Shaping and desensitisation.

Liz and I spent an afternoon with Suzanne Rogers – a behaviourist. We looked at shaping behaviour without using aversive stiumli or target training.
Shaping as Suzanne explained it seemed to me to be similar to desensitising with out using counter conditioning.
Break the task down into small steps and gradually desensitise the horse to for example having his feet picked up. Start with the goal and then work towards that goal at the speed the horse dictates. At no time must the horse be stressed or pushed to do things using pressure.
Another example is walking over a tarp or other item on the ground, first let the horse sniff and explore it – start with a small item at a distance. Walking over an obstacle can be achieved by using target training. The problem is that the horse may be lured by the prospect of a treat and not be completely ok with the behaviour. It may be more beneficial to use this type of shaping behaviour rather than using either an aversive – (rhythmical pressure) or a target. Let the horse discover for himself that the object is safe. This needs to be done in different contexts as horse may be OK with it in his own field but it will look difference in another place.
Interesting afternoon and much food for thought. This seems to be the type of training we have done in the past to get our horses to happily accept a bridle and to offer feet on the visual cue. We just didn’t have a name for it.