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TrickHorseUK

Welcome to our Trick page!......

To show you just what's possible, we have
attached a short movie of our private trick
practice. This is a long way off being a
polished performance from horse or
handler but the foundation of
communication is there to be worked on,
and we hope to inspire others to give it a
go!

The video is a play session taped March
2009. Fern is now 8 years old and our trust
and partnership is well established as we
play and have fun together!

Say Cheese!!! Teaching Your Horse to Smile

Difficulty Rating: * Time to Perfect Approx: 1 Week

This is one of the easiest tricks to start with and has great novelty value. Fantastic as a party
trick, it is sure to earn your horse a smile and a laugh from your friends. It also helps you to
understand the basic teaching techniques that lead to success when training your horse.
Consider how, Patience, repetition, braking down training into easy stages, consistency and
positive reinforcement has an effect when attempting this trick and how the same might be
applied to more advanced training.

Tools required:- Head-collar, lead-rope, A supply of horse favourite treats!

Lesson 1:- Dress your horse in head collar and lead rope and tie him up loosely so he will stand
still but has plenty of room to ensure your horse allows you to handle their head. (If your horse
is happy with your touching his face then move now to stage 2.) To win your horse’s confidence,
start by placing a gentle but firm hand on his forelock or anywhere that is comfortable and
tolerable and slowly rub the area whilst praising him as a good boy. Gradually draw you hand
down the face towards the nose, if the horse becomes uncomfortable, retreat back to his
comfort zone and tell him he is a good boy. With patience you will be able to desensitise your
horse to the hand by this approach and retreat method, by constantly pushing the boundaries
of his comfort zone until you horse comfortably accepts the hand all over his head without
being head shy or difficult.

Lesson 2:- Now that your horse is reasonably accepting of you working around and handling his
head, you can start the fun part. Stand by the near side shoulder, hold the head steady by
holding the lead rein with your left hand just below the clip. Conceal the treat in your right palm
and let him sniff your hand. Tell him he is a good boy and reward him for paying attention by
giving him the treat.
Lesson 3:- Now that you have your horse’s interest, take another treat in the same hand and
hold it above the nose. Extend the forefinger on this hand and start to tickle his nose from
above whilst asking him to ‘smile’. As you get closer to the sensitive area between the nostrils
heading for the top lip you should get a reaction from your horse by him starting to curl his top
lip and raise his head. As soon as there is the slightest try (even the smallest quiver of the lip!)
cease tickling and reward him immediately with the treat and buckets of praise!!!

Lesson 4:- Keep your training sessions brief so the horse will not tire of the game, but continue
to repeat steps 2 and 3 until you horse learns to predict that when you ask for a ‘smile’ and
point at his nose he will give you his biggest, cheekiest grin ever! This trick can be practised
anywhere, so you can practise anytime you handle your horse. Very soon you will just be able to
say smile to get a glimpse of those pearly whites. Do the trick methodically so your horse will
learn to pre-empt what you want him to do. For instance, say ‘Smile’, just as your start to reach
to tickle the horse on the nose, eventually the horse will learn that the word cue ‘smile’
precedes the tickles and will smile on the cue word to avoid a tickled nose and to speed up the
arrival of his yummy reward for obliging!