Finished Trick:
You stand in front of your horse, point to
his nose, tell him smile, and he will lift
his lip in the flehman response as a smile.
Cautions: You might want to wear gloves
while teaching this trick. Use larger treats
rather than smaller ones.
Tickling nose method: You can start
this trick standing next to your horse. Hold
the treat just out of reach of his upper
lip. Your goal is to tease him with the
treat to get him to reach for it with his
upper lip. If he does this, even a little,
reward. Ask him again to reach for it with
his upper lip, but don’t reward unless it is
as good or a little better than before.
Repeat this, gradually increasing the
difficulty, as many times as is needed. As
he begins to understand, start adding a
verbal cue, such as “Smile,” to let him know
what you want.
Once your horse is starting to really
understand what you are asking him to do, go
stand in front of him. Point to his nose and
say “smile.” He probably won’t do it on
command yet, but if he does: reward! If not,
use your finger and tickle his nose like you
did when you had a treat. If he lifts his
lip a little: reward. If he doesn’t, go back
to using a treat. It will take a little
time, but you can begin weaning him off the
food as his cue. With practice, all you will
have to do is stand in front, give him the
cue, and he will smile. Then work on getting
him to hold the smile longer and longer. To
do this, simply reward only the times when
he holds it a little longer.
The important thing is to keep things fun.
If your horse seems to stop trying, perhaps
you should call it a day or work on
something else. You can teach this trick
with a clicker or without.
Trouble shooting: Your horse won’t
reach for the treat with his lip: Make sure
you are using food that he normally loves to
eat. If he is just turning his head away all
the time, get a halter and help him keep his
head there while you play with his nose.
