Grooming Pros and Cons - Robin Foster

<p>In this episode, Jec talks with <a href= "https://www.horsebehaviorconsultant.com/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">Robin Foster</a>, a certified applied animal behaviorist and a professor at the University of Puget Sound in Washington State.</p> <p>Foster cites an i<a href= "https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Horse%E2%80%99s-emotional-state-and-rider-safety-during-a-Lansade-Bonneau/1763bd6b619552473eda5538edfb837d468e947d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nteresting study</a> on grooming by Lea Lansade, a researcher in France. </p> <p>There is a broad range of grooming concerns among us. Myself, I put almost no effort into grooming. I might brush where the saddle goes. Or instead, I might run my hand over that area. I check their feet and pick out any pebble that might have wedged into the frog area. Sometimes I might spray them with bug spray. But mostly I saddle up and go.</p> <p>I have seen that grooming, especially when it’s done after trailering somewhere and before a ride, has the effect of getting a horse pretty antsy.</p> <p>There are a lot of things we humans do, from even before we collect them in the paddock to when we ultimately ride that amounts to what Warwick Schiller would call 13 Rabbits. Check out his Best Horse Practices Summit presentation on that <a href= "https://vimeo.com/289654267" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">here</a>. </p> <p>Fellow BHPS presenter, <a href= "https://www.besthorsepracticessummit.org/team/amy-skinner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amy Skinner</a>, calls it trigger stacking.  It’s the piling on of stressors that sometimes results in a bit of a cluster. </p> <p>We thank <a href="https://pharmaloe.com/pages/equine" target= "_blank" rel="noopener">Pharm Aloe Equine</a> and <a href= "https://lucernefarms.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lucerne Farms</a> for their continued support. Pharm Aloe offers aloe pellets and gel and other products to support horses’ GI health, immune system, and other processes.</p> <p>Lucerne Farms is a forage company based in northern M