multicoloured balloons, umbrellas, plastic
tarps, pylons or rattles. This makes the
horse much more capable of handling novel
events calmly. If desensitization is not
done correctly, it has the potential to make
a horse more fearful and sensitive, for
instance by removing an alarming stimulus
too soon.
Pavlovian conditioning
Pavlovian conditioning does not only work
for dogs. A horse also learns effortlessly
when initially unimportant stimuli or
events are regularly coupled with stimuli
that initiate some sort of response. This
form of conditioning is used by a trainer
when he links a word with a behaviour.
The word ‘trot’ would mean nothing to an
untrained horse, but if this is regularly
paired with the flick of a whip (associated
with invoking a flight response or pain)
immediately before the horse changes gait
on an upward transition, the horse soon
learns to respond to th e verbal cue, without
the use of a whip.
The use of the word ‘good’ when correct
behaviour is carried out, followed by a
food treat, informs the horse that a food
reinforcer is forthcoming.
To many a veterinarian’s dismay, horses
often learn that the sight of a syringe is
associated with pain. The unconditioned
horse will then attempt to escape if he has
not been trained to accept such handling.
Stabled horses will learn to associate
certain sounds with feeding, for example
doors opening, hay being poured into a
bucket, or will respond to visual cues, such
as the arrival of the caretaker. They might
then display unwelcome anticipatory
behaviours, such as vocalizing, pawing or
kicking stall doors. When reinforced, these
may become conditioned behaviours. For
instance, when a horse, upon hearing grain
being poured, starts kicking his door, a
person may feed the horse hurriedly in
an attempt to get him to settle down.
This positively reinforces the undesirable
behaviour and if this scenario repeats itself,
the horse has effectively trained the human
to feed him quickly.
he desires, or negative when something
is removed. Both types strengthen the
relationship between stimulus and
sought-after response, so that when the
same stimulus is given again, there is an
increased chance that the horse will repeat
the action.
In the early stages of learning the
meaning of a new stimulus, the horse may
respond randomly and hit upon the desired
response by accident. Reinforcement of the
response at the correct moment will cause
the animal to repeat the behaviour. Horses
excel at this type of learning, especially
when positive reinforcement is given.
Negative reinforcement
Unfortunately, negative reinforcement is
most often used in training. Horses are
typically trained to perform actions to avoid
something aversive. Under saddle they
move forward when leg pressure is applied
by the rider; on the ground, they yield their
hindquarters when pressure is applied to
the flank; they back up when pressure is
applied to the bridge of their nose; and they
enter a trailer to avoid whips, or pressure
from ropes. A good trainer refines this by
reinforcing the correct and ignoring the
incorrect. In this way only the slightest
pressure will eventually produce the desired
response, making the partnership between
horse and human appear effortless.
Research has been done on the use
of positive reinforcement principles to
facilitate trailer loading of horses. It is
not uncommon for a horse to be reluctant
to be loaded onto a trailer. This can be
very time consuming and hazardous for
horse and handler. A horse may resist by
rearing, pulling back, pawing, kicking or
even falling over. If the owner gives up and
fails to load the horse, such behaviour is
reinforced. Traditional loading methods
are based on negative reinforcement, often
also accompanied by some punishment
for an uncooperative horse. Researchers,
Ferguson and Rosales-Rui found that,
with positive reinforcement and target
training, horses learned to load willingly and
improper behaviours ceased. These effects
also generalized to other novel situations.
Horses that have learned to load through
positive reinforcement do so eagerly,
sometimes requiring only a verbal or visual
signal, even when unrestrained. Positive
reinforcement can also be targeted at lifting
feet for hoof care, groundwork, grooming
and veterinary handling.
Discrimination learning
Discrimination learning in horses has been
researched since the 1930s. In discrimi
nation tasks, horses must learn that one
stimulus, and not another, will result in
positive reinforcement. That particular
stimulus then begins to control behaviour,
so that the horse acts in a specific manner
in the presence of one stimulus, but not the
other. In one study a specific horse learnt
20 pairs of discriminations. This horse also
‘learnt to learn’ by using a general pattern to
more easily solved subsequent tests. After
6 months, he had also retained 77.5% of
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning, in contrast to
classical or Pavlovian conditioning,
occurs when an animal manipulates its
environment to obtain reinforcement. This
can be positive when he receives something
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