On a side note about Scooter. He is getting better about tying. He will fuss for a few minutes but then he quiets down and just stands there. Lately when I have been tying him in the barn to saddle him he has been really good. No fussing, just standing patiently. The day that I put the first ride on him, I asked him to stand tied when we were done. He was his old usual fussy self. Dug a hole to China, bucked in place, etc. I just ignored him till I was done. I brought him back to the barn and tied him up. I had he and Ms Lily to unsaddle etc. I started with her first. He threw a fit. Started kicking the aisle walls. I picked up a brush and tossed at him and told him to knock it off. I was a good 20 ft away and he turns his butt to me, parallel to the aisle wall and started kicking the crap out of the wall. I just lost it. He knew exactly what he was doing and he definitely was doing it on purpose. I took him outside and knocked the crap out of him. Made him move those feet that he was so intent on using to destroy the walls. After about 10 minutes he came in and stood tied quietly. His expression was more like "I want to be invisable".
I was just amazed at his attitude. He looked right at me, flipped his butt around (as if to say F-you) and went to kicking the walls. I know he wanted my attention. And he got it. Maybe not the attention he was looking for. He reminded me of a spoiled rotten child. I am going to resume tying him up in an effort to fix the fussing issue, but I have to wonder if even after he learns to stand tied patiently if this behavior is going to rear its ugly head when he doesn't get what HE wants immediately?
Sometimes responding, even by punishing the horse, reinforces the behavior. That's why he started kicking again - he got the response he wanted - attention - by kicking the first time. Try just ignoring it - even if that is hard - and I'll bet things improve quickly - don't talk to him, look at him, punish him, anything, when he's doing something you don't want, and instead give him lots of positive reinforcement when he does what you want - stand quietly. Go over then and pet him and fuss over him. Negative reinforcement (punishment) is usually pretty ineffective - positive reinforcement will produce pretty amazing changes. Ignore the negative and build on the positive. IMO
ReplyDeleteKate, I agree that ignoring him is the best possible option, however I can not let him stand in the aisle and distroy things. If he had been tied up outside to the "thinking post" where he could not tear anything up I would have done exactly what you suggested. But he wasn't. He was inside the barn kicking the crap out of the stall/aisle walls. If it were my facility it might be different but the barn owners frown on having the place destroyed. Not only that he could hurt himself. He needs to stand tied in a spot that is "child proof"!
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