Go Horse – Some hints on ethological training

For some years we have been hearing about ethological training, but what exactly is it? It is a method that comes from the USA, tested by great American trainers and is based on the use of an intraspecific communication code that has evolved over the years among horses. One of the ways of creating a good relationship between man and horse is therefore the method of ecological taming, which differs between various techniques and various currents of thought but basically all rest on the same basis. Discover now all our trips, tours, holidays and horse trekking in the USA. The ethological methods of taming are training techniques that use the communication signals of the horses, that is the movements, actions or positions assumed by the animal that have a precise meaning. The horse is led to create social bonds, in fact it is shown that its predisposition to a behavior of cohesion is stronger than of dominance; therefore, by exploiting this tendency to affiliation and cooperation with the other members of the group, excellent results can be achieved by communicating as the dominant alpha in a group of two elements. Before analyzing the basic principles of these training techniques, let’s review the fundamentals of traditional domes in order to compare them. The traditional methods are: More or less violent : Depending on the trainer, his experiences and beliefs. Coercive : They limit the possibility of action to manifest the behavior. Imperatives: They are based on the principle of imposition and not of inter-specific collaboration. The result is a treatable horse, but with a non-existent and unwilling spirit, which responds to stimuli only to avoid further punishment. Contrary to traditional methods, ethological taming instead establishes a relationship of dominance of the trainer over the animal, without violence and impositions, with the help of positive and negative reinforcements, fundamental exercises on which human-horse communication is built.