28/01/2024
THIS! The hypocrisy in our industry is astounding. It is unbelievable how prevalent it is in our industry to teach young children to use punitive force (to put it mildly) to facilitate immediate obedience in the face of clear misunderstanding and pain. This is almost always done under the reason of "saftey". What are we teaching our children?! As soon as dominance and punishment based solutions are presented under the guise of satey, they betray a significant lack of knowledge on behalf of the trainer or coach. Learning theory has progressed, equine ethology has been widely studied, and the impact of learned helplessness is clear. And yet, so many people proliferate knowledge that is not only incredibly out of date, but also significantly abusive and unhelpful in the long run. Sure, you may scare the horse into submission and get to that event - but at what cost to the animal you are supposed to be protecting. The kids we teach are the next generation of equine caretakers - we have a responsibility to both them and the horses to create better outcomes than those we have grown up with. Our horses owe us nothing - but it is 100% our responsibility as equine caretakers to seek out SPECIES-APPROPRIATE knowledge and professionals who advocate for the horses themselves and not their commodification. The information is out there. We know better now. Now we need to do better.
Imagine a world where we said to children, we’re not going to force your beautiful pony with kicks and crops like those other people!! We are going to train them in a way that you BOTH have fun, by using Positive Reinforcement training, with clicker training, by training with food and scratches!
Imagine if we said to children, you’ll have more fun on the ground and get to know your pony better that way and build a friendship. You’ll build a real relationship, where your pony will truly love you back.
Imagine if we taught them how to have fun and laugh with their pony and the pony was laughing and having fun too.
Imagine children who learnt empathy for all creatures, not just how to use them and make them do what the child and adults want.
Imagine a generation of children growing into adults, who could ‘talk’ to their animals, by understanding how all creatures learn and that they feel emotions too.
Imagine children who didn’t have to cry in frustration or in pain, from falling off or being bucked off unwilling or scared ponies. Imagine a miserable and scared child, not having fun and not wanting to do things with their pony and being told to push through the fear and pain?
Instead, imagine children learning via Positive Reinforcement (clicker) training, how to build important life skills as humans, such as empathy, observation, problem solving, analysis, hand eye coordination, thinking on their feet, emotional regulation, developing reciprocal relationships and positive interactions with others.
With all that learning, we could set them up for life with amazing skills that build their confidence, self esteem and physical and mental wellbeing and their emotional maturity and regulation. As well as learning how to interact with others in a positive way, where both parties can ‘win’.
Imagine us being the adult heaping Positive Reinforcement on our children! Saying “well done!”, “you were awesome!”, “you worked that out so well!”, “you’ve made your pony so happy and well trained!” and “I’m so proud of you!”. WE adults enjoy the benefits as well, because it makes us feel good too!
Where do we get so lost, that we insist children hit and kick their pony for their own pleasure, who then grow into adults who do the same?
Worse, the child turned adult, who has doubts, fear and doesn’t enjoy what they are doing with their horse, who feels mounting pressures from the equestrian world and discontent with what they’re doing. Therefore they force the horse more and more to get results.
What hypocrisy are we teaching children?!
