Just like humans, horses
need encouragement. This encouragement, or more appropriately, reinforcement is
used as a tool to better train horses. During reinforcement phases, trainers
either reward or punish horses based on their response to cues. The end result
of training using reinforcement is a horse that responds to cues accurately,
even after long intervals between the reinforcement.
There are two main
stages of reinforcement: acquisition, and finished (fully trained horse). In
the acquisition stage, horses must be reinforced on short schedules. Schedules
refer to how often a horse is reinforced. Finished or fully trained horses can
be determined by their ability to go without reinforcement on much longer
schedules.
As with any type of
equine behavior, varying from horse to horse, the amount of reinforcement
needed varies depending on the individual. There are many factors that affect
the horses ability to learn and retain new responses. One factor is the
environment the animal was raised up in. Horses that are trained and handled at
an earlier age are more predictable and docile. Genetics also play a large role
in the cognition of horses. Some horses learn and memorize information more
easily than others do. There can also be a combination of early experiences and
genetics that affect a horses ability to learn and respond to reinforcement.
Reinforcement plays a
large role in equine memory. Once a behavior is learned, reinforcement aids the
horse in memorizing what they have acquired. According to the Horse Industry
Handbook, no reinforcement could result in the “extinction” of a learned
behavior. While this response may indicate that the horse has forgotten,
sometimes the horse ignores behavior that is not reinforced regularly enough.
Reinforcement can also be used in reverse and applied to unwanted behaviors.
Behaviors that are unwanted can go “extinct” if they are not reinforced.
Sources: Horse Industry
Handbook
Written by Sean Nunnery, Bladen County Summer Intern
