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Episode 120: There's So Much More To Stimulus Control



This week’s episode explores the stimulus control quadrants developed by Dr. Jesús Rosales Ruiz. When I say stimulus control many of you are probably thinking about the four criteria that are used to judge if a cue is under full stimulus control. This is not what Jesús is talking about. He’s looking instead at the conditions under which learning occurs. It’s a fascinating discussion. Don’t fight extinction is an important part of the stimulus control quadrants. You can find out what this means in this week’s episode.


This episode was prompted by a question a listener sent in. She was wondering about choice and the role clicker training played in being able to lead her horses to safety when one of the CA fires forced her to evacuate. Her question about situations where you can’t give choice launched us into this conversation about the stimulus control quadrants. It gave us an opportunity to revisit material Jesús shared with us in one of the webinars he did for us.


And that prompted another idea. It’s been hard to be on this side of the continent and not be able to help with what sounds like a horrific situation for everyone who has been caught up in the fire zone. So for this month, we are offering a 25% discount on all of the webinars in the Equiosity.com store.

This is a great time to order the webinars. In addition to the discount you get, we will also be donating a portion of the proceeds to groups that have been helping with all of the animals that have needed to be evacuated.


Several of my friends who were volunteering with these efforts sent me the links to groups that they feel are responsibly run. I know I’m not alone in wanting to help so here are their suggestions if you want to send your own donations directly:


I know there were horrible fires in Oregon, Washington, and now Colorado. I haven’t included any links for groups in these areas. This list will get you started and perhaps give you ideas for finding groups in these other locations.


Top of the list came this suggestion from a friend who sent me a long list of groups that have been helping with the evacuations:


“I think the best way to help in Northern California may be to ask people to support the amazing UC Davis  who has responded across many of the worst fires with Vet teams that have been offering telemedicine and out in the field, organizing local vets to provide superior support on the ground and in the evacuation centers”

 



San Mateo County Large Animal Evacuation Group https://smclaeg.org/  (~1550 in holding areas, and ~1700 total including facilitated moves to safer locations). 




Santa Clara County SCCLAET  http://www.scclaet.org/


Santa Cruz County Equine Evacuation: https://www.equineevac.org/


If you listen to my other podcast, Horses for Future, you will have met Sarah Nickels. She’s in Australia where they are preparing for the upcoming fire season. She recently did a webinar on what to do to prepare your horse for fire emergencies. The worry now is that people won’t keep their evacuation plans and preparation up to date, that especially a concern when it comes to trailering.

She sent me a list of great articles and podcasts:

CFA weblinks: 

Podcast on horses and bushfires (scroll down the page a short distance to find the episode): https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/about/audio 

Agriculture Victoria weblinks: 


  

Horses and bushfire Factsheet (also attached to this email for ease of finding): https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/livestock-and-animals/horses/health-and-welfare/assessing-horses-after-bushfires 

Go to “More Information” and the Factsheet is a comprehensive summary. 

 

If you’re in Victoria, please don’t forget to apply for a Property Identification Code (PIC) for your property, or update your contact details at: 


Stay safe everyone!

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