This year's Whole Horse Weekend was once again very generously hosted by Nick Sanders of Rowanoak Livery and Learning Centre near Brecon (www.rowanoakhorses.co.uk). It was also once again for charity, this year the very deserving Horseworld from Bristol (www.horseworld.org.uk).

I had a really lovely time presenting and participating in demonstrations and Horse Agility (http://www.thehorseagilityclub.com/), as well as witnessing one of my clients become the Welsh Horse Agility Champion! Well done Jo and Punka!!!!

Horse Agility is a new and fast growing horse sport. A little mix of dog agility (but with a horse!) and TREC type obstacles, it's conducted from the ground. In the beginning competitors are expected to lead their horse, but at the higher levels the lead rope is done away with and the horse is at liberty.

Learned helplessness is a debilitated state where the horse has learned that it has no control over the outcomes of its behaviour. It is related to the use of aversive stimulation such as inescapeable restraint coupled with painful or otherwise adverse treatment and is a welfare concern(1). Horses that have no prior experience of successful escape or avoidance in other adverse conditions are more likley to be susceptible(2) .

I'm very soft regarding my own horses, the slightest hint of ailment or injury and I'm worried!
This morning was no exception when I arrived in Penny and Khatani's cattle court to pick out feet, feed, turnout and muck out.

This is a subject that is frequently on my mind. Ethics are not something that can be forced onto others, they are a personal matter derived from what you know, think and feel about a matter. Despite this, many people promote more 'ethical' ways of doing things in many aspects of life, not just horsemanship. I play quite a substantial part in promoting more ethical ways of keeping and interacting with horses so I'm as guilty of the implied charges as anyone. Realising this brings me to thinking about what ethics are, and where they stand in relation to what we do with our horses.

Using the clicker as a training tool is something I've really enjoyed doing for quite a number of years now, and sometimes it's hard for me to understand why anyone wouldn't want to.

There are differences between using the clicker to train horses and using more traditional or natural horsemanship methods. With the latter we tend to stimulate the horse to perform some behaviour via means of our own actions. We prefer the horse not to do behaviour unless prompted by us. Unwanted behaviour is normally corrected, or more accurately termed, 'punished' by a swift verbal or tactile reprimand.

With the clicker things are different. We, as the trainer, are more passive and instead look for the horse to offer behaviour that we can capture. By 'capture', I mean signal to the horse in the instant that the specific behaviour is being performed that their behaviour has earned them a reward, usually a food titbit. The signal is usually the clicker noise, but it could be another easily perceptible signal, that has previously been associated with the titbit. The horse learns that that click announces food, and any behaviour that the horse can do that makes that happen is normally repeated fairly frequently!

Aggression is a symtom of fear. Just think about what it takes for you to behave aggressively, such as to feel road rage or snap at a loved one. Aggression involves a lot of emotional energy, normally accompanied by a 'bad hair day'. Behaving aggressively on a regular basis is hard work and emotionally draining. The same is true for our horses and other animals, yet often we counter aggression with more aggression - the horse threatens to bite or kick, and we yell at or hit it! This is fairly natural. We got scared by the horse, and behaved aggressively back. It's true, aggression really is a symptom of fear!

I love it when both humans and their horses get to benefit from 'behaviour modification'. Fixing a problem so that both the owner and the horse feel rewarded is one of the most positive feelings I can ever get from my work.

One of the requirements for this is empathy towards the owner and horse from my part, and empathy towards the horse from his or her owner. Horses are at our mercy, and to help them our empathy must be as accurate as possible. That includes ditching human-centred values so the process can be pretty tough as simply recognising one is being human and not horse-centred can be hard enough! Knowing this warns me that I must not judge others before I've had a chance to walk in their shoes.

These are two qualities that most horse people would argue are important in a horse trainer, but where do they come from?

I think they are partly due to the expectations the trainer has of the horse's response to his or her methods.

Knowing my expectations will be met makes me more patient. Keeping that patient attitude when working with a horse makes me more likely to stay calm - but only as long as I have strategically planned my training efforts. As long as I do this I don't become frustrated by lack of progress and get all impatient. When a plan is good my horse is able to meet each goal I create, then I feel successful! Repeated experience of getting it right helps me to be patient more easily, because I know the rewarding sensation of success is just around the corner! I hate that experience of irritation and frustration when a plan doesn't come together! But these experiences prompt me to plan better next time :-)

Horse people are always asking me: what method do I use, what methods do I approve of, what I think of a certain method? Now I have one answer:

I think that there are many roads to Rome and any individual may take the path of their choosing. I think a truly ethical horseperson will make an effort to understand the horse's nature (his ethology if you like), the ways in which horses learn (learning theory derived from the field of psychology), and the means by which horses may suffer, emotionally, mentally and physically.

Taking a dog for a walk by its lead and leading a horse more or less require the same things: that the animal in question accepts restraint without fear or frustration; and that they go where their human handler goes.

But why would either dog or horse want to do that? The easiest way to frustrate a dog is put it on a lead and deprive it of its liberty to sniff stuff and interact with other dogs. Horses lose thier liberty too, and often the freedom to flee from fear. And that lead (rope) is not only an infringement of liberty, it's an instrument of pain if it's not used with respect - which all to often it isn't.