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You are claustrophobic, and your doctor/psychiatrist decides to cure you, b=
y=20
locking you in a small room with padded walls and doors so that there is no=
=20
way that you can hurt yourself and leaving you there while you panic, fight=
,=20
struggle to complete exhaustion or until you "learn" that all the strugglin=
g=20
in the world is not going to get you out of that room.
Would you consider this a cure?
Would you go back to this doctor?
There is a different way to teach a horse to tie than tying it up so it can=
't=20
hurt itself and can't get loose and let the horse "figure it out." There i=
s a=20
better way that teaching it that struggling is pointless.
I have a TB mare at my place that, before she came to me, had broken=20
unbreakable halters, pulled up trees, broken telephone poles (she's a BIG,=
=20
powerful, determined mare). The instant she came to the end of the rope, s=
he=20
would panic and pull back until something gave way. Now, she will stand=20
"tied" to the fence with the bridle reins looped over the rail.
What did I do to teach her to tie?
At 11 years old she had already learned that if she pulled back hard enough=
,=20
something would break. There is NO WAY this horse could have been tied in=
=20
such a way that she couldn't hurt herself. And besides, though it is=20
sometimes necessary to restrain and keep from fleeing a horse that is panic=
ked=20
and desperate for flight for safety reasons, to plan a training program bas=
ed=20
on this concept is barbaric (not unlike "training" a claustrophobic person =
not=20
to panic by locking them in a small room).
How did I train this mare to stand tied to a fence with the reins just loop=
ed=20
over the rail? As funny as this may sound, I never tied her with anything=
=20
more than a loop or two of the lead rope over a metal hitching rail (so the=
=20
lead rope would slip off easily).
What did this do? If she pulled back a little bit and came to the end of t=
he=20
rope, she would meet some resistance. If she pulled back hard, the rope wo=
uld=20
just come loose, and I would gather it up, bring her back to the hitching r=
ail=20
and do the same thing again. I did not leave her unattended during this=20
training.
What did she learn? She learned that being tied did not mean being restrai=
ned=20
from flight; therefore, she no longer panicked when she realized that she w=
as=20
tied. Now, when she pulls back a little and discovers she's tied she=20
realizes, "Oh, this means I'm supposed to stay here."
This requires lots of patience, and having the horse in an area where it is=
=20
not dangerous if the horse gets loose (e.g. practice this in the horse's st=
all=20
or in an arena) as sometimes you just aren't quick enough to catch that=20
dangling lead rope before the horse takes off.
This is a method that works for adult horses who are already confirmed=20
"panickers" when it comes to being tied. Horses that are "tyophobic" (to c=
oin=20
a word). Attempting to cure any sentient being of a phobia by forcing it t=
o=20
face its fears alone is=85..well=85..nothing that I would do.
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