Horse Training Success

Hello to all of out there in horse-land;

back again after neglecting this blog for far too long.
There was a recently emailed-in question regarding a horse (of course) and his apparent fear of only one of his new handlers. The female handler had no trouble while the male handler could not get near the animal without being seriously threatened.

Now first up, let's assume that both people are gentle in approach and of equal competence around horses. With that assumption, we can say that this horse has a fear of men. And moving further along, that somewhere in his past, this horse's natural suspiciousness of anything new was justified by some guy's actions and reinforced into fear of all men.


How does this happen? Some explanation thanks to the brilliant Temple Grandin:
http://www.grandin.com/references/thinking.animals.html

"animals .. think by making visual associations. These associations are like snapshots of events and tend to be very specific. For example, a horse might fear bearded men when it sees one in the barn, but bearded men might be tolerated in the riding arena. In this situation the horse may only fear bearded men in the barn because he may have had a bad past experience in the barn with a bearded man.

Animals also tend to make place-specific associations. This means that if a horse has bad prior experiences in a barn with skylights, he may fear all barns with skylights but will be fine in barns with solid roofs. This is why it is so important that an animal's first association with something new is a good first experience."

That includes men, women, boys, girls, bicycles, dogs, cats, umbrellas,logs..... It's why lots and lots of work 'on the ground', with gentle introductions to EVERYTHING you can think of, will serve you and your horse well in future years. But I digress. Back to the topic:

"if a horse falls down in a trailer the first time he loads, he may fear all trailers. However, if he falls down in a two-horse, side-by-side trailer the 25th time he is loaded, he may make a more specific association. Instead of associating all trailers with a painful or frightening experience, he is more likely to fear side-by-side trailers, or fear a certain person associated with the "bad" trailer. He has learned from previous experience that trailers are safe, so he is unlikely to form a generalized trailer fear."

So what to do when your horse is afraid of men? Well, DO NOT send him to a 'traditional' rough 'em up male trainer. No, no, no. You'll need a confident, experienced and gentle male handler to help your horse rewire his survival instinct, and learn that men are ok. Just basic, regular training will do. It's the attitude of the trainer to the horse that is important.

And it might be a wise idea to get all the guys who will be around this horse to have a few lessons regarding their behavior, so that the retraining doesn't get undone within a week of success.

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Labels: abused horse, horse, horse breaking, horse fears men, horse hates men, horse training, horses, training a horse

As some of you may be aware, Australia (well, a large part of it anyway) is in the grip of horse flu. Equine Influenza if one wishes to be correct. And that means lockdown. No horse travelling. No Ag Shows, no Pony Club, no racing.

The legenday Birdsville Races were affected by the slight inconvenience of not having any horses to race. For those that don't know where Birdsville is, it's in the middle of nowhere. Known as the most isolated town in Australia, being 1161km (721miles) from the nearest capitol city. Population 120, food shipped in fortnightly and with no, I repeat, no, cell/mobile reception.

Perhaps taking a cue from this horse festival in Banbury, UK, the race meet went ahead anyway.

However, Melbourne has not been affected by this lockdown, and so the Melbourne Cup, with all it's high fashion, dress up silliness, drunkeness and stopping the entire nation working for a day, is scheduled to go ahead as planned:

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Labels: Birdsville Races, equine influenza, horse, horse flu, horse racing, horses, Melbourne Cup

There they go again. Those Thoroughbreds and their 'freak accidents'. The Caulfield Cup is the lead-up race to the Melbourne Cup, the 'race that stops the nation'. The race that Melbourne has a public holiday to watch. Truly!

So what happened at the start of the Caulfield Cup to the favorite?
From 'The Age':

"The noise Maldivian made when he struck the stalls caused second favourite Eskimo Queen to lunge at the gates, slip to the ground and become caught under the stalls. She was also withdrawn."

Maldivian reared in the confusion and struck his neck on the barrier.

"...highly fancied Caulfield Cup favourite, Maldivian, was left gashed and bloodied just moments before the race's start... Maldivian... was taken from the barriers with blood pouring out of the 15-centimetre cut high on his neck. It needed up to 14 stitches."

Back to the subject of horse racing and freak accidents. Although I wasn't able to dig up any figures on the freaky ones, there is enough data about on the 'regular' ones to be rather worrying.

From Wikipedia:
"Current estimates indicate that there are 1.5 career-ending breakdowns for every 1000 horses starting a race in the United States, an average of two horses per day. The state of California reported a particularly high rate of injury; 3.5 per 1000 starts. As a ratio (of injuries with eventually fatal complications to total competitions), this is far in excess of all other legal human and animal sports, including boxing, motorsports and greyhound racing."

And from this study:
"As anticipated, the type of race had a big impact on the risk of injury. Horses in hurdle races were 4 times more likely to suffer serious injury while those competing in steeplechase races were 7.5 times more likely to sustain a serious injury, compared to races on the flat."

So that explains why horse racing 'freak injuries' really aren't freak injuries at all. They're just the more visible end of the ordinary injury rate in the sport.

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Labels: accident, Caulfield Cup, horse, horse racing, Melbourne Cup, thoroughbred

It is with great pleasure that I've come across a dedicated horse radio show... and not only that, but one that does not discriminate against a person for living in proverbial Timbuktoo. Aka it is also available to listen to online.

Sensibly named 'The Horse Show', there are interviews and panel discussions on all sorts of horse management and training topics. Here is a list of radio stations in the USA that air the program:
http://www.thehorseshow.com/stations.aspx

And here is the link to listen online:
http://www.thehorseshow.com/listen.aspx
There is a catch - you need to be a member and it costs $9.95 a year, but at this precise point in time, the fee is being waived in exchange for completing a survey.

Thanks to the person who emailed in asking if the Horse Training Success book is available as an audio. It's not right now, but I'll keep the idea in mind. Your question sparked off the search which resulted in this find.

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Labels: audio, horse, horse training, horses, radio

A rope halter can be far stronger than the 'regular' halter, and a lot more comfortable for your horse too. Sounds good? Even better, you can make 'em yourself.

There's a fantastic webpage on how to make your own, complete with information on the rope to choose, how much you'll need for your size horse, tools you'll need and the different knots and how to tie them. Oh, and instructions with pictures on constructing the halter of course! It's all available at http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/tiehalter.shtml

The only improvement would be a video of the process.

However, once you've made your very own rope halter, here's a video I found to help you put it on your horse and do it up.

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Labels: halter shy, horse, horse breaking, horse training, rope halter, video

Once you have helped your horse conquer his fear of being touched around the head you can gently keep reinforcing this in a number of ways. Obviously when your horse has been calm about having his head touched, reward him. Scratching a favorite spot is a good reward. Another reinforcement is to play with your horse's ears/pat his head while he is eating. Two reasons for this. 'If you relax and let me touch your face you can eat' (no eating no touch) and the good feelings associated with food will 'transfer' to being touched on the head.

And then you can take the training to another level. A useful cue to teach your horse is 'head down'. It makes bridling and haltering SO much easier, especially for taller horses. The idea is pressure and release. The reward for doing what you want is release from the pressure. Put your hand on his poll and push down gently and slowly increase the pressure. Ignore any fussing and as soon as you detect a tiny dropping of the head, reward by releasing the pressure and heaping praise on your horse. As with all horse training, small often repeated lessons are the most effective. Your horse will not 'get' this lesson overnight, but in time, he will learn to drop his head to a small gentle press on his poll.

Long term, you could continue on to 'bombproof' your horse to arms and ropes flicking about his neck and face. How do you do this? Well you stand at a distance from your horse that he determines is 'safe' and wave and dance about like a goon, gradually getting closer and backing off when he shows signs of nervousness of the lunatic and then in again and back off again etc until you are waving your arms about and doing the chicken dance right next to him and he is bored. The idea is NOT to scare your horse. Do NOT hit or touch him. Be somewhat predictable in your moves, but make them big, flamboyant moves like windmills and stretches. And don't necessarily focus all your moves or body language on your horse all the time. Ignoring him while he stands close by and you flamenco around the acorn on the ground will help him relax and will get him thinking that maybe what's happening has nothing to do with him.

Again, small often repeated lessons are the most effective. Your horse will not 'get' this lesson fully first go, but in time will not be bothered by unco-ordinated idiots raising their arm suddenly under his nose. And obviously this lesson will be a biggie for an abused horse. Baby-fairy steps in terms of lesson progression in those cases. It could take many lessons for an abused horse to stop shaking when you are standing on the other side of the paddock and raising your arm. So be it.

To desensitise your horse to stray and flying ropes, again stand at a distance from your horse that he determines is 'safe' and twirl and throw the rope about, gradually getting closer and backing off when he shows signs of nervousness at your actions or the rope. The idea is NOT to scare your horse. Do NOT hit or touch him. Be nonchalant and unconcerned. Pretend to be interested in other things. Ie don't constantly focus on the horse, but sometimes focus the fence or someone else or nothing at all. And then in again and back off again etc until you are too close to twirl a rope without hitting him. Do NOT hit him no matter what. At that point stop and offer the rope to be sniffed and inspected. When your horse is unconcerned by the rope, use it to rub him starting from the shoulder. Follow the same principles for touching a headshy horse with your hands. When he is fine being rubbed with the rope you can start gently draping it over him and sliding it off. And gradually move to swinging it over him and flicking it off. Please avoid rope burn or painful flicks. Clearly they will work against you!

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Labels: abused horse, bridle shy, halter shy, head shy, horse breaking, horse training, wild horse

Points To Note:
A headshy horse has developed the HABIT of moving away anytime someone reaches for his face, regardless of whether he thinks this will end in pain or not. It is up to you to teach him a new habit. One you want.

A few points to note before beginning. Always stand to the side of your horse, never in front. This is for your safety and your horse's peace of mind. It is less threatening to them for you to be on their side and in full view.

Always be mindful to have a relaxed, nonchalant, non-aggressive attitude. This is inside, how you are feeling, and your voice and body language. It all counts. Your horse can sense how you feel. Do not use angry voice tones or body actions no matter how long each lesson lasts or how slow your horse is at 'getting it'.

Take your time. Hours if necessary. Let your poor horse know things have changed for the better. Rub and stroke until he relaxes and quits being nervous. If you stop before he relaxes and accepts what you are doing, his headshy habit will continue. If you stop touching him when he reacts badly, this will reinforce that moving away will stop what he doesn't want. Always end on a high note.

Pay attention to your horse. He will tell you how quickly you can proceed with the lesson by his reactions to what you are doing. As you improve your listening, you will see an improvement in your horse's trust.

Remember that gentle hands will prevail.

The Nuts and Bolts:

The overall method goes like this. Start at a spot where your horse likes to be scratched. Somewhere he is very comfortable being touched and does not react badly. Then you gradually work your way from this 'yes' area toward the major 'no' area, backing off toward 'yes' whenever he gets tense, starts fidgeting, shows the whites of his eyes, pulls away, lifts his head up, swats you with his tail etc. You'll have to learn to read your horse. Incrementally rub and scratch toward 'no' to expand what he is comfortable with. Go as slow as it takes.

In more detail, start at the 'yes' spot. Typically the shoulder or sometimes the nose. Rub until he is quite happy and relaxed. Then explore where the boundary of 'yes' is. Stay within that until he is relaxed again. And then, for a stroke, slightly expand the boundary. And then go straight back into the 'yes' area. Circular strokes are great. The circle just happens to be a bit wider when you push the boundary of 'yes'. Gradually increase the frequency of expanding 'yes' by that little bit, until the boundary of 'yes' has been expanded. Back off into 'yes' at any sign of resistance. Make sure your horse is completely comfortable and trusting before going further. Repeat all the way up the neck, leaving the strongest 'no' area until last, which is often the ears.

This approach and retreat works really well. Often you will get to a stage where your horse will stand still and tolerate your touch, but you can still feel that he isn't entirely happy. Then it's time to OD on rubs and scratches all over the tolerated and nearby areas until he's bored. Well done. It may have taken a couple of hours of rubbing, but your horse won't give two hoots anymore.

Do this every time you catch him to reinforce the lesson that he no longer has to fear having his head touched. It takes time but is well worth the trouble. With time and patience, he will understand that this rubbing feels good, and he will learn not be nervous about your hands near his head.

For abused or severly shy horses it’s best to approach the problem in even smaller steps, beginning with whatever body part your horse will offer to you. This will be either his nose or his shoulder. Depending on the level of shyness of your horse, you may only be able to make contact for a split second. The split second being the amount of time he was comfortable, and stayed quiet. So keep touching him a little while longer each time. And stop before he shows signs of objection. It may be that you only get to put your hand NEAR his nose/head/shoulder. That's ok. It's all building up your horse's comfort zone bit by bit, or hair by hair! Once you can make contact long enough to start rubbing, you can begin to expand this 'yes' area.

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Labels: abused horse, bridle shy, halter shy, head shy, horse breaking, horse training, wild horse

Another topic that keeps cropping up in emailed questions: the head shy horse.

The vast majority of times, a horse is head shy because of something a human has done. It's a learned response to a painful experience. Being smacked on the face, having an ear twitched, being hit over the head with a rope, whip or other object. Even a rider with rough hands once the bridle is on can make a horse head shy if the horse has made the connection between letting the bridle on and being jerked about in the mouth.

But as with any evasive behavior on the part of a horse, it is best to first rule out any physical problems. Why else would a horse be head shy? Well it can be a symptom of a badly fitting bridle. If the bridle is too tight, it presses on their poll and hurts. A badly fitting bit can be to blame. Or one that tastes horrid. How are his teeth? Are they due for filing? Do they have any spikey or sharp edges? Or any decay or abscesses? Now onto the eyes. Poor vision can make a horse head shy. They jump because they can't see properly and it startles them. Remember too that the horse has a blind spot right in front of him. Always approach him from the side, never directly in front.

Onto the ears. Bites from flies, lice, ticks or other parasites in or on the ear can be painful. Warts can be too. And then there's ear infections. Check the ears over thoroughly, especially if your horse seems to be more 'ear shy' than 'head shy'. It is helpful to know if your horse has ever had any of the above. Sometimes just the memory of the bite or infection, even when it has cleared up, will keep a horse head shy.

And last of all, if none of the above fit, a chiropractic adjustment could be the solution. If the neck is out behind the ears, your horse may have a raging headache and quite rightly won't want to be touched.

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Labels: abused horse, bridle shy, halter shy, head shy, horse breaking, horse training, wild horse