What do marbles have to do with training horses?

Quite a lot it seems…

Created by the brilliant Brene Brown, the Marble Jar Theory relates to relationships and it works well for our horses too.

If you imagine that ‘trust’ in our horse-human relationship is represented by a marble jar, we can drop marbles into the jar to grow a sense of trust or pluck them out and degrade the good joo-joo.

When we make more deposits than withdrawals – our horses will begin to trust.

In other words, trust is built in the tiny moments.

Our horses don’t develop trust through one giant session of ‘desensitisation’ or a massage & carrot – it grows from many seemingly insignificant moments.

One of the things I love so much about liberty training and obstacles is that it’s a chance to freestyle and have fun with no real expectations.

A few days ago I took Timmy around a few little obstacles for the first time.

And seeing as he was a free agent – there were no straps, ropes or tugging required.

I really, really loved watching his little brain tick over as he problem solved, showed off & outsmarted me.

It also made me laugh like a lunatic, as clicker training often does.

And I thought to myself… ‘Well, I’ve definitely never laughed out loud while I’m practicing a dressage test… This stuff is so cool ’

Anyway, one of the things I’ve been taught recently is that if we want to be serious behaviourists in a serious equine world, then thou shalt not attribute human characteristics to horses…

But at times like this, I just cant help it.

I know that Timmy is not just enjoying the treats but is also relishing the sense of achievement that goes with it. I’m sure he gets some kind of dopamine hit from working things out and finding a solution… I just have zero evidence to back it up.

In any case…. for a relationship that started with a terrified, aggressive, abused pony with an impossibly huge marble deficit, our marble cup now runneth over.

And there are no whips or ropes required.

If you’d like to learn more about clicker training and how you can use it to fill your marble jar – then you’ll be tickled pink to hear that I’m soon releasing an online course.

This means you can practice in all your unco glory in the safety of your own space, rather than coming to a clinic (but OFC you can still do that too).

There will be an Early Bird Sale in the next few weeks… so to be notified of all the things, put your email address down here https://www.theplayfulpony.com.au/online-learning/

Watch Timmy’s Training Video Here