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Post by Calaminty Jane on Jan 23, 2014 23:00:51 GMT -5
What’s in a Word?
I’ve been thinking about some things I’d like to change, improve or add in my horse life this New Year. I’ve been thinking a lot about negative thoughts.
You’ve heard me say to try to avoid thinking about what you don’t want from your horse, but to think about what you do want. But most of us, including myself, open ourselves to negative thoughts without realizing it. Recently, I asked some folks what they think about words like negative reinforcement vs positive reinforcement. What I discovered is that most folks misinterpret these phases. As an example, generally most equated negative reinforcement as some sort of punishment. When in fact, we all use this with our horses. It simply means to apply pressure and take it away when the horse responds. A positive reinforcement would be simply adding a little rub to make sure the horse knew he did the right thing.
Another example, I have found myself using the word dominance or dominate when talking about interacting with a horse. I now realize that when someone gets aggressive enough to create fear in their horse, they see it as dominating the horse.
I plan on removing the word dominate from my vocabulary and replacing it with leadership. I believe the horse feels your intention and “reacts” to dominance but will “respond” to leadership.
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