Equine Training That Clicks

10/26/2024

The Dominance Discussion brought up a big question of, "Respect". What is it? How much does it matter in horse training?

If you go on ANY natural horsemanship page and ask why your horse is doing something, or not doing something, the answers is always "your horse doesn't respect you". But what does that mean? How do we get that respect? Chasing them around a round pen? How does this work behaviorally?

The truth is "RESPECT" is a human construct.
Constructs are "an idea or theory containing various conceptual elements, typically one considered to be subjective and not based on empirical evidence". Respect is conceptual, subjective, and not tangible. It can't be measured or weighed or tested or proven. It's a combination of behaviors and emotions, which varies individually, when and how we feel "respected".

Horses do not have constructs. Horses don't learn in constructs. Horses learn behaviors, their emotions are elicited and classically conditioned with new things. They have deeply complex emotions, but they do not have the same constructs as we do. If we see a horse showing "respect" to another horse, this is a human interpretation of a horse social dynamic, with a lot of added assumptions!

This word covers a big BLURRY list of behaviors and emotions and ideas and concepts. So rather than using this big blurry word to describe everything you're seeing (or not seeing), and rather than using this word as an excuse to justify the use of force or punishment, Break It Down. Break it down into its component parts, behaviors and emotions, then create those.

What is associated with "respect" behaviorally speaking?

I find "respect" isn't so much doing a specific behavior, but how well they listen. Responding to cues promptly and correctly, waiting patiently for cues... wait a minute that sounds familiar - STIMULUS CONTROL!!! Behaviorally speaking "Respect"=Stimulus Control on cues. For those who don't know, when we train a behavior, whether with R+ or R-, when we finish a behavior we put it on stimulus control and "proof it". The four rules of SC are: The behavior happens every time it's cued. The behavior doesn't occur without a cue. The behavior doesn't happen with any other cue or situation. No other behavior happens with this cue.

The only other behavioral representation I can think of for "respect" is personal space, which is interesting, because horses have a blurry line around personal space. They value their personal space with peers they don't like and will defend it forcefully. But with peers they do like, personal space tends to disappear. Horses show CARE (the emotion) through huddling together in weather, using each other's tails for fly protection, etc...

But "respect" has an emotional component as well. I think if I ask 10 people what emotion they find synonymous with "respect" I would get 50 different answers ;) Among them might be, admiration, appreciation, regard, devotion, fear, concern, revere, dignity, esteem, honor, favor, worship, adore, awe...

That's a LOT of feelings. But let's stop and think now, what relationship do you want with your horse? Do you want a relationship founded in Fear/Avoidance? The horse working to avoid you/your cues? Your horse working to make you STOP or go away? Do you want fear-based "respect", with a worship-like, devotion, subordination? Or do you want Care-based "respect", with appreciation, regard, adoration? Where the horse seeks out good things, you being the core-provider of all the good things?

Consider this as you train, train the behaviors you want and elicit the emotions you want. Whether you train with R+ or gentle R-, training with clear communication, careful and appropriate stimulus control, can create all the behaviors we associate with "respectfulness". But how we elicit the emotions we want in our relationship is going to come down to what we add to the relationship, the classical conditioning of it all. Are we adding things that elicit good feeling emotions for the horses? Comfort, care, safety, satiation, social security? Or avoidance, anxiety, discomfort, irritation, frustration?

08/20/2024

09/02/2023

Flooding

"Most of us would agree that learned helplessness is not a good state of welfare for our horses. And although practices deliberately aimed at producing such a state still exist in certain segments of horse training. Such techniques include severely restraining the horse (hog-tying) and then presenting the overwhelming stimulus until the horse submits. In learning science, this “sink or swim” approach is called flooding and is not recommended as a humane training method.

But, unfortunately, many training practices meant to habituate or to desensitize can easily go wrong and result in varying degrees of learned helplessness. These include methods that incorporate injudicious negative reinforcement (application of pressure until the horse yields) and/or that depend heavily on restraint or incorporate punishment." - Sue McDonnell

Resources
https://thehorse.com/110232/habituation-vs-learned-helplessness-in-horses/

04/01/2023

I love introducing the horses to new things in their paddocks. It was a windy day so I decided to let this blanket flap in the wind with some essential oils on it. As you can see the yearlings are vary curious. The point of this is to encourage curiosity with horses while providing them choice. Instead of pushing them over threshold activating there flight response.

03/09/2023

While my clipping skills are still improving Bubba has gotten standing at the anchor down. He always has the option to walk away if he needs a break but instead he stands patiently waiting for his summer haircut.

01/14/2023

Fact or fiction ?

The idea of the Alpha mare/stallion and asserting dominance is the pillar of some training ideologies. But does this hold any water ?

"Feral horses have no dominance hierarchies within bands, nor any need for them.The alpha leader mare is a myth. No single character initiates or leads marches or changes of activity. What provokes others to follow is determined, purposeful leaving. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that horses have a concept of authority. It is an entirely human concept" - Lucy Rees

Most of the social interactions within a herd is friendly and based on unity, it is a network of bonds based on family relationships and friendship. Expressing aggression is very rare and limited to specific instances including in**st avoidance and the rejection of inappropriate courtship.

Because of the widespread misconception of what "dominance" means, we should refrain from using it when working with out horses.
"The confusion between dominance, aggression and authority has occasioned more illtreatment of horses, to the point of sending them to slaughter, and more injury to people, than any other single point in equestrianism" - Lucy Rees

Resource:
Horses in company by Lucy Rees

01/05/2023

Every year this joke makes the rounds and it sends the wrong type of message, so here’s a new version.

The answer to fixing the type of excitability that “necessitates” lunging for safety purposes is addressing the training and management factors that contribute to your horse having that much pent up energy and choosing to engage in explosive behaviours to relieve said energy.

Lunging is just a bandaid for the unwanted behaviour, it is using physical exhaustion or at minimum, relief of explosive energy as a means of addressing the BEHAVIOUR but fails to address the cause.

The problem with this is that routine lunging for the sole purpose of energy release before rides results in an incredibly fit horse who will have more and more energy to expend if the cause of their excess energy isn’t addressed and their energy will fail to tap out in the same duration of lunging as their fitness builds.

All that aside — don’t we all want the horse we can just get on and go?

Using this joke as a metaphor, aren’t we tired of always having to “lunge” the year to avoid misbehaviour?

Wouldn’t we rather address the factors that cause us grief rather than perpetually just slapping a bandaid on it and dealing with the very behaviour we admittedly do not want to deal with on a very repeated basis?

As someone who used to have the explosive horse who needed to be lunged to hopefully avoid him rocket launching me, I much prefer being able to get on that same horse with no prep and having it be safe than I did my lunging days.

01/05/2023

10/16/2022

It is still a bit of a minefield when you think where the rider sits for example and the responses you want to be elicited by reins, legs, and seat - there are over 30 of them. It is a lot to signal from where we are sitting and that's why it is really critical to make sure that the horse can discriminate our signals. The leg is often used for a lot of signals, go faster, go sideways, bend, turn. We expect a lot and when the horse does not understand, it may resort to its coping mechanisms which can vary from apathy to hyperactivity or aggression.

It is difficult to train a horse and we expect so much that regrettably our frustration and aggression comes to the fore sometimes. There is an underling expectation that the horse knows what it is meant to do and that it is too naughty to do it. But the problem with punishing for non-compliance, is that vou really don't know that the horse knows what he is meant to do. Certainly, if you have trained it clearly enough according to the law of habit formation; if you train something clearly enough and reinforce it repeatedly enough, then the horse would do it. If he doesn't, it must be something to do with the way we ask or the fact that it has not been trained clearly enough.

Talented horse people do not resort to force because they understand the necessary communication between human and horse. They understand the benefit of combined reinforcement. Most of us have to learn this.

This is an excerpt from 'Conversations with Dr Andrew McLean' available to purchase via our online store: https://esi-education.com/shop/

10/16/2022

10/16/2022

Bambi enjoying a light breeze. Notice how he is not tied and has the option to walk away. Teach your horse to be curious not fearful of new things.

06/27/2022

Something amazing happens when you decide you don’t need to chase your horses with a plastic bag to gain respect. They become brave and curious of new things instead of fearful. Willing partners. I am so proud of him. He has come so far.

06/07/2022

How your energy effects your horse 🌬✨⁣
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We know that YOU know how sensitive horses are to energy 〰️⁣
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Especially as an intuitive person, you’ve noticed how much your horse can FEEL energy, intentions, and emotions 🌀⁣
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There are several ways that horses may respond to you, depending on what you’re bringing to the table… and it can have a big impact on your training & relationship with your horse 🐎⁣
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Mirroring🪞⁣
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As herd animals, horses mirror each other — moving as one for their survival. Your horse may mirror you, too. If you’re feeling fearful, agitated, happy, excited, nervous… she will pick up on that and likely feel & express what you feel, at least on some level!⁣
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The less obvious part of mirroring is when the human is (either consciously or unconsciously) *suppressing* emotions. The horse can feel this incongruity, and will more than likely mirror what’s being suppressed, rather than the calm exterior. Plus, she’ll likely feel extra uneasy… an incongruent human is a more volatile one. If your horse is being reactive for seemingly no reason, consider that you may have some emotions you’re stuffing down.⁣
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Surrogate Releases 😮‍💨😪⁣
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Horses may do this for one another, or for their human friends. If you’re holding on to a lot of tension in your body, your horse may begin to yawn, stretch, or shake to help move that pent up energy along for you ♥️⁣
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How can you use this information to improve your training sessions and relationship?🐴⁣
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Mindfulness 😌⁣
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Becoming *aware* of your emotions and energy is a huge step to more understanding of your horse’s behaviors and reactions.⁣
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When you are aware of your feelings, you’ll know when it’s time to step away and take deep breaths to calm frustration. When it’s time to slow down and allow yourself to work through fear. ⁣
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When mindful, can use your energy as a tool in your training! You can notice your horse’s fear and offer deep, calming breaths for her to match.⁣
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You can invite her to engage in play by picking up your energy and offering excitement💫⁣
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How have you noticed your horse responding to your energy? Share in the comments below 🌟 we can’t wait to see what you’ve experienced 🌻

03/15/2022

PSA: Over the last few weeks I have seen a influx of “Positive Reinforcement” training being advertised in my area.

Now normally this is something I would be very excited about but upon closer inspection I have learned that that label of “Positive Reinforcement” training has been used incorrectly almost every time. I’ve even been approached by few very confused clients over what counts as “Positive Reinforcement” within training.

In a lot of instances it seems these trainers are using “Positive Reinforcement” as a synonym for liberty training or non-escalating Negative Reinforcement training. Often times appetitives aren’t even being used.

Unfortunately these labels DO matter. Positive Reinforcement and Negative Reinforcement are the scientific terms and can cause a lot of confusion when misused.

I always recommend anyone interested in any kind of training, not just R+ and not just with horses, interview your trainer. Ask questions like:

What happens when my animal gets things right?

- with R+ training the animal should be given (+) an appetitive (something pleasant or desirable) for the desired behaviour

What happens when my animal gets things wrong?

- Most R+ trainers try to redirect behaviour or have the animal offer a incompatible behaviour to reduce undesirable behaviours. The focus with R+ is setting the animal up for success so the focus is usually not on corrections.

What are your methods, why do you choose to use these methods and how do these methods work?

- All trainers, regardless of how they train, should be able to answer this question. Do these methods align with what you are looking for?

When in doubt don’t be afraid to reach out to a trainer, page or even group that you trust to ask questions.

While I am hopeful that the influx of the term "Positive Reinforcement" is a sign things are changing for the better and the mistaken terms are just growing pains please vet the people that you allow to work with your animals ❤️

03/04/2022

https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1kp3n09g

Author(s): Young, Robert J. | Abstract: The training of animals is an ancient anthropogenic process; however, it was not until the birth of comparative psychology, as a science, that the mysterious ways of the animal trainer were formally explained. In this review I will discuss the contributions of...

03/04/2022

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270569985_Positive_reinforcement_Adding_up_the_pluses_and_the_minuses?fbclid=IwAR3i6EyXI7cCsHFclkYE6FhL7lH6dQu90KjS85NYk-llnLvDIBLYQxfCpOo

PDF | On Jun 1, 2012, Antonia Henderson published Positive reinforcement: Adding up the pluses and the minuses | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

03/03/2022

If you give a horse a haircut he is going to want a reinforcer; that’s how I clip my big boys every spring for the Florida heat. Force free, no ties or sedation.Choice is such a powerful thing.🐴🐴