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We know from archaeological evidence at Dereivka in the Ukraine that man first rode horses some 6,000 years ago. Since the rise of these horse-taming tribesmen have undoubtedly trained horses (see my earlier paper Ancient Origins of Horsemanship: Equine Vet. J. 22 [2]: 73-78, 1990). One of my personal favourite early texts on horsemanship is by the cavalry commander Xenophon 432BC:

The gods have bestowed upon man the gift of teaching his brother man what he ought to do by word of mouth - but it is evident that by word of mouth you can teach a horse nothing. If, however, you reward him with kindness after he has done as you wish, and punish him when he disobeys, he will be most likely to learn to obey as he ought.

This advice employs the psychological concepts of Shaping and Reinforcement. Since we cannot talk to the horse we can only shape his behaviour by reinforcing (by reward or punishment) his actions until they lead to the correct and complete performance. Indeed, those who wait for perfection before rewarding a horse will certainly never get there!

Shaping behaviour
To teach a horse something new that is not instinctive, you have to be content with the slightest move in the right direction and reward it. Thereby you can shape behaviour by offering a stimulus - an action likely to cause an instinctive response in the desired direction. Experienced horsemen acquire equestrian tact. In the process of training horses they acquire a feel for the strength of stimulus and likely response of the horse.

Repeating the stimulus in association with a more subtle cue eventually conditions a horse to respond. A set of cues to which the horse is conditioned is the language by which we communicate. In equitation they are collectively the aids. These are not stimuli to which the horse responds instinctively - they are a learned response affected by conditioned reflexes.

In teaching the aids by association the desired aid is made slightly ahead of the heavier stimulus. Not many horsemen understand this crucial point - such riders are never able to get their horses to respond to light aids. With repetition, the aid may be almost unnoticeable - the horse responds instantly.

Learning the aids to this extent and compliance with them is what separates a good horse to ride from a riding-school nag. To use this knowledge in practice, you should use the lightest cue first, backed up with stronger aids. For example to move forward: First straighten your back, then squeeze both your calves behind the girth, then take up the reins to control anticipated movement. The three actions are only a split second apart but they are in sequence. With repetition the horse learns to respond to your first shift in weight -as you straighten the back and lighten the weight in the stirrups. Such a horse becomes nicely responsive.

Reinforcement
When teaching a movement, be content to shape the horse's behaviour. Do this by rewarding any step in the right direction which positively reinforces his actions. Reward in this case is by stopping the lesson and letting the horse relax by giving him a free rein. If the horse does not respond then punish him by asking for the movement again. (Correctly this is negative reinforcement rather than punishment.)

It's important that behaviour is reinforced either positively or negatively to make this shaping successful. Note that a reward is kindness offered after the correct response. Bribery is different. Bribery is a reward offered before the performance.

Negative reinforcement is some irritation applied before the horse's response, and is the cessation of an undesirable stimulus. Whereas punishment is inflicted after an incorrect response. Some variety in reinforcements should be used - in the past punishment was meted out liberally and used as the main training tool. Now most horsemen find a combination of reward and negative reinforcement the most effective regime for training horses. Bribery and punishment can be counter productive when training horses.

Positive reinforcement: For sensitive horses like Thoroughbreds or Arabians a pat on the neck, a soft word and a change of activity is often sufficient to encourage a horse to repeat the behaviour. For cold-blooded horses this is not so and they are often considered stubborn or unwilling because of it. To be effective a reward must come immediately following the movement. It is interesting that Xenophon as long ago as 432 BC recommended that to reward a horse you should dismount and lead the horse back to the stable. I believe this is still a practice in the Spanish Riding School who on principle have taken Xenophon's writings to heart. There the riders also reward their charges with tid bits.

I have not been in the habit - nor are most riders - of rewarding horses with a sugar cube or carrot - partly in the belief it encourages biting. Also I suspect because it requires of us some forward planning, in remembering the sugar! It's also awkward rewarding horses this way when riding - more feasible when working in hand. I suspect that in the Breaking process, or after a difficult exercise, that to immediately dismount, reward the horse with sweetfeed and return him to the stable may be well worth the effort. Once you establish rapport with a horse, they usually respond by trying to please the rider, just as dogs and children will. This motivation should be encouraged rather than carelessly exploited. For example you should follow a successful movement with a short walk on a loose rein - reward the horse - rather than asking immediately for more difficult exercises.

Bribery: Beware of using bribery. This form of reward is not particularly successful and can lead to the horse intimidating you, or forcing the issue, to get the reward. A bribe is a reward that is offered in full view before the horse's response. Whereas a reward is offered only after the correct response. Going into the field with a bucket of oats for a hard-to-catch horse is bribery - so too is offering carrots to a difficult-loading horse on the trailer ramp. Eventually horses treated this way learn to manipulate the situation to get the bribe without performing - they commonly will try intimidation by biting or charging. If they do behave correctly, they will often learn to behave only when they can see the bribe. No bucket and it's good night! This is extremely aggravating, so most horseman do not offer their horses bribes.

Negative Reinforcement
This is an effective technique in training horses. It involves applying an uncomfortable stimulus which is removed immediately the desired response is obtained. An example is when loading a horse into a trailer you may tap his hind legs with a lunge whip until he steps forward - then the tapping stops. Restart tapping with the whip so he learns that baulking provides a negative stimulus, which ceases when he responds correctly. This is the basis of the Neil Davis method. Though Davis claims his method is unique, he certainly was not the first to apply negative reinforcement to horses.

Continuous and intermittent reinforcement: An interesting observation of experimental psychologists is that the most effective reinforcement is not necessarily to reward every performance. This is useful in practice. In teaching a horse a new movement it's most effective initially to reward correct behaviour and to negatively reinforce poor performance every time. However, once past the shaping stage when the horse now knows what's required it's more effective to intermittently reinforce behaviour. The animal doesn't know what your response will be and performs the movement to seek your approval.

The scarcity of reinforcement enhances it's value, so the horse tries even harder to please. There are at least two strategies for intermittent reinforcement: Either random reinforcement or selective - rewarding the best performances. Intuitively, I feel selective reinforcement is more effective in training horses.

Punishment
Horses are sensitive animals and are adverse to physical or especially psychological punishment. They bite and kick each other in establ ishing herd order - or more commonly they do this symbolically by making faces or lifting their hoof in warning. We may need to do as much in our relationship with them to avoid intimidation. Some riders never manage this and decry any punishment - consequently they can handle only placid horses. Don't be a wimp and allow a horse to push you around physically or to take charge while you're on it's back. Ponies especially are noted for this behaviour, but all horses will test you from time to time.

Precisely how we should discipline horses has been contentious for centuries. The modern consensus is that there is no need to be rough or cruel when a horse is disobedient, but don't be weak either. You must be decisive when applying a sanction so it's immediately and unequivocally understood. Use the word NO loudly with a quick slap when you are stood on, bitten or in other ways the horse has overstepped the bounds. (Use your hand immediately but don't strike the head. An exception is if a horse goes for you with its teeth; a quick elbow to the snout works. Horses don't resent it in this context-they know they tried to get you.)

A sensitive horse will respond to a sharp No and this alone can be effective punishment. Something less sensitive a pony, an Appaloosa or a Buckskin might take a lot more before they'll respond. If a horse understands the word No then when riding, a reprimand can also be conveyed with a sharp No. You can express a milder level of disapproval by immediately asking the horse for the movement again. For sensitive horses this is punishment enough.

In the same vein, reward is indicated by ceasing to ask for the movement. As an example if your horse strikes off on the wrong lead at the canter you should halt calmly and restart until the correct lead is obtained. Then if the lead is given, don't ask for it again - do something else before coming back to practise on the other lead. In the same way a horse that pulls should be asked calmly to halt, and to do so repeatedly until he gets the message.

Conversely a horse that is reluctant to go forward in response to the leg should be tapped with the whip behind the heel of your boot. One that is wilfully disobedient and refuses to go forward should be immediately struck with the whip behind your heel together with your leg aids. One decisive strike with the whip, not a beating. The whip seems to be more effective than a blunt spur; perhaps it feels more like the claw of a predator and triggers an instinctive flight.

Never use a whip in anger when schooling a horse. Sometimes he won't respond because he's confused and misunderstands. Horses have long memories - malicious punishment is deeply resented. Horses seem to have an inbuilt sense of just punishment; to exceed it is counter productive for a long time after the event.

Whipping a horse after it's refused a jump is a sadly common example. Refusals are not normally a deliberate disobedience they are usually a failure of nerve particularly on realising they have the stride dead wrong! Note that repeatedly jumping the same obstacle is punishing the horse; he will take

When you feel yourself getting upset and losing control quit, put the horse away. Xenophon expresses this succinctly:

Never to lose one's temper with the horse is a good precept and an excellent habit- to lose one's temper is unreasonable and makes one do things one can but afterwards regret. When a horse shows fright of some object and refuses to go near it, one must make him feel that he has nothing to fear, and the more especially so if the horse be a high-couraged one - the rider will do well to walk up to such an object himself and touch it, subsequently to lead the horse quietly up to it. Those riders who force the horse by the use of the whip will only increase his terror, for he will imagine that the pain he feels is inflicted upon him by the object that frightens him.
(Xenophon 432 BC)

it that way and eventually refuse. Many riders with only one jump in the back-yard run into this problem.

On the other hand a horse that wilfully disobeys you - by turning round or moving off to join other horses - should always be immediately corrected. Such behaviour can quickly get out of hand. If things go wrong, never lose your temper and abuse the animal.

Massed or distributed learning: Another consideration is how to distribute the lessons. Should you try to teach the movement in one long session? Should you school the horse in the movement every day until he learns it? Every other day perhaps? Once a week, or what? Again the scientific answer is counter intuitive. Once each day is not the best schedule. With a new process to be learned such as when a horse is first broken, when it's introduced to Cavalletti, or to jumping, work on two tracks etc. For such quantum advances it's most effective for the introduction to be one single long session (massed practice).

The initial session can consist of a series of short (10 minute) lessons interspersed with revision and other calming activities. Schooling a horse for as long as two hours or so in the initial session is appropriate.

Behaviour can be shaped in this single lesson and the horse then understands what is being asked, even if he still cannot perform exactly as you wish.

Thereafter practice should be unevenly distributed - twice a day at first then daily, alternate days, every three or four days. Finally a weekly session will do once the skill is learned. This is a common pattern for circus trainers, and it's often the pattern of your own learning when you take up a new sport, like squash or tennis. There are other considerations of course: your own priorities, the weather, strength, soundness and capability of your horse and so on. When you start a new progression, at least plan to have a long session followed by frequent schooling until the horse has got the basics.

In the final episode of this five-part series we will show how to apply a knowledge of horse psychology to the practical training of your own horses. (pdf)

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