Have you ever ever stopped and thought of the way you reward your horse for good behaviour – and in what method that may affect how horses be taught and behave sooner or later?
“Operant conditioning is how horses be taught to function inside their surroundings and it’s actually necessary to how we prepare horses,” says Dr Gemma Pearson, a professional equine veterinary behaviourist who’s director of equine behaviour for The Horse Belief.
The primary side of operant conditioning is constructive reinforcement.
“That is constructive within the mathematical sense – the addition of one thing to strengthen behaviour, in order that behaviour is repeated over time,” says Gemma. “That is the idea of clicker coaching, however you don’t have to make use of a clicker.
“What’s necessary is that you simply use an innatory reinforcer [something the horse naturally enjoys]. Horses don’t significantly get pleasure from being patted – they affiliate it with a break, maybe, nevertheless it’s not one thing that issues to them – they usually don’t get pleasure from being informed that they’re good. We haven’t bred horses to need to please us in the identical method as we have now canines.
“So for constructive reinforcement we will use meals, we will use scratches, we will use stroking the horse. And we will use that to coach behaviours that we wish, each in hand and beneath saddle.”
The opposite aspect of the coin in operant conditioning is unfavourable reinforcement.
Gemma explains: “Damaging doesn’t imply it’s a foul factor – it’s a must to give it some thought within the mathematical sense. Possibly we should always name it removing reinforcement as a substitute,” says Gemma.
“That is the bread and butter of horse coaching. Damaging or removing means subtraction of a cue when the horse gives the proper response. If you wish to educate a younger horse to go ahead you may use a lightweight leg cue and as quickly because the horse goes to step ahead, you launch the strain. Due to this fact the horse learns that stepping ahead was the behaviour he wanted to carry out to make the strain of the leg go away.
“This offers the horse management of their surroundings – we speak about them with the ability to function of their surroundings as a result of each time they’ve any strain placed on them, they know what behaviour they should carry out to make the strain go away once more.
“We might use the legs to ask the horse to go ahead, we might use the reins for slowing and stopping and we may use the reins in a special style to get the horse to show. If we give them a cue, as quickly because the horse gives the proper response, we launch that cue.”
Gemma stresses that “you get the behaviour you reinforce, not the behaviour you need” and that generally it’s simple to by accident reinforce the mistaken behaviour.
For instance, take into consideration a horse that’s troublesome to worm. You place the wormer in the direction of the horse’s lips and the horse throws its head up – that removes the strain of the wormer from the horse’s lips, which by accident reinforces that behaviour.
“Horses haven’t any idea of successful and shedding; they haven’t any agenda, they don’t suppose they’re the boss or something like that, however you get the behaviour you reinforce, not the one you need,” says Gemma.
The easy method to enhance that is to place the wormer on the horse’s cheek and take away it earlier than the horse strikes its head away. Then over time, you steadily put the wormer nearer to the horse’s lips.
Gemma explains: “Now the horse is beginning to suppose, ‘Gosh that is totally different. Beforehand each time my proprietor put the wormer to my lips, I needed to throw my head within the air to make the wormer go away, now I put my head down and chill out and the wormer goes away.’ And since they hold their head nonetheless and chill out, you may then simply insert the wormer into their mouth they usually’re happier to have this performed.
“We may speed up this studying by utilizing constructive reinforcement, so we take away the syringe of the wormer but in addition give a click on and provides the horse somewhat little bit of meals for standing nonetheless and relaxed.”
The ultimate side of operant conditioning is punishment, which might be constructive or addition punishment the place you add one thing, equivalent to hitting the horse, or unfavourable punishment the place you take away one thing, equivalent to taking away meals.
“I believe at the present time, there isn’t actually any want for punishment in horse coaching – we all know that horses will not be innately dangerous, we’ve typically simply by accident strengthened the mistaken behaviours or there’s one other motivator concerned, equivalent to ache,” says Gemma. “Slightly than making an attempt to cease the behaviour we don’t need, which leads us down the route of punishment, we should always take into consideration making an attempt to strengthen the behaviour that we do need as a substitute.”
You’ll be able to take heed to Gemma speaking about rewards, penalties and the way horses be taught on episode 126 of The Horse & Hound Podcast. She additionally recommends the British Equine Veterinary Affiliation’s video on worry-free worming.
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H&H journal editor and eventing editor
Pippa is a real eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand expertise of competing as much as British Eventing intermediate and worldwide CCI2*-L degree, and has labored within the trade on a prime occasion yard. Pippa enjoys nothing greater than immersing herself within the sport on the highest degree, reporting from the five-stars and worldwide championships, together with the Olympics.
