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[RC] spooking and punishment: LONG - A. Perez"I believe in the Golden Rule when it comes to horses (I do unto them as I would have done unto me). I have actually had the experience of walking down the road and as I was about to step over a (dead) rattlesnake, I saw it and literally launched myself straight up into the air and to the side, happened to smash into the person I was walking with. It was a totally involuntary response - I was as surprised as my friend that I had done that. I'm still amazed that I could get myself airborn like that!" Ah... but if you had extensive, repeated practice being suddenly confronted with unexpected things, and if, during that practice, you were liberally rewarded for reacting in a non-dangerous manner, and gently corrected when you behaved dangerously, might you have been more likely to respond less violently? The key here is the word CORRECTION, which is NOT the same thing as 'punishment', it is use of a word or signal which says 'No, that is NOT what I want'. It must, be TAUGHT, by pairing it with a mild negative stimulous, or by pairing it witht he removal of a positive stimulous. Here is one possible scenario for teaching a horse not to spin and bolt when spooking. First, teach the correction. Put the horse on a lead-line. If he is not especially sensitive or reactive, run it under his chin or behind his ears. Then pick some beahvior you know he will do and that you want to correct: rubbing his head against you while bridled, eating bushes while bitted (though most endurance riders don't WANT to discourage that)... whatever. It could also be some sort of set-up situation (don't take the carrot from my hat...). When the behavior is offered, say 'No' (don't screeam it, just say it clearly and forcefully) or whatever and give a tug ont he lead - enough to get a reaction. Repeat until the verbal correction along makes the horse stop the undesired behavior. Next, teach a reinforcing cue... something that will ONLY be used to say 'Yes, THAT is what I want'. It can be 'Good Boy', click, whatever, provided you don't use that signal in any other situations. Now ask the horse to do something simple like sniff your out-streached hand. When he does, say "Good Boy" or whatever and give treat simultanously. Agin, repeat untilt he horse looks for the treat as soon as he hears 'good boy', click or whatever. Important point: do not assume your horse KNOWS what 'Good Boy' means simply because you say it all the time... to be really meaningful it has to be conditioned by pairing it with a reward initially. Just like the correction signal, it must be TAUGHT. Next, chose the 'No-no' you want to extinguish. Decide what degree of 'spook' you can live with: for example, turning towards and eyeing the spooky thing and snorting is OK, spinning or bolting is not. Don't set the bar to high initially. Now, in a ring or round pen, put a known spook-inducer on one end of the ring, say a plastic tarp rung over the rail. If the horse is really jumpy, run the lead under his chin or behind his ears. Now lead him past the object at a distance than does not cause him to spin and bolt, but close enough so that he notices it. (You may need to experiment a bit to find out where this point is... in doing this, don't correct any spooking - you are just trying to find out what his 'envelope of comfort' is.) Once you have a good sense of where that is, pass the scary thing keep leading him past the scary thing, praising with your reinforcing cue (can also treat with food) each time he passes without spinning/bolting... even if he snorts, side-passes etc: only correct the designated 'No-no' with the previously conditioned correction signal: ideally, however, you should be staying far enough fromt he object that he does NOT offter the spin-bolt. You are trying to get as many 'good' passes to reward as possible: set him up to SUCCEED, not to FAIL. You are trying to gradually expand the 'comfort envelope' while staying within it, not punch through it. Do this for 20 minutes or so, changing the direction you pass by the scary object, then call it a day. Next session, repeat, at first staying WELL within that 'comfort envelope'. After 5 or so minutes within the envelope, start passing a bit closer to the scary thing. You will probably get more 'no-nos' here: correct them. However, if you ONLY get spins/bolts, you've raised the bar to high: your goal is to give as many rewards as possible, so back off to a distance that does NOT elicit the spin/bolt for awhile, rewarding good jobs, before gradually getting closer to the object. Do this for SHORT sessions (20 minutes) every day. As he improves, vary the objects, where they are in the ring etc. When he's good being led, try lunging him past them, working outside the ring, etc. As he improves, you can SLOWLY start raising your standards: now you might add shying or snorting to spinning/bolting in the 'no-no' list, or ask the horse not only to pass the object but to walk over it (if its something like a tarp). Keys: 1. plan ahaed exactly what behavior you want to change 2. SHORT sessions to avoid burn-out. 3. raise the bar in VERY small increments- the goal is NOT to push the horse to the point where he can be corrected but to to have as many rewardable attempts as possible 4. if he back-slides, go back tot he beginning, well withint he envelope, and stay there for awhile before slowly 'raising the bar'. If he REALLY mlets down, take a few days off, swtiching to somethign he knwoes and is comfortable with before resuming the de=spooking training 4. Always start and end each session well within the 'comfort envelope' so as to start and end on a positive note. 5. Be lavish with praise/treats for really good attempts. ________________________________________________ Get your own "800" number Voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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