It works on horses too!

[second chance]

I became acquainted with Victoria a few years ago .... and I espouse her training methods to anyone who will listen (and some who won't).

Now - for the subject of this post. I have been actively using the positive training methods on my dogs since I first saw Victoria Stilwell on tv, and found that it worked like nothing else. Most of my dogs are rescues and have histories. Her methods to help instill confidence is unbelievable.

I have two horses, though. Both are rescues and Arabians. I have been around my gelding since the day he was born. His original owner/breeder didn't think pregnant mares needed any extra food. Buster's mom (Sari) was a roly-poly mare - it was just her build. Since she looked fat, he didn't figure she needed extra food. Buster was born prematurely and too weak to stand and nurse.

Due to things that occurred to him during this time, he is extremely fearful and is unlike any horse I have ever been around. He had entropion (eyelids turned inwards - lashes rubbed his eyes) which left his eyes scarred. As such, he doesn't see well and gets scared very easily. It took me 9 years to be able to go up near him without having to rope him, and that was only because he hurt his back playing one day.

I began applying Victoria's methods to Buster. I have watched in amazement as this horse who was almost afraid of his own shadow has developed into a much more secure and confident animal. Normal horse-training (humane only) methods did not work with him. I used the Horse Whisperer methods with some success - it gave me a foundation to build on. By being gentle and extremely patient with Buster, and applying the positive reinforcement methods, Buster is finally coming into his own (it only took 16 years to get there!).

So please everyone - don't give up. These methods are not quick fixes, but I am 100% convinced you will have a better relationship with your best friend (be it k-9 or Equine) and an animal who is confident and happy, only too willing to please you.

Thank you for letting me share this. I have wanted to let Victoria Stilwell know about this since I saw it work first-hand!

Second Chance

Anyone who isn't kind to animals is not a good person. Anonymous

[dontpugme]

That's awesome! I read a story in class about rats that were clicker trained to sniff out land mines.

[Wicket]

That's great! On Karen Pryor's site, there's a whole section about horse training.

[Mattie]

Well done Second Chance, I used positive training on my horse in the 70s, wasn't completely positive in those days but most of my training was. Children and even partners respond to positive training but don't let your partner know what you are doing.

I don't like a lot of the horse whisperer methods, it puts some horses under too much stress, I only went to see him once and walked out, the horses all seemed to say "Help me" and I couldn't stand it.

We need photos of your horses, we love horses as much as we love dogs.