APRIL 2020 THE RIDER /35 ^Between The Ears^


methods chosen by handlers to correct this behaviour were; 1) Punishment based 2) Suppression


First let us examine the


punishment based method. The horse responds to fear in a way that is unaccept- able to the handler and the handler punishes the horse as a result. This method has been scientifically proven to reduce the horse’s welfare and lead to chronic stress. Using punishment is inef- fective and leads


to


By Ellie Ross. Spooking has been a


longstanding problem and one of the most common causes of injuries to both humans and people. A horse that is perceiving dan- ger will respond in one of three ways.


1) To actively flee 2) To freeze (passive avoidance) 3) To be defensive (at- tack)


#1 is what leads to the


most injuries because horses as prey animals, usually de- fault to active flight of what scares them. 1000 animal


moving quickly is danger- ous to say the least. The in- ability to predict


this


behaviour is partly the prob- lem but the bigger problem is attributed to the methods of which handlers often choose to deal with this. There have been many


scientific studies done on this topic and there was no difference between mares and geldings with regards to mental stress. The study did not include stallions but that was only due to a lack of available stallions to study. The differences have


more to do with individual behaviour differences and not the sex. The two most common


The Fire Horse


proven knowledge is limited while imagination knows no limits.


By Lauren Bode All content copyrighted


encourage others to develop closer bonds, appre- ciation and mutual trust with animals, and a re- spect for all life in this world.


my method of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent to absorb positive knowledge.”


stein that says: “Imagination is much more impor- tant than knowledge.” He also said, “ when I examine myself and


human creatures of our world, in the hope that I may assist them to obtain greater health, better un- derstanding of their expected roles, and better re- lationships with their human partners. Through my classes and daily contacts, I


Chapter 17 There is a much used quote from Albert Ein-


for years, I speak for animals. I willingly provide a voice for the non-


My mission statement. Having developed and practiced my talent


I talk to creatures, that’s one of my features I also teach classes, where most everyone passes So, get to know your pet better By sending me an E-letter I ’ll soon tell you where and when I will be there In a town near your home, be- cause this year I’ll roam I’ve had folks far and near Say, “You’ve got to come here” In Canada and the States The invitations pour through, So, I may visit near you, but if you would like to host A visit, you’d be most wel- come to ask ,it’s a real pleasant task It’d be a terrible pity, If I missed your home city. You ask, “what animals speak?” The list would take a full week, so, here is a sample (Just a few should be ample) Your favourite dog, will have you agog The deer hunting hound; the mutt in the pound Lap dog or guard, speaking’s not hard That lovely young pup, tub sized or cup Your cute little kitten, has us all smitten The big furry cat, so sassy and fat How ‘bout your horse? Yes ma’am Of course And the pony? No baloney That tired old mule, is no- body’s fool If you think “not the donkey?” Your judgement’s all wonky And how ‘bout the easel? tough question? no, easel “Cause the ferret has merit”


Obviously “positive” or


Even a mink, is able to think Any little bird, can give me a word You have a cockatoo? It will talk too Whether they are wild or they are tame They talk just the same What I would hope to achieve, is not to make you believe But by helping you view, your pet totally new And make a new deal, cause, hey, now you feel Your animal must rate, a must


better fate They’ve been a partner to you and you’ve talked it all through You both understand, and the feeling is grand Old problems have gone and you both have moved on!


Copyright Lauren Bode www.animaltalk.ca


longterm fear. (Minch et al 2008). Let us understand bet-


ter why that is since many will be resistant to accepting this as fact. Imagine that you are


What Should You Do To Reduce Fear and Spooking in Horses?


walking down a dark alley and you may have never had a bad experience in one be- fore but it leaves you feeling insecure about the unknown and you hear a noise. You jump and maybe even run as fast as you can. Your only thought is about getting away. Dark alley’s leave you feeling uncomfortable and you want to avoid them. Fair enough right? Well what would happen if you were beaten up for choosing not to walk in the alley? Does this make you feel bet- ter about this scenario? Ab- solutely not, but you go into the alley out of an aversion of the punishment. The han- dler forcing or beating you feels their method was suc- cessful


because they achieved the goal of you


doing the above. Ask your- self this - Is this really win- ning? It adds to the fear and creates a worse en- counter than before. The horse begins to think that bad things happen when facing XYZ on top of the original fear itself. Then there is the sup-


pression based method which is only putting a lid on a boiling pot. Eventually it will blow the lid and boil over. If you have success in suppressing an undesirable response to an object, envi- ronment etc., it has been proven to only appear to be successful and leads to long term negative emotional states. Some horses simply check out mentally. They learn they are helpless in the situation and they degrade to the lowest mental state. Lop eared horses most often are learned helplessness horses. The repeated sub- jugation of the horse’s unde- sirable response to what the horse is afraid of is not suc- cess. If you have success in achieving a desired result, it is usually not consistent and often leads to further avoid- ance behaviours. It can also lead to a horse that becomes explosive or simply chooses to do something out of an aversion of punishment . That horse’s chronic stress is usually overlooked. Sadly many handlers


fail to recognize the added problems, the reduction of the horse’s welfare and/or the learned helplessness cre- ated. As long as the horse went past the scary object it is viewed as success. This


however does not mean that a horse’s avoidance should be viewed as permissible. Positive should not equal permissive. In the scientific studies


done, stress was measured in a variety of ways. Let’s look at what the least stress- ful approach was for horses. Horses that did not investi- gate a scary object follow- ing an initial fear response, were found to have a higher stress level and fear than those who did investigate it. So, the horses that investi- gated the very thing that scared them had a signifi- cant reduction in stress and their fear diminished. When the brain is responding to fear, the door to learning is closed. The brain is engaged in survival. By target


training


horses, you can teach the horse to have confidence in investigating scary things and having a pleasant asso- ciation with it by way of a reward. Yes I use treats and its important to note that food is used to teach horses to have manners with treats, which is another topic pre- viously covered. Horses that are taught to target touch on cue, can be easily encouraged to investigate what scares them. By pair- ing


something good


(yummy treats) with some- thing they don’t like ( scary object), the horse over- comes the fear quicker and reduces its stress level as a result. So for a consistent re- sult, don’t resort to punish- ment,


subjugation avoidance. or


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