01/03/2021
"A "trained" horse is a very large complex puzzle, made up of thousands and thousands of very small puzzle pieces. Each puzzle piece represents a behavior. All of those behaviors come in the box, but they are in disarray and not matched up; they aren't "on cue". Putting all the pieces together, putting them all on "cue" and making them functional for our human wishes, is a methodical process that requires great patience and planning.... whether you're training with R- or R+.
The end result is a masterpiece made up of all those individual pieces of behaviors on cue; a "well-trained horse". Many of us though got to a certain point in building this puzzle with R- cues... only to realize the puzzle didn't look like we wanted it to. So, we broke it apart only to put it back together again with R+ cues this time.
Sometimes this process of re-building can be frustrating and de-motivating though. We can feel like we've lost so much progress having to start over.... but try and stay focused on that end "masterpiece" you are looking for. And try and remember that the horse can easily become confused and frustrated during this process too... if we aren't consistent and patient with our puzzle building.
Each and every puzzle piece has to be trained individually and then placed into the puzzle, whether that's with R- or R+. This will minimize frustration on both your parts and make the experience fun and productive for both of you!
You can't skip ahead, you can't overlook steps... or the puzzle won’t be complete and there will be gaps, frustration, and confusion in the training. Step by step, piece by piece.. build your well-trained "masterpiece"." ✍️ ~ Excerpt from TWE Blog Post "Re-training with R+"
https://www.thewillingequine.com/post/re-training-with-r
