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Re: [RC] Spooking and punishment - Chris PausEd, that is the key to any horse problem. learning to read the animal and understand if it is reacting out of fear, playfulness, etc. A lot people can ride. A lot of people own horses, but never learn to read the animal and listen to what the animal is telling them. Those of you with spooky horses. Do you ride with onboard HRMS? Sometimes that can help you discern if its a "playful" spook or serious scarey stuff.... And remember, the things that scare horses are different from what we would be scared of. Horses are prey animals. We are predators! If your horse spooks and a few seconds later the HRM spikes up, chances are he was truly alarmed over something. If the HRM doesnt' change, chances are he was just being a goofball. Once you get to learn that, you can learn to feel the horse's body and realize that "scared" feels a lot different than "play" even in a spook. chris --- Ed & Wendy Hauser <ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: "....word when he spooked made him REALLY scared,...." One of my principals of discipline (horse, dog, small children) is that the first requirement is to figure out why the undesirable behavior happens. The appropriate response is radically different depending on the reason for the behavior. 1. The animal, or small child is scared. If you react with a negative, harsh response (slap, gruff vocalization etc) they will only learn to fear not only the original stimulus, but the coming pain. (physical, or emotional). If on the other hand you overly sympathize with them and give them lots of love, kind words etc., the response will continue because "Mom (or Dad) is concerned, so there must be something to be scared of...". The classic, extreme, example of this is the 2 yr old who screams at being left at day care. The caregiver tries to reassure him/her for a long time and the screams only get worse, and worse with each passing day. The proper response is to pretend that there is nothing to fear and continue on about your business. In my example, the 2 yr. old is kissed on the forehead, left with the day care worker, and the caregiver just walks off. The undesired behavior ceases in a few days. 2. The animal or small child is obstreperous or playful. If a negative reinforcement happens, the behavior stops fairly soon. Note: The "negative reinforce", while it may entail pain or discomfort, is not abusive or prolonged. A quick slap, a harsh word or even a look, that is over in a flash is all that does any good. The real challenge is to figure out what is going on in the mind of the animal or child. Knowing the mind of the animal is what separates the good trainers from the rest of us. Ed Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower Road Victor, MT 59875 ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx 406.642.6490 ===== "A good horse makes short miles," George Eliot Chris and Star BayRab Acres http://pages.prodigy.net/paus =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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