Breaking Down the Key Aspects of Hand Feeding Safely with Positive Reinforcement: Part 3

Are you worried that by feeding treats when practising Positive Reinforcement (R+) training with your horse, you will end up with a horse that is biting or nipping? Don’t! A foundational element to R+ training is establishing desired mannerisms. Follow the videos below for safe hand-feeding practices.

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Hand Feeding Safely with Positive Reinforcement (R+)

While practicing Hand Feeding Safely with R+ we are teaching a behavior we call “Calm, Head Away”.  Seemingly simple, it does take practice and patience, especially when the horse and/or the trainer are new at R+.  

Watch Via Nova trainer, Gilly, teach an apprentice the 7 Steps to Hand Feeding Safely in the barn aisle (no horse) and then in the arena with Via Nova equine R+ master, Drake.

What ‘Calm, Head Away’ Looks Like

Here we discuss ‘Calm, Head Away’ whilst Meredith demonstrates with Sebastian. Sebastian is a completely different personality to Drake, as seen in the first video. The session in the crossties was a few months earlier than the one in the stall. Can you see a difference?

Introducing a Young Horse to Positive Reinforcement (R+)  

In this clip, Gilly, introduces Solstice, a young eventing prospect, to Positive Reinforcement for the first time. Watch him learn!

Would you like to learn more about introducing R+ training methods in your everyday life with horses? You can check out our resources, or contact us for more information on how to get started.