2016 Miniature Horse WORLD Issues October/November 2016 Vol 32 No 5 | Page 100

H H H H H H H H H H H H H
Get them Smiling!
Any of these categories
can be a starting point in
your Miniature trick horse’s
training. We usually start with
the “smile” as it convinces a
horse that he can be taught.
Smiles are contagious. When
we walk into the barn and
our horses start flashing us
big, toothy smiles, it makes us
smile right back.

Here’s How to Start

Our demo mini, Little America’s Struttin
Anniversary and owner Tony Greaves of
Little America Miniature Horses

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Hold a small treat in the palm of your hand and lightly close your fingers
around it. Let the horse smell it and invite him to nose through your fingers
as though he were picking a blade of grass. When he begins to hunt the treat,
move your hand back a little so he twitches his nose as he reaches for it.
When his upper lip moves, tell him “good boy” and immediately open your
fingers and give him the treat. The “good boy” serves as a bridge signal
which bridges or marks the behavior and will let him know a treat is coming.
Encourage him to lift his lip a little higher each
session and add the verbal cue of “smile.”
Over time, add a lifted index finger so he
begins to get a visual cue as well. Reward
him with a treat each time he responds with
even a small improvement. The smile always
requires a reward (quickly), each and every
time or he will very soon lose interest.

Miniature horses are highly tuned into even
the slightest nuances of their interaction
with us and they’re especially adept at
reading human body language. We train ours
with a combination of verbal, physical and
proximity cues, yet they are ultra-responsive
to body language.
The behaviors we teach create a great
working relationship and create reciprocal
co-operation and willing obedience in any
other discipline. Horses are encouraged to
“learn how to learn” as they master moves
that increase strength and agility.
We utilize lots of props including pedestals,
weave poles, teeter totters, big (herding)
balls, bean bags to sit on, Frisbees to retrieve
and target boards. Horses can make powerful
associations between objects (or props) and
actions and when we add positive reinforcement including food treats, the results are
extremely rapid and truly amazing. Horses
love this type of education because it is easy
for them to understand and its fun, not so
much like work, but more like play.

98 Miniature Horse World

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Teaching the Smile convinces
a horse that he is trainable.
It’s also a great way for a
trainer to perfect his timing
while teaching about the
variable reward system.

H H H H H H H

The next step is to slowly begin to move your
hand from a palm up low position to a palm
forward and higher position as if saying a
pledge. To get the treat, the horse has to lift
and extend his lip.
As time goes on, only reward improvement
in the form of an upward move of the lip in a
smile-like expression. This is a great trick to
convince him that you are trainable!