“Two weeks before the 2021 National Yearling Sale I was asked to visit Winterbach Stud to assist with their yearlings going to the sale,” writes MALAN DU TOIT.
Winterbach Stud wanted me to ‘fine-tune’ their yearlings for the sale so that they could be at their best behaviour at the Germiston complex.
Groundwork is always of the utmost importance, and it embraces the same principles as operant conditioning, for example learning via trial and error, pressure/release – learning by associating the consequences that follow certain behaviour. In essence, when the horse shows correct behaviour, there is a release of pressure.
The purpose of the exercise was to get them to obey their handlers at the sale, to walk and stands nicely when observed by potential buyers.
All worked out well at the sale, thanks to Hendrik Winterbach jr. (photo) and his team for the opportunity to work with them!