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[RC] spooking and punishment: LONG - A. Perez

"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!"

Ah... but if you had extensive, repeated practice being suddenly
confronted with unexpected things, and if, during that practice,
you were liberally rewarded for reacting in a non-dangerous
manner, and gently corrected when you behaved dangerously, might
you have been more likely to respond less violently?

The key here is the word CORRECTION, which is NOT the same thing
as 'punishment', it is use of a word or signal which says 'No,
that is NOT what I want'.  It must,  be TAUGHT, by pairing it
with a mild negative stimulous, or by pairing it witht he
removal of a positive stimulous.

Here is one possible scenario for teaching a horse not to spin
and bolt when spooking.

First, teach the correction.  Put the horse on a lead-line.  If
he is not especially sensitive or reactive, run it under his
chin or behind his ears.  Then pick some beahvior you know he
will do and that you want to correct:  rubbing his head against
you while bridled, eating bushes while bitted (though most
endurance riders don't WANT to discourage that)... whatever.  It
could also be some sort of set-up situation (don't take the
carrot from my hat...).  When the behavior is offered, say 'No'
(don't screeam it, just say it clearly and forcefully) or
whatever and give a tug ont he lead - enough to get a reaction. 
Repeat until the verbal correction along makes the horse stop
the undesired behavior.  

Next, teach a reinforcing cue... something that will ONLY be
used to say 'Yes, THAT is what I want'.  It can be 'Good Boy', 
click, whatever, provided you don't use that signal in any other
situations.  Now ask the horse to do something simple like sniff
your out-streached hand.  When he does, say "Good Boy" or
whatever and give treat simultanously.  Agin, repeat untilt he
horse looks for the treat as soon as he hears 'good boy', click
or whatever.  Important point: do not assume your horse KNOWS
what 'Good Boy' means simply because you say it all the time...
to be really meaningful it has to be conditioned by pairing it
with a reward initially.  Just like the correction signal, it
must be TAUGHT.

Next, chose the 'No-no' you want to extinguish.  Decide what
degree of 'spook' you can live with: for example, turning
towards and eyeing the spooky thing and snorting is OK, spinning
or bolting is not.  Don't set the bar to high initially.

Now, in a ring or round pen, put a known spook-inducer on one
end of the ring, say a plastic tarp rung over the rail.  If the
horse is really jumpy, run the lead under his chin or behind his
ears.  Now lead him past the object at a distance than does not
cause him to spin and bolt, but close enough so that he notices
it.  (You may need to experiment a bit to find out where this
point is... in doing this, don't correct any spooking - you are
just trying to find out what his 'envelope of comfort' is.) 
Once you have a good sense of where that is, pass the scary
thing keep leading him past the scary thing, praising with your
reinforcing cue (can also treat with food) each time he passes
without spinning/bolting... even if he snorts, side-passes etc:
only correct the designated 'No-no' with the previously
conditioned correction signal: ideally, however, you should be
staying far enough fromt he object that he does NOT offter the
spin-bolt.  You are trying to get as many 'good' passes to
reward as possible: set him up to SUCCEED, not to FAIL. You are
trying to gradually expand the 'comfort envelope' while staying
within it, not punch through it.

Do this for 20 minutes or so, changing the direction you pass by
the scary object, then call it a day.  Next session, repeat, at
first staying  WELL within that 'comfort envelope'.  After 5 or
so minutes within the envelope, start passing a bit closer to
the scary thing. You will probably get more 'no-nos' here:
correct them.   However,  if you ONLY get spins/bolts, you've
raised the bar to high: your goal is to give as many rewards as
possible, so back off to a distance that does NOT elicit the
spin/bolt for awhile, rewarding good jobs, before gradually
getting closer to the object.  Do this for SHORT sessions (20
minutes) every day.  As he improves, vary the objects, where
they are in the ring etc.  When he's good being led, try lunging
him past them, working outside the ring, etc.  As he improves,
you can SLOWLY start raising your standards:  now you might add
shying or snorting  to spinning/bolting in the 'no-no' list, or
ask the horse not only to pass the object but to walk over it
(if its something like a tarp).

Keys: 1. plan ahaed exactly what behavior you want to change 2.
SHORT sessions to avoid burn-out. 3. raise the bar in VERY small
increments- the goal is NOT to push the horse to the point where
he can be corrected but to to have as many rewardable attempts
as possible  4.  if he back-slides, go back tot he beginning,
well withint he envelope, and stay there for awhile before
slowly 'raising the bar'.  If he REALLY mlets down, take a few
days off, swtiching to somethign he knwoes and is comfortable
with before resuming the de=spooking training 4.  Always start
and end each session well within the 'comfort envelope' so as to
start and end on a positive note.  5.  Be lavish with
praise/treats for really good attempts.

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