> > Sacking out is sort of like intense desensitization, which may not be > consistently reliable in the future, compared to a horse learning about an > object. The difference is that, in sacking out, something is "put upon" the > horse, and he is supposed to stand there and take it; versus when a horse > learns about an item, he has the chance to approach it, paw it, kick it, > step on it, smell it, lick it, bite it, turn away from it, and inspect (and > learn about) it in any way he chooses or needs to. > > This puts the control in the horse's hands, whereas he doesn't have control > in the sacking out process. >
I must be a sorta hybrid sacking outer then. I do the obstacle course thing, familiarization, let them discover it and inspect it, but with my Jaspar who was phobic, I had to find a way to let him know the object wouldnt attack and kill him :) And it really really worked with him. Altho he still gets really afraid of something he seems to trust that it wont atatck and that we can move along without fear of it getting us. In my description of stonewall, if you will notice, what I did was take him into the small enclosed area and sorta lay out the menu of spooky objects and he had no reaction so I went thru the deal with letting him see it, smell it, pet him with it, rub it all over. no reaction at all. he was napping. But what he WAS afraid of was it flapping on him. and that is something I dont think he could have encountered on a normal inspection. And in fact I would have approached that a little less energetically if I had known he was that freaked out. I did see his tension and thought well, advance and retreat, pet him with it. etc. But a tell tale sign I should have noticed was that his tension was increasing not decreasing and at that point I should have backed off. But in my experience I have found it best to find a way to show them the scarey thing is not scarey. at all. and at the end he was napping with a foot up while I flapped it over his head and drug it down his body and off his hip. BUT. also. In my experience, work with a horse along these lines has to BEGIN with the obstacle course familiarization thing because if you put a phobic horse in a roundpen and like clinton anderson (I like him, but hey, all of them make mistakes) has a chain saw running next to a freaked out horse. I would have cranked that chain saw 300 yards away and walked closer and when the horse acted afraid I would have backed off etc. Then after a few times of getting a horse over a fear and toward acceptance of something then they are more open about introduction of other scarey things I've found! Sacking out can be a terrible thing if not done right! It can make a horse phobic. Another weird thing about the incident with stonewall that I am still puzzling about... I have found that yes, a horse can get over something on the right and then you have to start over introducing it to the other side. BUT. They get over it quicker after you've done one side. I had done one side with no problem when he flipped out on the next side. So I cant help but think his sudden new fear of a thing he hasnt been afraid of before like this, is related to something that happened on THAT side. Maybe even a saddle fit thing? maybe he has some back/hip pain on that side from when he launched me at the field trial? Maybe in his mind he was thinking "ooooohhh she is gonna flap that on my sore spot...." they are like little babies you know... so hard to try and figure what they need... Janice-- yipie tie yie yo
