Force Free Horsemanship & Boundaries

Myth of the Day:

"gentle, positive reinforcement-based, or force free horsemanship,

1. Doesn’t teach boundaries

2. The horses are pushy and don't respect your space

3. The horses are spoiled and think they can do whatever they want.”

Let’s address these points. Because they’re common misconceptions that are still incredibly prevalent in the equine industry.

No, just because we allow our horse to choose to participate in their eduation or not, doesn't mean we cannot teach them what they can or cannot do around us.

Any good horsemanship absolutely should teach boundaries. But what does this really mean? It depends partially on the individual, because not everyone is going to have the same boundaries as another.

But if we go by the definition: “the limits and rules we set for ourselves within relationships.” then boundaries are easy to set even within the force free parameters.

The only difference to how boundaries are taught in traditional training is that our focus lies more on the behaviours we DO want, instead of focusing on which behaviours we DO NOT want.

for example:

Most people do not appreciate a horse pushing their nose into the feed bucket when you’re walking through their paddock. I know I sure don’t! So that’s a boundary right?

With traditional horsemanship, we might show the horse these 'boundaries' by pushing them out of our space via any form of pressure, swinging a leadrope, waving our hand, popping their nose, backing them up, etc. In other words, we punish/stop any behaviours we do not want.

However, with positive reinforcement-based/force-free horsemanship, we focus on rewarding the horse for the behaviours we do want instead. So what is it that I want my horses to do instead? To go to their feed spot and wait for me to come with the food. So, we teach and reinforce this in a controlled environment, and once this is taught, the horses understand that any pushy behaviours will not get them any food, but patiently waiting at their spot will!

Boundary established.

Here is a video example of what that would look like.

This same principle works for any kind of boundary or personal space! You don’t want your horse to step on your toe while leading? Me neither!

But instead of backing them out of my space, we simply make 1 meter to my right their favourite space to be in, by rewarding them when they’re in that spot.

You don’t want your horse to kick out at you when you pick their hoofs? Same here!

But instead of yielding or even smacking their hindquarters, we make having their foot lifted such a positive experience, that kicking doesn't even cross their mind.

In the end, “Boundaries” are just a set of different behaviours that we want or don’t want our horses to do.

But because we don’t punish the unwanted behaviours of our horses in positive reinforcement-based, force-free horsemanship, the assumption is that this means no boundaries are being established, ever.

Do the horses know they’re not going to get punished for the 'unwanted' behaviours? Yes, for sure! Does this mean they're going to do those behaviours whenever they feel like it? not at all. Because the unwanted behaviour still becomes undesirable for the horse to do, as there simply isn't anything in it for them, but in the 'wanted' behaviour, there absolutely is something in it for them.

Personally, I'd argue that it is a good thing that a horse knows they are not punished for those behaviours, because this approach, while establishing your boundaries, still leaves room for the horse to communicate and express themselves. because a lot of those behaviours that we don't usually want our horses to express, (such as kicking, rearing, pawing, being nibbly, biting etc.) are also signs of something more serious going on.

If we have a horse that has been positively taught those boundaries, and then is expressing unwanted behaviours suddenly, this is a sign that something is wrong. pain, discomfort, etc., are the likeliest factors.

On the other hand, this is a lot harder to distinguish if the horse is used to being punished for those behaviours.

So there are many ways to teach our horses boundaries, what behaviours are “wanted” vs “unwanted”, but in force free horsemanship, the goal is to do so in a gentle manner that still allows freedom for our horse to express themselves.