Learned Helplessness

[Marsha Cassada]

I am wondering if this is something that happened to Rusty. He is very hard to catch, shows the whites of his eyes as I approach and stiffens, ready for flight. But when haltered, he is very docile. He even hesitates to pull back when tied up, even when afraid. So, I think someone in his past did "patience tying", and he has learned helplessness when haltered/tied.
http://method.greyhorsellc.wordpress.com/2018/11/09/learned-helplessness/

It is certainly convenient that he is docile once caught and haltered, but I am not comfortable suspecting the reason. As we continue our journey together, we'll see how it plays out.

 

[LostandFound]

My horses are all different with their halters on and without. That is why we halter them for farrier work, worming, ect. According to their definition of learned helplessness, which they start by saying might not even exist in horses, patience tying wouldn't cause it. When a horse is tied for long times he actually gets a release by not fighting being tied. He learns to relax and chill out the same way he would relax and chill out in the field. They are talking about training methods where there is no release. At least, that's what I get out of it.