I was recently watching a documentary on wild mustangs in America.Every year 100 horse trainers are given the opportunity to take a wild mustang and train them.At the end of 100 days the mustangs are brought in and displayed in a competition to see who has trained them the best. What stood out in this documentary was how the trainers now choose to train their horses.In the past they use to abuse horses effectively breaking their will and instilling learned helplessness in them.But the trainers explained although this was an effective way to train a horse it always resulted in horses that were untrusting and unruly at times.Nowadays trainers slowly build trust with a horse basically becoming the horses friend.They say this results in a horse that is much more trusting and also less unruly.One trainer actually blind folded his horse and navigated him through an obstacle course strictly by what he was saying and doing with the reins. This documentry showed me that we are not alone in how learned helplessness subjugates us.Many many other animals react the same way to what they percieve is an inescapably abusive situation.