Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Rewarding Bad Behavior

After I cooled My Boy out on Sunday, we stood in the shade and worked on some muzzle desensitizing.

You see, My Boy has a tendency to panic when you apply even the slightest pressure to his upper lip. We had a bit of a come-to-Jesus moment of head tossing and avoidance at first, then I had him settled down and we went to work. I would touch the upper lip with the flat of my palm. If he stood calmly for a few seconds, I removed my hand (and therefore the 'pressure.') After a minute, I'd try it again, only removing my hand when he wasn't moving his head.

Eventually, I got to where I could even apply a slight squeeze to the upper lip without him worrying something awful was about to happen. I didn't expect him to tolerate this for long periods of time at first. I was just pickin' battles if I did that. Instead, I rewarded small efforts. I think this was more successful.

Yes, a few times a year, that pressure on the upper lip might mean a twitch is a-comin'. But I really need for him to not anticipate and fear that every touch to the lip means it's twitch time! I think if I work with him on this consistently, our future vet appointments might go a little easier.

I think my horse is great at anticipating the worst, at least in situations involving veterinarian care. A vet once commented to me, "Man, he has had it all done in his life, hasn't he?" She meant a shoulder twitch, an ear twitch, the chain over nose, the lip chain....you name it, someone has done it on him. Yep Dr. Equine, he sees you and your bag of tricks coming a mile away. It's unfortunate that these methods of restraint have to be used with him at all, but that is another issue altogether.

I am the absolute furthest thing from an expert on horse training, but I do know that it is very easy to send the wrong signals to my horse and actually reward negative behavior. For example: I want to let my horse hand-graze and we're walking towards a lawn which hasn't been mowed in three weeks and it's looking juicy and green. And the minute we start walking onto that lawn he starts pulling on the lead rope or jerking his head or nudging me in anticipation of getting to that grass, and I let him get his head down to eat.....well then, I am actually reinforcing those bad behaviors. After all, they worked for him, right? They got him what he wanted.

Rather, I make him stand quiet, no head tossing, and wait- for at least one to five minutes (it feels like forever to us both.) Once he is standing still and not "begging" with bad behavior, I lower my hand to the ground. He knows that is the "release" signal that he can begin grazing. In other words, it's my decision when he eats, not his. Otherwise, he'd be pulling me across the yard in pursuit of the green stuff the minute he could. Now, what I really need to add to this once in a while is to just walk him past that green grass and put him away, without any grazing at all. In the end, these small things might prevent the creation of a monster.

It is common sense really, but sometimes difficult to remember in every moment with my horse. I don't think a good horse will be ruined by letting these little things slip once in a while, but I know that as a potential horse-spoiler, I personally have to make a conscious effort to think about all of my actions and reactions and how I might inadvertently be modifying my horse's behavior- in a bad way. I think what makes a really good trainer or horseman is that they are very in tune to a horse's behavior and how their reactions are rewarding the horse, for good or bad. It's second nature for them. I'm still in the stage of having to break it down into steps and thinking about it, but I'll get there.


22 comments:

  1. Potential horse-spoiler? You are a horse-spoiler! :)
    I don't always let mine graze, there are alot of days I just walk them right past the grass and put them back in the pasture. I don't want them thinking that they get to eat everytime I bring them out. Plus I have to be very careful with Fritzy, she is already pushy and she is really improving on her pushiness, I can't go backwards. She is not the type that you can spoil! Brandy, yes!

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  2. Consistency is the key with all horses, sounds like you’re on the right track.

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  3. LOL at Paint Girls comment! What are sisters for, if not to give you a rough time. Great post and you are right. Funny how many of these things cross over from animals to kids (real human ones :)

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  4. {AHCM}~ Actually, being a teacher, I was making a lot of parallels with kids in my head while I wrote this post, and almost gave a few examples (you know, the screaming kid at the grocery store that wants the M&M's even after mom said no 5 times, and finally mom gives in!) ;)

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  5. Someone once told me that EVERY time you interact with your horse you are teaching them something. The trickis to teach them what you want them to learn .I find they are teaching me every step of the way too , even after all these years!Guess I like it that way if I am learning I am living!

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  6. {Fern Valley}~ Well put! Sounds like something Ray or Buck would say....(That'd be Hunt and Brannaman, not like I'm on a first-name basis here, LOL!)

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  7. Your boy is a lot like the Dustbuster in so many ways!

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  8. Sometimes it's just easier to give in. Lazy I know but we try our hardest. Good luck with your spring training!

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  9. I work really hard to make sure that while I do not want to reward Jesse's bad behavior...some of his naughty behavior is what makes for his terrific personality! He is so inquisitive...poking his nose into things... and yes even begging so cutely for another treat or pawing for another treat. It's a fine line sometimes for me!!!

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  10. I love your dedication to making the right decisions for your horse!! We don't always make the right ones, but the least we can do is try!! Props to you!!

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  11. No green grass over here, so no risk of spoiling in that area... :-D

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  12. Truly wonderful post - it gets right to the essence of what it means to work with horses, and how it's possible to slowly, patiently, work to get the positive results you want! I bet things will get (very slowly) better with the vet! I wish all horsepeople were as careful and thoughtful as you.

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  13. Indigo absolutely hates her muzzle being rubbed or petted. See it's very sensitive and not many horses enjoy being petted there, or they bite. Indigo has found a very smart way of adverting peoples nose pets, she licks people. Like you put your hand up and she slimes it in one fell swoop.
    Anyway, shes very good about it being rubbed now. I could rub her all over her muzzle one day and the next it was like she forgot what I was doing and would throw her head up again. So I started to do sneak attacks.
    I would be standing and without indication I would really fast reach out and pet her muzzle. By the time she reacted my hand and pet on the muzzle was gone, thats how fast. Because she reacts after the initial touch she didn't directly associate me petting her on the nose with her reaction because it was done and over with before she had time to think about reacting. By the third day I could go fast or slow at her muzzle and she just stood there and took it.
    I did the same thing with those precious ears of hers. I would reach real quick and lightly squeeze/run my hand from the thickest part to the tip. Again now she lets me handle them slowly too because she didn't have time to react to my touch.

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  14. Good post, consistancy prevales. Don't think I spelled that right, oh well.

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  15. Sounds like your horse has had a lot of inappropriate things done to him in the past. I'll just bet he has a story for every naughty behavior that you'd like to change. Kind of sad huh? But, like you said, regardless of the past, you have to consistently reward the good, not the bad. Sometimes it's hard having to think all of the time when you're with your horse...but, that's how we avoid bad habits and getting hurt. Good for you for trying so hard to re-teach and gain your horse's trust. I'll bet you are a very good teacher of the kiddos. I agree with everything you said and Fern Valley...but can definitely relate to what Desert Rose said. A very fine line indeed. I too, am a terrible horse spoiler and have to work hard at being conscious of my actions all the time.

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  16. Well, you may not be an "official" horse training expert, but it sure sounds like you know what you are doing!! I am afraid that sometimes I spoil my mare, and as a result are rewarding bad behavior, but I do like to let her think for herself sometimes. It is a balance. Also, it is true, you have to think about everything you do with these critters.

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  17. I tend to think of horses like teenagers - always, always, always testing. That's why being consistent is valuable.

    'course I'm terribly inconsistent in life in general, so we're both being trained. :) Great post!

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  18. My mare arrived with treats in her box so I knew I was going to have a hard time with her being pushy! I'm not opposed to them but when they've been in charge of telling the human when they are going to eat one....that's a different story. None of our other horses get them because, quite frankly, I just don't want them always looking for them. As soon as I rattle a bag or open the cupboard in the barn, she comes a lickin and smackin her lips! I make her work for it such as backing up or head down cue, yes every single time and it calms her down first before she gets to eat it. Pony Girl this is a great post! I applaud you taking the time to be diligent in correcting his muzzle issue! So many times bad behavior can be taken care of but too many people just don't give it the time it needs. Our mare was twitched when getting ready for a show by our first trainer just because she was trying to get so many horses done for the next day, then they stood tied all night so they wouldn't get dirty (we didn't know that either). She arrived at our place head shy and I've had to work with her ever since.....we've never used a twitch on any of ours, thank goodness we haven't had to. We have the same issue with passing by grass on the way to the pasture.....most of the time they do not get a bite and we do tell them when it can happen! After all, they are headed out to the pasture to eat a bunch of it anyway! LOL!

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  19. I know it seems like a pain to have to do some of these things, especially avoiding the grass entirely, but you'll be glad that you're doing them in the long run. Now that Silk is 21, she has mellowed so much that all the little challenges are gone. Grass? No grass? Who cares. I never thought I'd see the day, but here we are - you'll get there with My Boy. Look how much more polite and willing he is just in the past year. He's trying just as hard as you are!

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  20. Great post on learning patience.

    Everything I know was taught to me by my mare. She was a challenge. We had that "don't touch my muzzle" issue. Wow, she could really throw her head. Then one day I rubbed my hand with sweet feed. That was the day she said "please touch my muzzle". I tried that several times until she learned there was at least a smell reward. She eventually got over it.

    As for grazing, that is a challenge. So now, it is allowed only when it is my idea. No, yanking, no negative ... we just keep going. Then, surprise, a little grazing is allowed. It has worked so far. But tomorrow is another day.

    Bravo for your great work.

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  21. It's tough sometimes paying attention to those horsy details. You get in a rush and it's just easier to ignore some "little" things. I hate the time I sometimes have to spend on good manners when I'm trying to get on my horses. But I can't let them get by with walking off when I'm halfway on. Patience pays off.

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