Training equine emotions

Do horses really enjoy training? Or do we just like to think they do because we enjoy it?

Horses are always having learning experiences, from every single interaction we have with them. Some of those interactions are really pleasurable for the horse, like feeding for example. Some of those interactions may not be so desirable even if they are for the horses own good, like veterinary interventions!

From an ethical and philosophical stand point I think that horses should be able to enjoy training, after all we are simply usuing them for our own gains. It is only fair that if we do that then we should make it possible for horses to volunteer to be used by us rather than be conscripts into our plans!

It's possible to do that. All the interactions we have with our horses are learning opportunities for the horse, and horses are affected by such conditioning at all levels - not just in their behavioural expression. When horses actively seek or are surprised by rewards (the pleasurable stuff they want ot gain, not just the relief from rein or leg pressure we use to motivate them), they get a release of dopamine. This conditions their brain to seek such rewarding experiences again, and aids their expereince and memory of pleasure. Using rewards in training not only changes their behaviour so that they do more of the stuff we rewarded, it also creates a pleasurable association with the learning environment - including us! This means that not only does the horse perform trained behaviours more willingly, he also seeks us out for more rewarding oppportunities. In other words, he starts to become a volunteer.

I see this phenomenon in real life. Every day I see my own horses it is they who approach me, not the other way around. And when I visit others I've helped I see the same thing happening. Horses have started to catch people!

The same thing has been happening in zoos and laboratories where animals are kept and used for various purposes. Animals that have been trainined to approach and cooperate for positive reinforcement actually volunteer for even potentially painful experiences like blood sampling!

If we're going to enjoy using horses then at least let the horses enjoy it too :-)