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BINGO--RE: [RC] [RC] spooking - Laurie Durgin

Bingo--Light went on. I have been talking to the John Lyons discusssion board--along with my 10 million training books and tapes.Including the new" Despook your horse book",-Trying to find out how to fill in the holes and train my horses--Without the "theyre' stupid, you have to beat them into submission training technique "or the "gadget" technique.
It is letting them succeed ---setting things up so they can succeed with scary things --- but not so scary that they freak---building on little success--"atta boys, you can do it's"--- Giving them confidence. I've seen that with R. --Now I am trying to apply that to S. and H.She freaks , and having to work thru both our fears---- Need small successes. --It si a common thread in most trainers and books. Try to set thing sup in small doses to help train them emotionally too--Not just physical and mental----They might be able to do it and know how to do it----But they are afraid---That is the part we often seem to miss---- JL says Turn up the scxary slowly so thaey can succeed, Teach them somthing, then turn up the volume into progressively scarrier places, till they listen to you in any situation. ---Like start in the roundpen or ring, then do it outside the ring, in the pasture, then maybe near the road/trail, or go to a show and do it far from the action, then nearer and nearer, keeping them focused on you and your requests, ---That way you both gain confidence.
Where we get in trouble is teaching it in a sterile, safe enviornment , then flooding them with too many new things or variables and wondering why they freak.......
Progressively turning up the volume with small successes -----Like sacking out, or walking over tarps, start with letting them look at something at a distance and increase it 's proximity and size in steps. I often stand next to the scary object while R. is watching (including the donkey;0) then call him over or reel in the leadline slowly and pet and talk to him. ETC.
With H. I realised I can't let her "leave"--I need to hold the lounge line loosely , when desacking with the saddle falling off of her, she can take a step or two as it falls, then I pull her around to face it and praise her... eventually I could get it to fall off of her and not have her move...(ah, thanks Jim for the idea)


From: terre <tobytrot@xxxxxxxxx>
To: RHightshoe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
CC: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RC]   spooking
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 18:45:17 -0700


The trainer said to me, "I don't do it that
way.  This mule is ten years old and it is time he learns to trust himself
and not look to me to keep him out of trouble.  When he learns to trust
himself he can keep us both safe."  He didn't go into detail about how he
accomplishes this but I'll admit, I'm intrigued.
If you have a handle on what he is saying and how he might approach that
training I'd appreciate it if you explained the techniques to me.

Bob
I sort of do this...but it is perhaps more a matter of attitude than a set technique. Basically, it amounts to allowing the horse the opportunity to deal with the 'threat' himself. Of course, if his method of 'dealing' is to duckandrun, you have to stop that--but then you re-present the situation and tell him to 'find another option'.
It has to be done in small steps, and it has to be done consistently. You can't micro-manage every little step they take, and then suddenly say 'you're on your own'; you have to give them a little room to move. In other words, you have to allow them the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them.
Here's an example; I bought a horse that had a spectacular shy--he didn't often spin and run, but he was a master at lateral levitation. I allowed him to knock garbage cans over (checking to see it they contained grain) and stuff like that around the barn as a matter of routine--he got quite used to the sight of spilled garbage. I always let my horses step on leadropes. That kind of thing. Then one day we were riding a familiar trail when I found that a bridge we frequently cross had had bright orange 'snow fencing' attached to both sides to protect a caving bank. He was startled at the sight; I made him stop facing it--and then I just took all pressure off. No legs, no urging, nothing except enough contact to prevent him from spinning. Told him "that's the way home, if you want supper tonight you gotta go there". He looked at it a few seconds then HE decided to go through and did, sanely. It's like that. But you have to build up to it in small increments of allowing the horse to make tiny mistakes, learn from them, and get more confident in his own abilities.
They're like children; they need to 'grow up' with experience. You can't do all their thinking for them.

terre


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