Feel. It is undisputed that feel is an important component of communication with a horse. Our ability to transmit a feel to a horse and receive a feel from a horse makes conversation between horse and human possible. The stronger the focus of both parties the smaller the amount of pressure/feel needed to communicate a message or intent. I think most people get that.
But I have noticed a trend over many years that people confuse offering a horse a feel with presenting a horse a cue. Sometimes people conflate those two things as being the same. They are not. It’s understandable that if a person does not give it too much thought that feel and cues could be confused since they both can result in the same outcome. However, they offer horses a different intention and perspective on their role in working with people.
I guess the first thing to do is to define what a cue versus a feel is as I see it.
A cue is a signal. That’s it. Nothing more than that. For example, if I open a door and step to the side to allow my wife, Michèle to pass through the doorway, it is a cue. Nothing about what I do physically pressures her to walk through the doorway ahead of me.
However, a feel is a physical pressure that encourages a ‘go-with’ response. To use the example above, if I open the door and place my hand on the small of Michèle’s back with a slight pressure, it gestures to her to ‘go with’ the feel and walk through the doorway.
To give an equine example, if I ask my horse to back up by saying the word “back” over and over, it’s a cue. But if I ask my horse to back up by applying pressure to the reins or lead rope, indicating the direction of movement I want, it is a feel.
Now that I have explained my version of the difference between feel and cues I want to say that a horse should be able to respond correctly to both feel and cues. There is nothing wrong with a horse working from a cue and nothing wrong with a horse working from a feel. But I believe there is something wrong if a horse can respond to a cue, but not a feel or visa versa. It is a training job only half done.
I have often said, “Training is something you do with a horse, not to a horse.” If I want my horse to be my employee then doing stuff to a horse to instil obedience is fine. But if I want to eventually have a partnership with a horse, then I had better ensure my horse feels we are in this together.
By that, I mean that the input from a rider or handler should be somewhat commensurate with the output from a horse. If I want my horse to go left, I should present myself as going to the left. If I want my horse to slow down I should also slow down. When I want to ride a trot I should adjust my posture, muscle tension, and energy to convey to my horse “Let’s trot together.” It doesn’t matter what it is, but if I want my horse to do something then we are doing it together.
With that in mind, I believe that when a horse follows a feel it is going with you. That is, you are doing it together. On the other hand, when you issue a cue to a horse it is essentially obeying a command and doing it on his own – like sending them a text message telling them what you expect.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I believe cues play an important role when working with horses. They can be essential if you are going to direct a horse from a distance when at liberty or when performing tricks etc. With my horses, I use cues all the time. For instance, when I am working with my horse, Six and we are taking a break I give a cue to let her know whether or not she can eat grass.
Often I will apply a cue in conjunction with a feel. To give just one example, when I ask for a walk I use the feel of my seat, legs, and reins to offer a feel, but at the same time, the horse learns it as a cue. So the adjustment of my seat, legs, and reins becomes the cue, but my muscle tone, posture, and pressure present a feel to indicate the timing, impulsion, and direction of the walk. In this way, my walk aids cue that my horse should walk and the feel through my body signals that we are going in unison at the same gait, with the same amount of energy and in the same direction – in other words, we are walking together in an ongoing conversation.
People don’t often care if a horse is doing something from a cue or a feel. A lot of people just care that they have an obedient horse. However, I can give just one reason why they should care, it is regarding the concept of having a conversation with a horse. When we open the lines of communication we are having a two-way conversation back and forth with a horse. This is important, as it is in any relationship. However, for the most part, when we work from cues alone the conversation tends to be very one-sided with the human issuing the orders. We usually miss the subtleties of the horse’s side of the story because the feel is unclear or murky.
By all means, teach your horse to give to cues, but don’t stop at that. Always ensure that what is taught from a cue is also taught from a feel.
At a recent clinic in Helena, Montana Smoke is “going with” Eric.