Rescuing Rusty

Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying that people are just as happy as they make up their minds to be. That sounds simple enough. People suffering from depression will tell you though that it’s not just that simple. We can say that we are going to be happy now! all that we want. That doesn’t make it so. Unfortunately.

Our brains are wonderful and amazing creations. The same things that allow our brains to work so well, to have the ability to adapt to new things, to work nearly mindlessly on a task that we know well, can also work against us. Our brains become wired to think in certain ways, when we think thoughts regularly our brains develop to follow those paths. They forget that there are other ways they could go.

This helps us to not have to think through our daily routines every step of the way but it also allows us to get stuck in ruts.

If you have been thinking unhappy thoughts there is no simple way to decide you are going to think happy ones now. Your brain has already ran this wiring, it’s not going to abandon all that infrastructure just because you decided! Building new circuits, happy circuits, isn’t easy. Remembering to and being able to think happy things all day to rewire your brain is not easy. I don’t really think it’s even possible. Not just by deciding to do so.

I hurt  my finger a couple of weeks ago. It had a small run in with my horses mouth. He wasn’t aiming for me, we were both in the wrong spot at the wrong time. It still hurt though. It was the pointer finger, on my right hand of course, which means there are a lot of things I usually do that I could not do. Not in my usual way at least. I found new ways to do the things, usually involving my under used left hand.

Now my hand is feeling better. I’m able to use the finer again. In theory. After struggling so hard to figure out how to do things without using my right hand I can’t remember how it was done using the hand. My brain reran the wiring. Now the dominant paths through  my brain uses my left hand, or at least the other fingers on my right hand. Being forced to do things a different way made my brain rewire a new way.

I think anyone who has broke an arm or had some body part put out of use has experienced the same thing. Our brains often have to be forced to accept change. Like the rest of our bodies we don’t do it willingly.

What can we do that makes us look for the positive? Requires us to find the best in others? Forces us to search for what is right and good and reward it enthusiastically? All those lead us to happiness, if only there was a way to channel them and even reward ourselves for following thought processes in those directions. That’s starting to sound disturbingly like a self help commercial. Especially when I then start plugging training with positive reinforcement.

Think about it though. I go outside and Rusty is already calling to me. He heard me come out the door and wants to play. It’s nice to be wanted, I click him and offer a treat for being happy to see me. We then spend the next half hour or so focusing strongly on everything he does right. He is thrilled. I’m proud and happy right along with him. By the end of our time together I am floating. I go back inside focusing on all the really great things that happened between us. Life is great! New pathways are being developed in my brain like crazy. The next day I go back again, we focus on the positive again. Those pathways are reinforced just as much as Rusty is.

By training others in a positive way we are training ourselves to be positive. We are learning to look for the good as opposed to waiting for the bad so we can correct it. We want them to win, and help them towards it as best we can. If we do this everyday. Even better if we do this with multiple animals throughout the day. If we start to use positive reinforcement on all the people around us. We can train our brains to follow much happier pathways in no time.

Best of all, emotions spread between people. If we start to be happier, our friends become happier. On the other hand if we are angry, people we meet and talk to will reflect our anger. Not just the ones we see in person but people we text or talk to online too. All it takes from us is a word or a gesture. If we focus on using positive reinforcement with our animals we can get in the habit of it. Treating others with kindness, in our training and interactions, is a mood booster its self.

By training with positive reinforcement we are not only forcing our minds to think good joyful thoughts but also practicing kindness to others. How can it help but lift our moods and train our minds to be happy?

With clicker training the first thing we usually have to do is convince our horses that we want them to think for themselves. We take horses who have been trained traditionally to stand quietly and wait for us to tell them what to do and we tell them we will give them food if they can think of a way to earn it. Once that ‘clicks’ with them it blows their minds.  All of a sudden we have a horse who wants to do things. They often go from well behaved to over enthusiastic.

This is what we wanted from them. Now that we have all that enthusiasm and try, what are we supposed to do with it?

Our once well behaved horse is now pawing and exploring with his mouth. Touching everything he can get his nose on. Following us around and doing all the tricks he knows, trying to earn another treat. We’ve created a monster!

Now what?

Horses don’t automatically know when and how we want them to think for themselves and when we want them to do what we say. We offer them choice, then only want them to choose when it is handy for us. We’ve asked them to have ideas and opinions and that is all they are doing.

It is up to us to explain clearly what we want from them, what actions will earn them a reward. To put actions on cue and explain that we will only give treats for the action when we have given the cue.

As always the fault and responsibility falls on us. Luckily for us we know that responsibility equals power.

First, is it really hurting anything to have your horse exploring and wanting to play? They can make a nuisance of themselves, true. If they are loose wandering around with us they can start mugging or throwing behaviors at us in an attempt to find one that will be rewarded. The easiest way to take care of the problem is to put them back out to pasture or their stall when we are done working.

To actually solve the problem we need to teach them that behaviors are only rewarded when we ask for them. Teaching a strong default behavior of standing still looking straight ahead gives them a behavior that is very desirable to us that they can offer when they want attention and a reward. They can choose and explore all they want, we will only reward for the things we want. If we stand quietly and ignore behavior when we aren’t asking for it, then reward them as soon as they stand still they will quickly learn that random behaviors don’t earn treats.

We need to be consistent with our clicks, only rewarding what we have asked for or are looking for. As hard as it can be we need to stay all done after we have given an all done cue. Even when they offer something really good after we give it. Time after we have given the all done cue can be spent scratching and grooming. Those can  be another way to reward instead of treats after we have finished official work. A good grooming when we are finished working can also be an extended all done cue. Horses are creatures of habit, we can use habits to let them know when we are working and when we are finished.

We get what we have rewarded. If we aren’t consistent we get behaviors that aren’t consistent.

In the end though, perhaps the best way to deal with your pet monster is to remember that they are thinking, feeling animals who want to play and want to please. Instead of thinking of them as nuisances, we can take joy in their interest and curiosity. We can let them explore and offer behaviors. We can watch what they do and learn about them from the behaviors they offer when we aren’t asking. Some of my horses best tricks and talents were their ideas. The difference between brilliance and nuisance is all in how we look at it.