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Re: [RC] [RC] [RC] How do I train my horse to be braver? (LONG) - A. Perez"Your advice is good for training a beginning trail horse or retraining one that has lost confidence for some reason. Not exactly what I was after...." Ummm... I don't see how the approach I suggested applies any less to a high-mileage horse than it does to a greenie. I probably did not explain myself clearly. And since she, in your words, 'lacks confidence', she is, IMHO, still green. Lack of 'bravery' or confidence is the DEFINITION of 'green' in my book. The best way to succeed in training any critter is to set it up for success so you can reward appropriate behavior. It has been proven scientifically by behaviorists that this (rewarding desireable behavior) is much more effective than punishing negative behavior. So ya gotta have good behavior to reward. By exposing your mare to a situation (riding alone) that triggers an unwanted behavior (spooking) for brief periods, it pretty likely she will stop spooking one she figures out that the separation will be brief. That's your opportunity to reward her like crazy! Also, the return of her pal will be a reward as well, which is why you want the initial separations to be BRIEF: so she DOESN'T get upset, and so she will be rewarded by the return of her buddy while she is calm. How long the separations are intially depends on where her 'freak-out' threshold is. But you want to start within that threshold. If she doesn't get scared and lonely til mile 99, have her ride alone til mile 95... You say "I can ride this horse at a 7 - 10 mph pace for 25 or 30 miles while getting the snot beat outta me with the spooking and I don't get tired or sore. It's that last 20 - 25 miles that really has me diving for the ibuprophen!! And worrying about making time." Just because YOU can tolerate 'getting the snot beat outta' you during miles 0 - 20 does not make spooking then any more acceptable than spooking later. If you don't want her to spook it has to be discouraged AT ALL TIMES. It's really not fair to expect her to figure out at what point YOU get tired of the spooking: "Hmmm, we're at mile 25, Mom must be getting tired now, so I'd better knock of the spooking!". Consistancy is key to training. So training her not to spook early in the ride (or on shorter rides) is a necessary step to getting her not to spook later on. As far as "Oh, and one of the best things an aspiring endurance rider can do is GET THEE TO AN ENDURANCE RIDE." goes - this seems like a bit of a non-sequitor to me, unless you are implying that only someone who has ridden in an AERC sanctioned event can possibly know anything about horses behavior, horse training or trail riding. But surely you're not that sort of 'endurance snob' are you? I'll happily expound on my equestrian credentials if you want me to, but I doubt you do. I'm planning on going to an LD ride as soon as I feel myself and my horse are ready for one, AND as soon as there is one within a reasonable drive (my biggest gripe with LD rides is just that there are not more of them, with or without top ten, BC or completion awards, but taht's another topic). I had planned to do Old Dominion but it got rained out. Now I'm aiming for Fort Valley. Hope to see you there! ________________________________________________ Get your own "800" number Voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= http://www.endurance.net/ads/seabiscuit.html 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 Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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