Now that the Paris Olympics is coming to an end, I expect some of the controversy over the conflict between horse events and animal welfare will subside for another four years. But it shouldn’t.
In the process of learning and memory, the strength of the emotions we associate with the experience is a large determinant of how well we learn. An early bad experience is often associated with stronger emotions than an early good experience.
I would like to talk to you about how to get a horse happy with other riders. It seems for you to have a good ride the horse had to hear what you are asking then someone else gets on and they don't have that same relationship to get the same willingness and the horse gets confused.
They asked if a horse must always experience emotional stress when learning a new task. They said that one of the first things that attracted them to clicker training was the idea of low or no-stress training. At first, this seemed to be the case.
When we think of ways we create worry in our horse we tend to think of pressure that is too big or ill-timed or a release of pressure that is inconsistently timed. These things can cause a horse’s cup of worry to fill very fast. But what about an event that we don’t recognize as causing worryy?
