| Miniature Horse Training Methods In recent years, click training, natural horsemanship, gentling and whispering have received much attention from miniature horse owners. These ‘Sympathetic horsemanship’ practices emphasize the importance of the natural behavior of the horse, the use of the horse ethogram (especially body language) in communication, as well as respecting the horse’s natural needs. Natural horsemanship utilizes a biological and evolutionary understanding of the horse to train him. It is an approach to training and handling horses that advocates see as better (kinder, more gentle) than traditional methods based on an understanding of the horses biology af ecology or evolutionary background. Horses are increasingly required to perform tasks different from those required centuries ago when the Old School “Traditional Method” method was developed. Some of the current competition and equine husbandry systems present conditions where horses have to deal with unnatural obstacles and other features that horses in the wild would naturally avoid. This contrasts with their natural, evolutionary adaptive behavior, e.g. jumping, negotiating or maneuvering around simple or more elaborate series of impediments or negotiating entry into dark or narrow areas such as stocks, starting stalls or trailers. The “sympathetic” horse trainers feel that the Old School “Traditional Trainers” are generally isolated from advances in animal training and are largely unaware that they are using negative reinforcement in training, and that a method using positive reinforcement can produce quicker and longer lasting results. “Old school” horse trainers believe that the welfare of the horses trained using sympathetic methods may not necessarily be better than that in conventionally trained horses. They believe that inappropriate training practices can lead to (chronic) conflict behaviors that jeopardize the safety of riders and handlers. Recently, research studies have shown that horses trained using a sympathetic method had more positive interactions with humans, which resulted in lower reactivity and higher compliance during specific manipulations in preparation for public auctions compared to horses trained with conventional methods. We will discuss each of these methods below. 1) Positive Reinforcement Miniature Horse Training Method The issues surrounding hand-feeding horses have recently gained new relevance as clicker training has entered the arsenal for miniature horse training. Clicker training is entirely based on positive reinforcement, using the noise from the clicker as a secondary reinforcer to bridge the gap between a desired behavior from the horse and the delivery of positive reinforcement (typically food) from the trainer. A positive reinforcement is something a horse wants to have rather than avoid. However, some trainers are deterred from using food rewards in positive reinforcement based training program due to their concerns that it will lead to unwanted oral investigative behavior such as searching pockets, nudging and biting. To date there is little quantitative research evidence to support the assertions of those for or against hand-feeding horses either treats or in the context of clicker training. Feeding horses by hand is typically frowned upon by equestrian professionals due to anecdotal accounts of a relationship between this practice and so-called equine mugging behaviors. These are oral investigative behaviors including licking hands, nipping hands, gently searching clothing, roughly searching clothing and biting at clothing that may be displayed by the horse during interactions with people, and are natural exploratory or food-seeking behaviors. However, for many owners these behaviors are undesirable and textbooks written by industry leaders strongly advise against hand-feeding, claiming that this practice leads to the development of ill-mannered horses with a tendency to invade personal space and nip or bite their handler Yet, some owners appear to experience no behavior problems after hand-feeding and actively promote this practice as a means of fostering the bond between horse and human. The issues surrounding hand-feeding horses have recently gained new relevance as clicker training has become important for those interested in miniature horse training. Some were looking for a softer method. Based on studies that show food reward can hold a positive influence in a learning experience and will enhance the relationship you have with your mini horse. Miniature horse that were trained using food as a positive reinforcer perceived the training sessions as positive interactions, displaying more measurable positive behaviors towards the experimenter, such as nudging or sniffing. When horses were trained using negative reinforcement, studies showed that the horses expressed four to six times more ‘negative’ behaviors, such as biting, kicking towards the experimenter. Positively reinforced horses required less time to complete training than horses in control groups, and learning remained strong 8 months after training, even when tested with an unknown person. The association of a reward with a learning task during training of young horses induced positive reactions, long-term memory of the desired task. Young horses in research studies who had been trained using positive reinforcement with food had increased interest and bonding with humans. Research studies have demonstrated that horses are able to build and maintain a long-term memory of their relationship with humans on the basis of repeated interactions using positive reinforcement. They also are able to recall the specific bond created with a specific partner (trainer). Overall, positive reinforcement enhances learning and strengthens memory for the task. Creating a positive learning situation appeared to benefit both learning and behavior during the training sessions. This is not a new finding: in humans, hundreds of experimental studies have demonstrated that systematic use of reinforcement can improve both classroom conduct and the rate of learning: ‘when teachers reinforce students at a high rate, students actually enjoy Learning. It appears that horses are no different from humans: they behave, learn and memory increases when the task is associated with positive experiences. Using a food reward appears to enhance the horses motivation to learn and help to focus their attention on the task you want them to learn. CLICKER TRAINING The “Clicker” method is a positive reinforcement training method which increasing numbers of miniature horse trainers are embracing. Clicker training is becoming popular among miniature horse trainers. It is entirely based on positive reinforcement, using the noise from the clicker as a secondary reinforcer to bridge the gap between a desired behavior from the horse and the delivery of positive reinforcement (typically food) from the trainer. The learning is first reinforced by food rewards, then the clicker is substituted for food. The horse associates the click sound with a positive feeling that he what his trainer expected. However, some trainers are deterred from using food rewards in positive reinforcement based training programs due to their concerns that it will lead to unwanted oral investigative behavior, similar to that perceived to arise as a consequence of hand-feeding. Studies done on a large number of horses trained using food as a positive reinforcement and it was found that it resulted in some horses gently searching clothing or lick hands in search of the food reward. But, there was a very low incidences of horses roughly searching clothing and nipping and biting. However, the two behaviors most commonly cited as a result of feeding by hand, nipping and biting clothing, were not significantly associated with hand-feeding, suggesting that these behaviors may have a different risk factors than merely feeding a horse by hand. Clicker training was not associated with the performance of any of the five oral investigative behaviors. The study findings therefore do not support anecdotal claims of a relationship between nipping or biting behavior by the horse and hand-feeding or their use as a positive reinforcer during clicker training. CONCLUSION: Fears over using food rewards to train horses in this manner are misplaced and owners should not be discouraged from using food-based positive reinforcement techniques to train their horses. In the Old School “traditional training” method, the horse follows your command in order to avoid the negative stimuli and he does this out of fear. Many current horse trainers and breeders of miniature horses want to avoid any emotion-inducing interactions that negative reinforcement training may cause. They believe that negative reinforcement leads to negative associations. Copyright 2011. References Bush, K., 1992. The Problem Horse: An Owner’s Guide. The Crowood Press Ltd, Ramsbury. Domjan, M., 2003. The Principles of Learning and Behaviour. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, Belmont. Fraser, A.F., 1992. The Behaviour of the Horse. CABI Publishing, Wallingford. Hart, B., 2008. The Art and Science of Clicker Training for Horses. Souvenir Press, London. Kurland, A., 2001. Clicker Training for Your Horse. Ringpress Books, Lydney. Lethbridge, E., 2009. Knowing Your Horse a Guide to Equine Learning, Training and Behaviour. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester. Sappington, B.F.1994. Discrimination learning and concept formation in the Arabian horse. Applied Animal Behavior Science. Vol. 72. Flannery, B. 1997. Relational discrimination learning in horses. Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 85. Waring, G.H., 2003. Horse Behaviour: The Behavioural Traits and Adaptations of Domestic and Wild Horses, Including Ponies. Noyes Publications, New York. |
