Learning to Learn
When I was in grade school I was what might be called an exemplary student. I did not get the highest grades all the time, but I went to school every day, and the one thing I did that many of my classmates did not do was pay attention to the teacher. I wanted to learn.
Other children were laughing at each other, passing notes, or staring out the window at the playground, wishing they were just about any other place than in the room. We've all heard tales of teachers rapping a ruler on a student's knuckles when they weren't paying attention. My school wasn't like that, but I did have a scary teacher, Miss McCorquodale, who could yell so loudly at a student who wasn't paying attention that you swore the roof would cave in.
Horses can have the same reactions as humans in a learning situation. Some horses are afraid of learning (mostly because someone has scared them in the past,) and other horses are distracted or do not care that there is a person in front of them. Some horses have not learned to learn.
Horses who are scared are often described – when referring to their ability to learn – as experiencing Groundhog Day. The person teaches something to their horse one day, or at least they think they do, and then the next day, it is as though the horse has not learned anything. They can also be described as having "forgotten" the session. I would argue that the horse has not forgotten anything Horses have incredibly good memories for situations and learning. What most likely has happened is that the horse was not in a learning frame of mind to begin with.
So, what does a learning frame of mind look like for a horse? It looks similar to humans in the following way: relaxed, present and connected to the teacher. If a horse is wide-eyed, has shallow breathing or has its head way up in the air in a defensive posture, they are most likely not in a learning frame of mind.
The way to get this horse into a learning frame of mind is to slow down, do multiple repetitions and provide much reward, allowing the horse what is commonly referred to as "dwell time." Giving a horse mental rest breaks to absorb what is happening is key. It is far too easy to overload a horse that is scared and mentally disconnected. In fact, it is far too easy to overwhelm just about any horse if you apply too much pressure too soon. P.S. This is easy to do with some humans, too!
Uninterested horses, on the other hand, have to be convinced that a human has something important to say. If they are busy eating grass or pulling the lead rope out of our hands because they would rather be somewhere else, they are likely not going to retain any information from the training session. We will need to get their attention prior to the actual session beginning.
One of the best things we can do for our horses is teach them to learn how to learn. The best way to begin the process is to show them that class is in session and remind them they need to be with us instead of somewhere else, like the next pasture over. A horse that has learned to learn is a much safer horse in the long run and a great pleasure to be around.