Morgan123
Well-Known Member
Hi guys!
I've learnt some stuff recently that i thought i would pass on, cos i noticed there have been tonnes and tonnes of behav issues on here recently, prob form the alck of turnout what wiht the snow!! I'm studying behaviourism and have been having long chats wiht a behaviourist recently, and there's some really good stuff which helps wiht all this, and is really really simple - just thought it might help others too if i pass it on....
OK - so here's a sample list of common behavioural problems and how we deal with them in the usual Englihs way (some from recent forums):
- Rearing: whack it over the head with an egg/a water bottle/a whip; shout; whack it under the belly with a whip; lunge it
- difficult to catch: chase it, trick it by feeding it and putting rope round neck
- biting - muzzle it, bite it back, smack it
- weaving - anti-weave bars, two bottles of water on either side of its head
- territorial in stable - muzzle it, don't feed it by hand etc
- stale/bucking - smack it/shout/lunge
- separation anxiety (gallops back to field when being led in): bridle it, chifney, lunge it the whole way back, pressure halter
BTW jsut want to voice that i'm not judging - i myself have probably done many of these things in the past - I really don't want to come across as all preachy but thought would just pass on some thoughts...
What's interesting about the list is that all the common solutions to problems are treating the SYMPTOM. many of them may work, i am not arguing that.
What is worth considering more deely though is WHY these things are actually happening - i don't just mean the normal (and of course important) dentist/vet/back check - i mean the actual reason behind the behaviours. if we understand that, we can deal wiht the behaviour more fully, and then we can more accurately deal wiht the behaviours to ensure that a) they don'#t happen again and b) further problems don't just arise becuase the cause has not been dealt with.
With the snow, i guess loads of people's horses are in more (incl mine!), and even without that it's normal for horses to be in for at least 12h out of 24. So, the avergae horse sleeps about 4 hrs a day. say it does this in its stable - it's still then got 8h to fill. Hay lasts a surpisingly short time - even if we stretch this to 2 hrs, that's six hours of... well, just standing in some sort of daze i suppose. maybe stable toys add another half an hour of entertainment, maybe if it's lucky it can argue wiht its neighbour for a bit. of course this is fine for some horses, some don't care and deal with it fine! But it's unsurpsising that many others start fiddle behaviours to deal wiht their endless boredom. for example, being territorial, weaving, eating bed, crob biting or chewing wood etc.
If you actually think about the horse itself and its main lifetime priotities (eating, sleeping, playing and companionship activities etc) it's really easy to see where problems come from and therefore to constructively solve them without just masking a symptom.
For example, take the horse that is territorial in the stable and bites. If it is muzzled, the symptom is completely extinguished, and it cannot bite.
However, why was it biting? Perhaps because it is malevolent and vile, but more likely because it is bored out of its brain, and incredible stressed, and just wants its own very small territory. Muzzling it does not deal with any of these things - it just masks the sym,ptom; it's easy to see therefore why this horse would start expressing itself with its heels.
Take the rearer - the horse that rears when led to the school/in from the field/and while the rider is onboard. Smackiong him over the head wiht an egg is certianly admirable in terms of co-ordination and balance (has anyone ever actually done this?!!) and maybe the horse will stop. however, the root cause (perhaps frustration, perhaps he just needs to let off some steam!) is still there. It may not be long before he starts bucking, biting when tacked up, being incredible lazy etc.
My own mare is a great exmaple; she has serious separation anxiety issues about leaving her herd of mares; when i got her she was really dangerous, rearing and waving her legs at my head, kicking at my head, galloping round me in circles that were just a bit too close for comfort etc. the normal solutions at the yard came from two sources - the old school people said use a chiffney/bridle and the parelli/MR lot said use a pressure halter. this MAY have worked ot treat the symptom, and i MAY have succeeded in forcing her into the yard. however, what was much much safer for me was ot simply spend time wiht her in the field to gain her trust, and feed her gradually a few metres mroe each day away form the field, gradually increasing her secure base and the amount of time she could spend away from her friends. this treated the CAUSE of the behaviour (her anxiety) and from then on she is miles and miles better, plus she trusts me not to force her into things whihc is an added bonus.
I'm not denying that treating a SYMPTOM is useful sometimes - but if you understand the full reason for the behaviour in the first place, it's much easier to see how you can ALSO solve the management issues which have made the problem arise in the first place. very few horses, if any, are genuinely mean, lazy, willfull, stubborn etc. they can only be stubborn if they have someone to fight. It's surprisingly easy to find ways to make their lives much happier and therefore eradicate the problem from the root.
I personally found that as soon as i applied this to all the problems i could see around me on the yard it was totally easy to see how they could be helped in a constructive way, rather than just maksing symptoms.
I know some people mgiht disagree, but jsut thought i'd pass this on in case it helps anyone else!!
Thansk!
I've learnt some stuff recently that i thought i would pass on, cos i noticed there have been tonnes and tonnes of behav issues on here recently, prob form the alck of turnout what wiht the snow!! I'm studying behaviourism and have been having long chats wiht a behaviourist recently, and there's some really good stuff which helps wiht all this, and is really really simple - just thought it might help others too if i pass it on....
OK - so here's a sample list of common behavioural problems and how we deal with them in the usual Englihs way (some from recent forums):
- Rearing: whack it over the head with an egg/a water bottle/a whip; shout; whack it under the belly with a whip; lunge it
- difficult to catch: chase it, trick it by feeding it and putting rope round neck
- biting - muzzle it, bite it back, smack it
- weaving - anti-weave bars, two bottles of water on either side of its head
- territorial in stable - muzzle it, don't feed it by hand etc
- stale/bucking - smack it/shout/lunge
- separation anxiety (gallops back to field when being led in): bridle it, chifney, lunge it the whole way back, pressure halter
BTW jsut want to voice that i'm not judging - i myself have probably done many of these things in the past - I really don't want to come across as all preachy but thought would just pass on some thoughts...
What's interesting about the list is that all the common solutions to problems are treating the SYMPTOM. many of them may work, i am not arguing that.
What is worth considering more deely though is WHY these things are actually happening - i don't just mean the normal (and of course important) dentist/vet/back check - i mean the actual reason behind the behaviours. if we understand that, we can deal wiht the behaviour more fully, and then we can more accurately deal wiht the behaviours to ensure that a) they don'#t happen again and b) further problems don't just arise becuase the cause has not been dealt with.
With the snow, i guess loads of people's horses are in more (incl mine!), and even without that it's normal for horses to be in for at least 12h out of 24. So, the avergae horse sleeps about 4 hrs a day. say it does this in its stable - it's still then got 8h to fill. Hay lasts a surpisingly short time - even if we stretch this to 2 hrs, that's six hours of... well, just standing in some sort of daze i suppose. maybe stable toys add another half an hour of entertainment, maybe if it's lucky it can argue wiht its neighbour for a bit. of course this is fine for some horses, some don't care and deal with it fine! But it's unsurpsising that many others start fiddle behaviours to deal wiht their endless boredom. for example, being territorial, weaving, eating bed, crob biting or chewing wood etc.
If you actually think about the horse itself and its main lifetime priotities (eating, sleeping, playing and companionship activities etc) it's really easy to see where problems come from and therefore to constructively solve them without just masking a symptom.
For example, take the horse that is territorial in the stable and bites. If it is muzzled, the symptom is completely extinguished, and it cannot bite.
However, why was it biting? Perhaps because it is malevolent and vile, but more likely because it is bored out of its brain, and incredible stressed, and just wants its own very small territory. Muzzling it does not deal with any of these things - it just masks the sym,ptom; it's easy to see therefore why this horse would start expressing itself with its heels.
Take the rearer - the horse that rears when led to the school/in from the field/and while the rider is onboard. Smackiong him over the head wiht an egg is certianly admirable in terms of co-ordination and balance (has anyone ever actually done this?!!) and maybe the horse will stop. however, the root cause (perhaps frustration, perhaps he just needs to let off some steam!) is still there. It may not be long before he starts bucking, biting when tacked up, being incredible lazy etc.
My own mare is a great exmaple; she has serious separation anxiety issues about leaving her herd of mares; when i got her she was really dangerous, rearing and waving her legs at my head, kicking at my head, galloping round me in circles that were just a bit too close for comfort etc. the normal solutions at the yard came from two sources - the old school people said use a chiffney/bridle and the parelli/MR lot said use a pressure halter. this MAY have worked ot treat the symptom, and i MAY have succeeded in forcing her into the yard. however, what was much much safer for me was ot simply spend time wiht her in the field to gain her trust, and feed her gradually a few metres mroe each day away form the field, gradually increasing her secure base and the amount of time she could spend away from her friends. this treated the CAUSE of the behaviour (her anxiety) and from then on she is miles and miles better, plus she trusts me not to force her into things whihc is an added bonus.
I'm not denying that treating a SYMPTOM is useful sometimes - but if you understand the full reason for the behaviour in the first place, it's much easier to see how you can ALSO solve the management issues which have made the problem arise in the first place. very few horses, if any, are genuinely mean, lazy, willfull, stubborn etc. they can only be stubborn if they have someone to fight. It's surprisingly easy to find ways to make their lives much happier and therefore eradicate the problem from the root.
I personally found that as soon as i applied this to all the problems i could see around me on the yard it was totally easy to see how they could be helped in a constructive way, rather than just maksing symptoms.
I know some people mgiht disagree, but jsut thought i'd pass this on in case it helps anyone else!!
Thansk!
