This message is from: ceacy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hi Lynda,
A meltdown isn't a horseman's term, its just a description of total lack of self control under a stressful situation. I was using it in the sense that the horse simply stops thinking , and overeacts, stops listening to their handler. I have seen mares behave like this too ,particularly when they have young foals, or horses that have intense difficulties being taken away from long time pasture mates. Thank you for your kind words, I believe that my stallion has taught me how to be a much better trainer. Other horses that have come into my barn have also taught me new things, each problem is an opportunity to learn a new solution, use new tools. When it comes to changing motivation, clicker training is highly effective, and with stallions I think that you are competing with another highly effective motivator, sex. If you cannot get your stallion to want to work for you away from the breeding shed, you are at a considerable disadvantage when he is highly motivated to breed. I have learned to love workng with stallions, and I am now being asked to work with other breeds of horses that have behavior problems. If anyone is interested in seeing how other people are using clicker training for behavior training there is another list which is quite interesting, it is called [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Also, there is a very good book written by Alexsandra Kurland called Clicker Training For Horses, and she has a great web site at: Alex's website: http://www.crisny.org/users/kurlanda/ ClickRyder website: http://www.angelfire.com/az/clickryder/index.h Cheers. Ceacy
