Leadership, relationship building, reinforcement, ethics, and the concept of fairness in training.

 

Q: Can you be direct and authoritative with a horse and still build a close relationship?

A: In my experience, which is vast, YES. The key is context and FAIRNESS. 

 

(Keep in mind, I don't have a problem catching horses that are in my program, they explicitly display joy when they see me and I am not the food lady. My geldings drop their wee wees when they are with me and sometimes fall asleep grooming. We clearly have a great relationship. I ride with a bit, whip, sometimes spurs and treats (a clicker too.) 

 

***What is fairness? This is so hard to define in a post that lasts forever but doesn't reach every moment in equine consciousness. I am going to do my best here.***

It is only fair if you consider the horse first. Are their basic needs met? Are they in any pain? Am I the problem? What can I do better? What are the short and longterm consequences of my actions? How do I break down this thing I want to teach into easy to process pieces?? 

 

There are many times (almost everytime), I give the horse the benefit of the doubt, watch their behavior over time (all this time gathering data in my brain), and then decide one day to correct them for something I've let slide because I've concluded that it was fair, it was necessary, and it was for the greater good. There are also many times assessments have ended in me suggesting someone get a new farrier, see the vet, retire a horse, change discipline, or euthanize. Assessing a horses behavioral modifications ends in SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. Please stop trying to limit the tools some of us have to get there.

In addition to the mindset you have to master the method. Or try to. Whichever method you prefer or choose because this is very much an individual journey and not an indoctrination. I like to use a little bit of most things, but I've experience with hundreds of horses and many of them with behavioral issues way out of most people's comfort zones. I've relied on those horses and their feedback to tell me when I'm being fair and when I'm asking too much. I factor in my horses feelings and input and adjust accordingly. There's times I've quit at the horses suggestion. This is relationship building. 

 

There's also times I've pushed for more, just a little more, just one step out of their comfort zone; I get it and reward it. This builds emotional resilience. This is also relationship building. 

 

There are times I've interrupted a behavior because it was dangerous, and that also was relationship building. It reinforces healthy boundaries between horse and handler. It lets my horse know I wont accept a certain behavior but I'm not going to do more than what is fair to extinct the behavior. In order to use positive punishment ethically and responsibly, you must have impeccable timing. You must also try to master the "one and done" where you figure out exactly how loud your energy has to be to extinct the behavior the first time, or nearly bring it to extinction so that you can quiet your energy going forward and NOT get stuck in correction mode. We are talking about relationship building here so the hypothetical goal is to extinct the behavior and move on. Getting stuck in correction mode will hurt your relationship with your animal way more than one or two well administered corrections.

Being fair means not abusing your power over the animal. It means checking your motives, your emotions, sometimes your pride (if you have any, I don't think I have much left after so many ego deaths. I have burning convictions but feel very little pride ). 

 

Which brings me to my last sentiment. We all live in an infrastructure that our nervous systems are not adapting to or adjusting well to. Horses and humans. 

 

After 20 years and hundreds of thousands of hours of hands on experience, experiencing my own trauma in life, and working with animals and humans that have experienced trauma, I've concluded that if I were to be truly trauma informed I would need to be concerned with balancing both horse and human needs. Why? Because these animals depend on us and we need to be well.

...and I spent years of my life devoted to force free training...I drank all of the Kool Aid just like I drank all of the FEI Kool Aid around 2010.

I'm not trying to bag on or promote any one training method. I literally use all methods of reinforcement in addition to learning theory and behaviorism. But I do want everyone to consider the consequences of their actions because ALL TRAINING IS COERCION. 

 

I also want to encourage us to stop waging war on each other's methods and concentrate on our work. This moment in time is the best opportunity in history we have ever had to collaborate, research, apply theory, yield results, and collect data. I know we are all passionate about what we do, but we must be more patient with each other and where everyone is on their journey. There are so many people out there like me, who are not certified behaviorists; and have so much to offer the world. "This is the way we do it because it's the way its always been done." Is no longer acceptable either; but some of those old ways are valuable. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater folks. Problem solving behavioral issues isn't a streamlined process and will never be. 

 

-Elise Marie Weber

Equine Behaviorist, PSG Dressage trainer, and artist