What is Trigger Stacking? | How to Avoid Dangerous Reactions in Horses
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- Опубліковано 8 гру 2021
- How to avoid stressing out horses and thereby limit fear behaviours.
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#HorseTrainingTips #HorseBehavior #DesensitizingHorses - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
I like the water cup analogy. To add to it, I like to think the cup has a hole at the bottom of it. Stress is slowly released over time, but it has to be larger than the amount being added in. My old horse struggled to empty the cup after stress, leading to some impressive idiocy (ex: one time he spooked at a new plywood panel on the arena wall… and ran in front of another horse going down a line🙃)
Trigger stacking is the reason a horse reared (concussing me) while I was asking her canter. A trainer suggested I use a German martingale to keep her head down, as we were trying to build a top line (she was being a thoroughbred giraffe). Never again. There’s techniques I can use on ground/riding to have them accept the bit, flex at the poll, and build muscle for a frame, not equipment. The warning signs were there, she told me multiple times she was near her threshold, and I’ll always listen next time.
I’m really glad I found your channel years ago. I agree with your training methods 100%, and appreciate another rider who focuses on horses comfort/growth, not awards/prestige
This. At my very first horse show, my horse was SO stressed. She was bellowing as loud as she could because she was herd bound and her mate was gone, she was distracted, terrified, and amped. I was 8, and so scared. My "trainer" ignored all of this and said she just needed to get some energy out, and had me mount up to warm her up. My fear traveled right down the line and added to hers, and she bolted and bucked. I hit the ground so hard I had the wind knocked out of me for a scary amount of time (I thought I was dying lol.) Looking back I am so furious my trainer completely ignored my horse's obvious signs of stress and still had a child get on her back. I am so happy training methods are getting better, and I hope every trainer learns to listen to what a horse is telling you.
I empathize with horses, a lot.
- I got up one morning and my dad snapped at me about taking out the trash, not to forget like last week then implied that he would beat me if I forgot again. I was being scolded for something I hadn't even done yet, which frustrated me.
- As I'm rounding up the trash I have to ask him to move out of the way a minute while I get the wastebasket under his desk, he makes a big deal about it, slams in his keyboard tray like I'm bothering him, even though I opted to leave this trash one week to avoid disturbing him and he told me that all I have to do is ask, he will happily move. I did as I was told and got a very negative reaction, which frustrated me.
- Some girl on the bus who had been bullying me all semester said something snide to me on the way to school, I was smaller than her and knew I would get in trouble if I retaliated, which frustrated me.
- I was taking notes in science class and didn't hear something the teacher said and asked her a question, she made a scene out of it and humiliated me in front of the whole class and everyone laughed at me, including people who I thought were my friends, which frustrated me.
- I went to my after school program at a local church like I do every day and was trying to do my homework when the teacher left the room and a girl that had been bullying me took the opportunity to come over and start teasing me about ... doing my homework, which frustrated me.
- So I stabbed her with my pencil ... I was labeled as crazy and unstable, a bully myself and prone to "violent outbursts" I was kicked from the after school program as well and people were like, "wow, all that girl did was tease her a little bit and this crazy chick just went all John Wick and stabbed her with a pencil!" I also assaulted someone in a grocery store with a can of soup for bumping into me and not apologizing (rude!) after a long shift at work of dealing with abusive customers and just having to smile and apologize and tell them to "have a nice day" aaaand there was also that time I was out driving around for the 156th day in a row looking for a job when a lady stole my gas pump at the station and I threatened her with a claw hammer.
I've calmed down a lot over the years, thankfully, because I don't let things get bottled up anymore, I learned how to stop the escalation, never let it escalate, find a way to make it stop, for me ... it was moving out of my abusive parents' house. Horses having to endure a life with a cruel owner they cannot remove themselves from will be more defensive and likely to "freak out for no reason" and get labeled as crazy. I feel so sorry for them.
I really love that you spoke about this! I really struggle with PTSD and I have always been aware that my horse and horses around me having similar issues and being able to relate. I have never taken a "bad horse day" personally and I have always tried to reassure my horse rather than getting frustrated. I feel like my horses have really benefitted from this as when they do go over threshold, they come back to me because they have learned that they can trust me
LOVE the trigger stacking terminology, and I've already shared it with my lesson partner so we can have a shared language around it. Thanks Shelby!
I am a person who stacks triggers, personally in myself. I'm very much a compartmentaliser, I just ignore, move on, and it all bottles up, and then that cup overflows, and I just collapse or blow up.
I agree that a lot of us humans do the very same to ourselves and we need to honour our wellbeing enough to allow time to decompress and de-escalate. Give yourself the time you need💗
Im still learning, but im really glad im getting away from traditional training like clinton anderson. My mare has been getting very explosive and has been out of the usual, i wasnt sure if it was behavioral, but i knew something was wrong and decided to call my vet. Im so glad i did, as we found out her back is in severe pain, and completely explained allll her out of wack behavior. Im learning how to do positive training, and im understanding that all horse behavior has a reason somewhere, and im glad i listened to my gut. We are getting her a chiropractor and shes getting a long vacation until im 100% she isnt in pain and wants to work. Im really glad for all of your videos, and am trying to learn as much as i can to improve my mares life! I love all of your videos shelby, and you have really changed the way i train for the better. We are even moving barns and she will be able to have turnout with friends, and im really excited for her to be able to be a horse!
it is fascinating the similarities with trigger stacking for horses, PTSD, and autistic people like me. Maybe this is partly why therapy with horses can be so helpful for people with these conditions? Your videos have helped me understand/explain myself as well as deepened my experience with horses, especially the ones with Milo. love what you're doing!
As always Shelby Dennis, a very well informed, but not preachy address. I use the cup analogy a lot only I use rabbits. Your horse can tolerate 12 rabbits running across its path on a hack, but the 13th rabbit overflows its cup. So I find your solution to be the correct one. Worry them a bit, let them calm down. Soon they realize that 13th rabbit isn't an issue, if you have a good, solid foundation on it. All my students know to use their own vet in a pre-purchase exam. And not ANYONE who does regular business with the seller. And they also know that if they buy a 5 or 6 year old, it DOES NOT GET RIDDEN AT ALL, until they have worked on groundwork,. And if there is an issue, I help with what advice I can. Reminding them constantly. Just because this technique has worked with this horse, doesn't mean it will work for your next one. They all understand this, and 99% of first time horse owners, wanting to get Sally a horse, will ask me to go with them. I can usually tell if one is doped up by the eyes. The minute I see that, we leave. Great talk as usual. Praying water levels drop. From Ontario, Canada, Jenn. 💖 💖 🇨🇦
I love your rabbit analogy! So important to think about the stressors that can present themselves while out on a hack.
Great video and topic. I was going to mention the 13th rabbit too -- I think I first heard that from Warwick Schiller, another horse person I love. You beat me to it :) I too hope water levels in BC are dropping and transportation is improving.
This really helped! My thoroughbred use to have outbursts and It taught me to definitely watch his body language more and figure out what I’m doing wrong.I was going to fast in his training and he was confused. After slowing down and dropping the expectations and time limits and people pushing me (and the goals) and relaxed it’s really helped him to relax and he’s back to being chill again! When I was riding him he had this stress that I didn’t like so I went back to ground work and basics and now I’m working him with the bareback pad to get him use to the saddle again and he’s 100x calmer and more relaxed and he hasn’t had an outburst in months!! it might have been flash backs from the track because he had a nasty scar from the girth when I bought him😞
To find this video in my feed after a morning spent trying to ride my OTTB (with a film crew all around his pasture, after a loose horse had been running around, on a cool and windy day…) made me feel like you’d made the video just for us! 😂 Thanks for always educating! 🐎❤️ PS: I let him graze for awhile to relax and ended our ride early so no major explosions occurred! 🌋
this comment is kinda late but this really opens my eyes about the whole stress level thing. Even if you're talking about horses, as you've said this can be applied to humans as well and it really explains why i freak out so badly over simple things or over things I've handled better in the past. Thank you for talking about this, i enjoyed learning a lot!!
Always aware and great with awesome information that's really helpful. Can't stand this elitism in horses, because they have money and gone to all the top schools and training they think they know it all and they're right and everyone else is wrong. The abuse their horses. They need to stop thinking that the horse is their possession and it should do as its told. All this is B.S. There is a world of elitism that stinks.
love this👏👏 please do like shorter videos on helping horses through fears well. I just got a new horse and he has a reputation of being bad with clippers. the ey usually sedate him and I don't want to do that. I want to get him better but would love some good guidance on getting him relaxed with them slowly over time. Any suggestions are welcome🙏
Thank you for this video. I love watching and listening (podcast) to your content it’s teaching me to be better but that it also takes time. I have my own horses and work with horses, so seeing different horses, environment and personalities gives me the opportunity to read more cues.
I adore this kind of video! So cool to learn about horse behavior
I've been a silent follower even before I got into riding horses in 2017, but I just wanted to say that your videos have helped and encouraged me throughout the years. ❤ It's great to find horsepeople who are always trying to improve their knowledge and do best by the horse. Thank you for your videos, Shelby.
Thank you very much for this explanation!! I had great use of this way of thinking today when i was out doing groundwork with long reins (??) and i really saw how his cup got more and more full andä before it ran over i had to quit because it just kept filling. Cars came, heavy working machines came and roared, he just had a tough time being in front alone, and so i quit while he was still kind of with me because he couldve just as easily just ran home and id have to let him go bc i dont stand a chance when he is flighty and i just didnt want our training to end with him fleeing the scene. So i walked up to him and petted him to calm him a little, then we walked side by side the whole way home and ended it on a good note. I was able to really see when it got too much and i thought of you analogy and idk it just really helped me in confirming what i saw and what i should do next to help him. I know he feels way safer when someone is up walking beside him instead of behind him so thats what i did and he immediatly chewed and licked and i dont know what he memorized or if its good or bad but I dont think it can be that bad. Like if he was like thank god i can finally step back and never walk first ever again or if it was oh when im this stressed she sees it and comes to me and gives me reasurance instead of pushing me harder? - i have no clue but it doesnt really matter bc itll show next time we do it. I also realised i should really lower my standards and just go for a walk where we meet 1 car. Then maybe the next time 2. just so he learnes we arent out for long and meeting a car is not a big deal? because he can handle one car, just tenses a little. but after the second one the glass is fuller and its remarkably clear he wants to go back home. idk. Its not like he doesnt trust me or is trying to be ""disrespectful"" he just finds it really scary when cars go by and bigger machines. This was OUR first time doing it together alone too, the previous owner has done it more with him. Being in front is not his cup of tea and im not sure how to help him get back his confidence. But Ill take it slow like this I think and it feels like it should get better but idk
Excellent video! As I’ve gotten better over the last several years at communicating with my horses the relationship we have is incredible! It really is a two way friend and there’s nothing I love more than when they open up to me and display behaviors I don’t typically see from other horses. And I manage a large boarding facility so I see a lot of horses!
Hell yes Shelby, this is phenomenal!
I'm actually getting the hang of this, and this video helped me understand even more. 🙂
Thanks for this video, I honestly had no idea about any of this. It makes me wonder about my old OTTB I had as a teenager (this was like 20 yrs ago). He was a super herd bound boy, and just in general very anxious. I did a lot of round pen work with him to at least get it so I could take him out of the pasture without him running me over. But the thing I wonder about is, the whole time I knew him he would stick his head straight up in the air when ridden, resisting any contact. His head would be up at no contact. I can't remember what exactly I tried, but nothing worked, until I put a flash noseband on him. And instantly his head was down, and he wasn't resisting contact anymore. I was young and had him at an old-fashioned dressage barn, so I didn't think it was a bad thing, and my trainers didn't say anything against it, I was just happy something worked. Now I kinda feel bad, because he was probably trying to tell me he was uncomfortable. I'll take this info into the future, thanks again for sharing!
YES. I am here for it!!!
Excellent! I so enjoyed your video.
You're an incredible teacher and I really appreciate how you go about explaining things. Sharing this with everyone I know ❤🙏
Hey Selby. I love your video on trigger stacking. This definitely help me on my copping skills for work . And home. Thanks you very much Selby. All my love to you And your mom
Thanks for this super knowledgeable information that could be appreciated by everyone in our lives. Stress could be the cause of many reactions that all animals , people included , could have. Those people that bottle things inside could have any number of health effects from it. Those people that have dogs that are problems perhaps should look at what they are doing to cause stress. Could it be your fault??
Could you do a video about using check-in cues? I am trying to teach my horse to relive stress and tension when he is away from his herd mates. Thanks!
I'd love for you to talk about dealing with fight responses from horses. I encountered one aggressive horse as a teen who scared the sh*t out of me and was never properly taught how to deal with him. I think he was eventually euthanized. Where is the line between self defense and abuse there? Great video. Thanks, Shelby!
Self defence, in my opinion, is doing what you have to do to immediately guarantee your safety in that moment. Abuse is where it’s the repeated mishandling, so punishing behaviours for being aggressive but never dealing with the cause is a neglectful/ abusive way of dealing with aggression because if it does create a “fix” it’s only done by teaching them to mask a behaviour rather than addressing the cause
@@Milestone-Equestrian I agree Shelby in tiely
@@Milestone-Equestrian good answer to the question. I’m so tired of my horse pinning his ears and biting at me for almost everything I do around him or try to teach him. When I get on his case for incessant biting he does shape up and learn better but then I feel like shit for doing borderline punishment. His stacking limit is so low. I need a breakthrough with him. I do clicker training +R with him but he only stops biting if I do -R ‘natural horsemanship’, which is probably masking a lot.
I never used any tie down stuff because I only rode trail ride and for pleasure not competition but never undestood why these tie downs need to put on the bit. Its already painful by riders hand. Couldn't they just clip it on one of the chin strap on the bridle? Similar to a cavisson?
I had a mare name Mia, she went throw a accident during a training session. After the accident she had to get her back in place an take three days off. When I started working on her she started rearing up an not her self. I believe she had PTSD an my mother said no she isn't trained well... So she sold her on an told me not to work with her due to her being dangerous...
I believe if I brought her back to square one an start her over again, listen to her body language an her eyes I would of been able to help her enjoy her riding like she use to before the accident
How do I order one of your bitless bridles?
They aren’t in stock right now, but once they are they will be available at my store link in the description of this video. Restocking next week.
Do you have a video on training the "check in?" This is something I've wanted to try with my horse, but I've no idea how to go about it
I will be doing a series soon!
@@Milestone-Equestrian did u do a series on this???
Can you do a video on how to rehabilitate a horse from the auction house?
I can do one on the pony I have but auctions have such a varied number and type of horses that there isn’t really a one size fits all approach because you can get completely different types of horses at the same auction so the approach depends on what you get.
Trigger stacking aka everything that happens on a racing
It happens everywhere in the horse industry and by choosing to only blame racing, you blame a lot of completely innocent and good people on the racetrack while letting all of the absolutely horrible abusers in other disciplines off of the hook but making a singular industry out to be the entire problem.
Trigger stacking happens EVERYWHERE. Even in good training barns. How you respond to it and understand it is what sets you apart.
@@Milestone-Equestrian of course it happens everywhere, I made a snarky comment regarding racing in particular because the very design of the sport is a case of trigger stacking, and when bad things happen people blame the animals
@@Sk0lzky I agree that racing is one of the more adept industries at only masking behaviours but I think that they actually out perform other industries in terms of actually mandating certain drugging / welfare laws which is why I wish lesser known industries had more pressure on them, too.
@@Milestone-Equestrian like dressage, I wonder why everyone’s still forced to ride with a double bit at top FEI dressage competitions. They got rid of the top hat when concerns about safety arose, why can’t they legalize bit’s other then the double at high dressage levels ?
How long did it take to get to the point you are now with the new little pinto pony?
I’ve had him for about a month. He’s had maybe 3 5 to 10 minute sessions total in terms of actual structured “training” but other than that it’s just been a natural intro of his own accord while we are cleaning / feeding.
“You can’t pour from an empty cup”