29/09/2025
Anything you can do.......
Everything that can be accomplished with traditional training can be accomplished equally effectively with positive reinforcement. Some things might look a little different, but get the same results. We are kind of approaching the same answer from the opposite direction, with the horse seeking rather than avoiding.
With R+ we use things that the horse works to earn, moves towards, seeks out, rather than traditionally moving away from, yielding, or restraints. This is like stationing on a target/mat instead of standing tied (though they can have a rope tied while they do it). Moving around a reverse round pen or series of cones instead of lunging where they're moving away from the pressure of the whip. Rather than kicking to make them move, we send them forward, generalized from sending to targets.
These two quadrants are both essentially equal, in that they both reinforce behavior. Some behaviors and some personalities will be easier to teach with one vs the other. Because R- has been around a LOT longer as traditional in the horse world, it's more widely accepted and has millions of different methodologies, approaches, and techniques within it. So, if one isn't working for you/your horse, it's easy to find alternatives. While R+ is much newer there's less pre-written formulas and methods, so it requires more creativity and learning from us. But it's also much more welcoming and forgiving of a method, because it's reward based rather than avoidance based, it's more fun for the trainer and the student. There's less intensity, less fallout for mistakes, and more effort from the learner.
R+ is such an easy, safe, reliable approach, even with it's newness and less available, pre-written paths forward, we still see sooo many horses thriving, overcoming major issues that R- couldn't fix, and doing things people never dreamed of doing with a horse. All safely and being trained with brain over toughness, so a whole new wave of people are able to come in as trainers! You don't need to be physically strong and brave, you just need to be clever, creative, and willingness to put in the practice. We have students who are young, small, physically compromised, or neurodivergent, who are all exceptional horse trainers, because they are able to approach their training in a way that keeps them and the horse feeling safe, confident, and making progress towards their shared goals.
So while these methods may be new, and it may require some more of a learning curve from us, it has SO many perks for horse and human, it's worth investing some learning time into.
There are no goals we can't reach with R+, within the limits of compassion to the horse's identity, physical and emotional needs.
