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Re: [RC] Spooking and punishment - Lif StrandAt 09:13 PM 7/12/2004, Ed & Wendy Hauser wrote:My feeling is that the invasion of space (which is dangerous, obviously) trumps the spook. The rebuke should be instant, effective and short. A whip of the lead rope at his nose, a quick slap with a whip carried in the other hand can be used. Getting mad usually results in a punishment that instead of lasting < 1 second, lasts > 30 seconds. After he no longer spooks into you, you can start on a program designed to despook, but not before. Why I disagree with Ed (with respect to 'true" spooks, even if they involve invasions of space): I believe in the Golden Rule when it comes to horses (I do unto them as I would have done unto me). I have actually had the experience of walking down the road and as I was about to step over a (dead) rattlesnake, I saw it and literally launched myself straight up into the air and to the side, happened to smash into the person I was walking with. It was a totally involuntary response - I was as surprised as my friend that I had done that. I'm still amazed that I could get myself airborn like that! I've had people talk to me when I wasn't expecting it and spilled my coffee in surprise. The coffee goes where it will - sometimes on the person who surprised me. I've reached out to grab something and felt something furry/fuzzy/moving/slimy/wrong and snatched my hand back without even thinking about it. My hand has then smacked into other things - generally resulting in a black and blue bruise on my hand, but maybe a black and blue bruise on another person if they were close enough. One time I had my head poked under a desk and someone was kneeling next to me with her head poked next to mine trying to see as well, and I I saw something move (or thought I did) and I jerked back and smacked into her head with mine. Ouch! These are all examples of things that have happened to me that could be called spooking. I can tell you that if I was rebuked instantly, whipped on my nose or quickly slapped for those events just because I invaded someone's space, I'd get resentful very quickly. Rebuke is for a voluntary behavior. Rebuke for an involuntary response seems to me to belong on the list of Very Bad Ideas. ________________________________
Lif Strand fasterhorses.com
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