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[RC] Training advice - formerly trailer loading - Diane TrefethenJuli has raised an important issue with her references to how years of work have failed to erase previous abusive treatment. Whenever you read suggestions or warnings or dictates here on RideCamp... from people experienced with horses, people whom you probably (might?) respect, please understand that they are speaking to the vast majority, not the very few who fall way outside the norm. It would be completely unreasonable to precede every training pearl of wisdom with a caveat, something like: The following is intended for the vast majority of horses who have not been grossly abused or suffered "training" at the hands of callous or cruel individuals. While 98% of horsedom will profit from the following advice, be aware that if the equine you have responsibility for has suffered greatly at the hands of a human being, there is a very high probability that the following information will not be useful and/or may be counterproductive in achieving the results you desire. Every horse is an individual and while most of these individuals will respond well to the following techniques, should your horse display dangerous or unanticipated violence when you attempt to employ these methods, desist immediately and post your experience here so that RideCampers who have experience with equines as damaged by humans as yours will be able to respond to the specific needs of your equine with appropriately suitable advice. You all know how ticked John gets when we do mindless forwards. Can you imagine how po'd he'd be if EVERYONE used a disclaimer like the one above with EVERY bit of advice they provided? Brrrr..... So in the future, understand that unless a training tip is SPECIFICALLY directed at a psychologically damaged equine, that advice is intended for the 98% of animals who are either untaught, mistaught, or self taught. An abused animal ALWAYS requires special treatment and if that treatment is brilliantly conceived, he MIGHT overcome an ingrained, panic/fear reaction. However, the odds are horribly stacked against such an outcome. Once badly hurt mentally, horses rarely recover their previous, healthy mental equilibrium. It is a testament to their beautiful souls that they can so often be such good companions and friends despite previous mishandling but that does not mean they can always deal with what for other horses are "normal" stressors. My above reference to "self taught" is a euphemism for "spoiled rotten and allowed to get away with all kinds of crap". THOSE horses do not EVER rate the special gentleness that abused animals need. Often quite the opposite. Two x Fours are often the training tool of choice (only half joking). Juli Bechard wrote: Alpine, who started his ridden life with a seriously abusive trainer, and has issues as a result of that, does NOT like to back out of any trailer. He will if I insist, but... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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