to physically do what we’re asking. Flying changes are a great example. Even once the horse understands that we want them to change their lead during the canter, it may take a year or more of practice for them to get the coordination to do it smoothly. Another example is haunches in. While the horse may understand what we want quickly, they may need hundreds of repetitions for their body to become sufficiently supple to execute the movement.
While repetition is vital in training our horses, I do want to warn against drilling certain movements. Flying changes again come to mind. With some horses, the changes fire them up and if you keep doing them over and over, you may send them through the roof and make them sour on the whole process. When you are teaching a horse through repetition, always take their mental temperature. If they are getting frazzled, change the subject for a bit to “cool things down.” One of the skills that great trainers master over time is knowing just the right time to take the pressure off of the horse before the proverbial “kettle boils over.”
In conclusion, one of the best characteristics that any rider can develop in themselves is endless patience. If you look at teaching your horse from a big picture view, you’ll be more likely to teach through repetition and develop the patience you need for success!”
Martin Arnold
Head Trainer
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