The basis of teaching my horses to paint came out of my quest
to see if horses can be trained primarily with positive
reinforcement.
I’d heard many trainers say that negative reinforcement or
pressure/release is your line of communication with your horse.
I wanted to try something different.
I saw the vast contrast when I worked with my horses between
using methods of attraction and using methods of pressure. By
training with attraction, my horses were immediately focused and
attentive, without using force.
I found that horses don’t care if you’re
shouting or whispering with pressure. I believe what matters to
them is if you’re listening to what really motivates them.
- CW
Teach Your Horse to Paint Cheryl Ward
Since 2004 I have been collaborating with my
horses to create what I call 'interspecies
collaborative action art.' My horses paint with
brushes in their mouths and I choose the colors,
brushes and direct the canvas. During this time
we’ve appeared at festivals, horse shows and art
shows. We’ve been on national TV and I’ve
written articles for magazines both here and
abroad. The overwhelming response to what we do
has been:
How in the world do you
teach a horse to paint?
Before I could answer that
with any authority I had to make certain that
Romeo, a formerly troubled Paso Fino and my first
painter, wasn’t a fluke.
We then we welcomed
Juliet,
a bold and curious Paso Fino mare, who seemed
to learn simply by watching Romeo.
Shortly
after that we found a sabino pinto gelding
suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
We thought teaching him to paint might have
helped him. It turned out that DaVinci learned
to paint before we could even touch him.
And
if three painting horses weren’t enough, I
really wanted to see what a yearling could do.
As luck would have it we acquired not just any
yearling, but a Clydesdale yearling! Raleigh's
zeal for painting tops the other three.
The Sum of My Experience So it is with these experiences with four
diverse horses that I offer you the document
below, Teach Your Horse to Paint.
I hope you find my method of 'Training by
Attraction' helpful in teaching your horse to
paint and in other valuable skills.
Teach
Your Horse to Paint By Cheryl Ward
Free Download
Learn how to teach your horse to paint
PDF Format, 10 pages
Print, share with friends and enjoy!
January 1, 2009 New Directions
Cheryl is hanging up her brushes and will no
longer be creating new paintings for the
gallery. And, as of January 2009, the current
paintings will no longer be for sale. She's directing her focus on
rehabilitating troubled horses,
like DaVinci, and
expanding her alternative training method. She
will continue to post new articles and videos of
her work in hopes that it may help other horses
find healing.
PAINTING HORSES STAR IN
CHILDREN'S BOOK
Home Sweet Home with Romeo & Juliet Imagine a pair of 900-pound
horses photographed in a furnished, carpeted
house eating cake with a Chihuahua!
Before I could answer that
with any authority I had to make certain that
Romeo, a formerly troubled Paso Fino and my first
painter, wasn’t a fluke.
We then we welcomed
Juliet,
a bold and curious Paso Fino mare, who seemed
to learn simply by watching Romeo.
Shortly
after that we found a sabino pinto gelding
suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
We thought teaching him to paint might have
helped him. It turned out that DaVinci learned
to paint before we could even touch him.
And
if three painting horses weren’t enough, I
really wanted to see what a yearling could do.
As luck would have it we acquired not just any
yearling, but a Clydesdale yearling! Raleigh's
zeal for painting tops the other three.
