Ridecamp: Re: [RC] spooking: very long

Amanda Perez walkergirl
  First off, let me say that when discussing spooking, I am not addressing the horse that is truly terrified of something such as trucks, dogs etc: you know he is terrified when his heart pounds so hard you can feel it through the saddle, sweat pours off him and he gets instant diareah from fear, and anything short of a stun-gun fails to get his attention off the source of his terror and back on you.  I'm talking about the horse that spooks at every little thing that startles him BUT THEN HAPPILY IGNORES IT a minute later.  This horse is not terrfied. Startled yes, terrified, no. Yes, it is instinct, but it is not abject terror.  Your job is to teach him what is and is not an appropriate reaction to being startled.

Now, re: how to correct your horse:  Saying "No" and giving a sharp slap to the neck may or may not be 'too much' for a horse (by the way, I NEVER said to YELL, I meant a sharp, firm "NO!" - that does not mean screaming): it all depends on the horse.  My point is, horses DO NOT understand english innately, so saying "No" or "Stop that" or "Please don't do that, Poco" BY ITSELF means nothing if the horse has not associated the phrase with some sort of negative stimulus: likewise "Goood boy Muffin!" does not mean anything either UNLESS the praise has been used in conjunction with a positive stimulus (ie: has been conditioned).  Pavlov's dogs didn't drool at the sound of a bell until the bell had been paired with food enough times for the connection to tbe made.  It makes me crazy to see people tell their horses, dogs, cats (or small children for that matter) "Please, Pooky, don't do that" without ever having taught Pooky what that means by coupling it with something Pookie dislikes.  Pooky has no CLUE what they are talking about. Now if Pookie is a sentsitive critter that reacts to tone of voice alone, then you are in luck.  But if Pookie is thick-hided and thick-headed, tone of voice is just more back-ground noise.  And most people sweet talk to their animals so much that most praise is pretty meaningless too.  You need to have a very specific signal that means GOOD that is ONLY used to reward proper behavior, and isn't diluted by random use, and a very specific signal that means NO, that has been followed up with a correction, so that they know that 'no' (or 'Hey!' or Bad Boy!) MEANS 'no'.   As to WHAT negative stimulus you use - that depends on your animal.  For some horses just a harsh tone of voice is enough.  For others (including some people!), a two-by-four upside the head is barely sufficient.  I took a dog training class once where the first exercise we did was to give the dog a good, sharp tug on the leash: Did the act surprised and turn to look at you ("Hey! What was THAT for?!")?  No?  Then do it again, harder.   The instructor wanted us to find out exactly how much force was needed to be "negative" to the dog.  Some dogs hardly needed the slightest tug: others (especially the daschunds and the huskies) practically needed to be flipped over on their backs to even notice.  Same goes for horses: whatever is enough to get them to react in a way that says 'HEY!  What was THAT for?!" is enough to be a correction.  BUT THIS WILL VARY FROM HORSE TO HORSE.  Some people swear by using a soda can with some pennies in it and the opening taped shut, shaken hard: some animals just can't STAND that noise.  Once you have coupled the word with the correction/reward, you can drop the negative/positive stimulus.  How do you know that the connection has been made?  For the correction, it's when you say "No!" or "Naughty, naughty!" and you get the same "Hey! What was THAT for?!" reaction that you originally got from the tap, kick in the but or whatever you used.  For the praise, the animal should start looking for whatever the reward was (Where's my cookie?!  Or "Scratch my face now!").  Now the dog will drool for the bell without the food, and you can call yourself Pavlov.

 "Don't stop your horse and make him walk up to  to sniff it and look at it. (Gee, I got to take a break.....). Your goal is to have your horse work/trot right past something. No need to stop and check it out. They are smart and figure out that a break is a break, so spooking at something will give them a short break if you stop and check it out. "

  Again - it depends on the horse.  My guy HATES stopping - not a nice break for him, he wants to GO!.  What I want him to learn is that running away from what scares him is NOT an option - and some horses think as long as their feet are moving they are running, even if it's in circles.  I don't want to ask him to do anything that even remotely resembles a 'spin and bolt'.  I don't mind him being worried about something, but I want him to react in an acceptible, appropriate manner: if that's stopping and staring at the feared object, that's OK - he isn't going to come out from under me doing that.

"Yelling or slapping a horse just takes their focus away from working and makes them upset and not calm (you do want calm, right?) and they get more nervous. They are already nervous of that scary shadow so then you add more to their nervous state of mind and you have a horse that is not performing calmly. Remain calm and talk to them kindly. "

Sorry, I have to differ with you here:  When a horse spooks at something that is not truly threatening or dangerous (ie: we aren't talking abject terror, just being startled), talking kindly IS REWARDING THE BEHAVIOR YOU ARE TRYING TO STOP.  Especially if the horse, like mine, is not truly afraid but is just goofing around (no, I do not think he is really terrified of random fence-posts, white stripes in the road or his own saddle).  He's going to think "Wow, every time I snort and shy at that stop-sign, Mom sweet-talks me in the same sugary tones she uses when I pick up my feet for her, load on the trailer or do something else she has asked me to do.  I GUESS SHE WANTS ME TO DO THAT".  Just like the cranky little kids who throw a tantrum when they want attention because Mommy drops everything and picks her up and goes "There There, Sweety" - they do it because IT WORKS: they get reqrded with sweet-talk.  Yes you should remain calm, but you should also CLEARLY and DIRECTLY say "NO, THAT is not allowed" the instant the horse shies or spins.  Yes you are trying to take his mind off something - his spooking.  Face it - at this point his mind is already off work.  A firm correction is getting his mind BACK on listening to you, and off looking for things to spook at.  You might think crooning 'There, there, Whiz-Bang, there's nothing to be afraid of' will teach him not to be afraid of the truck/dig/plastic but he is just as likely to associate the sweet-talk with what HE is doing at the time, not with what he is spooking at.
  What to do if the horse IS abjectly terrified of something?  Well, that's another treatise I'll save until someone asks for it.  I highly recommend Karen Pryors "Don't Shoot The Dog" for a short, concise, and highly readable explanation of the basics of operant conditioning.

She With The Pierced Navel
(and no, I am not the one who is priceless.  I'm available to the highest bidder!)


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
 Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-