To train or not to train

To train or not to train, that is the question!

It’s often our initial reaction when faced with a behavioural challenge from our horses, to find the training ‘solution’. However, as a behaviourist, I find that around 90% of the behavioural issues clients bring to me can be resolved with little to no formal training at all. Let me give you an example from a recent case study. Bearing in mind, this horse had been cleared by the vet before the consultation. His ethological needs were being met to the best of the owner's ability and additional enrichment was being used to help address past trauma and his high play needs.

Janet had just bought a new pony and, although very friendly, the pony was also quite anxious. He displayed signs of insecurity through aggression towards the other herd members and was overly pushy towards the owner. He was also hesitant about being touched.

Janet had been rewarding him for standing still when she wanted to groom him to pair the grooming with positive associations. A brilliant idea and one which has its place.

However, after assessing this horse, I came to the conclusion that training wasn’t the way forward initially.

Why delay training?

So why might this be the case? Well, my evaluation highlighted the following points:

• The horse showed signs of insecurity in the herd, aggressively resource-guarding his space and food. This was quite severe and, as a result, Janet had had to keep them separate from the main herd for longer than she had hoped.
• The horse pushed into the owner’s personal space, trying to nip at clothes etc. Rather than being motivated by fear ie wanting the owner to leave, this behaviour seemed to stem from the need to play and make connections, but there was also a slightly manic, anxious feel to it.
• His hesitance at being touched suggested that he also had some negative memories there. This showed in the conflicting body language he used when the owner wanted to enter the barn or groom him.
• At that point, the herd were in a more restricted area while the fields were being fenced. Once this was done, they would be turned out together in a wider area where the use of barriers to keep everyone safe would be more difficult.

Avoiding Pitfalls

So why did I advise against training and indeed grooming for this horse to begin with, especially when touch and positive reinforcement are such great ways of building a relationship? Well, let’s take the resource guarding first. With him already guarding both his space and food, along with his obvious liking of Janet, it would be very easy for her to become a highly valued resource too. This would be greatly intensified if she was connected directly with food.

At present, with the horse separated from the herd by a barrier, resource guarding towards the other horses could be managed, however, once they were turned out together, it could get to a point where the rest of the herd couldn’t get to the owner and vice-versa. It also means that high levels of aggression could be seen with the owner trapped in the middle.

Secondly, the issue of touch. If we go straight to rewarding without first considering where the horse’s invisible boundaries or areas of touch acceptance are, we’re missing out on building that trust and communication from the get-go. ‘If we make it all about the food, it’ll be all about the food’. Therefore, we need a balance in our approach of building mutual trust and confidence with our horses.

Each case needs to be addressed on its own merits, and sometimes, horses have had such high levels of trauma that they will choose to avoid people forever unless a counter-conditioning programme is put in place. However, I have found that the majority of the time, building our own skill levels around applied equine behaviour and communication means that the amount of training needed can be significantly reduced.

A Horse-Centred View

Typically, horses are given little choice about being approached or touched, they hide the fact that this might make them uncomfortable or express it by turning/walking away, or by being overly tactile. By holding back, reading their communication at each of the three invisible boundaries and responding appropriately to what they’re saying, we create an environment where the horse feels safe, listened to and in control of his personal space and body. The power of enabling agency should never be underestimated. Allowing him the time and space to choose to be with humans without reinforcement, would be very powerful in this case.

Once he feels comfortable with his human being very close to him, we can then use the same techniques to discover his touch acceptance level and preferences around types of touch.

These techniques only take a few days, but by adopting a slower, more considered approach to managing our horses without needing to begin training straight away, we set ourselves up for a beautiful, mutually beneficial relationship. It’s a magical foundation that sets us apart from other human relationships they may have previously experienced.

From here we can introduce impulse control and appropriate personal space through synchronisation, breathwork and yes, positive reinforcement training.

Becoming the carer your horse always wanted

Taking a wider view and ensuring we educate ourselves on how to listen and respond appropriately to our horses, means that the amount of training needed reduces considerably and the relationship adopts an intuitive quality that can then form the bases of more structured training in the future.

If you’d like to learn more about this force-free, horse centred approach, click here to watch a free masterclass on Horse/Human Harmony.