[RC] laying horses down - k s swigartWhether "laying a horse down" works as a positive behaviour modification depends very much on the association that the horse makes at the time that it is laid down. If the horse makes the association of the person "saving" it by letting/helping it get up, then great. If the horse makes the association of "I was doing something stupid and not listening to you and fell down so next time I better listen to you," then this is also great. If, however, the horse makes the association, "You put me down." Then not great, that horse is gonna be worried everytime you are around it that you might do the same thing again. If the horse makes the association, "the last time the farrier came to try to do something with my back feet, I ended up on the ground" or "every time I go to a show, I end up on the ground." then this is just goign to make the horse MORE nervous about the farrier or going to a show because it is going to anticipate (and therefore worry about) ending up on the ground. MY experience is with horses that laying them down DIDN'T work on them, it just made the horse more frantic...and now worried about its handler too. However, that is because people bring me horses that are "difficult." The ones that it does work on...I never see. And the biggest problem with trying it to see if it might work for any particular horse is, if it doesn't, you have compounded your problem and now have two problems to fix instead of just one; and this new problem is even harder to fix. The old "cowboy" way of dealing with the horses that it doesn't work on is to say, "That horse is no good (because it is too stupid to learn)" and throw that horse away (or eat it) and get one that isn't so stupid. It is more likely to work if, when you do it, you take great care in ensuring that the horse doesn't figure out that you were the one that put it on the ground. You need to be really careful about what associations the horse makes when it goes down. It's works best if you can do it in such a way that the horse thinks he did it to himself because he wasn't listening to you. 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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