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How does
the equine brain develop "spooks?
The horse has been stereotyped as a
"dumb" animal, but nothing could be farther from the truth. The equine brain is
marvelously suited to its tasks of survival, locomotion, foraging, and herd behavior. The
horse has a "photographic" memory, so it checks out its environment according to
the photograph it stores and anything diverging from that image is either investigated or
is a cause for fear and flight. We call this scanning and selecting. When the
horse scans and selects, it uses all its sensory apparatus - eyes, ears, nose, hooves,
skin, and taste.
Also, the horse responds much more quickly to memory triggers,
especially long-term memory, because its brain is not clouded by imagination, reason, and
rationalization. So, the horse’s reactions stay precise and ever at the ready – unless
the chemical pathway involving that memory is changed, overlaid or erased. This is
the elegantly simple job of Wright-ESCT and it works in 95% of the cases we have treated.
In the early stages of habit formation, these structures are fragile, and become more
solid and permanent with repetition over time. In general, it seems to take around THREE
to SEVEN consecutive repetitions to begin the process of habit formation, and more to see
them begin to become reliable, provided that the horse is adequately and immediately
reinforced. This positive reinforcement can be food, attention, freedom from stress, or
change in routine.
The stronger the reinforcement, the faster the setting of the habit. It
is important to avoid the fear response at all times for fear is such a strong
reinforcement that habits associated with it set quickly. In classical horse
training, the formation of habits can be hastened by adopting training schedules of three
to seven repetitions of one task, then maybe a walk for a few minutes on a long rein, then
back to the previous seven repetitions and so on until you have achieved at least three
sets of seven intervals for each task.
It is interesting that Wright-ESCT seems most effective when applied three to seven times
during the first session with rest breaks after each short session. Reinforcement tests
seem to work well in sets of three, in the beginning.
How does Wright-ESCT work?
Wright-ESCT affects both sides of the brain, but alternately, as each side is
tapped or as eye movement is applied. Sometimes left/right aural stimulation is used to
begin therapy if the horse is unduly head-shy. Stimulating or tapping acupressure points
is another methodology. Any and all methods can be combined, depending on the horse’s
symptoms and history. As the stress stimulus is introduced and tapping begins, a new
chemical path is etched into both sides of the horse’s brain. This chemical path is
very light at first but it allows the horse to FEEL the presence of the stress without
taking FLIGHT. With each successive application, the chemical path is etched deeper and
deeper. Since the horse remembers its LAST reaction to stress, it remembers the calmer
reaction introduced as a result of Wright-ESCT. Soon the stress stimulus produces little or no
stress reaction at all. In time, it may disappear altogether. The tapping or eye movement
provides the relaxation and chemical response and the horse’s fear.
Is Wright-ESCT effective for all horses?
Initial research shows that Wright-ESCT is most effective with horses that
have had trauma and severe stress in their lives over considerable time. We hesitate to
say the more severe the stress the better the response, but this may prove to be the case.
Horses with more simple behavior problems, such as laziness, seem less responsive to Wright-ESCT
taken as a group, but in that group there is much variation. As stated before, fear is the
primary and most powerful NEGATIVE reinforcement, so horses that have experienced great
fear manifest the most stress and the most visible relief from stress.
Since no therapy is 100% effective, and since most therapies are used
in conjunction with training, we cannot guarantee a complete healing. However, we feel it
is the rare horse that does not respond remarkably well to Wright-ESCT.
Does Wright-ESCT work on behavioral problems?
We cannot ask our horses whether they are acting a certain way because
of trauma/stress or because of personality, so we can only do two things to evaluate their
behavior: (1) intuit why they behave as they do from our knowledge of horse
behavior; (2) take a detailed client intake history from the owner/trainer about the
horse's life. Some reactions are natural "spooks" to environmental stimuli to
which most horses are expected to respond with flight or fight. However, some actions may
be due to the personality of the horse or inbreeding, especially in those horses coming
from a long lineage of double breeding.
If the behavior itself has brought stress into the training or work
situation and created difficulty between horse and rider/trainer, then placing the horse
back into that stressful situation and applying Wright-ESCT does work. The behavior may remain in
other situations, however. An example would be biting and chewing at things in younger
horses. In its stall, the horse may bite the water bucket and in training it might try to
bite the halter, lead rope or hat to avoid working and learning. As in humans, comedy in
horses may be misplaced fear reactions worked out in a more "acceptable"
setting. After Wright-ESCT, the horse may be better in training but still bite the bucket, so to
speak.
How many times does Wright-ESCT need to be
repeated to be effective?
For severe trauma reactions, we recommend a minimum of three therapy
sessions, lasting about an hour each, over a three week period. The first session creates
the beginning of the new chemical pathways, the second session reinforces those pathways,
and the third session tests and sets them. This is an average therapy regimen and each
horse needs to be evaluated individually.
What is tapping therapy and eye movement
therapy?
Alternately tapping the left and then the right side of the
horse’s forehead at the inside of the "brow" on an acupressure point thirty
times causes the equine brain’s chemicals to flow and set down a new neural pathway
in the frontal lobe, where fear is stored. The tapping also relaxes the horse. The same is
true for eye movement, causing the horse to use one then the other eye in its special
peripheral vision field. The tapping and eye movement are hypnotic and relaxing, resulting
from endorphins beginning to flow more and more as the technique is repeated.
How does the horse communicate that Wright-ESCT
is effective (right away)?
Horses who respond well to Wright-ESCT will show classic relaxation signals,
such as a calming of the body, reduced or no twitching of the muscles when touched along
the back, marked lowering of the neck, lowering the eyelids, rhythmic breathing and, in
very relaxed horses, taking a nap during therapy is not unusual. These relaxation signals
usually occur after two or three short tapping or eye movement sessions, or a combination
of both.
Horses who do not respond immediately may take some time, as much as a
week, to manifest improved behavior on retesting. This is similar to humans using similar
therapy after post-traumatic stress. It takes the therapy several days to set, as reported
by many human subjects. Our horses cannot tell us when they feel better; we can only
intuit this from their behavior. If they handle the stress stimulus better after three or
four days on retesting and, all things being equal, no other therapy was involved in the
interim, then we attribute the improvement to Wright-ESCT.
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