ESI is a Registered Training Organisation dedicated to educating riders, coaches and trainers about evidence based horse training. We have accredited qualifications and short courses available both online and residentially.
There are a number of different studies if you do a google scholar search, but here is a link to one Andrew was involved with, on human-horse attachment: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S155878781400063X?via%3Dihub Others that might be of interest are: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016815912030232X#bib0030 www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635715300498
Unfortunately I still see too many horse trainers on RU-vid who use sticks & whips as a punishment tool. Where is the line between negative reinforcement & moving into a positive punishment on quadrant seems lost on many of the trainers.
People and dogs are really good at voice commands. Because of this it is almost impossible for most people to accept that horses are not good at voice commands. I have never seen a horse respond to voice alone in any significant way.
I dated a horse girl and the bedroom routine was wierd, cluck cluck, kiss kiss then easy followed by stay, then off we would go again. and she always wanted me to wear a metal bar in my mouth. wierd girl.
I miss my mom Bobbie. She used a similar whip on me butt naked for two hours running laps in my room. Was 2-5 CAVS guide on carrier/ fastest runner. 11:30 2 mile. Miss mom. Face, legs, balls, stomach, etc.
We had a Quarter horse who used to crip a lot. He seemed to colic a bit more easily than the other horses did, so we kept a close eye on him. Come to think of it, he was a more high-strung creature.
Andrew McLean, thank you for sharing your amazing knowledge with us, and for improving equine welfare. Dear Corina below, I respectfully think that you have slightly misinterpreted what Dr McLean says and it is just a semantic or language issue that prevents you from agreeing. In the video he says that horses have a wonderful memory, probably as good as an elephant, but that their ability to rationalise/ reason is not as well developed as in humans due to the fact that the horse has no prefrontal cortex. Janet Jones Phd, also explains very well the difference between the horse brain and the human brain in her book that makes the comparison. In my humble opinion I don’t actually think that either would strongly disagree with what you are saying to some extent. As an example though from another perspective, you sometimes cannot reason with a child or teenager either as their prefrontal cortex is not yet fully developed, and this is something I think we can all agree on. Horses have survived by bypassing our methods of reasoning and going straight into flight mode. They have a very sensitive and large amygdala and this combined with no prefrontal cortex “ screams” just run first, do not stop to reason. Their strong memory as you mention, also plays a role in their survival as a species. I think one of the most dangerous misconceptions in the equine industry, is that horses are capable of plotting revenge etc, and that we as humans, unless educated in understanding how the horses brain works, believe it works just like ours.
I am a great admirer of all your work. I am a relatively new horse owner and know I have found the guidance I am looking for in you and Professor McGreevy. I have devoured your books and feel you give me comfort and support with your incredible knowledge and for this I am very grateful to you both. Thank you for your dedicated approach to equine welfare. Please know you make such a difference in this world. My dream would be to one day do the ESI diploma.
Thank you for your contribution to helping horses. Listened to a podcast from Clan of the Horses. You have totally changed my way of thinking. Thank you.
I agree with your statement that delayed punishment has no value. Positive reaction to things well done are much better, anyway. I don't agree with your statement about the horse not being able to look back and forward. Looking back is having memories, and looking forward is reasoning. For the horse this means to avoid danger (or perceived danger). I'm working with horses for 50 years, and they prooved to be able to remember and reason very well. In fact, my entire training philosophy is based on teaching horses by having them learn by reasoning. The results are amazing.
I love your videos and insight. But I have to say that you are ignoring a lot of the very bad physical consequences of cribbing on the horse. First, the upper teeth can be worn down to the point where they are nubs or nonexistent. I've known two horses like this. It makes it difficult for them to eat hay and impossible for them to graze on a pasture. Second, it can cause muscular imbalances and vertebrae problems in the neck esp. where the neck meets the head.
What about what it does to their teeth? I’m all for making my horse happy but I also want to keep him from harm if that makes sense. I worry about his teeth and weight.
YEARS AGO (ABOUT 50), I TRAINED MY HORSE TO VOICE COMMANDS AND ALSO BODY CUES. I WAS IN THE SHOW RING AND THEY WERE HAVING ENGLISH IN ON RING AND WESTERN IN THE RING NEXT TO IT. WE WERE TROTTING IN THE ENGLISH RING WHEN THE ANNOUNCER FOR THE WESTERN RING CALLED OUT "WALK" WHICH MY HORSE WAS LISTENING TO. SHE BROKE HER STRIDE AND I SAID DON'T LISTEN TO HIM, LISTEN TO ME! I SAW THE JUDGE WHO HEARD WHAT I SAID TO SASSY, AND HE HAD A CHUCKLE OVER IT. I THOUGHT THAT WAS UNUSUAL! SHE WAS GREAT THE REST OF THE DAY. I FOUND IT SWEET THAT SHE LISTENED TO SOMEONE ELSE BECAUSE SHE TREATED ME LIKE I WAS THE MOM. WHAT A HORSE!! I MISS HER SO MUCH. MY VET USED TO WATCH SASSY AND I. HE SAID THE HORSE LOVED ME. HE USED TO LAUGH AT HOW SHE AND I GOT ALONG. HE SAID THAT SASSY LIVED FOR ME. GREAT VET.
I wish more people in the horse world actually wanted to know what makes a horse tick. But just like with dogs, most of the world just never thinks about how each animal, or species, lives in their natural environment, and how to replicate this in their domesticated lives. Full disclosure: I was guilty of this, until I got a dog, and of course by then, people like the Dog Whisperer became popular, and taught us.
@@fallbrkgrlbecause back in the day he used punishment as a primary source of behaviour modification. I'm not sure if he has changed since, but that was why @Reneemfenn said that. She was just too polite to point out captain obvious, but I'm not polite at all.
Sounds like you watched the Olympics as Annika beat the crap out of her horse for not jumping. Good advice, hopefully it's heeded in the "professional" world too.
Thanks for this! I have been using this, and my horse actually did "punch me in the chest with his withers." I wasn't sure how to feel about that but now I see it means he's using his body well.
Is there specific reason why the cantle is so high? Everything I’ve studied about saddle fitting warns against that so it seems odd that it is clearly super high (pushing the rider towards the pommel and creating imbalance in weight distribution).
It might be best to direct your question to Peter Horobin, but the seat shape varies according to the style of saddle and comes down to rider preference. Manuela feels the Geneva (this style of saddle) sits her in her preferred position for this horse, and that the horse feels free and comfortable in his movement :)
Lovely take on cribbing! I have a cribbing mare, too, and for her it was most likely a whole list of things that caused it before we bought her. Stressful weaning process, being kept in a stall, not being able to socialize, wrong (too little) feeding. A year ago we also found out she has ulcers, which can be a reason as well. I was quite embarassed of her cribbing for a long time and we always tried to keep her from cribbing (never used a collar though!). Then I realized that preventing her from cribbing is a huge stress factor and that is not something I willingly want to put her through. She is a highly intelligent horse with a phenomenal personality, and I think it's sad that cribbers are viewed as "less" than other horses.
I’ve just acquired a windsucking mare. Apparently it was starved as a young horse and developed the habit through that. When I got her she went into a large grassy paddock and didn’t seem to windsuck very much. Now that I’ve moved her into my home paddock, of new timber post and rails, she is worse. There is still plenty of grass to eat. A collar hasn’t fixed it, and my gelding, who never even showed signs of chewing, appears to be picking up the habit, and he is the happiest he has ever been. I can’t afford one, let alone two, to destroy my fencing, and my gelding is hard to keep weight on at the best of times. So the mare has to go.
Then why did you get the mare in the first.its horrid the way u jsut dismiss a living creature you acquired on your own volition just for showing signs that it has been mistreated. Sad