Food is a primary reinforcer. By which I mean, it's something that horses require to survive. Other primary reinforcers are things like water and sleep.
While it would be rather unethical to use water or sleep as a reinforcer, food is a very valuable tool when working with your horse.
"But isn't that just bribery - I want my horse to work for ME"
No living animal is intrinsically motivated by a desire to please us. The most common alternative to using food and positive reinforcement is to use pressure, punishment and fear.
In horse training this is often referred to as pressure and release training. An example of this would be keeping tension on the lead rope until the horse walks forward, at which point you drop the tension and the horse gets relief. Great! She has learned to walk forwards.
Have you ever tried this with a horse and not gotten the expected response? You’re pulling forwards, you obviously want them to walk forwards, right?
Well, for a horse, it’s not always that obvious. Many horses will feel the pressure and pull back against it, looking for relief (and a quick exit from your company). What then? Hmm, maybe tapping a whip on their rump will help them get the message. Ah, that’s got it. Now they’re walking forwards. You just needed to put some weight on the lead rope (Negative Reinforcement) and a whip (This is getting close to being Positive Punishment).
Imagine someone had a solid grip on your arm until you did.. something?? But you don't know what. You don't speak the same language as this other person, and they're not giving you any clues as to what will get them to let go. The relief you might feel when the grip finally does ease, would also be accompanied by negative feelings towards that person, and probably a reluctance to keep being near them. (Why is my horse so hard to catch?!)
Along with that tension and negativity, the other main issue with using this tactic is that you as the trainer always need to be the scariest thing in the vicinity. You might have a great grip on them, but suddenly when an air horn goes off, their first instinct will be to evade that bigger and scarier noise. In this scenario, the horse is unlikely to look to you to help them. You're the pressure person, and they want safety.
When you start training with positive reinforcement, multiple things will occur.
You’ll begin to develop a reinforcement history that will aid you in future emergencies. Sometimes trainers refer to this as adding some coins into the ‘trust account’.
You’ll begin to develop a Positive Conditioned Emotional Response, shortened to +CER. By frequently engaging in an activity your horse enjoys (positive reinforcement training), YOU yourself become a sign that something good could be about to happen. This +CER is a result of Classical Conditioning, you’ve heard of Pavlov’s dogs?
Next time you take some carrots to the paddock, think about how you’re using them. Are you feeding them at random? Can you use them to reinforce a behaviour you like? Try leaving the whip at home and see what you can accomplish only using the primary reinforcer of food.
It's knowing how horses learn, and teaching them in a way that makes pressure and intimidation unnecessary - it’s not a bribe!
Written by Madi Holmes and the PPGA Equine Sub-Committee
