Details on Duration
Building duration doesn't happen quickly (get it? )
Ok but it actually can! Once a behavior is taught, we often want to build some duration on it, meaning we want them to do the behavior for a length of time. If we cue head down, we want them to lower their head and stay lowered, not throw their head down and then back up again. There are a handful of really awesome techniques that can help with this.
Usually, we just gradually build up duration on a behavior. Slow and steadily increase the time between the cue and the click. It's important to mix it, don't just make it longer each time, mix in short ones and long ones. Its important to use your observational skills for this. If you're going for longer duration maybe a larger handful of chewier food will help prolong the skill? Watch the horse carefully, if they're struggling do some easy repetitions before asking for a longer one again. Gradually building the baseline duration longer and longer.
Some horses need a little extra support, feeding for position can help here. So if we want them to stay in a specific position, like a lowered head, take some time just feeding slowly one after the other in position. Slowly spacing out time between handfuls. Rather than cuing the behavior and resetting with your feeding, cue the behavior and feed where you want the horse to be and stay there feeding for a little while. Gradually ask for longer before the click and longer time before additional feeds or generalize what YOU are doing while they stay in their position. Like if you want them to chin rest while you prep for a needle, you can begin stroking their neck while they remain in position.
You can also use open bar/close bar if you need duration NOW but haven't had time to build it yet. This method has you feeding continuously while the horse is in the desired position and stopping when they lose position. This is very helpful for early hoof trims and vet visits, before we've had time to build the duration appropriately.
Finally, if your horse is an over achiever and needs more support, we also have the pattern method. You can create any pattern you like, everyone has a favorite. Some use counting in a specific tone, some count just 1,2,3 sometimes slower or more quickly, some count up, some count down. But whatever you do use the same pattern each time. Practice the pattern with easy behaviors so they understand "3, 2, 1" is always followed by a click, so they understand your pattern ends in a click. They will learn this is to say "you're doing the right thing, keep doing it until the click". This support can really help a horse stay focused on task and reduce how much extra offering they do while waiting for the click. Increase and decrease speed of the pattern based on what they are ready for. This video shows a great example of this.