[QUOTE=Diamontaire;8453424]
My trills never seem to be consistent, and I’m not crazy about the sound, so I use a bit of a sing-songy soft whistle.[/QUOTE]
I taught my horse to pee in the wheelbarrow when I whistle. Want to come ride my horse and we can see what happens? 
I now realize that Riding With Sound is a bummer for spectators.
I had a fussy-but-admirable trainer friend of mine tell me to zip it with respect to audible praise. And come to think of it, I knew a less-than-admirable DQ who had the habit of cussing loudly at her horse when he did something wrong.
I’m chatty with a horse. But thanks to these experiences, I’m going to make an effort to keep that so soft that only the horse can hear. And besides: I don’t want to use my voice as an aid such that my suspicious, hot little mare feels abandoned when we get to the show ring and, for the first time, I go silent. That would be setting her up to fail.
Thanks for the thread.
[QUOTE=Libby2563;8458098]
I taught my horse to pee in the wheelbarrow when I whistle. Want to come ride my horse and we can see what happens? :D[/QUOTE]
Sure!! 
(I bet that makes sheath cleaning much easier!)
i use it as a much sharper brrrrrrrrpT which means " hey pay me attention"!!!
[QUOTE=mvp;8458148]
I now realize that Riding With Sound is a bummer for spectators.
I had a fussy-but-admirable trainer friend of mine tell me to zip it with respect to audible praise. And come to think of it, I knew a less-than-admirable DQ who had the habit of cussing loudly at her horse when he did something wrong.
I’m chatty with a horse. But thanks to these experiences, I’m going to make an effort to keep that so soft that only the horse can hear. And besides: I don’t want to use my voice as an aid such that my suspicious, hot little mare feels abandoned when we get to the show ring and, for the first time, I go silent. That would be setting her up to fail.
Thanks for the thread.[/QUOTE]
This has been a fun thread to read.
MVP - I was thinking about this very thing last night (being very vocal with praise then having to go silent in the dressage ring) and literally as I thought it, I pulled up this thread on my phone and saw your post, which was kinda cool!
My horse is new to showing and I recently got a comment from the judge on this (tried to sneak in a soft “its ok” at A where I thought it wouldn’t be heard - either the judge has supersonic hearing or saw my lips move. It was just an intro test at a schooling show so no biggie/didn’t lose points and it would be ok if I did. Anyway, I think I’m going to switch from “Its ok/good boy” to a quiet Hmm-mmm happy noise I can make without moving my lips!
I always saw it as something many Americans thought was the “magic noise” German’s used that made them so successful. :lol: So, of course, the had to emulate it. Leading to a million “brrrrppp” noises suddenly appearing in every dressage barn. I understood that some of the horses I worked with that were imported from Europe were trained to understand that sound, but when people started using it as if it was a preferred noise–here in the states–that’s when I started :rolleyes: every time I was at a show or in a new barn.
I prefer, and think it is the better way of training, to try and use the minimum of signals, be them aids or voice. Horses’ hearing is so acute, that the ‘trilling’ seems like overload. Loud praise, loud pets on the neck, seem like overkill and not particularly helpful compared to a normal education for the horse. Maybe for speedy training for sales purposes - I’d not know that.
Better way of training? Horses really don’t care. They only care about being fed, taken care of, and that when they’re in training they know what is right and what is wrong, and they are praised somehow for what is right. Some actually like to chattered at. Look at ponies with chatty little girls.
I was thinking of more serious training - not chatty little girls. I have two of those!
I think you can have serious training mixed with chattiness. Otherwise, what’s the fun for those who love to talk to their horses? There’s a line in training where you reward less and have to stop talking in the ring for tests, but at home? Riding around and enjoying your horse? Jabber away, if that’s what you enjoy. Trust me, the horse will love it. They know when you’re having a conversation with them.
I rode with a H/J trainer who used and taught me the trill. For a time I was riding a nice Oldenburg mare who was a little hot and nervous, so a well-timed trill would steady her brain a little bit. A former student came back to ride, and ended up on “my” mare. Mare started getting a little nervous, so BO said “trill to her.”
FS tried her best to trill, but ultimately failed, sounding more like a dying turkey. Mare, however, didn’t seem to care, re-balanced, and calmed herself.
We decided that day that Mare was part turkey.
I’ve ridden with instructors who both prefer and hate the trill shrug It’s worked for me, though I use it in moderation as a calming aid. My Hano mare has a deflate button installed when it comes to trilling. My OTTB… I never bothered to use it with him. But he’s a little hard-headed anyway :winkgrin:
Definitely a European thing. My college roommate, who learned to ride in Germany, made that noise all the time. It annoyed both me and my horse (who is trained in the more American/Western, cluck to trot/kiss to canter school) to no end. But old habits die hard, so I understand why she couldn’t help but keep trying it on him.
He’s had similar miscommunications with hunter trainers who say “whoa” in the middle of a line of fences to slow down. To them, this means “slow down”; to him, it means “STOP YOUR FEET RIGHT NOW.” The results were not exactly what they anticipated. Lol.
All this to say that a horse, like a dog, can be taught to respond to just about any verbal cue, with enough consistency and repetition. The important thing is to make sure that both horse and rider are on the same page when it comes to the meanings of various verbal cues.
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