From: Kirstin Campbell
Hello. I think the idea of your mailing list is excellent! I'm sure I can speak from all subscribers when I say thanks for taking time out of your busy life to help us.
I have a question for you regarding voice commands on the longe line. I will begin to longe my three year old filly in the spring, and I was wondering what you use for voice commands. With my older gelding, I have always used; waaalk, trot, can-ter, for upswards transitions, and whoa to do progressive downwards transitions. Other people use those commands for upwards *and* downwards transitions. They say "whoa" should be reserved for STOP. I'm wondering if using the same comand, for example for an upwards trot transition and a downwards trot transition, would confuse the horse more than necessary. It would confuse me if I was a horse! My coach uses noises for walk trot canter cues, because she says, when you go to take your CEF (Canadian Equestrian Federation) level one coaching certification (she's got her level three), and you go to do your longeline testing, it is in a big indoor arena with three or four other horses, all longeing at the same time. The horses get confused and don't differentiate between their neighbour's commands and their longer's comands. She uses unique noises so that her horses never get mixed up. This filly is the horse I plan on getting my level one on (I'm sixteen now, so by the time I'm eighteen, old enough to get my certification, she'll be going nicely under saddle).
Thanks. Kirsten Campbell
Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you're enjoying horse-sense.
You're very sensible to wait until your filly is more mature before starting her longe work; congratulations!
Voice commands, as I'm sure you've already found out, are more a matter of TONE than of the specific word used. Yours are perfectly fine; your horse will be able to distinguish quite easily among "Waaaaaaaalk" and "TROT!" and "Can-ter".
I don't use "whoa" for downward transitions, for several reasons.
First, "whoa" has a VERY specific meaning: STOP. I want to keep that association strong and undiluted, so that when my horse hears me say "WHOA!" he knows that I mean "STOP" and not "slow down" or "change gait". If your horse is ever tangled in its own longe line (or in someone else's), or puts a foot through or over a siderein, or steps into wire or something else dangerous, or if a piece of equipment breaks, or if another horse is suddenly loose in the arena -- and I've seen ALL these things happen -- you need to be able to stop your horse instantly, ON VOICE. If you save "WHOA" for "STOP," you'll be able to do this effectively; your horse won't have to wonder what it means THIS time.
Second, when you ask your horse for a trot, "Trot" should mean trot, whether the horse is standing still, walking, or cantering. It doesn't matter whether the transition is upward or downward; when you ask for a trot, that's what your horse should understand, and that's what your horse should do. Similarly, "walk" means walk whether your horse is standing still or whether he is trotting or cantering. If a horse knows the meaning of the word, he won't be confused -- what WOULD confuse him would be your saying "whoa" when you mean "go from canter to trot" or "go from trot to walk." Instead, try using either his name, or "And..." as a preparatory command BEFORE you tell him "walk" or "trot" or "canter" or "whoa." A preparatory command ("Silver ---- waaaaaaaalk" or "And...... waaaaaaaalk") is like a verbal half-halt. It lets the horse know that something is coming, and allows him to rebalance himself and get ready, because you are about to ask him to DO something. You'll find that all of your transitions are much more smooth, and that your horse doesn't get anxious or upset, if he knows that you will want him that something is coming.
Third, I don't use "whoa" for transitions or anything other than "stop" because I want prompt, accurate, FORWARD transitions whether they are upward or downward ones. When I'm longeing a horse at canter and I want it to trot, I want it to move smoothly FORWARD into trot, using its muscles -- I don't want it to canter more and more slowly until it FALLS into a trot. Similarly, I don't want a horse trotting, then jogging, then collapsing into a slow walk, I want a trot-to-walk transition that is forward and prompt and active.
If I want to modify the horse's gait or activity level on the longe while it's working in a particular gait, I can ask it to trot (or canter, or walk) more slowly by saying "EASY trot" or "EASY canter" or "EASY walk" -- this is a word that horses figure out almost instantly, especially if you match it to your body language (lift your rein hand slightly, stand taller, and allow the tip of the whip to drop). If I want the horse to move along more actively, I can say "Walk ON", or "Trot ON" -- and match this to my body language by lifting the tip of the whip so that it points at the horse's hocks rather than at his hind heels, and by stepping slightly back toward his hip, getting myself in a position to drive him forward.
Don't worry about what happens when you have to longe in a large arena with several other horses. If your horse is paying attention to you, and is focused on you (which is a matter of training, habit, and YOUR focus), he will listen to YOU, not to anyone else. Even if another person is cracking a whip every few seconds, you can keep your horse focused on you and responding to your commands.
I wouldn't bother with trying to make "unique noises." Most people come up with the same noises, anyway... and the point is that if you have your horse's attention, he will be working from your voice AND YOUR BODY LANGUAGE, which will both be quite clear to him. A well-trained horse, with one ear and one eye on its handler, is not easily distracted by another person's commands to another horse.
If your horse is NOT paying attention to you, shouting, whistling, or using funny sounds won't do a lot of good. But he'll watch your body, and he'll listen for YOUR voice. If you call a child in from the playground, you don't have to use a special noise so that he won't get confused -- little Tommy will hear HIS mother's voice, and go to her, even if ten other mothers are calling their own children (and even if some of the others are also named Tommy). Your horse has better hearing than any child, and the longeline itself provides you with a constant source of communication. Just longe normally -- and use conventional commands. After all, what will happen if you are asked to longe another horse as part of the exam, or if your own horse (heaven forbid) is ill or lame when you go for your test, and you have to take another horse with you?
It's possible to teach a horse to respond to almost any signal, but keeping things simple and universal will be good for you when you work with other horses, and will also be good for your horse when someone else works with him. People who teach their horses "distinctive" or "unique" signals aren't doing those horses a favour -- other handlers, who don't know that the horse has been taught this way, are very likely to punish the horse for responding "wrong" to some signal, or for "not responding" to a conventional signal. You COULD teach your horse to canter when you tap it on the left side of the withers, for instance, but someone else might accidentally tap it there, then punish it for cantering "for no reason" -- or might ask for a canter in the usual way, ask again, and finally kick it hard and then punish it for "not responding to a canter aid."
Jessica
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