The cowboy-well let’s face it. A cowboy is someone you pay about $100 a month to out think cattle. How about approaching this question with a little science and logic. Try this for a change. Starting with the first time a foal nurses at the mare’s udder, it’s both physical nourishment and emotional bonding. Food becomes a vehicle for love. Bonding has taken place that food reinforces each time it’s given. The process is reinforced chemically by the secretion of endorphins, the body’s natural morphine-like chemicals. People who use treats to train animals, whether small dogs or massive elephants, will certainly agree that treats in small amounts reinforce desired behavior, and make the animal want to repeat the behavior. Furthermore, bonding with the treat giver is equally critical, as any lion tamer would probably note. Their survival requires the lion to recognize them as the giver of rewards, rather than be a reward. The lion tolerates their presence once it realizes that desired behavior equals desired treat. The trainer ceases to become a potential menu item and is associated with a rewards and pleasurable activity.
How do we get from foal-mare to foal-owner bonding? It’s called transference. The animal will bond to any source of food rewards. This is called recall phenomenon, and transference allows the transfer of bonding emotions that are recalled pleasurably. This is why brutal training only produces acquiescence at best. Better and quicker learning through pleasure is the key. Even the gentle stroke on the trail raises the possibility that a reward will come at the end of the ride. This is enough to stimulate endorphin production, to enhance the experience chemically.
Returning to the doting owner who spoils her horse, that horse may become overbearing and demanding of unearned treats. If the owner gives in, she’s reinforcing that behavior. The answer is to make every experience around your horse a training one. As an example, let’s use my personal method of getting my horses up out of a pasture. I keep a number of treats in my right front pocket. The horses know that’s where they are. If they see me put my hand in the right front pocket, they come up to me, and are rewarded for this. The reward makes this a positive encounter, and there’s no grief in slipping the halter on and going to work. After watching cowboys spend hours chasing horses to catch them, I vowed to use this basic circus training technique to save countless hours and frustration. If you use this technique, keep everything else in the other pockets. No sense in developing a Pavlov dog expectation of a treat each time the cell phone rings.
Used responsibly, treats are psychologically valuable in developing a working relationship with your horse. No need to lavish great quantities, as the same amount of endorphin is produced whether the treat is large or small. Treats reward both emotionally and physically, so they are good for developing and maintaining bonds. Treat makers rejoice, your future is scientifically assured.
Keep riding JSW
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
When I got my horse home I found that among other things he would not take the bit and he hated the feel of my finger in his mouth. A fight did not seem the way to go : Me:112, Him:1200lbs. I just got a mint puff and put it in my hand under the bit. He opened his mouth for the treat and the bit went in. We progressed from there but every day, he opens his mouthe for the bit and he gets a treat. He even comes to get the bit with his mouth already opened.
I’d say he gets a lot of treats each day BUT each and every one of them is related to something he did for me…