by Garry Stauber

We also have the beautiful art of Pat Wozniak and this month's Breed in the Spotlight is the Hanoverian.

We have a warning for those who sleep in their trailers, a new horse that will train you, a breeder's guide to next year's season, some barn managers who stole more than the owners' trust, the Red Army's horses, a call to action, spooking during the winter, shoein' pigeye, giving thanks, why falling is funny and so much more...

So check out the articles and then let us know what you think!

Great Issue! And you'll probably get a lot of response to Don Blazer's "thoughts."

While I know what he means, his "thoughts" are also typical of those who really do not understand positive reinforcement training.  PR training never occurs in a bubble.

Management IS required.

However, at no time is "punishment" necessary.  The key word being necessary. IN reality, LOTS of people use both positive reinforcement, negative reinf, and punishment in combinations, because this is what they know and they may not have studied management options or have the mechanical skills that allow PR to do its job fully.

I train mostly large animals who would just as soon eat me as work with me.  I don't fathom anyone is going to "whip" a rhino to make him go forward or to pull on a collar around a hyena's neck, or pop him with a chain over his nose or whatever and get him to cooperate before he maims you.

What I am saying is, animals are trained every day in the real world with ONLY positive reinforcement. These animals are also managed... what they are not, is punished, they do not understand it and to do so often evoke defenses that would not be too healthy for the trainer.

The bottom line, it is quite possible to train horses the same we train rhinos and hyenas and dolphins etc, it is just that few study and practice the actual mechanical skills of timing and reinforcement rates, etc. required to do so.

The problem is not the method. It is the skill or knowledge of the person applying it. In that, I think we can all agree, there are plenty of folks who do not even use punishment correctly with animals let alone the more traditional negative reinforcement that is the hallmark of communicating with horses.

Cheers,
Barbara

***

As both a horse-trainer and a pet-trainer for multiple species (plus exotics), I've been using LIMA (least-invasive, minimal-aversive) techniques for over 30 years. I trained my first equine solo as a teen, a 4 year-old Arab-cross, using positive reinforcement; that was 1968.

Mr. Blazer's opinion piece is late to the party; the 'positive-reinforcement MOVEMENT', as he refers to positive-reinforcement training, is neither a cult, nor a 'new' method.

Horses were positively trained for centuries; positive-reinforcement wasn't re-invented, but re-discovered. Books were published as early as classic Greece, explaining how to train horses with kindness.

Cowboys, in a helluva hurry to 'break' a wild colt/filly, or even an untrained adult domestic horse, were among the recent adopters of severely punitive breaking methods.

Let's not romanticize the Wild West too wildly; before the Civil War, males west of the Mississippi who managed to live to 15 years or older (despite measles, smallpox, malaria, et al), had a ONE in FIVE chance of dying by gunshot. It was a very violent era... and animals bore the brunt of the abuse.

During WW II, hundreds of animals of dozens of species were trained, using only operant conditioning (rewarding wanted-behavior). The U.S. Army and other branches of the military footed the bill. The Army is not very tolerant of failure, and certainly doesn't throw more cash into techniques that fail; pigeons trained using OC to pick-out survivors of plane-crashes could find a man's head in 6 foot seas, over 500 feet below the plane.

Whatever you think of 'positive reinforcement', it works... with pigeons, captive dolphins and whales, other zoo and animal-park residents, and yes, horses.

The late John Fisher trained the very first ALL-POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT police canine in the history of Britain's police force... the dog passed his evaluation with one of the highest scores ever recorded.

Besides, why treat a 1200 to 1400 pound animal as an adversary? Let's face it: as an ally, a horse is a great help; as an enemy, they're a great hazard.

I work with dangerous dogs; I do Not! hit, hurt, or use any other serious aversives. No choke-chains, no prong-collars, no shock. Instead, I'm convincing the dog they can trust me to be on their side... and as a result, I can trust the dog with my turned back.

People who work with formerly-abused equines also have to teach trust... and it needn't take ''forever!'', either. Please see the clicker-training real-time video-clip, 'abused mule', on YouTube. It's about 3 minutes long.

best regards,
terry pride, Assoc. of Pet Dog Trainers #1827 pro;
certified Veterinary Assistant

PS: quote from Blazer's article:
''.... make the things you want [the horse] to do easy, and the things you don't want the horse to do hard.'' Mr. Blazer, that's NOT 'behavior mod' - it's management. B-mod is altering an existing unwanted-behavior, by reducing, re-training, or substituting an incompatible-behavior. Management prevents unwanted behavior, by 'goof-proofing' the animal's behavior.

***

Is it okay for me to notify my yahoo group of your magazine by forwarding this message? I think people would be interested. My group is the Twin Cities Combined Training group (TCCT.) I don't want to forward your message to them without permission. Thanks! Barbara

***

Dear Editor,
I could not find a link to send an email in response to Don Blazer's article, so I'm going with this email instead :)

I think poor Don is confused about Clicker Training. I agree with him, anyone who says they are riding a horse trained exclusively with Positive Reinforcement, doesn't understand what they are doing. But saying a horse is positively reinforced by release of the aid of the leg for the walk is also showing that Don doesn't understand it either.

Good Clicker Trainers use all quadrants of Operant Conditioning except Positive Punishment.

You can reinforce behavior with either a negative or positive. Please note that negative does not equate to bad. If you are ballroom dancing your lead partner will guide you with the pressure of his hand, when you move in the right direction the pressure goes away - Negative Reinforcement. Didn't hurt and you probably enjoyed the dance steps.

Positive Reinforcement is adding something the trainee desires to INCREASE the behavior Negative Reinforcement is adding something the trainee will move away from, avoid to INCREASE the behavior.

Now using the click we can mark the ear wiggle, the tail wag, the STOPPING and then deliver a desired reinforcer (treat, scritch, etc).

Clicker Trainers also use Negative Punishment, some might not just realize it.

Say a horse is kicking the door when the hay is coming down the aisle. If you back up until the horse stops pawing you have used Negative Punishment.

Now what most Clicker Trainers don't use is Positive Punishment. Lets say your horse refuses to stand still, so you tie him to a post and hit him over the head with a 2x4 or a whip. This IS Positive Punishment, please note the word Positive does not mean something good.

Positive Punishment is adding something to DECREASE the behavior. Negative Punishment is removing something to DECREASE the behavior.

There are many fabulous well behaved Clicker Trained horses, who can stand quietly, not mug you, walk, trot, canter, lope, gallop, jump, piaffe, etc all from the exclusive use of the Clicker Training (a well rounded, use of +R/-R, -P.

I will admit there is poor uses of Clicker Training out there, just as there is poor examples of Natural Horsemanship, from people following Parelli, Lyons, Anderson, Dorrance, Hunt, etc.

Training is only as good as the Trainer is, please don't bash the method. Especially if you don't understand it completely.

Thank you for your time,
Regards,
Kim Cassidy

***

With respect to his observations and opinions on positive reinforcement, Mr. Blazer has not done his homework with full diligence. If he had, he would know that there are many positive reinforcement trainers of horses who have taught their horses to lope or canter willingly, calmly stop on voice or body cue, to calmly load on a trailer on voice request, and many more activities.

Alexandra Kurland is a major voice in what we call clicker training - this is the use of a marker to inform the horse which behavior is being rewarded. Alexander taught a miniature horse to be a seeing-eye companion using only positive reinforcement. She, and many others, have rehabilitated "unrideable" or "untameable" horses, using only clicker training.

If the horse doesn't do that behavior, it doesn't get the reward. Horses, including my own mare, quickly pick up the connection between behavior, click, and reward. I've taught my mare to longe at the walk and trot using clicker training. I am now teaching her downward transitions to walk and halt, using this approach. Confrontation does not work with my mare - she closes down and resists. Clicker training does work and the learning is retained.

The "price" - if the absence of something not earned is a price - a clicker trained horse pays if it does not do the requested activity is the absence of the click and the reward. And, repetition of the requested behavior, with, perhaps, repeats of foundational work.

I'd much rather have a clicker-trained horse than a Blazer-trained horse. I would know that the clicker-trained horse is willingly working with me, not performing to avoid confrontations.

Kathleen Hunter
Partner with /Dixies Heartbeat/

***

Dear Mr. Stauber,
It is not a good thing for a magazine to publish an article on something that the author clearly has a limited knowledge of. Bashing someone else's way of doing things is never a good thing, not for the author either. It shows very poor taste. You as a magazine must keep in mind that by printing certain things you also endorse what is being printed. In this case you are printing incorrect information provided to you by an angry man.

I agree with Mr. Blazer that 'all' positive reinforcement is extremely hard to do. As soon as you want to lead your horse by a lead rope or ride him and use rein and leg cues you are in the realm of pressure and release (which is negative reinforcement).

This is as far as my agreement with him goes though.

More and more people are not accepting the 'fact' that horses need confrontation or punishment anymore. That is such a refreshing idea! If Mr. Blazer's horses need confrontation and punishment he is missing a very important piece in his training strategy. It is called 'chunking a lesson down into its smallest components'.

I thought it was actually funny how Mr. Blazer feels the horse doesn't know what he is being rewarded for (that's why we use a marker signal) but then goes on to assume that the horse perfectly understands what he is being punished for.

To Equest magazine I would like to say you owe Ms. Alexandra Kurland an article on Positive Reinforcement Training. She is an authority on the subject and will be able to explain to your readers what it is all about and what a powerful, elegant way of teaching this is (which has NO need for the use of punishment and does NOT result in aggressive horses if done correctly, any training method applied incorrectly will result in problems). Ms. Kurland's website address is: www.theclickercenter.com for anyone who wants correct information.

I have trained horses for over 30 years, the last seven years have been with Positive Reinforcement. Especially the difference in willingness in the horse, how involved they get in the training, their eagerness and enthusiasm have astounded me and touched me.

Many people don't know it is even possible to have this kind of a relationship with your horse.

It's really all about motivation. How do I motivate my horse to come play my games?

Would you rather work for something that you want (like getting paid) or would you rather work just to avoid getting into trouble?

Respectfully,
Ilse de Wit

***

Dear Mr Stauber
If I may, I would like to respond to the rather emotive article that was written by Don Blazer this week. This would seem to be a topic that Mr Blazer is rather passionate about, and rather ill informed about.

Mr Blazer appears to have forgotten that whales, dolphins, seals, dogs, cats etc have all been trained using nothing but positive reinforcement. Therefore I am unclear as to why he feels this would not be possible for horses.

Mr Blazer made a very bold comment: 'I'm willing to bet there isn't a single one of them who has trained any horse to do any thing using nothing but all-positive reinforcement.'. I am ware of a number of horses who have been trained to do many things using nothing but positive reinforcement. Perhaps Mr Blazer could elaborate on where his research on the topic was done as he does not appear to have tapped in to this 'movement' effectively. My own horse has been trained to do many tasks using nothing but positive reinforcement.

The majority of positive horse trainers will claim to use both positive and negative reinforcement. The biggest difference with this to other training methods is that both the positive and negative rewards are applied at the same time. If we are to ride our horses, this involves the use of negative reinforcement and so it is more effective training if we use negative (coupled with positive) reinforcement. By doing this with ground training, we can then continue to use both positive and negative reinforcement while in the saddle.

Had Mr Blazer visited positive reinforcement and clicker trainers he would have been able to witness for himself what can be achieved. There are clicker trainers who have managed to shape behaviours with free shaping (positive reinforcement only) muscle by muscle. My own horse can flex individual muscles and has been taught to do so using nothing but positive reinforcement. When you see this being done, it is clear that the horse knows exactly which muscle he is being asked to flex and therefore what the reward is being given for. Flexing an individual muscle that the trainer has asked for (without physical guidance) cannot be done repeatedly by accident.

It is also apparent that Mr Blazer is not familiar with the scientists and researchers who have generated much scientific literature on the four reinforcers which both prove and describe why the punishers he is using to train horses are not as effective as reinforcers in achieving repetition of a desired behaviour. As a trainer, to be as effective as you can be requires an understanding of why your chosen training method is working.

In addition to being the most effective method of ensuring a behaviour is repeated, positive reinforcement creates a working partner who is enthusiastic and willing. Something that is sadly, uncommon in the traditional equine world.

Mr Blazer is surprisingly open and celebratory about the fact that his horses are trained using punishment yet it appears that he is unaware of the effect this has on his horses both physically and emotionally. Perhaps Mr Blazer could also speak to people who were bullied at school or emotionally abused at home to find out how they felt when they were only given the choice of compliance or confrontation.

When you gain an understanding of the physiology of learning, this makes clear that horses trained using punishment methods are having a negative experience. The physiology behind learning makes it impossible to enjoy punishment based training as it causes activation of the physiological stress pathways. When you contrast this with the physiology behind clicker and positive training, these horses are having a pleasant experience resulting shown by the activation of the pleasure centres in the brain.

The methods used for training animals has been scientifically researched for a number of years. Had Mr Blazer become familiar with the results of this research, and witnessed the method for himself, he may have shown more understanding of the trainers who have become compassionate enough about their horses to use a more positive method of training... a method that has been researched and proven to be more effective for almost 100 years.

Regards
Amanda Martin

***

Hello Mr. Stauber,
Just thought I would point out that one of the photos in your article on Tennessee Walkers, sure does look like an Arabian. It is a head shot of a bay horse and there is nothing about this horse that looks like a Walker. The photo below looks suspiciously like an Arabian as well.

Hmmm.??

Michelle

***

Hello
I would like to inform you that the article in the Equestrian Magazine on the TWH was a very poor one in that it provides incorrect information, photos which are not of the Tennessee Walking Horse and the spokesman chosen has been one of poor image within the industry.

The Tennessee Walking Horse is not known for its 'pace'. The breed is named the Tennessee WALKING Horse gait known as the running walk and a pace is not the same gait. In fact, the PACE is NOT a recognized gait of the TWH; in fact, it is totally undesirable in any walker.

The photos of Russ Thompson and Billy the Kid are the only ones of a TWH. The other photos are of Arabians which are not even close to the Tennessee Walking Horse. They obviously are not the correct breed.

Thank you for your time

***

Dear Ms. Mim,
Whereas you did a fine job of writing, I'm afraid you might not know that the Walker is one of the most horrendously abused horse breeds in the showing business. Look at the front "shoes" of Billy the Kid, pictured in your article. The hoof has to be severely cut back and heavy, cloggy "shoes" (weights) replace them to make them "throw" their feet into the air to create what they call the "Big Lick" walk. MANY times, chains and acid are used on the skin above the hoof to create an urgency to pick them up even higher... (even tho' it's illegal, they still do it).

LOOK at the tail... which is either broken or bent up with a brace to make it stand up like that and rendered painful and useless!! That's torture! LOOK UP   "soring" in Walkers.. It's sadistic cruelty.

PLEASE... if you're going to report on Tennessee Walkers (of which I have one) PLEASE tell the whole story.

Thank you,
Respectfully,
Shelley Dunnigan
Sacramento

***

Please take the time to contact the magazine and author in the hopes of rectifying the truth and perhaps the opportunity of an article to set the record straight about TWH soring and all the abuses and lies that go with it and just exactly who the sorers and thugs are... you know, the "BIG LIE" that soring is a thing of the past.

Perhaps Equestrian Network Magazine and M.Y. Mim, Author will do the right thing and interview our SOUND side of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry to combat the lies that the SORE side rants out constantly... THE TRUTH WILL WIN.

Stephanie Greene
TENNESSEE WALKING HORSE PROTECTION LEAGUE
TENNESSEE WALKING HORSE COALITION

***

Dear Ms. Mim and representatives at the Equestrian Network Magazine and Extend, Inc.,

As a sound Tennessee Walking Horse (TWH) owner and exhibitor, I would like to take a moment to thank you for including the TWH on your website.  However, it seem that some vital information about the breed and particularly Mr. Thompson has been overlooked.  It is probable that you are not aware of these situations, so I hope this email informs you of what is happening in the TWH industry.

First, there are serious issues among the breed industry concerning "soring," which is the process of putting chemicals on a TWH's front legs to cause pain and therefore force the horse to lift its feet higher. In 1976, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) passed the Horse Protection Act (HPA), which was supposed to end soring and another problem known as "pressure shoeing." Pressure shoeing is where the horse's hooves are hollowed out down to the nerves and items such as door stops, golf balls, nails, anything that can be used are put between the hoof and the pads of the shoes in order to cause pain, which is harder to detect than the pain caused by soring. Unfortunately, the HPA has not been successful because the TWH industry asked the USDA if they might "police" themselves by training Designated Qualified Persons (DQPs) to inspect all TWHs at any show for signs of soring. Many of those who have become DQPs have turned out to be people involved in the TWH industry itself.  Therefore, to protect their own assets and businesses, they will allow sore and pressure shod horses through to show so they can do the same with their own horses at other venues. Detailed information concerning this problem is included on the USDA's website at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/hp/index.shtml. New information from the USDA concerning what is being done to enforce the HPA is at  http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/index.shtml.

At the 2006 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, Mr. Thompson's horse "I'm Billy the Kid" was disqualified from the Tennessee Walking Horse World Grand Championship class by Designated Qualified Persons (DQPs) from the USDA itself for violation(s) of the HPA. He was also issued a probation for taking his and others' horses that were disqualfied to another arena without the permission of the National Celebration representatives and heading a "mini" class exhibition of sorts after being disqualified. He was written up by the TWH industry and was issued a formal letter stating his probation requirements.

Mr. Thompson was also arrested, convicted and on probation by a humane animal group resulting from horse abuse at a show in Del Mar, California several years ago. He also was convincted of "ganging up" on a lone woman in a parking lot of a TWH horse show at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in 1987 because she invited the LA Animal Regulation authorities to the show to inspect TWHs that were most likely sored (see Russ Thompson vs. Stephanie Greene - Pomona, California).

I highly recommend that you take some time to follow up your article with some more research and learning more information about the TWH. We have serious problems within our breed that are trying to be corrected, and we need to be sure to have the public aware of these problems so our breed will no longer be abused.

The websites following my signature have detailed information about TWHs and the problems within the breed. One is my own website, where I have gathered as much research as I can in one location to help the public learn more about this problem. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and I would be happy to talk with you about them. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Andrea Ohnstad
Silver Phoenix Ranch, LLC

***

I felt compelled to comment on the breed spotlight article for October, on the Tennessee Walking Horse. The article reads as if the writer were not a native English speaker. I could deal with that in a small, regional, self-published type of magazine, but accurate or not, this publishing format seems to be on a much grander scale, so a higher level of accuracy is to be expected. A good spell check program would have caught many of the grammatical errors in the article.

The article also appears to be written by someone completely unfamiliar with horses. For example, the use of the term "colts" to mean "foals." That's not a good thing to see on a horse-based site! Most of the text seems copied from other sites, rather than in the writer's own words.

Most of the pictures are of Arabians, not TWHs. The last picture, while labeled a TWH, is clearly a TROTTING Arabian! A good TWH wouldn't be trotting under saddle!

Lastly, most of the article reads like an advertisement for Russ Thompson... True, he's been a Big Name in the show ring, but still, the way the article is written, it reads like a promotional ad for the man. The other trainer mentioned is hardly talked about - there's more copy on the training method she uses than on either her or her horses.  And less of anything on her than on Thompson.

Isn't it supposed to be a breed spotlight, not a trainer - or training method - spotlight?

All in all, the flaws in this article leave me questioning the quality and content of all the other articles on your site. Just something you may want to consider with future articles.

Sincerely,
Kit Townsend

***

Don't you look at your articles before releasing them to the WWW?

This article has caused me to remove your website from my favorites. It leads me to believe your site is not a reliable source of accurate equine information.

M.Y. Mim should invest in a grammar check device for whatever apparatus is used to write their articles. The poor grammar, the vague/confusing and poor presentation of information and the misrepresentation of the TWH in the photos made this one of the worst articles I have read on ANY subject! A couple of the photos (each labeled as a Tennessee "Walker") were clearly Arabians NOT TWHs. Another photo that was labeled as a Tennessee "Walker" looks more like an Arab looking horse with a trot looking gait - not sure what it is doing, but why wouldn't you show a horse sideways in gait?

Then to have a large part of the article singing praises to a trainer known for questionable practices to gain "that beautiful high-stepping pace". This is the sort of name worship, expert idealism that leads us down that shakey path of poor expectations and winning at any cost.  I would not be surprised if you have received some heated responses from FOSH (Friends Of Sound Horses)... "Soring" (the application of a caustic chemical agent to the front legs to make it painful for the horse to put its feet down) is used to produce the exaggerated front leg action called the "Big Lick". "Soring" is one of the less savory practices of individuals, wishing to produce similar movement in less-talented horses or in less time. Other methods used to get the high leg action in a hurry include action devices such as weighted shoes, "Stacks" (stacked pads) and the use of excessively heavy weighted chains around the pasterns. Then there is the appalling use of tacks deliberately placed under the shoe into the "white line" or quick.

About all that I found worth reading in this article is the portion about Kate Vigneron, her work and her ranch.

I hope you pay more attention to the articles submitted for your publication in the future.

Regards,
HC Beach