How *acting* like a lead horse addresses spooking ~ Very Long.

[Marv Walker <Marv@MarvWalker.com>]

I'm still some what reeling from the number of bonder requests (send any
email to Bonder@MarvWalker.com ) I received from this list.  They come
in all the time anyway from various places around the Internet and since
I get a copy of the request and any info the requester may have put in
the request there are times when can see that a group have come from the
same place.

And that's how I got on this list.

Now then, I have been getting a considerable number of questions
regarding spooking and other problems.  As I have said before, it is
difficult for me to give all those who write personal attention so I
group as much as possible.  If the group reply doesn't cover it and you
can't find it on my web site and you really need personal attention,
feel free to nag me (since I'm a slow tiperist you can even call me - 9
to 12pm most evenings is the best time to catch me).

I expected there would be more list discussion judging from the private
mail I got, but anyway...

I was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and since we
were pretty poor I quickly learned that nature would help feed us if we
understood nature.  As a result, I started tracking at a very young
age.  If I were to follow your tracks through the woods, I would have a
very good idea of your height, weight, hair color, sex, etc, and could
walk up to you in a crowd of people and say, "You left the tracks."  I
once followed a person's tracks across sun baked clay and recovered
every one of the coins he dropped along the way.

My tracking skills boggle a lot of people's minds but it is no big deal
- all it is is observation.  Nothing moves on the face of the earth
without leaving a mark.  I have observed enough marks to where when I
see one I *KNOW* pretty much how and when it got there.

The biggest thing I have to get past when suggesting that humans can
mimic a lead horse and by so doing produce a compliant, connected horse
is that horses are smart enough to see that the human is no horse.  Many
folks say that since a horse can see you aren't a horse, it will not
react in the same manner it would if you were a horse.

I've always known horses have a pecking order.  You have those who peck
and those who are pecked.  I've also noticed that apparently horses are
content to be at their level.  I also noticed that the herd seems to
assign levels to individuals based on their determination to peck.  The
more determined a horse is to peck the higher it falls in the order.

If one observes a herd of horses for any length of time they'll see a
sense of harmony and order that is so refined deep-thinking humans
cannot begin to improve on it.  It is within this scope that horses are
the most comfortable and confident.  They know EXACTLY what is expected
of them and they KNOW they can deliver.

When you see a herd of wild horses flowing over the ground they are
one.  They turn at the same time, they drop off banks together, they go
up banks together, they are one.

Now then, which horse is making the decisions for the herd?  The one who
is at the top of the pecking order.  How did the mare at the top of the
pecking order get there?  By being the most determined to be at the top
of the pecking order.  She decided where and when the other horses were
going to eat, stand, sleep, you name it.  She did those things a leader
does.  She simply leads by insisting on certain actions and the rest
react
to those actions.

When we as humans remove the horse from its horse herd and attempt to
bring it into our human herd we are introducing it into a foreign
element where it has no idea whatsoever about what to expect and how to
act.  Much time and energy is spent trying to get the horse as
conditioned to human ways.  Our goal is a happy medium, trying to get
the horse to a point where we can mold him into our own image.

Does this sensitizing to human ways work?  Given enough time, it works
just well enough for people to continue to cling to it.  But there are a
large percentage of horses who never seem to really get the idea.  They
are the ones who are never quite there, or who seem to be looking all
over for for monsters of one form or another.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could turn yourself into enough of a horse to
where you could demonstrate to the horse in a manner it genetically
understands that it is where it belongs?  How much time and energy could
you save if you were able to create a relationship where *YOU* with all
of your advanced reasoning power and rationalization were operating in
the horse's world and bending it to your goals instead of trying to bend
him to yours in your world?

"Impossible!" you say.  "The horse would figure it out in a second."

Consider this...

If you stand in front of an Ostrich and mimic its mating dance, it
reacts by dancing.  I saw a researcher working with Whooping Cranes and
to stimulate breeding behaviors he danced the breeding dance and the
Cranes began dancing.  Condor breeding programs have long used sock
puppets to feed chicks.  I saw a moose researcher walking among moose
while wearing a huge set of moose antlers and seeing the other bulls
respecting him as a superior bull.  I know Canada Geese can be decoyed
in with decoys big enough for a hunter and a full-grown coffee pot to
fir into.  Even as I write this some guy is flying an ultra-light from
Wisconsin to Florida leading a flock of sand-hill cranes.

And the list goes on.

If these animals, and many others can be "confused" and behave as
though they were actually seeing what they thought they were seeing, 
why can't horses be "confused" as well?

What happens if you present a horse with the *ACTIONS* of a leader,
actions that have been used by lead horses since before recorded time?

Apparently, judging from the way horses act when I present them with
these actions *as if* I _WERE_ a lead horse, the horse reacts to the
actions in the same manner he would if presented with them by a real
horse - he either complies or challenges.  

Since I'm a rational thinking human I am pretty much able to deal with
any challenges in a non-horse manner.  In a REAL scenario the horse has
only two choices - to comply or close in and start duking it out, best
horse win.  Since I know I'm going to lose any clubbing match, I
eliminate the challenge choice by refusing to stand toe to toe and whack
away - instead I dash around and come at him from the side, something
horses seem relatively powerless to deal with (as long as you maintain
distance from the rear hooves in a whirl-away).  Since challenging
doesn't work with me the way it does in a herd, his only option is to
accept my leadership.

The more determined you are to lead, the less likely the horse will
seriously challenge.  In a few minutes the horse is demonstrating the
same demeanor it would show to the lead horse in the herd.

Once it demonstrates that, it gives you liberties as the leader.  "Want
to graze over here? Sure."  "Oh, what do we do about that monster? 
Ignore it?  Well, okay."  "Want to put that on me?  Okay."  And so on. 
The compliant, trusting attitude is what makes the horse more respectful
and connected.

Now effective leadership involves choice.  At any time the horse can
say, "Not real sure about this", or even "Screw you."  If this happens a
true leader says, "Watch while I demonstrate my leadership abilities
again."  Since the horse has already seen and honored the demonstration
before, it complies quicker.

Now then, back to how this applies to spooking.

The horse trusts you as leader to evaluate threats.  As long as you 
are able to demonstrate to the horse that you have leadership ability, 
it will acknowledge that ability.  This is why at clinics when I "spook" 
a horse it puts its leader between us.
  
Here is a note I received from a list member (identifiers
removed)...

"Hi Marv,
Several weeks ago I read the bonder on your website that I 
received info about from ridecamp.  I tried it with my arab mare.  
She is really pretty good, has been under saddle since early 1999.  
So our improvement has been in small things.  She does seem to be 
paying attention to me better when we are out with other horses
and isn't quite as nervous when they come up behind her.  She also 
seems to not shy as much when we are out by ourselves.  I think we 
are working better as a team and she seems to have matured a lot 
in these several weeks.   Thanks for the help."

Nov 11-12th, I'll be doing a 4H benefit clinic in Murfeesboro, TN
(and one in the Atlanta area this weekend).  If you have a spooking
problem with your horse (or any other annoying problem or you just 
want to be connected to it a little better) come on by if you can.
http://MarvWalker.com/clinic.htm

Of course, you can get pretty much all you need to know from my
site and we can discuss it as time and opportunity presents itself 
on this list or my list http://MarvWalker.com/horslist.htm but it's
better when you see it in person.

Marv "Last night I dreamed I was a butterfly dreaming I was a man 
and today I'm not really sure." Walker
-- 
Upcoming 2000 Clinics 
Madison (Atlanta) GA Oct 14-15, 2000
Murfeesboro (Near Nashville) TN, Nov 11-12, 2000
http://MarvWalker.com/clinic.htm