CHANGE: Where horses and that word “change” are concerned, not everything will feel comfortable on the start, because that word “everything” takes in quite a lot. When there’s a need for you to make a change, you may try several things, hoping that one will be understandable to the horse. You might be doing quite a little guesswork, but as time goes on you’d probably get it figured out.
After some testing and speculating, there may be one thing you happen to try that fits that horse just right. You’d be sure to change the feel you presented to him as close to when he made that change as you could, and you’d do this by easing off. This way that horse can understand what it is he is supposed to do.
When the change in the horse you’re looking for shows up, that good feel that comes to him when you ease off is what matters so much to him. That’s because if you eased off right when that change started to show up, he would remember what you presented before you eased off. And he’d remember the easing off part, too. This is how you teach things to a horse using feel that is properly applied. Your better timing matching up with your better feel, and the way that you got it applied, is what makes this work.
There are changes that can affect a person, all right, and this will affect a horse because they’re real sensitive. It’s not always possible to know what causes change in a person’s life, even when it’s the person’s own life. Since the horse can’t talk, it’s even more difficult to figure out what’s bothering him. It takes real careful observation. The changes you observe in the horse are his responses to other things that change, and this process is always taking place — any time you’re speaking about horses anyway. We’re working towards a spot where change, generally speaking, will not be so bothersome to the horse. When things are understandable to the horse, change won’t trouble him
Yes, timing is critical for the horse. The quicker we reward a change, the faster the horse learns.