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Re: [RC] Spooking and punishment - Chris Paus


Ed, that is the key to any horse problem. learning to
read the animal and understand if it is reacting out
of fear, playfulness, etc.

A lot people can ride. A lot of people own horses, but
never learn to read the animal and listen to what the
animal is telling them.

Those of you with spooky horses. Do you ride with
onboard HRMS? Sometimes that can help you discern if
its a "playful" spook or serious scarey stuff....

And remember, the things that scare horses are
different from what we would be scared of. Horses are
prey animals. We are predators!

If your horse spooks and a few seconds later the HRM
spikes up, chances are he was truly alarmed over
something. If the HRM doesnt' change, chances are he
was just being a goofball.

Once you get to learn that, you can learn to feel the
horse's body and realize that "scared" feels a lot
different than "play" even in a spook.

chris
--- Ed & Wendy Hauser <ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"....word when he spooked made him REALLY
scared,...."

One of my principals of discipline (horse, dog,
small children) is that the first requirement is to
figure out why the undesirable behavior happens. 
The appropriate response is radically different
depending on the reason for the behavior.

1. The animal, or small child is scared. 

 If you react with a negative, harsh response (slap,
gruff vocalization etc) they will only learn to fear
not only  the original stimulus, but the coming
pain. (physical, or emotional).  If on the other
hand you overly sympathize with them and give them
lots of love, kind words etc., the response will
continue because "Mom (or Dad) is concerned, so
there must be something to be scared of...".  The
classic, extreme, example of this is the 2 yr old
who screams at being left at day care.  The
caregiver tries to reassure him/her for a long time
and the screams only get worse, and worse with each
passing day.  The proper response is to pretend that
there is nothing to fear and continue on about your
business.  In my example, the 2 yr. old is kissed on
the forehead, left with the day care worker, and the
caregiver just walks off.  The undesired behavior
ceases in a few days.

2. The animal or small child is obstreperous or
playful.

If a negative reinforcement happens, the behavior
stops fairly soon.  Note:  The "negative reinforce",
while it may entail pain or discomfort, is not
abusive or prolonged.  A quick slap, a harsh word or
even a look, that is over in a flash is all that
does any good.  

The real challenge is to figure out what is going on
in the mind of the animal or child.  Knowing the
mind of the animal is what separates the good
trainers from the rest of us.

Ed
Ed & Wendy Hauser
2994 Mittower Road
Victor, MT 59875

ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx
406.642.6490


=====
"A good horse makes short miles," George Eliot

Chris and Star

BayRab Acres
http://pages.prodigy.net/paus

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Replies
Re: [RC] Spooking and punishment, Ed & Wendy Hauser