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[RC] How do you teach a horse to defend itself against dogs? - k s swigartKaren L. said: How do you teach a horse to attack a dog to defend itself, especially when you take your dogs riding with you and have taught your horse to tolerate dogs? When my horses are loose, any dog is fair game. I did not teach them this, I think they just learned it by being out to pasture up against the Cleveland National Forest where coyotes, bob cats and the occasional mountain lion were regular visitors. However, under saddle, I teach them to take cues from their rider. So if a dog runs up or along or underfoot that I want the horse to ignore, I half halt the horse to remind it that it is supposed to be paying attention to me. If I want the horse to chase the dog (or whatever else), I point the horse toward the dog and say "Git 'em" and push it forward. If you are smart, you start out teaching the horse this by pointing it at something that you are absolutely sure will run away. This gives the horse confidence. You repeat this exercise until the horse has learned that "git 'em" means "find it and chase it until I tell you to stop chasing it." A half halt means "pay attention to me no matter what other things are out there to distract you." In my experience, "seek and destroy," is much easier to teach a horse than "pay no attention to that monster." So if you have successfully taught the latter, teaching the former is duck soup. Although, interestingly enough, it can also be easier to teach the latter if the horse has already learned the former (since the former teaches the horse confidence). kat Orange County, Calif. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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