Cookie Power (Gotta Get Paid)- Don't Be A Bill Lumbergh

You go to work everyday because you get compensated for your effort.  

If at some point you didn't get paid appropriately for your time and effort you'd quit.  

Your horse feels exactly the same way.  

Halters, saddles, and trailers all signal one thing to our horses. 

Work.

I give cookies for being caught, at times for being saddled, and for loading in the trailer in addition to almost always having a few extra to be used as reward for whatever is hard for that individual horse.

Just imagine your disappointment of being told that you have to work on Saturday.  It would be just a little bit more bearable if right after the announcement you were told that they would be bringing in lunch.

Quitting (see a ton of other posts here) is good, but that physical compensation for doing something unpleasant at the right time means even more.  

Can I catch, saddle, and load my horses without a cookie?

Absolutely.

But that little reward keeps them willing, and helps to keep them from getting a case of the Mondays.

And can help avoid a total equine meltdown.

For those not familiar the images from today's blog came from the cult classic movie Office Space.

Disclaimer-

Please note that I use cookies as a training tool.  I do not (except on very rare occasion) give cookies other than as a reward for effort/good behavior.  Any nosiness or expectation of a cookie is corrected immediately.