Coaches' Corner with Lynn Acton: Treats

In this episode, Jec visits with <a href= "https://www.lynnacton.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lynn Acton</a> for a Coaches' Corner discussion around treats. I am really pleased that they are taking this topic. Like you, I have an opinion around treating that has been reinforced by experience and experimentation. <p>In general, I don’t feed treats. I think it can absolutely create a safety problem and I believe there are much better ways to reward a horse. <em>But.</em> I have found that specific, knowable treats are really handy. For instance, I often head out many miles into the backcountry and hobble all four horses to let them graze while I read or cat nap. Hobbles are great but horses can still go pretty fast in them if they want to. What helps, when I am rounding them up to head home, is the crinkle of the familiar green wrapper of granola bars. (The bars, if you must know, are simple oat and honey Nature Valley granola bars.) They hear the crinkle. They see the bar. They stand contented as I get the hobbles off and lead them to my saddle horse. This was also a handy conditioning when, um, three of them got loose early the other morning.</p> <p>Treating also leads into a conversation about petting and what you do with your horse and what you should do or, more importantly, not do, with other people’s horses. But that’s another episode, right? Please let us know what you think!</p> <p>Like you, I’ve been around friends and other horse owners who feel way different that I do when it comes to treating. Lynn and Jec have great insight. So, in our usual podcast style, we’re putting forth some reasonable opinions and look forward to hearing from you.</p> <p>As a follow up to my episode about <a href= "https://besthorsepractices.com/episode-25-sex-power-and-best-practices/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Power, Sex, and Best Horse Practices</em></a>, I want to say that I was really encouraged by the feedback. In particular, I heard from Art, a rider in Michigan and we’re looking forward to getting a lit