water crossing / comments

["Kimberly Price" <kim@plough-electric.com>]

Hi all,

I wanted to make a few short comments on training horses to cross water or
pass any spooky object for that matter.  I am a big believer in roundpen
training as a base to help the horse handle scary situations in a safe
manner.  Trail work is an extension of this base training in my limited
experience and as an example my morab Mystery doesn't like crossing water
but will do so when prompted by me.

When we come across a nice big water crossing I first ask him to face the
object of his fear and that is an extension of roundpen training.

He is allowed to snort at it and as soon as he lowers his head to check it
out, I give him lots of positive reinforcement so he knows I am pleased.  He
may back up and therefore gets some negative reinforcment (I don't carry a
crop to lightly tap him on the rump but I do squeeze him forward).  As soon
as his backward movement stops, so does the negative reinforcement.
Lowering head or even "thinking" about going in the water equates to more
positive reinforcement from me.

Finally, he will cross.  It's taken lots of time but I am very pleased in
the outcome.  Someone made a comment about not associating pain with river
crossing and that is really true.  It has to be a pleasureable experience or
that horse will not trust you!  This forms the basis for all scary
situations in the future.

Ok, I am not a horse trainer, I am still learning how not to deliver pain to
my horse by learning to ride properly, these are just my experiences so take
um or leave um! <g>

Also, Mike Maul was kind enough to help some of us put together some of
these types of topics and link them to the homepage a few years ago...maybe
it is time for an update?  I finally learned html and would be happy to
participate....if you havn't checked out the endurance homepage for a while
or before take a look.  There are topics on training, conditioning young
horses, etc...

One more thought, this list reflect humanity, you hear about the things
people don't like and not much about what they do like....so don't be
discouraged thinking all of us ridecampers are just whining about this and
that and the other thing!  For every one bad comment, I'm sure there are at
least 100 pleased comments that are just never expressed!  Make sense?  I
for one appreciate all the advice given, regardless of what follows the
name, and I especially appreciate the good friends and riding partners I've
made from this list.

Long enough, good riding to all!
Kimberly (&Mystery the Morab..."yeah, finallysome rain...grow grass, grow!")
Pt.Reyes, CA