Horse training demo

Went to watch a horse training demo last night ... natural horsemanship style.  A young trainer was showing how she works with a halflinger mare.  She did a mounting block session as well as trailer loading.

What I really liked was that this trainer remained quiet and calm and had infinite patience.  However my exposure to clicker training has made me especially sensitive to HOW pressure and release of pressure is used and I came away feeling a tad uncomfortable with what I saw.

In no way was the mare "hurt" by the training ... it was more about "poisoning" the tools for the horse.  For example during the mounting block session, the trainer was trying to teach the mare to position her back and stand square next to the mounting block.  When the horse moved too far forward  or turned, she indicated that this was the wrong answer but she did that by using the Parelli carrot stick in an abrupt fashion, snapping it in front of the horse's face to show that direction was closed.  This is a correction by using the crop in an aversive manner as opposed to blocking the horse's way through use of the crop as an extension of her arm. 

Rewards came in the form of stroking, so when the horse responded correctly, she got lots of strokes by the trainer's hand.  This particular horse didn't seem to mind that  (treats would have made the process so much faster!) but it wouldn't have meant all that much to my donkeys, especially from a stranger.

Trailer loading is hard for this horse and took a long time.  The trainer was very patient and when finally loaded, she allowed the horse to get back out, rather than close the doors ... nice.  But this time, she used the carrot stick crop across the back of the horse's rump - again, not painful per se, but you could see the horse quiver, so definitely aversive.  In my opinion it didn't speed up the process and I left before the horse loaded a second time, the first couple of times obviously not reassuring enough to repeat the process!

It was an interesting session and the trainer clearly has a calm, clear way with horses.  But the relationship was "boss- subordinate" as opposed to "partner" and this seems common amoung equine people, the idea being that you have to let them know that you are the boss at all times, so don't try any funny stuff. Watching this horse's body language, her anxiety was always close to the surface, although she had moments of relaxation too.  It's been proven that fear closes the pathway to learning - we can "obey" when we're fearful but behaviour doesn't necessarily change under duress. So clicker trainers try to avoid putting an animal under stress by rewarding the animal for even the smallest "try" towards the correct behaviour.

There were no obvious bonuses or jackpots at the end of any sessions - the horse did whatever was asked, finally and that was that.  This particular horse HAS had the benefit of some clicker training, her owner loves the process, so it made me especially sad to see that rewards were withheld, as once an animal learns the "YES answer system" of positive reinforcement, it seems almost cruel to change to a form of training where now the same animal is NOT being rewarded for doing the right thing.  She must have wondered why.

I am not an experienced trainer, but having now attended 3 clinics with Alexandra Kurland, several with Monty Quinn and Sola Wolff plus Clicker Expo, I do understand the extraordinary benefits of the positive reinforcement rewards based system of training and while I recognize that many people choose other training methods, I can't really understand why!

Rainy Day reflections ...

End of June and it's pouring - personally I love summer rain - it makes me less concerned about the garden and the water table.  I just booted the three donkeys off of their afternoon grass patch before the downfall.  They have taken cover under a grove of trees and I retreated to the house.

Dorica is starting to look like the Good Year Blimp - worrisome and something to watch - they get so little grass but it shows on her especially fast.  She just turned 13 and her figure has become matronly. A thirty minute walk uphill everyday would help a lot but I still struggle with Deenah's extraordinary separation anxiety and tend to give in to her stress instead of pushing her to accept Dorrie's temporary absence.  It's a problem as I'd love to do more off the property with Dorica.

As I type the sun is pushing through the rains clouds.  Perhaps I'll manage a walk after all. The 3 donkeys have yet to completely shed their winter hair but it's coming out by the handful and they appreciate my "fur-buster" grooming tool and shedding blade.  As this will be Siog's first summer here, it will be fun to see her looking sleek - they really do look amazingly different winter to summer, their coat even changes in colour and hue.

I have been seriously considering adding to the herd and taking on a 4th donkey.  The dynamic of three means that someone is always on her own and it would be good to see them pair up. However I am taking it very slowly ... time, expense and responsibility are all considerations.

Dental drama

As I sit here with my little orange tabby cat who is recovering from surgery, I'll take the time to write about Siog's experience with her first dental session.  Siog will be four next month and has never had a vet look at her teeth.  I became aware that she had a problem when she started quidding ... that is wadding up pieces of hay or straw and dropping them.  A fecal float also revealed undigested food so I knew it was time to call the vet.

Donkeys don't have their full set of teeth until they are in their fifth year and they will loose caps or baby teeth
which cover the new permanent ones growing in.  Siog had recently lost the first of 4 caps and 2 more uppers were loose and easily removed by the vet.  But the caps had sharp protrusions that had cut the inside of Siog's cheek which is why it had become painful for her to chew.

She also had sharp points (not unusual) that had developed and needed to be filed down.  The whole procedure took about 40 minutes under standing sedation but it left my little donkey a wreck!  She had a very sore mouth from the work and also from the lacerations in her mouth that the caps had made.

Once the sedation wore off, she was truly not able to eat .... anything!  And that can quickly become a very serious situation as donkeys are prone to colic, hyperlipeamia and ulcers from stress and lack of fiber moving through their gut.  Heck of a diet plan for me too as I was so stressed out that I could barely manage a mouthful of anything myself.

Luckily I have a supply of things on hand to tempt a donkey and lucky too that she was felt like eating but was just sore. So offerings of soaked beet pulp/ soy mash, soaked timothy hay cubes and soaked timothy pellets that I use for clicker training, laced with bits of apple, ground flax and herbs to soothe ulcers were placed in front of her several times a day and she began to readily accept them.

After the first day or two, she was able to grab short bits of grass, nothing long or fibrous but it has taken a week for her to fully recover.  I had her on paste Banamine for 6 days, hoping each day would be the last but gauging her response to offerings of hay and straw before withdrawing this anti-inflammatory pain killer.
She started with a dose of 2 cc and I was able to gradually reduce that to 1/2 cc.

In my experience, donkeys become very quiet when not feeling well, so I was anxiously waiting for her loud raspy bray, which began tentatively but is now full blown again, thank goodness.  Needless to say I am not looking forward to "regular" dental care, something every donkey needs since "chewing" is vital to health!

But our vet is wonderful - caring and compassionate so we will come up with a solution that is not so intrusive.