My post tonight is about using treats to train horses. First off, I want to say that unless you are prepared to deal with problems of horses that beg and nip for treats, don’t hand feed. There is always going to be repercussions. You have to deal with them, and you have to teach the horse that nipping or demanding treats will not be tolerated. Rewards must be earned. You can also run into problems with horses that won’t stop doing a trick because they seek the reward. This must also be firmly corrected. It is just plain dangerous. Spoiled horses are the most dangerous types of horses, especially if they’ve learned that aggressive behavior = more treats. Now that I have said that, I will say that I DO use treats during my trick training. I will also say that I NEVER use treats for any other type of training, including groundwork, starting under saddle, or anything else. JUST tricks. I will tell you why I use treats at all for trick training. There are 2 ways to teach a horse tricks: Positive motivation (rewarding a desired behavior) AND Negative motivation (adding a “negative” to the horse, and then removing that negative when the horse does the behavior you want.) (AS A SIDE NOTE: Some people ask, “Why use treats and not just petting?” Well, simply because food is the strongest motivation to a horse (or any animal) and I want the horse to want what I have. Most horses will not find the act of petting a strong enough motivation.) Some people train 100% positive motivation, some 100% negative motivation, but I like to use some of each, because there are problems with using 100%. With 100% positive, you can easily train a horse to do tricks, but the problem arises if they decide they don’t feel like doing it today. This is fine if you have a personal horse, but if you want to show people your horse’s tricks, they must be consistent, and sometimes a treat just isn’t enough when a horse is distracted. They may also refuse to do tricks unless a treat is produced. The problem with 100% negative motivation is that the horses performance really lacks in some cases (they aren’t as showy, because in a lot of cases they aren’t having fun or have learned to be fearful of correction) and some horses shut down with this type of training. So you need to be flexible and adjust positive/negative to fit each horse. To me, all animals learn new things better when they are interactive, calm and having a good time, and this includes children as well. So whenever I have a horse that has a good solid foundation of training and is working well, is well mannered and I want to teach it some tricks, I use treats as a reward for a correct behavior. BUT I also want the horse to learn to think and work through negative motivation as well. For example, if I want to train a horse to paw the ground, I tap his foot with the whip (this would be a light negative) then moment he moves his foot at all I want to “mark” that behavior with a “GOOD BOY!” and treat. With this, the horse learns to respond to negatives and enjoy trying because he gets food. With time, the whip can be used to cue the horse to paw the ground, and the horse will understand this if it’s taught properly. Once he solidly understands what you want, you can ask a little more with the whip to encourage him to strike higher or faster. Then reward. After months of repetitions, the horse should no longer need the treat, he should fully comprehend the exercise. Here is where the negative motivation comes into play. If the horse should decide now that he is no longer going to do it unless a treat is produced in his face (if he is doing this, he has been spoiled with too many treats and not enough rules in the training itself. Basically, he has trained you) then you can tap his leg with the whip and ask him to paw. If he stands there, tap harder until he gives you the desired response, and then stop and reward with voice praise only. And repeat. Because the whip tap is nothing new to him and he has learned to work through the negative itself, it is not mentally stressful to reinforce the behavior with this negative. He already understands it. The horse will learn now that the trick is required from him, even without the treat, and that the negative will be turned off and will not even happen at all if he responds to the cue when you ask. If done right, this positive training backed up with negative motivation in the later stages creates a horse that is eager and happy to work for you. Thanks for reading, Brittany Hudson
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 01:18:54 +0000
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