Having just completed another Stage 1 Behaviour Course my thoughts drifted to horses and round pens ... here are some scientific thoughts from a learning theory point of view ... Round Pen Training: IS IT TOUGH ON HORSES BECAUSE ITS SO HARD TO LEARN THE CONCEPT? Think about a hamster in a cage who spends hours every night running on a wheel. The problem with running, but not getting anywhere, is that it leads to what is termed an unconsummated goal. As the research proves that the stress level on or off the wheel is the same - so running is not the right solution for him. So how difficult is it for the hamster to learn that the wheel is not helping him to reduce his stress? Answer: difficult! Now translate this to a horse in a round pen. How difficult is it for the horse to learn to come back to the very person who chased him away (using negative reinforcement) and then continues to punish him saliently (using a rope, whip, etc) each time he slows down? If it was hard for the hamster, and that was without a human dishing out salient punishment, how hard is it for the horse? Answer: EXTREMELY difficult - this a highly complex concept. Mind you the thing about round pens is because the concept is so difficult to learn, it gives the trainer ample time to apply appalling levels of punishment. And this creates what the system wants - suppressed horses (specifically: conditioned suppression) who act out only a small fraction of their ethogram (the list of normal behaviours). And ironically these horses are often termed well behaved. So in summary: Round pen training = Harsh Punishment Underpinned by Hugely Difficult Learning tasks. PS interestingly on the Golden Hamster when they increased litter depth they stopped using the wheel and began digging: another natural behaviour, but in this case more satisfying and hence stress levels reduced. For horses in round pens there are just no opportunities to escape the punishment and negative reinforcement so the stress remains high and more often than not leads to conditioned suppression. For more on Animal Behaviour take a look at the Behaviour Qualification (Equine, Canine, Feline). We specialise in turning peoples passions into their careers ... and of course they help animals ... its called win/win!! NaturalAnimalCente positively influencing the wellbeing of animals worldwide
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 08:03:34 +0000