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Writer's pictureMonty Gwynne

Different Approaches to Picking Up Hooves

I hope you spent a few moments thinking about what kind of problem solver you are. If you are looking at clicker training perhaps you are looking for another way to solve your problems than the way you have been using.

Looking for a new way to do things doesn’t always mean that the way you have been doing things is wrong. It might be that they worked in the past, but now your belief system has changed and you are ready to look at things differently. Or things may not be working the way you have always done things. Once again, don’t look at it as having done things wrong, but look at it as it is a time to find a better way.

We all should strive to evolve into the best ‘whatever’ it is we want to be. This is why we read, take lessons, watch videos. If we are happy with the way we are doing things we usually carry on doing it that way. If we are not then we need to look at another way and be open to not saying we were doing wrong but saying now we want to do better.

This week I’m posting some links to some YouTube videos showing some of the ways people teach horses to pick up their feet. I would like you to watch them with the sound turned OFF. Watch the energy exchanges, watch the reactions. Is the relationship like the one you want with your horse?

Each of these videos showed me different energies, different interactions and different relationships. I found it interesting that the horse in the video, with the rather unsuccessful lady, was still willing to follow her after she was turned loose. Perhaps it was that despite the fact she was not terribly successful she did not get angry. Was she frustrated? I would have to think she was, but she chose NOT to take it out on the horse for being what many would label as disrespectful. I bet the trainers in the other videos would say that the horse was disrespectful, but I’d also bet those trainers horses would not freely follow them after what they did to get them to pick up their feet.

Now watch this one with the sound on and think about whether what he is telling you to do will really help the horse learn to pick up his feet.

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