# Voice Commands



## o0hawaiigirl0o (Aug 8, 2008)

What voice commands has your horse been trained to respond to? Or what voice commands do you use with your horse?

"and hooo" drawn out in a low tone = halt or slow
"and walk" drawn out in a low tone(downward transition to walk)or "walk on" in a clear, energized, but calm voice tone(upward transition to walk) = walk
"and tru-rot!" said in a energized voice, sounding out the syllables (upward transition) or "and truuuot" said in a low tone, slightly drawn out(downward transition) = trot
"and canter, up!" the 'up' said in a slightly higher, energized tone = canter
(the "and" in the above is to prepare the horse, like a vocal half halt)
"Come" or clicking = more impulsion
^I use all the above when lunging. It's what we use at our barn, so pretty much every barn horse responds to them. Sometimes I use them while riding to help to horse understand what we're doing.

"Back" used with pressure applied to the chest, halter, or bit = backing up
Clicking, sometimes with pressure on any part of the body = moves away from pressure (like when I move her over to groom her or close gates)
Kissing = I only do this when we're cantering or galloping and she responds with more speed
"Good girl/boy" = general praise for anything done well, usually applied with many pats
"Come" = this version (used on the ground) means 'come towards me'
"Easy" and "You're fine" said in a low, calm tone = used to calm the horse on the ground or while riding

I'm interested to see what voice commands you and your horse(s) use.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Calling their name to get whichever horse to come to me/come forward.
Stand - stand still & stay
come or here - walk with me
clucking - speed up whatever I'm asking
whoa - slow, stop
back - back up
Good! - right!
tuck - collect vertically
head down - head down
step/step up - step the foot signalled forward or step on a pedestal/hoof stand
move it - move whatever part I'm signalling over
over - step or jump over something
Go Go Go! - canter/gallop
get it - pick something up & give it to me
push - push something, like a ball
in/out - in/out of trailer or such
ok - do what you like
where's Grace - go to my daughter


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## Rubonsky (Aug 9, 2008)

We use mostly body language as our cue on the ground and leg cues when riding, so here are the verbal cues we use.

Upward transitions;
Cluck for walk
Clucking, speed up the sound to a faster cluck for trot
Kiss, for canter

Downward Transitions;
say what you want,
walk - break to walk
trot- break to trot
whoa- stop

Quit- firm voice if one is doing something it is not suppose to, such as pawing, etc

I was taught that you make everything as easy as you can for your horse, and so simple that they can't get confused and know exactly what you are asking. That is why I was taught sounds for upward and words for downward, that way they are so different a horse can't get confused and knows exactly what you are asking. Every time you use a sound they are thinking forward, and every time they hear you use a word they are thinking break and come down. That way the mind set is set that way. Just a quick explanatory on what I was taught and why we do it. 

I love to hear how everyone does things....its so interesting.


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## Dumas'_Grrrl (Apr 2, 2008)

Kiss= pay attention to me a cue is comming either leg or verbal
Cluck= speed up
Whoa= stop
Eazy= slow down or calm down
Back=back up
Stand= stand/stay put
Move it= Get out of the way horse. :lol: 
Step up= get in the trailer
AAAT= quit that (warning tone)
No= stop that behaviour NOW

I'm sure I use more hand cues and leg cues...I find that I'm not always consistant with my verbal cues which is not good for the horses plus I'm not the only one that interacts with them. Dumas is comforted by _more_ talking I tend to be short winded but my hubby will soothe him and talk all low and sweet..its really cute.


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

I find posts like this so interesting. These guy's have the ability to adapt to whatever we throw at them. Most of these I taught to an older horse as well as a younger one, so you can teach an old dog new tricks....Some of mine....the more odd ball ones as the normal ones have been covered.

Bum - move that butt over
Shoulder- move the shoulder
Other- reverse on the lunge line
Over- whole body is to move. I use this on the younger one to help with side passing under saddle as well as on the ground.
Headies - ( I know it's not a word LOL) drop your head
S-u-l-o-w drawn out for the younger one when his trot gets to fast on a line.
Quit, Hey, Enough (said strongly) are used interchangeably to stop whatever is going on that needs to stop now.
In- get in the trailer
Up- lunging over jumps
Cookies? said in a sort of high voice and they come a running. LOL
Okay- I use this as well, means your free to go.
In your house- go to your stall


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## claireauriga (Jun 24, 2008)

Personally? I don't use voice commands when riding, not really. The lesson horses do pay attention to what the instructor is saying, which is why many of mine spell out T-R-O-T rather than calling for a _trrrrot!_, and you can cluck a bit to keep them moving or encourage them with a brisk 'walk on!', but we don't use voice commands as aids frequently.

I probably use my voice more than I realise - I certainly talk to the horse if I'm grooming or leading or whatever - but I'm not really taught to communicate using my voice when I'm riding. Any instructions such as 'walk on' are sort of spontaneous and uninstructed. If I'm talking it'll be to the instructor.


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## valleychick2121 (May 1, 2008)

I do what Rubonsky does. 

On the lunge, I cluck for a walk, cluck faster for a trot and kiss for the lope. I use voice commands on the downward trasitions and also easy to get one to slow down and move softly. Whoa for stop of course.

On the ground leading, I just cluck and whoa. If they get frisky ( my buckskin is really high if left up for a couple days) then I'll just snap the lead and they calm down. 

If one bites, they get a "NO" very loud with a smack on the nose. I don't tolerate not having all my skin very well. I also say no when they to the wrong trick and then say what I want them to do again.

In the saddle. i don't talk with them at all, except to say whoa and to cluck and kiss. If they really push to please me, i'll stop them and praise with hugs and pats saying good. I do say good when they get the perfect head position as well and release the reins for praise, lol.

Other than that, I have whole conversations with my horses, especially when they are bad or I'm upset lol. They never give you any backtalk and always seem to want to give you a free hug to feel better, lol.


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## Mira (Aug 4, 2008)

*Lunging:*
Walk - cluck + lunge whip at ground
Trot - cluck cluck + lunge whip horizontal
Lope - kiss + lunge whip vertical

*Riding:*
Walk - cluck + outside spur
Trot - cluck cluck + outside spur
Lope - kiss + outside spur
Lope to jog - Say 'easy'
Back - Right spur (he likes to swing his butt to the right), slight lift of reins, 'back'


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## 4EverPainted (Jul 18, 2008)

lol this is kinda stupid but he responds to mush. lol, i said it once and he really responded so now when i say mush he knows to walk trot whatever. :lol:


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## bgood400 (Nov 10, 2008)

"walk" - for down transition from lope or jog
"jog" - for down transition from lope
"hmmmmm" - transition from fast lope to slow lope or extended jog back to regular jog
"whoa" - stop

Same for both longing and riding. For other transitions I use my leg, and I only use voice commands on down transitions.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

We pretty much use the same commands everyone else has mentioned.
We also use 'slooow' with our seasoned, pony horse when I am ponying a young one and we're coming up on something new.


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## newhorsemom (Jun 20, 2008)

I use the same commands as well and my horse responds very well to them.


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## newhorsemom (Jun 20, 2008)

WARNING - MIL VENT! :twisted:

So I've been using similar commands as the other posters here and it works great. My horse has learned it somewhere along the line. I'm not super experienced but I'm learning as I go and we're figuring it out. My MIL gets so irritated because apparently the "real cue" to change a horses gate is "WHOOP!". She will make it clear - "USE WHOOP!". She'll even use it for me when I am lunging - you know, to be "helpful".

Thanks for letting me vent!!


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

newhorsemom said:


> WARNING - MIL VENT! :twisted:
> 
> So I've been using similar commands as the other posters here and it works great. My horse has learned it somewhere along the line. I'm not super experienced but I'm learning as I go and we're figuring it out. My MIL gets so irritated because apparently the "real cue" to change a horses gate is "WHOOP!". She will make it clear - "USE WHOOP!". She'll even use it for me when I am lunging - you know, to be "helpful".
> 
> Thanks for letting me vent!!


So..... I figure it's going to take till around Feb or March of next year for DIL to show MIL the "real" meaning of Whoop!!!! :lol:

Gawd how do you stand it? I feel for you, really I do!


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## TwendeHaraka (Oct 5, 2008)

I only have a couple...
I talk to Twende a lot, haha, so he understands some hand movements when I'm on the ground.
While on the ground...
"Come here!" -...come. He'll walk right over.
"Whoa!" - Stop.
and then just random phrases and such that he has put to actions.

While on him...
"Back"
"Whoa"
and again, other phrases.

When I was younger, I rose a push-button horse for my lessons, and when I started cantering, I said, "WHOA" as in, whoa, this is cool, and the horse halted completely.

Twende isn't that good yet, ha, but he's really good with whoa.


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## newhorsemom (Jun 20, 2008)

G & K's Mom-
LOL, yeah, one of these day's her "WHOOP!" will come back at her...

She was even so kind to yell it across a pasture (about 150ft away) on Thanksgiving while my daughter was riding, to slow the horse down, you know, to be "helpful". (No, it didn't work and my dd did just fine on her own) 

And after reading these posts I'm wondering if anyone out there ever uses the "real cue" AKA - WHOOP! or even WHOOP! WHOOP!

WHOOP! Anyone?! WHOOP! Anyone? Anyone? :lol:


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## newhorsemom (Jun 20, 2008)

Seriously, does anyone use this cue (WHOOP!)? My MIL is adamant that this is the natural cue to use and it's what most serious trainers/horse people use. I actually tried when we first got our horse but it wasn't at all natural for me and my horse didn't respond to it anyway. I actually felt a little silly yelling "WHOOP! WHOOP!" to get the horse so slow down. It felt like something you'd say to get a horse to get going.

Does anyone here use it? Know of someone else using it? I'm just curious, that's all.

Thanks!


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

I talk to my horse far to much! I would be here for the next year if I wrote them all out! But I use alot of the same as the OP cept Whoa means STOP only.


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

newhorsemom said:


> Seriously, does anyone use this cue (WHOOP!)?
> Thanks!


It's really hard for me not to chuckle at this. I was out mucking around with one of mine the other night after I posted before and asked him to Woop.... LOL this is sort of the look I got...........










Seriously though, you can teach a horse any word you want for a specific cue as long as your consistent and always use that word for the same thing. That said I think your MIL is cracked when she says it's the MOST common cue. I've been around a lot of horsey people in my 51 years and it's a first for me.


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## newhorsemom (Jun 20, 2008)

That picture is the best!!! Thanks G&K - that made my day!

Yes, I'd agree that my MIL is a bit cracked! I think most of the time it's a control issue with her. Everything has to be done her way (she's really not a bad person, just irritating). She has more experience than I do so I often doubt myself - but I'm learning!!


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