32. Haltering Level 5

Goal: Horse walks to you from 40 feet away targeting the halter, drops his head and stands still while you put it on with just the visual cue of the halter

This step involves methodically combining all the things you have taught so far and ending up with the final desired behavior- a horse that comes to you when you present the halter. This is a chained behavior.

Combine all the Pieces:

Start back at zero distance. With the horse standing on the mat, cue a lowered head and present the halter from behind your back. Ask for a nose target of the harness and place the halter on. Take it off and put it behind your back. C/t. Repeat x5. Release him between training sessions.

Fade the Mat

Remove the mat and ask for the following:

From one step away from your horse, present the halter from behind your back and cue a lowered head. Ask for a nose target and place the halter on. C/t. Take it off and put it behind your back. Repeat x5.  

From two steps away, present the halter from behind your back and cue a lowered head. Ask for a nose target and place the halter on. C/t. Take it off and put it behind your back. Repeat x5. 

From three steps away, present the halter from behind your back and cue a lowered head. Ask for a nose target and place the halter on. C/t. Take it off and put it behind your back. Repeat x5. 

From four steps away, present the halter from behind your back and cue a lowered head. Ask for a nose target and place the halter on. C/t. Take it off and put it behind your back. Repeat x5. 

Fade the Nose Target Cue

By this point you can probably phase out the actual nose target of the halter and just put it directly on the horse as he approaches you. Horses, like people, get lazy and if you skip a step, they will willingly shorten the process. This is what it would look like.

From three steps away, present the halter from behind your back and cue a lowered head. Place the halter on. C/t. Take it off and put it behind your back. Repeat x5. 

From four steps away, present the halter from behind your back and cue a lowered head. Place the halter on. C/t. Take it off and put it behind your back. Repeat x5

Continue adding distance.

Fade the Head Lowering Cue

You can fade the lowered head cue as well. This is what it would look like.

Remember whenever you change one criteria of what you are asking, to either lower or keep the other criteria the same.

This is what it would look like.

From three steps away, present the halter from behind your back. Wait for the lowered head or nose target. Place the halter on. C/t. Take it off and put it behind your back. Repeat x5. 

From four steps away, present the halter from behind your back Wait for the lowered head or nose target. Place the halter on. C/t. Take it off and put it behind your back. Repeat x5

Note the distance criteria was decreased by a step, then worked back into the training after the horse showed he was successful.  If more distance was added, it might be making the behavior too hard for the horse and decrease the success rate.

Continue adding distance.

Change Your Position

Using just the presentation of the halter as the cue, cue him from one side of his enclosure to the other, from any position in the pen

*the gate,

*several points along the fence 

*corners where you might hang the halter

Here's an example of a horse that comes to target his bridle and even puts his mouth on a bit! And this was a horse that used to be headshy!

Change Location

When your horse is successful in one location, change location (such as from pen to pasture), and start practicing back at very close distances and train your way to greater distances. Work your way up to cueing from the other side of the largest field you have. Don’t forget to intersperse training other behaviors he enjoys to increase his desire for this behavior.

Use the Modified Cue (as needed) (taught in level 4)

When he is coming from quite a distance away, you can use just the raised halter as the signal to come get haltered up. The horse is more likely to be able to see your motion at a distance than the actual halter in your hands. As he moves toward you, put it in position (at your hip) for him to place his nose in the nose loop.

Fade the Marker and the Food

Once you have some distance, you can fade the click, then substitute other reinforcements such as mane rub or getting him to do another behavior he enjoys etc.