Re: [RC] Sticking Em with a horsewhoe nail - Ed & Wendy Hauser
Disclaimer: I do not advocate sticking a
horse with a nail period!
Pioneer psychologist Skinner showed in the 1920's
that rats learn faster from reward than from punishment, but fastest of all from
both reward and punishment. How does this carry over to
horses?
One has to figure out why the undesirable behavior
happens. If a horse doesn't know any better, or is scared (the most common
state of a horses mind), punishment doesn't work. The natural horsemanship
stuff works great. If, however, a horse is being deliberately defiant,
punishment works great. I can give two examples.
1. My younger son's mare started to avoid the
bit. I looked into all the usual things. Did her teeth hurt? Was it
an unsuitable bit? I did the John Lyons lower your head cue until I was so
frustrated I hauled off and slugged her. She jumped, then put her head
down and opened her mouth. A second lesson was not needed. My
conclusion was she knew what to do and was not scared, just ornery.
2. A different mare started to move over on the
same kid in a stall when he was feeding her. She weighed 1200 lbs, he
weighed 60. I made him a 2x4 with a blunt nail on each end. The
stick was just wider than him. I had him hold it horizontal when he went
in next to her. I cautioned him not to hit the mare, but let her move into
the stick. A couple of lessons taught her not to more over on him.
She was just trying to assert dominance.
In the case of a shying horse, they aren't trying
to be bad, they are just scared. Calm reassurance and repetition are what
is needed, not pain.
Ed
Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower
Road Victor, MT 59875
