At the ISES conference last week, two studies investigated aspects of round yard training tested the assumptions and observations made by Monty Roberts in leading to development of his ‘Join-up’ method.
Experiments performed in the round pen showed that untrained ponies responded with flight behaviour to the handler’s speed rather than either his body posture (tense or relaxed) or eye contact (looking at the horse or looking away). In fact the ponies showed more alarm when the trainer looked away from them.
A second study which had been undertaken to unravel whether mares do indeed chase away youngsters, as indicated by Roberts, found that when a young horse is placed in the round pen with a mare, the chasing behaviour occurs only 27% of the time and that predominantly colts were chased. The study’s authors concluded that
‘the welfare of horses being subjected to round-yard training methods may often be jeopardised by trainers having unrealistic expectations based on incorrect assumptions that the behaviour exhibited mimics that of the horse-horse interactions in more natural environments.’
Ethical Horsemanship nominated for an award.
Wow, thanks folks… this week Ethical Horsemanship was nominated for the “Honest Scrap Award” by not one, but TWO equestrian bloggers.
I gather that the Honest Scrap Award nominates bloggers who make an honest, soulful contribution and, by exposing 10 true things about themselves, enables readers to learn more about the blog’s author.
Honest scrap award
Karen from Karen’s Musings and Endurance Riding Stuff, and Kim over at Enlightened Horsemanship have both recognised the heart-felt feelings and effort that go into writing Ethical Horsemanship – thanks you two chicks, it’s nice to know you’re out there. I know readers will be equally interested in your offerings to the world, and suggest they pop over for a read.
10 honest things about The Horse’s Advocate (me!):
- I believe the welfare of the horse must always come above the ‘needs’ of the human.
- My competition horse welfare pictures have been published in a book.
- I have never used a martingale.
- I have trained wild horses.
- I have worked with horses in 3 countries.
- I have ridden for an Olympic trainer.
- Think that those Aussies have some terrific horsemen and women!
- Have ridden since age 2.
- My great-uncle used to jump his horses standing on the saddle.
- I could live in a caravan with horses at the back door and be happy ; )
Now… I have only just begun blogging, so I have not been around long… who to chose to pass on this award to?! I will make a start (slap on your seat-belt and hold on!):
The first 7 of my 10 worthy recipients of the award (in no particular order):
- For application of clicker training, you can’t go past the wonderful Georgia Bruce, Bronze-medal winner, but more importantly, AWESOME horsewoman, who inspired all at the ISES conference in Sydney on Monday 13th July 2009, with softness and relaxation in the horse – even in piaffe at liberty!
Georgia Bruce - 'Rumba' in piaffe at liberty
- There is much of value from the ‘Western Way’, and Mike Thomas Horsemen has the handle on the kindest, most horse-centric Western trainers of the 20th Century.
- Mark Russell from NaturalDressage.com author of Lessons in Lightness has much to offer in a world of ‘push-shove’ dressage, he offers another alternative of benefit to all horses and horsemen.
- Horse Training Success – a lovely, simple and crisp blog, a good, honest blog with a zen-like quality.
- White Horse Pilgrim – for a meander through the English country-side on horseback.
- When you need a reminder of the ridiculousness of what humans do to/with horses, you need to visit Fugly Horse of the Day.
- Sometimes we all need a little light relief, and you will find it at Postsecret.com where people write their secrets on a postcard. If you need to stop being serious for a moment, go here!
I’m going to publish this now, but will be adding to my tally of Honest Scrap Award recipients soon. In the meantime – pop on over to have a look at the sites mentioned….
If you receive and accept the Honest Scrap award, the rules that recipients are asked to follow are:•
• List 10 honest things about yourself.
• Present this award to 10 admirable bloggers who have moved you, and link to their blogs.
• Recognize your award presenter and link back to their blog in your post.
• Notify recipients they have been awarded, so they can retrieve it.
Until next time…
At top class European shows, shops abound selling bits and gadgets. Why? I investigate the practise a little and offer alternatives.
Here is a small sample of one shop’s bit arsenal to aid ‘control the horse’:
Bits - an 'arsenal of weaponry'
No one denies that horses – like other animals, including humans – feel pain. Is it not then surprising that bits sold in a modern, educated society are sharp, thin and harsh (painful when closed on a human hand, let alone when acting on the sensitive bars and tongue or pressing on the horse’s palate)?
The problem with the ‘bit fix’ is that of a momentary ‘quick fix’. Riders are looking for a fast, simple solution. Solutions such as training are often overlooked, because they take some time and effort.
The problem with using bigger bits, is that the horse (after the initial effect) habituates to the pressure, meaning that over time the bit fails to produce the same result. So then a different bit is selected for use that again is effective for a while, before again failing to achieve the same results.
Twisted wire snaffle bits.
Why then do people select harsher bits?
- Lack of use of negative reinforcement (removal of pressure)
- Lack of knowledge of suitable training methods (learning theory – pressure/release)
- Perceived lack of time (‘busy’ world)
- Lack of attention to the principles of welfare (human-centric approaches)
- Current fashion
The horse is an unwilling participant in riding and sport – we CAN, and SHOULD take appropriate measures to educate ourselves so as to train with consideration for how horses learn (they do not reason, plan or think about ‘right’ or ‘wrong’), consider age and stage of training, conformation and temperament, and seek to eliminate harsh bits and gadgets that violate welfare.
The single biggest thing you can do to avoid becoming one of those people in the tack shop looking for a bit alternative, is to learn the appropriate use of negative reinforcement. Now, horse people don’t like the sound of ‘negative’ reinforcement, because they think it is something bad! However, ‘negative’ in negative reinforcement simply means removal (just like ‘positive’ reinforcement means the addition – typically food, or a ‘click’ in clicker and target training).
A reinforcer increases behaviour, and occurs after the behaviour.
So, negative reinforcement is removal of pressure (at the appropriate moment), which trains the appropriate response to that signal. If we sustain a pressure other than soft contact on his mouth (i.e. the weight of the reins) it teaches the horse to become dead to bit pressure so that he fails to respond. If we don’t relent with leg pressure when he goes forward, he learns to become dull to the leg.
Question:
Does anyone out there use square pens in horse training?
The trend these days seems to be the round pen – I thought I would explore this a little.
Beautiful UltraGuard® horse fence roundpen
What are the benefits and downfalls of the two types of pen?
[table id=1 /]
Square pens were (and often still are) used traditionally in New Zealand and probably Australia utilising pre-existing cattle yards. Was this also the case in rural & traditional US? What about different European traditions?
A benefit of the square pen, is it encourages standing. Additionally, when a young horse is started under saddle, it doesn’t have the impetus to increase speed.
With good groundwork and habituation to the girth, saddle, stirrups and then rider, undertaken in a sensible manner – horses don’t feel the need to buck. If the horse feels secure and relaxed, he accepts these things well.
I would love to explore these ideas further and add information such as more people and effects into the table, so get writing those comments.
What do you do? Why?
Do you stable your horse? Do you experience unwanted behaviours as a result, possibly caused by the incarceration? You are not alone.
Movement in pastured and feral horses
A huge insight into the deficits of our housing systems on horses is seen by the information that horses are built to move up to 65-80km per day. Feral horse home-ranges have been found to vary from 0.6 to 78km² across 13 studies undertaken in Argentina, Canada, New Zealand, UK and the USA (1).
An estimated daily average for pastured horses is 20km of locomotion (2). It is little wonder therefore, that horses frequently show explosions of energy when ridden, led out, or upon release from the stable.
Benefits of exercise on explosive behaviours
How should one handle these behaviours, known as ‘post-inhibitory rebound’? A recently released Australian study showed the benefit of at least an hour’s exercise for boxed horses – on a walker, treadmill, turn-out, or by being ridden (3). The 24 horses in the study acted as their own control in matched treatments. There are some questions over the researchers’ choice of tasks (e.g. loading into a horse trailer) as a true measure of the effects.
Turnout showed the most improvement of all the exercise types, reducing the number of canter steps, bucks and rolls undertaken by the horses. Additionally, exercise significantly reduced the problem behaviours shown during routine tasks, including vocalisations (often shown when under stress).
The findings of the Australian study confirm what horsemen and women have endeavoured to undertake for years, but at least the framework of science can lead to an improvements in the way horses are kept.
When I worked in European stable, owned a three-day event rider and veterinarian, the rule was that each horse was to ‘move’ three times a day – be it ridden, on the walker, lunged or turned out. We didn’t experience any discernible stabling-related behaviour problems, despite many of the horses being competition-ready, fit eventers, including several stallions.
The importance of movement also raises the possibility of value of open housing systems which allow increased movement and social interaction when horses are housed together with room to move. Norway and Scandinavian countries seem to be leading the research on the effects of group-housing.
Practicalities – what to do regarding movement in stabled horses?
- Get stabled horses to move as much as possible – at least once per day, to alleviate the ‘rebound effect’.
- Increase turn-out.
- Consider group housing as a possibility.
- Realise that stabling can add to or produce ‘behavioural problems’- this may have flow-on effects to ‘wastage’ (i.e. culling of otherwise healthy horses due to ‘problem’ behaviours’).
- Seek to consider the evolution of the horse, including his evolved behaviours when choosing how best to manage domesticated horses.
References:
(1) Boyd, L, Keiper, R. Behavioural ecology of feral horses. In Mills, D. & McDonnell, S. (Eds) The Domestic Horse – the evolution, development and management of its behaviour (pp.55-82)
(2) Fraser, A.F. (1992). The behaviour of the horse. London : CAB International.
(3) Freire R, Buckley P & Cooper, JJ (2009). Effects of different forms of exercise on post inhibitory rebound and unwanted behaviour in stabled horses. Equine Veterinary Journal, 41, 487-492.
