30/08/2026
Spotlight on Falco!
Age: 16 years old
Breed: Pinto Cross
Personality in 3 Words: Curious, Playful & Confident
Force-Free Superpower: Mutual consent targeting 🎯
Current Goal: Building relaxed, confident leading with sanctuary volunteers 🐎
Falco was born right here at the sanctuary and has never known abusive hands. He grew up confident, curious and bold—so bold that he would treat humans like other young geldings, playing, nipping and biting!
Because Falco wasn't afraid of people, traditional methods didn't work. When we began transitioning towards positive reinforcement, we started using food as a motivator. But without enough behaviour science knowledge at the time, we accidentally created a new problem: food anxiety.
We taught Falco to follow a moving target using food, and because he followed us everywhere, we assumed the training was a success. What we missed was his emotional state. His ears were back, his nostrils were flared and his tail was swishing. To Falco, the food felt like it was "running away"—and he had to chase it.
We eventually realised that although Falco was performing the behaviour, he was actually in a high-arousal, anxious state. We redesigned our target protocols so he could feel secure and calm, rather than simply focusing on getting the behaviour we wanted.
Today, 9 out of 10 days are wonderfully relaxed, and he is learning to walk alongside sanctuary volunteers with a happy, calm headspace.
Falco reminds us that true force-free training isn't just about getting a result—it's about how the animal feels while they're doing it. 🤎✨
