Different Strokes for Different Folks

Today Donna and I worked with the young mustangs and then set up "grooming clinic" in an empty stall. The young mustangs have to allow themselves to be haltered and led to a different pen for each meal or they could go hungry. This is the second day and already they are a lot more interested in having their halters put on. They lead better than most broke horses, following on a slack lead, matching their pace to mine. On the trip back to the Ox Pen after lunch, we stopped on the patio to work on hoof handling. I asked for hooves and Donna handed out rewards. Chaco Bay knows the drill of offering up his hooves and is happy to comply, but Sparky did something very interesting in terms of how he reacts to life.

A few days ago we let Sparky out to kibitz with the big mustangs since he was being a little bit cheeky with us. He weighs about 750lbs and each of them weighs about 1250lbs. We expected him to have some arrogance kicked out of him, but instead he and Jemez Dancing were soon playing stallion games rearing and biting at each others forelegs, then rocking back to a kneeling stance to protect their own forelegs. Pretty soon they were both wandering around together like old friends. On the other hand, Chaco high-tailed it to the forest where he hid behind the compost pile.

So what Sparky did today was respond to me as if I was playing the leg-biting game. He nipped me on my backside and kneeled down in that playful/aggressive gesture. Of the two of the little mustangs, Sparky is the most clear about humans being dominant as a result of a small session of roundpenning when he tried to kick me off his feed bucket one day. Since then he has been totally respectful, waiting until I give him permission to eat. Today I responded to his challenge by shortening my hold on the lead rope and putting a rope around his foot so I didn't have to bend down. He quit his game and tried harder to please me.

I have this theory that training with positive reinforcement totally messes up the equine innate sense of social relationships. They believe that I wouldn't be giving out treats if I was a dominant animal, would I?? I believe it takes a long time of interaction to build a new sense of social relationship that allows for food gifting from the dominant animal.

Sparky responds better to pressure/release training than to positive reinforcement just because his cheeky personality. Chaco Bay, on the other hand, is naturally a very shy animal (though he is the only fully functional male on the property and the mares are quite enamored of him). He is easiest to train using positive reinforcement. I can get him to do most anything with little trouble if he thinks I will reward him. He has learned the meaning of the bridge signal (me saying "X!") and I can use it to tell him he is doing right even when I don't have a treat.

Is this just personalities at work?? Or does it have something to do with me starting Chaco with positive reinforcement and starting Sparky with pressure/release? What is really clear to me is that training them both using the same methods would be the least efficient choice I could make.

We finished our training session by currying and cleaning the feet of the other 9 animals. They crowded around the gate for their turns in the grooming parlor. I pay them for holding their hooves up for me. Then we gave each one a dollop of molasses from a worming syringe, and an alfalfa cube as an unhaltering gift. Lightening Bug, the visiting gray mare, is the only one that showed any confusion (pinning her ears) about the significance of human benevolence. In time, I am sure she will sort it out.