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AUTUMN/WINTER 2016 ISSUE
EQUINE MATTERS
6
How Horses Learn
Tina Chappell
Having previously attended several courses provided by XLVets Equine and Hook
Norton Veterinary Group, my vet, Sally Hodgson, suggested an upcoming course
called ‘How Horses Learn’ may help me with ‘Archie’, my ten year old Appaloosa
cross gelding
(figure one).
OWNER REV I EW
Figure one. Tina and Archie
Figure two. The practical sessions begin with demonstrations
Figure three. We all learnt plenty of
practical techniques to overcome our
individual difficulties
Despite being very sweet natured, ‘Archie’
could be very strong and stubborn on the
ground when he didn’t want to do something
or when receiving injections and having blood
taken. Under Sally’s instructions, we had
already started clicker training and whilst this
was proving to be successful, loading was still
very problematic and took the enjoyment out
of going anywhere.
--
The day began with a classroom session at
Hook Norton where we were asked to briefly
sum up what we wanted to get out of the
course. We were also then asked to describe
our horse in a few words - my word was
‘ratbag’! Over the course of the morning, we
learnt the theory behind how a horse learns
both good and bad behaviours, as well as
methods to overcome this bad behaviour and
reinforce good behaviour.
This included:
•
positive reinforcement
•
negative reinforcement
•
aversive stimulus
•
habituation.
Following a light lunch, we commenced the
practical side of the day
(figure two)
. I had
dropped ‘Archie’ off at the venue earlier in the
day and one of the great things about the
course was that several of us had brought our
horses. This allowed us to use the theory we
had learnt in the morning and put it into
practice on a variety of horses with different
behavioural issues such as:
•
mounting problems
•
ridden issues and the use of aids
•
negative behaviour in-hand
•
fear of injections
•
fear of whips
In mine and ‘Archie’s’ case, we were focussed
on overcoming his fear of needles, as well as
learning how to encourage him to load.
Previously, he would plant himself at the
bottom of the trailer ramp or worse still, pull
backwards and put me off balance to the
point where I would lose hold of the
lead-rope, putting both of us in a dangerous
situation. To help resolve these problems we
were taught the techniques of overshadowing,
back-up and park. I have since used back-up
and park when loading to distract him from
planting himself at the bottom of the ramp with
great success.
What did the group take from the day
?
All
behaviour can be changed with patience,
understanding and repetition of an action until
it becomes a learned response
(figure three)
.
Would I recommend this and other courses run
by XLVets Equine and Hook Norton Veterinary
Group
?
Definitely, they are good value for
money and you get access to professionals
you might not normally meet.