Horse Myth #9 - 'Don't Pet a Frightened Horse, You'll Reinforce His Fear'
“Don’t pet your horse when he’s afraid. You’ll just reinforce his fear!” A classic! This myth is also said about dogs and kids, and applying this myth to a fearful animal (or child) results in continual work for animal behavior professionals and psychologists alike. Fear is an involuntary emotion, not a behavior. While behaviors can be reinforced, and made more likely to happen again in the future, emotions cannot. As such, no matter how hard you try, soothing or stroking (se