| by
Heidi Potter
Horse handlers of every aspect have
a responsibility to understand the
horse and the horse’s language.
Often times when a horse presents
a specific behavior the human either
misses the subtle signs that proceeded
the behavior, don’t understand
the behavior and therefore punish
it, or just dismiss it and keep doing
what they are doing. These situations
often lead the horse and ourselves
into some unsafe situations that get
worse over time.
Here’s an example of one such
problem:
Problem:
My therapy pony pins her ears, turns
her backside to us and threatens to
kick upon entering the stall. How
can we solve this unsafe behavior
and make it possible for our staff
to safely catch her in her stall?
One thing to remember is that horses
always have a reason for everything
they do. Many times we humans try
to anthropomorphize their behavior
(judge it in human terms) and say
that they are just irritable, mean,
don’t want to work, hate us,
or are just plain grumpy. One of the
most helpful things we can do is to
put ourselves in our horses place.
What would make us want to turn around
and greet our handlers? Would it be
a swat on the butt, being yelled at
or someone just ignoring our body
language and forcing their way into
our space?
Our answer would certainly be none
of the above. Here’s a technique
I used for one such case. It is a
good example of how which tools one
might use to help a horse redevelop
trust with her humans.
I observed “Stitchy”
in her stall and witnessed the butt
turned to me and ears back posture
that I had been told about. My goal
was to ask her to show interest in
me and then reward her for it. I used
both positive and negative reinforcement
to engage this pony. I opened the
stall door and stopped my approach
as soon as she let me know that she
didn’t appreciate me in her
space. That was the place to start.
I then used a very slight shake of
my flag to get her to glance at me.
Once she looked at me with ears forward
I backed away. This gave her time
to process the fact that she was rewarded
when she displayed a different expression.
This is an example of negative reinforcement-pressure
and release. I offered a release by
stopping my advance and the action
of my flag once she offered me a change.
After repeating this exercise a few
times, I asked a little more. I wanted
her to move her hindquarters away
from me a bit. I had to up the action
of the flag ever so slightly to get
the response I was looking for. Once
she offered a “try” I
offered her a treat in a bucket. She
tentatively took the treat. Now she
really wanted to see what I was all
about. The treat was an example of
positive reinforcement. She was rewarded
in both cases. However, the positive
reinforcement really increased her
desire to work with me. A horse will
be much more inspired to try and work
with you if there is something good
in it for them. Wouldn’t you
feel the same way? Would you show
up for work every day for free? If
you did, what would your attitude
be like? Would some type of reward
change your attitude?
It only took about 30 minutes to
begin to change this little pony’s
behavior in her stall. She was taught
that she could not only trust the
human but also that possibly they
had something good to offer her.
I encourage everyone to pay close
attention to what their horse is “saying”
and then try to open up a dialog that
makes sense to the horse. If it feels
right to you then you are probably
on the right track.
This article was written for the
May 2010 NARHA Newsletter. Heidi Potter
is a member of the NAHRA Equine Welfare
Task Force.
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