[RC] E: Whack-em: I agree - A. PerezRearing is dangerous behavior. You might not have time to 'distract' him, 'focus his attention elsewhere', 'give him something else to do' etc, and end up injured as a result. Your horse needs to know that such behavior will NOT be tolerated Correction is NOT punishment: it is COMMUNICATION. Correction must CLEARLY communicate 'NO! That IS NOT ALLOWED!' Distracting him, giving him something else to focus on, pressing down on his neck etc is teaching him NOTHING. It may dodge the situation this time, but does nothing to discourage it from happening again. If anything, it is teaching your horse that he can intimidate you. How hard should the correction be? Hard enough that the horse knows you mean business and will be seriously dissuaded not to try it again. 10 ineffective corrections are more cruel than one efefctive one. Most horses want to to right, which means YOU must clearly communicate what is, and what is not, right, so the horse knows what is expected and what is forbidden. If saying 'Tsk!' or a tap witht he crop is sufficient, great. But if it takes a whack over the head, DO IT! Better that then creatign a monster that walks all over you. ________________________________________________ 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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